the hi-end doctor
are you an audiophile who owns a good hi-fi or a hi-end system?
If so, do you know that a perfect setup can seriously improve your system's sound and performance, regardless of price or components? Moving the speakers, adjusting your listening position, or adding a top subwoofer properly can make a world of difference!
You should realise that, although magazines and hi-end "gurus" ignore it, a large part of any system’s final sound comes from the room’s acoustics and its setup.
It's easy to verify that the same hi-fi system sounds different depending on the speakers' placement or when the whole system is moved to another room. This occurs because the speakers' original sound is altered by their interaction with the environment. As a result, this interaction shapes the final sound heard at the listening point.
Therefore, a professional setup with electronic instruments is essential to flatten the frequency response at the listening point as much as possible.
This is a necessary and sufficient condition for achieving a sound as close as possible to that of the source and for using the term "hi-fi" for the system in question. Otherwise, the system behaves like another musical instrument, with all that this entails. Indeed, most audiophiles don't realise they own an expensive musical instrument instead of a hi-fi system!
A perfect setup can also mitigate, and sometimes even fix, speakers’ intrinsic flaws, which are very common, regardless of price.
For these reasons, the setup of a system in its room is vital, especially today, as the latest generation of so-called "hi-end speakers", aiming to justify their unreal and ludicrous prices, are tragically becoming larger and larger. They are often placed in rooms of normal or small dimensions, which is a huge error that must be avoided from the outset. If such a mistake has been made, it must be corrected (or at least minimised) through a highly professional and somewhat challenging setup.
To implement this essential recommendation, audiophiles must finally realise that resolving serious sound issues requires technical and effective interventions. Incredibly expensive, often absurd, accessories provide little beyond placebo effects and mostly benefit the retailer.
So, take the bull by the horns and hire a skilled technician with a spectrum analyser if you want to fully address the problems!
Moving from a casual or flawed setup to a perfect one can result in such a profound metamorphosis in sound that it feels like you've replaced the entire system!
are your speakers proportionate to the dimensions of the listening room?
When buying a pair of loudspeakers, beyond sound quality and cost, the key factors to consider are the dimensions of the dedicated listening room and the possible placement locations.
For instance, I recommend avoiding floorstanders for small or medium‑sized rooms, especially if they would be forced into corners or placed close to walls. These speakers are acceptable only in large rooms, where they can be positioned well away from corners and boundaries. For medium or small spaces, choose systems made up of compact speakers on stands combined with one or more active subwoofers. Such systems, besides being "faster" than floorstanders, also have the great benefit of being fully tunable, which is a major advantage if placed in less‑than‑ideal spots.
Choosing the right speakers, based on these principles, is crucial, but it's only the first step. Once the new speakers are positioned, they must be moved, customised and tuned to achieve the flattest possible frequency response at the listening position.
sound perfection is not correlated with the price
Have you ever read in a hi-fi magazine that some very expensive "big boy's toy" is a joke and sounds ... not so well (to put it mildly)?
The simple answer, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is NEVER. This fact should prompt some reflection, as it's far from reality! Audiophiles who read and trust hi-fi magazines have been subliminally taught to believe in a putative hi-fi equation: "the higher the price, the better the equipment, and consequently its sound".
Well, ... nothing could be more misleading and subject to debate!
Throughout my professional career, I have auditioned numerous audio systems priced from tens to even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Honestly, all I can say is that I feel deeply sorry for the "poor" (metaphorically speaking, of course) owners!
With just a fraction of what they spent (more accurately, squandered) on absurdly overpriced equipment, they could have bought genuinely good gear at a "humane" cost, which, combined with a proper setup, would have delivered a far superior listening experience!
So, stop assuming you've nailed the perfect sound just because you spent a fortune. In theory, it could happen by chance, but in 54 years, I’ve yet to see it!
you could be an unwitting victim of "setup crimes"
Visiting audiophiles to check their systems, I have often come across disturbing realities that can only be described as "setup crimes". These are the result of the glaring technical and acoustical unpreparedness of the staff at so-called "hi-end temples", who were tasked with delivering and setting up the new, expensive systems.
To help you grasp this alarming reality, I’ll share the two emblematic cases below.
