By Paul McGowan From PS Audio

It’s sometimes good to take a step back and widen our views because it’s easy to get mired in the classic tail wagging the dog syndrome.

Take for example our systems and how we improve them. Too often I have seen people add tweaks and potions to correct for fundamental problems.

It can be difficult to know when you’re efforts at polishing are what’s needed. Often, it’s a new paint job that will get the job done.

Just today I am working with a fellow that’s struggling to hear differences in amplifiers. Try as he might, the obvious changes between a good amp and a bad one are not apparent. It’s not because they aren’t there, it’s just because his speakers and setup aren’t up to the task.

One of the best ways of identifying if you have a core problem or a modification challenge is to ask yourself where you are in the magnitude scale. Does your system get you 90% of where you want to be? If so, you’re likely to benefit from small tweaks and modifications. But, if you’re a few miles from home base, your best bet is to instead work on identifying the weak link (or links) in the chain.

A wide angle view is often more illuminating than zooming in to see which part of the dog is moving.

For more on this story go to; https://www.psaudio.com/pauls-posts/tails-wagging-dogs/