home stereo

To determine the type of stereo best-suited to your needs, let’s go back to the questions asked in the Getting Started section of the site. You’ve undoubtedly evaluated your finances, and know what your tastes in music are. You’ve also likely taken a look at the myriad of types of audio equipment that populates the marketplace. With those things done, we can now safely attempt to answer what kind of stereo is best for you.
If you are a “gadget person” or need to have the best of everything, cost-no-object, then a high-end system is for you. Otherwise, you can work with a less sophisticated solution.

Consider the following as you decide which stereo solution is best for you:


MONEY
Remember, one of our earliest considerations was the amount that you were planning to spend on your stereo system. If your planned expenditure is less than $500.00 you are going to be seriously limited in your choice of gear. You can still get good performance, but there will be plenty of compromises that need to be made. If you have more money to spend, your choices multiply quickly. But bear in mind, just because an item is more expensive, there’s no guarantee that it will out-perform a less expensive piece.
SPACE
Look closely at your personal situation. If you live in an apartment, your space is most likely limited. Having a 300-watt per channel system might be overkill. You may never fully exploit the capabilities of your system and your “investment” might be more of a waste. On the contrary, if you have a large listening room or family area that you wish to have filled with sound, its advisable that you get a more advanced, and more capable system.
PERFORMANCE
In my opinion, the most important aspect of choosing, buying and setting up your home stereo is the performance consideration. Everyone has a different expectation regarding the level of performance they expect from any purchase. For example, the purchaser might not need or want the home theater effects or equalizer in the all-in-one system. Instead they may value faithful reproduction of music from digital sources like Compact Disc, or a rare recording format like reel-to-reel tape.
You must determine much utility and enjoyment you expect going to get from the purchase of this stereo system or component. This is known as the “value proposition.” You are seeking a strong value proposition: highest utility for most reasonable price. Regardless of the type of music you’re fond of, there are some key performance goals you should have for your stereo system.

Some people simply want static-free reception of FM radio. Today, even budget micro-systems give entirely passable sound. Others want to be engaged by the sound; they want to feel apart of the recording session. If your desire is to hear a saxophonist breathing into his reed, and want to actually “see” the performers in front of you, there is only one way to go: high-end.


Balance of Forces
Getting the right kind of stereo involves balancing the price/performance/space considerations, and purchasing equipment that sounds good working together, to provide the best performance possible while not blowing your budget. The key to creating the best system is getting your equipment to work “synergistically”. By that I mean, finding pieces whose individual characteristics are complimentary. Each component or piece in the reproduction chain will most likely “color” the music in some way. Our job is to reduce this.
If you think in terms of price/performance/space, the result will be a system that is best-suited to your personal tastes and priorities.

From Anthony Armstrong,