More than twenty years ago, I met a man of incredible musical culture. Calling him “music addicted” is an understatement: classical music is an essential part of his life, soul, and only religion. He rarely misses concerts around Auckland and often travels overseas for a “good one” or Wagner’s Ring Cycles! When I met him, he had a system worth around $125K, featuring American speakers as costly as a mid-range SUV. Each speaker consisted of a large bass cabinet with two passive woofers on the back and a separate, pyramidal, omnidirectional unit for the mid-high frequencies positioned on top of the bass cabinet. The speakers were bi-amplified with two very costly amplifiers (tubes for the mid-high and solid-state for the bass), connected to the speakers via “elephantine” cables. However, upon listening to the system playing my reference CD, I immediately noticed that the bass sounded "weird", with a feeling of inconsistency. As I always do in these cases, I connected the spectrum analyser and the “pink noise” generator. The instrument revealed that the frequency response of the bass range produced by the passive bass units (by the manufacturer audaciously and outrageously referred to as "subwoofers") was very strange, yet familiar in a way I recognised. So, I followed up on my hunch about the possible cause: I disconnected and removed the mid-high units and turned the bass units upside down to check the connections (it seems that placing the binding posts on the rear panel, rather than underneath the heavy cabinets, was beyond the manufacturer's “humanity”!). As suspected, I found that the "technician" who set up the system had wired the so-called subs out of phase. Please believe me, even if it sounds incredible! I fixed the "negligible" mistake, and obviously, the bass improved. But when I later gave the owner the chance to audition a pair of serious speakers with built-in real active, electronically controlled subwoofers at one-ninth the cost of his speakers, he was stunned! So stunned that he asked me: how can they sound so good? They are very cheap compared with mine! To which I replied: that's no wonder at all, but the appropriate question, if anything, should be whether it's plausible that a pair of speakers could cost as much as a nice car! Faced with incontrovertible evidence, he suddenly realised that in hi-fi, price and sound perfection are not related! Not being a hi-fi lover but a seeker of real sound, he followed my recommendations without hesitation. He replaced not just the speakers but also the tube amp. In fact, after using the prototypes for six months, he bought and still enjoys the sachem monoblocks, serial number 001, along with everything else necessary to achieve “the Sound”. He trusted me completely, and after a perfect set-up of the new equipment, he was rewarded with the sound he’d always dreamed of (at a total cost less than one-sixth of his old system’s price). The other great and enjoyable outcome was that we have become very close friends! This second instance involves a system worth around $250K, featuring hi-end English electronics (not the stuff of my dreams, even if each component was priced at about the cost of the "usual" nice car), paired with the same brand and model of speakers mentioned above. This time, the “professional” who had set up the system positioned the speakers very close to the back wall and didn’t consider the listening point, which was in the very middle of the room. The obvious result was a disgusting bass range. By moving the speakers one metre forward and the listening position about three metres back, the spectrum analyser revealed a notable improvement. The sound transformation was evident, with a cleaner bass range and improved mid-high frequencies, too. Although I managed to improve the system's overall performance, achieving "the Sound" remained impossible because the components, despite their exorbitant cost, simply lacked the required potential, and when asked, the owner declined to replace any part of the system, as he was close to moving overseas. Well, these are just two examples of a “pathology” that, believe me, is far from rare. The alarming truth is that, throughout my five decades of hi-fi journey, I’ve come across an incredible range of flawed (and sometimes downright hilarious) setups, often in good company with technical “errors” and “horrors”! So, be aware that you too might find yourself "swimming in the same waters"! Therefore, to ensure that no "setup crimes" have been committed against your system, I strongly recommend having it inspected by a highly qualified professional. While you're at it, take the opportunity to have them perform an instrumental setup of the entire system as well: I'm confident you'll find it was well worth it!
More than twenty years ago, I met a man of incredible musical culture. Calling him “music addicted” is an understatement: classical music is an essential part of his life, soul, and only religion. He rarely misses concerts around Auckland and often travels overseas for a “good one” or Wagner’s Ring Cycles! When I met him, he had a system worth around $125K, featuring American speakers as costly as a mid-range SUV. Each speaker consisted of a large bass cabinet with two passive woofers on the back and a separate, pyramidal, omnidirectional unit for the mid-high frequencies positioned on top of the bass cabinet. The speakers were bi-amplified with two very costly amplifiers (tubes for the mid-high and solid-state for the bass), connected to the speakers via “elephantine” cables. However, upon listening to the system playing my reference CD, I immediately noticed that the bass sounded "weird", with a feeling of inconsistency. As I always do in these cases, I connected the spectrum analyser and the “pink noise” generator. The instrument revealed that the frequency response of the bass range produced by the passive bass units (by the manufacturer audaciously and outrageously referred to as "subwoofers") was very strange, yet familiar in a way I recognised. So, I followed up on my hunch about the possible cause: I disconnected and removed the mid-high units and turned the bass units upside down to check the connections (it seems that placing the binding posts on the rear panel, rather than underneath the heavy cabinets, was beyond the manufacturer's “humanity”!). As suspected, I found that the "technician" who set up the system had wired the so-called subs out of phase. Please believe me, even if it sounds incredible! I fixed