Good Enough Audio

The 4 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and ROCK OUT!

Good Enough Audio: Based on the psychological development theory of D.W. Winnicott, this is the idea that a practical quest for sound reproduction that is "good enough" will provide the greatest overall musical satisfaction. A component of this theory is the pursuit of used and moderately-priced "mid-fi" componentry from the golden age of 2-channel audio (pre-5.1 and beyond). This framework assumes that lossy formats such as mp3, encoded as low as 128kpbs (this includes streaming radio), while not perfect, are enough to satisfy. In sum, it is a "quantity over quality" argument. Voltaire would have agreed; the perfect is the enemy of the good. Quote: "Yeah, I suppose that a virgin vinyl pressing played on your Linn turntable through your McIntosh amp will sound much better than my computer; but in the time it takes you to set all that shit up (not to mention pay for it), I have just listened to five songs I like plus the album you told me about just now because I streamed it over Rhapsody." Not to be confused with Garbage Audio.

• Rule #1: your music will come in lossy formats--get over it.
• Rule #2: control what you can: get a decent DAC and amplifier/speakers/'phones.
• Rule #3: keep it simple.
• Rule #4: never buy new.

At home, Good Enough Audio means running an 1/8 plug out of the PC into the crawlspace and into the Yamaha receiver on the other side of the house. Today I added a "Y" adapter and sent the signal to the JVC integrated amp ($9 on eBay) in the basement. How does it sound: mighty good, actually. Or, "good enough." Because I have the nicer DAC unit at work, I might take a better pair of speakers there.

Taking a bit of a break from the KWR Tape project; they are all digitized and organized. Just need to break down the tracks and add descriptions. That could take a while. They are preserved and in one place. Deep breath.

On Friday, my pal Bill and I had lunch in my office. We did an important project: evaluate the relative merits of two pairs of bookshelf speakers. Mission: send one pair home. Here's what I wrote him afterward:

My assessment. Feel free to share your reflections when/if time permits.

Advents: Perhaps preferable for solo piano; a bit of an edge with dance/electronic. Overall better and wider soundstage with more pleasing mids; bass is contained but somewhat more accurate; less boxy than the Polks on tunes with traditional rock and roll instrumentation.

Polks: Much more pleasing bottom end for double bass, bass drum; perhaps preferable for instrumental jazz; slight edge with small chamber ensembles. Overall better bottom end; punchy and open bass, but less accurate. Rather nasal and constrained for rock and roll.

Verdict: ?

Actually, I don't need another pair at home, so I may just keep the extra pair under my desk and swap them every month or so just to change the soundscape here. If I had to select, I think it would be hard.

We were listening to a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 4s and a pair of Baby Advent IIs; both pair were purchased on eBay for approx. $40. They were being driven by my Denon integrated amp, which I have written about before here. I bought that on eBay, and it looks like it might be going back, as I just purchased another integrated amp. (I've got a little bit of a problem, here).

At any rate, I realized yesterday that the Advents didn't get a fair shake because the surround foam is toast. I purchased some replacement foam for $20 (where else?). I'll restore those puppies over the holiday and see what happens. Maybe they will live in the living room, my childhood Polks will go to the office and the cheaper late 80s Polks will go up on eBay as well.