2. amps-preamps
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a rant

after 30 years of being so enamored with stereo equipment - im ok now just listening to music

im no longer chasing - whenever i have bought new equipment it never sounded as good as i think the reviewer thinks it does. maybe 5% sounded really good and the other 95% - im still waiting for them to break in.

My fantastical brain wanted every piece of equipment to sound incredible. i think the key word is "chasing". 

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 

Im just saying - this hobby is the "space mountain" of roller coasters - ya think!

 

smargo
curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
5,086 posts
 

@jbuhl

Yes, but do they sound any different?😀

And your building a rig (boots,liner,binding,wax,ski edge angles) right down to sock thickness.

 

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
1,017 posts
 

@curiousjim

Yes, but do they sound any different?😀

HAHA! Well as in our sound system; They do perform differently and as many have pointed out; is that little extra performance gain worth the spend. At some point you just need to settle in a enjoy the music/ride.  Unless you have sheik money then keep on spending!

smargo's avatar
smargo OP
53 posts
 

i think its very confronting just listening to music - and not listening to how the equipment sounds. settling in and just enjoying the music takes being open minded. 

Ive had well over 100 pieces of gear ranging from solid state amps - tube amps - class d amps - class g amps (arcam) - cd players - dacs - streaming devices - turntables - speaker cables - interconnects - like someone said - its a hobby - what else should you be doing.

same as golf - im a golf enthusiast - for 30 years ive chased this tip and that swing method - all promising to lead me to a golf perfection

so what i see now as with stereo and golf - its not the hobbies so much im addicted to - its chasing that im addicted to - so ive joined a 12 step program for chasing - ill let you know how it turn out. 

larsman's avatar
larsman
2,166 posts
 

To me, the hobby is the buying and selling and upgrading of gear, where I'm actively doing something. I would never consider anything like listening to music or watching movies or reading to be 'hobbies'. Those are just things I've done for as long as I've been alive. 

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,273 posts
 

I am not sure that audio was a hobby for me.

If i think about it my goal was not buying and trying gear pieces but succeeding with low cost system to reach complete satisfaction about sound and understanding how to do it.

Acoustics dont change with gear pricing scale...

I succeeded after many years...

I had no hobby it seems anymore... ( i changed 2 pieces of gear this month but it was necessary not an hobbyist action)

I am interested anyway by reading about audio and acoustics...I will call it one of my hobby anyway...devil

 

 

I listen music...

 

To stay in the mood of this thread , i suffered very badly without speakers for a month...

But take it with a grain of salt...

 

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