the "negligible" mistake, and obviously, the bass improved. But when I later gave the owner the chance to audition a pair of serious speakers with built-in real active, electronically controlled subwoofers at one-ninth the cost of his speakers, he was stunned! So stunned that he asked me: how can they sound so good? They are very cheap compared with mine! To which I replied: that's no wonder at all, but the appropriate question, if anything, should be whether it's plausible that a pair of speakers could cost as much as a nice car! Faced with incontrovertible evidence, he suddenly realised that in hi-fi, price and sound perfection are not related! Not being a hi-fi lover but a seeker of real sound, he followed my recommendations without hesitation. He replaced not just the speakers but also the tube amp. In fact, after using the prototypes for six months, he bought and still enjoys the sachem monoblocks, serial number 001, along with everything else necessary to achieve “the Sound”. He trusted me completely, and after a perfect set-up of the new equipment, he was rewarded with the sound he’d always dreamed of (at a total cost less than one-sixth of his old system’s price). The other great and enjoyable outcome was that we have become very close friends! This second instance involves a system worth around $250K, featuring hi-end English electronics (not the stuff of my dreams, even if each component was priced at about the cost of the "usual" nice car), paired with the same brand and model of speakers mentioned above. This time, the “professional” who had set up the system positioned the speakers very close to the back wall and didn’t consider the listening point, which was in the very middle of the room. The obvious result was a disgusting bass range. By moving the speakers one metre forward and the listening position about three metres back, the spectrum analyser revealed a notable improvement. The sound transformation was evident, with a cleaner bass range and improved mid-high frequencies, too. Although I managed to improve the system's overall performance, achieving "the Sound" remained impossible because the components, despite their exorbitant cost, simply lacked the required potential, and when asked, the owner declined to replace any part of the system, as he was close to moving overseas. Well, these are just two examples of a “pathology” that, believe me, is far from rare. The alarming truth is that, throughout my five decades of hi-fi journey, I’ve come across an incredible range of flawed (and sometimes downright hilarious) setups, often in good company with technical “errors” and “horrors”! So, be aware that you too might find yourself "swimming in the same waters"! Therefore, to ensure that no "setup crimes" have been committed against your system, I strongly recommend having it inspected by a highly qualified professional. While you're at it, take the opportunity to have them perform an instrumental setup of the entire system as well: I'm confident you'll find it was well worth it!
a professional is as good as his tools and skill
To properly set up a subwoofer, find the optimal position for a pair of speakers, or address the overlooked (but crucial) issue of different sound emission between the left and right speakers when placed with different backgrounds (refer to the third article on the school of hi-fi page), a spectrum analyser MUST be used. It's essential for visualising the sound and seeing what happens to the frequency response when you change something or move a speaker.
For a serious audio technician, this instrument is as useful as a CT scan machine for a doctor! Despite that, the discouraging reality is that audiophiles normally trust "doctors" (actually, "shamans") who don’t even have a stethoscope and prescribe aspirin (yes, but packaged in gold foil) to cure cancer! It’s sad, but this is generally the plain reality of the hi-end audio market, where lack of technical and sonic foundations reigns supreme. This happens not just in NZ but worldwide (exceptions are always possible and welcomed). To gauge the hi-end gurus' actual level of musical and sonic competence, you have to listen to the music they dish out to poor audiophiles at hi‑end shows around the world. Today's trend is to parade million‑dollar systems while spinning LPs of appalling "pseudo light music" (strictly on turntables, of course). Almost none of them dare to play classical music!
Anyway, I don’t know of any shop or "esoteric temple” in New Zealand equipped with a spectrum analyser, but I hope I’m just misinformed. I must also point out that merely owning a spectrum analyser is a good start, but not enough. Indeed, this is where the operator's expertise comes into play. He must know how to use it correctly, interpret what it reveals accurately, and know the proper steps to fix the problems it identifies.
Developing this skill takes years of practice and a solid knowledge of acoustic physics. To say, despite a lifetime of experience, I still occasionally uncover something new and unimaginable!
here is where I can provide an essential service
The knowledge I’ve accumulated over 54 years of serving "its majesty" the Sound guarantees solid experience in improving the performance of any system. Ridiculous and overpriced accessories (the “aspirins” wrapped in gold foil) produce, at best, minimal results. Therefore, audiophiles must ultimately realise that the Sound is not a questionable religion, but is governed, always and without exception, by the strict laws of physics and acoustics! Hence, my deep expertise is at the disposal of audiophiles who are eager to improve their systems’ sound in effective ways. My consultancy is very reasonably priced (far less than an esoteric accessory), and I accept payment only if the Customer is fully satisfied with the outcome. However, I must honestly point out that while I always manage to improve the sound of any system, achieving the Sound is impossible if the room's acoustics are prohibitive and/or the system's components lack potential. I'd love to, but I don’t perform miracles yet, sorry!
some might perceive me as arrogant
Because of my "Italian way" of approaching the topics on this page (more direct than the typically reserved Kiwi style), you may question my credibility, perhaps assuming I’m just another charlatan in this market. If so, I invite you to visit the testimonials page and read the comments.
Indeed, by reaching out, you've got nothing to lose: in fact, you might even stand to gain!