If someone ever tells you that they have seen a music system that you can buy “with your eyes closed”, take the advice. Because the best music system is very simply, the one that sounds best. And when you are looking to invest hard earned greenbacks in something that is meant for your listening pleasure, trust no one in that tricky little world of PMPO, spectrum analyzers, shuttle control, double bass reflex, twin amp subwoofers and what not…! Makes buying a simple stereo sound like ‘Mission Impossible’ right? Actually, it needn’t be at all! Let’s give all that advertising brouhaha a run for its worth shall we?
THE SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO BUYING MUSIC SYSTEMS:
Decide on your budget.
Find out the available models that fit within your price range + or – 500 bucks. Make a list.
Look for a store that stocks all or at least most of the models that you’ve in your list.
At the store, ask for each model to be played separately. Preferably, take one of your own tapes/CDs so that you are familiar with the music and the beat. (So that you’re not distracted by a demo tape/CD that sounds good on particular sets.)
Switch on each player and without playing any music, turn up the volume to the maximum. Listen carefully for any hiss, buzz or hum. The more hiss/buzz/hum there is, there more it is likely to be added to your music! Turn back the volume to the minimum.
Now, play your tape/CD. Turn off all equalizer settings, preset modes (like ‘classic’, ‘jazz’, ‘rock’ and whatever) and listen to it. Listen to the bass drum (foot drum) playing. The better sets will deliver a ‘thud’, and the worse it gets, the ‘thud’ will become a ‘boom’. Increase the volume to about half the range. Listen to how much the ‘thud’ remains intact. It should not break up at half the volume!
Listen carefully to how the speakers seem to be taking all that power. Does it sound frazzled? Or slightly distorted, like the ‘thud’ is more ‘thurrd’? If so, skip to the next one.
After you’ve satisfied yourself with this little test, play around with the knobs and check out how different settings sound. Look for sets where you have separate controls for bass, treble etc., maybe a graphic equalizer. That way YOU will have control over how the music sounds. Most sets today have presets (‘rock’, ‘live’ etc.) which you cannot alter. Of course, a lot of them do sound good.
That should pretty much take care of the sound part. Now in your narrowed down list, check out for other features like CD track programming, remote control, etc. These are the ones that come in handy. Most of the other features are not as earth shattering as they sound. You have very little to gain from knowing that the speakers are ‘Detachable 2 way Bass Reflex Speaker Systems’ if they sound OK anyway. Or that your ‘3 Step Dynamic Bass Boost System has Beat, Punch and Blast settings.
Last of all, check out if the darn thing looks good and not like something straight out of an ‘X’ files case of alien abduction! But do remember that looks are the least important thing in a music system, especially if you’re buying it to listen to the music.
Close your eyes and buy the Music system.
:-)
happy listening!