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Don't overdo it. When you are no longer having fun, back off for a while.

To dealers: Treat all your clients with respect—whether they pull up in a BMW or ride up on a bicycle.

Get the best front-end you can afford and the rest will follow.

Enjoy the equipment, experiments, and educational aspects of this hobby as long as you're still enjoying the music. When it ceases to be about the music, then it's just a meaningless pile of gizmos. Get your rig to a point where you enjoy listening to music through it. Then have the sense to sit down, shut up, and listen.

Never spend more on your equipment than you have already spent on music you own.

Read magazines and reviews, join forums and ask questions, attend live performances, and don't think that more expensive means better.

Trust yourself.

It is very simple: If you like the way your system sounds to you, that is all that is important. Don't go chasing what someone else thinks you should like.

Challenge your value assumptions by seeking new experiences. Your audio history is just as much a limiting factor as it is a credible experience.

Buy Stereophile and TAS back-issues and read thoroughly. Probably before 2004 for each. Also note complete absence of grammar errors. Ahhh...ugh. So many changes.

If you are just starting out, buy from an established brick-and-mortar dealer.

Buy what makes music fun to listen to and sounds good to you, no matter what anyone else thinks. Also, unless you're a reviewer, stop listening to the sound, and start listening to the music.

You cannot demagnetize vinyl nor do wall outlets have "better sound" when you pay too much.

Never buy expensive cables.

I wish I had something great to say...

Get the AC polarity right.

A wise audio salesman once said to me: "When in doubt, keep the records. You can always buy another amp." He said this as personal circumstances made it necessary for him to part with his gear. It wasn't the advice I expected to hear from someone whose income was dependent on people buying new amps and such, which is why it is so memorable. Thanks Bill!

Don't let anyone tell you what you should think sounds good. They're your ears and it's your money.

Close your eyes when listening.

The more I listen to some new stuff, the more I'm satisfied with my home setup!

Trust your ears, every time.

HDMI with video isn't audiophile.

1) Trust your own ears, 2) Listening is an art, 3) Even the most gifted artist has to learn, 4) Don't analyze, feel—music is about emotional impact, 5) Most of us spent a lot of money on the wrong equipment, because we do not know what we should listen for, and 6) Find people who you can learn from.

That for every amplifier and passive speaker out there, however good, there is at least one active speaker that is better and cheaper.

If it sounds better, it is better.

When choosing cable to connect your amplifier and loudspeakers, the most important factor is that it should be long enough.

If your system sounds good to you, don't let anyone tell you that it's no good.

Study everything you can about all things audio. You will save yourself gas and hours of driving all over the country demoing equipment.

Optimize your current system before you spend more money on new stuff. Speaker placement, room treatments, chair placement, and other tweaks of the like. Your system might not suck, your room might, though.

Stop listening to the speakers and listen to the music.