The arcane art(s) and very real benefits of proper system set-up.
With Roy Gregory
Exceptional performance is often as fleeting as it is elusive: where does it reside and how best to realize it? As Lance Armstrong once famously stated, “It’s not about the bike” – although what it was about wasn’t what many people thought. When it comes to motor racing, how much is the car and how much the driver? And when it comes to hi-fi, how much is the system and how much is the set-up? While audiophiles have grown increasingly obsessive over differences between and the choice of equipment, slowly but surely, they’ve started to realise that it’s not just a question of what to buy: what you do with what you buy matters too. There are those who’ve gone further still, acknowledging that even the most ambitious owner can’t compete with a dedicated professional when it comes to setting up and getting the best out of their system. For them, ‘buying-in’ set-up skills has become the norm and, amongst those offering the service, Stirling Trayle of Audio Systems Optimised has quickly become the gold standard.
With decades of experience and a genuinely global client base, his skills are in constant demand, from manufacturers and distributors as well as end-users. Having worked with him and having had him work on my own systems, I can certainly confirm his profound impact on system performance – even (or perhaps especially) on those systems you might think are already beyond reproach. But it’s not all just ‘speaker-whispering’. On a recent visit I took the opportunity to discuss not only the pressures and pleasures of working on some of the world’s most demanding systems – and for some of the world’s most exacting audiophiles. It was also a chance to explore some of the more prosaic, grunt-work that underpins the more esoteric aspects of the process. Simple, good practice that more of us could benefit from investing more time in.
RG. How long ago did you establish Audio Systems Optimized?
ST. 2014, just before you reviewed my service for TheAudioBeat.com…
RG. And it was extremely impressive. If I recall I made you perform on three, very different systems, for three different listeners in three different locations. Ten-years on, how have things evolved and changed?
ST. Well, the fundamental goal hasn’t changed. My idea was always to work with clients, to work with their existing systems, rather than selling them anything. So, there’s no secondary profit agenda. That’s a principal that I’ve stuck to, absolutely: I don’t sell equipment or accessories; if I recommend a purchase it goes through the client’s dealer and I receive no part of that sale. Equipment isn’t what I sell. I sell a service and what has emerged is that I can give clients far more effective advice and develop a far closer working relationship – greater trust, if you like – because I’m not trying to sell them another component or a stack of accessories for their system. I act as a service provider, with no affiliation to any manufacturer: my goal is to get any client the most performance possible from the system they already own, rather than offering alternative equipment that might change the sound, but doesn’t necessarily (or even very often) make it better. That fundamental principal is exactly the same.
