a rant

@sfgak @daveyf

Thanks for the reply. I was pretty sure they were A/B but I just couldn’t remember. I was always broke back then because I was always buying the upgrades. 😀

I have never viewed the hobby as a roller coaster ride because I have always used a systematic process for making improvements.  The systematic process involves a number of steps that I have posted before.  First, and most importantly, listen to live music, especially acoustic music, to develop your “ear” or impression on the sound of  individuals instruments in a live environment.  This requires you establish critical listening skills to discern nuances you consider important to you, such as the ambience of the venue, how the leading edge of the sound develops, dynamics, the sound of the body vs the string or reed of an instrument.  The second step is to critically listen to your current system and set a goal for improving the sound of your system to make it closer to your impression of live music.  Goal setting is critical to not getting on the roller coaster ride.  It is the simple psychology of gratification.  By achieving a goal, you are more likely to be satisfied.  Third, is research the literature to identify potential equipment within your means that may achieve your goal.  Fourth is auditioning the equipment to validate the reviews you read and determining if your goal is achieved.  I have been successful in using this process and making substantially satisfying improvements in SQ, and not changing my system often for the sake of change.  Another important attribute to develop is to be able rob have a critical listening mode and a musical appreciation mode of listening. The critical listening mode is important for equipment evaluation but it can distract you from appreciating the composition or performance.  The musical appreciation mode lets you focus on the composition and performance without distractions from critical listening.  Learn to turn off the critical listening mode and be immersed in the musical appreciation mode.  Finally, it is easy to get addicted to media hype regarding the next best thing.  This is often termed the fear of missing out (FOMO).  In psychology behind this, in part, is termed hedonic adaptation where the initial satisfaction with something fades quickly, and we seek new experiences to feel happy again.  It becomes cyclical.  In my situation, I attribute not being afflicted by FOMO to my goal setting process and being satisfied long term after goals were achieved.  This requires realization that there will be something better beyond my means, but that will not produce a substantial increase in the benefit/cost ratio.  

Well, the thing about a hobby is generally they are active.  You can't just sit still if it's going to be a hobby...thus the need to churn equipment even if one already loves the sound. 

This is why I focus on curating content as much or more than on hardware.  Making and organizing playlists and such is an active, rewarding part of the hobby that shows off the hardware without taxing the credit card.  Allows me to slow down on the equipment churn...

See, now tube amplifiers are all the rage again - it was class d about 3 years ago - it was solid state about 6 months ago - whenever i have tubes - i want solid state, whenever i have solid state - then i want tubes - then ill try class d in the meantime

@smargo Tubes have been ’back’ since sometime in the 1970s when ARC was founded as Electronic Industries. Later ARC was spun off and Electronic Industries made circuit boards instead. During the 1980s Harry Pearson of The Absolute Sound liked the ARC tube amps and so tube amps ramped up. Class D really didn’t get a foothold until about 2000 although it has been around since the 1960s (and originally proposed in the 1950s). Lately class D has advanced enough that it can have some of the better quality of tubes without the downsides. Solid state (class A or AB) has been doing much better as well.

So I think tube amps are on borrowed time; the war in Ukraine has driven tube prices up worldwide. Right now tube producers can’t make them fast enough; but as the incursion of class D amplifiers into the musical instrument market (which is the main buyer of tubes, not high end audio) continues, things will look very different in the next ten years.

But here’s the tricky bit. The spec sheets we’ve all seen on amplifiers really don’t tell us what we need to know (how they will sound) and so we’ve all seen the phenomena where it measures well but sounds bad. That isn’t a failing of measurements in general; its a failing of having the right measurements so we can correlate them with what we hear ( you need to know the harmonic spectrum created by the amp at one Watt, whether distortion rises with frequency, and what the distortion spectrum looks like at higher power levels for starters and then you need to know what that means to the ear).

So the spec sheets have mostly been marketing and in that regard have a lot in common with the Emperor’s New Clothes. Because we’ve essentially been lied to for so many decades, any audiophile knows you simply have to take it home and see what you think in your own system.

Well, the thing about a hobby is generally they are active.  You can't just sit still if it's going to be a hobby...thus the need to churn equipment even if one already loves the sound. 

This is a good point. Hobbies are active.

But what do YOU think this hobby is: kaleidoscope or mountain?

For me, it's not about trying to get to the top of a mountain, but about turning a kaleidoscope and enjoying new combinations. (And not necessarily for more money.)

Those who don't like kaleidoscopes should turn them until they get a view they like, and then tape it so it cannot turn again.