Miller So glad I do not fall into your category there, but I do fear that millions of drivers do.
Spent my formative years piloting motorcycles around some of the twistiest tracks in England, nothing quite like them anywhere here in the USA. Google, Olivers Mount, Cadwell Park, Three Sisters etc. You are absolutely correct, used to have a ball running around the inside or outside of uber expensive and new race replica bikes on a couple of different steeds I had just for the track, stripped down to the core to gain as much power to weight ratio as possible, one even ran total loss ignition, battery power only no generator.
Both looked like crap but were rock solid and as safe as any bike on a track could be, all money and time spent on brakes and tires.
Smooth was ALWAYS the key to going fast and trying to keep your cool, once you get excited and angry then you get ragged and lose time around the track
For some years I was a Porsche Club track Driving Instructor. All kinds of cars and drivers come to the track. At first they know only what every Driver’s License holder knows: nothing. Absolutely nothing. Less than nothing even. A combination of BS and lies.
First thing they all do is head over to the fastest, lowest, wingiest looking car they can find to gape and gaw while trying not to drool all over their brand new Pilotti’s.
Then they all go out and, confronted with the reality of just how much total concentration and just how freaking hard it is to drive well, not to mention how expensive it is, they quit. Usually before they get very good at what should have been the reason for coming in the first place, driving.
Which is a shame.
A persistent few, the wise ones anyway, they notice a few things. Like there are some guys who day after day seem to really be having fun and even manage to steadily and regularly pass in spite of driving much older, cheaper, less crazy looking cars. Cars that don’t even need a trailer to get to the track. Cars they actually enjoy driving on everyday public roads.
Some even come to understand what the Instructor said about smoother being faster. The Zen-, or Yoda- if you prefer, like saying that to go fast don’t drive fast, drive well.
Other guys eventually notice how fast they are. Start asking questions. Which are always, How much horsepower? Or something like that. Never, Why’d you take that line? How do you look so smooth? Or anything like that.
And the skilled driver, because that’s what he is now, to his credit he does try to explain. But they have no patience. Off they run to gape and gaw at the Next Big Thing being rolled off a trailer.
I do envy those nice normal people who find a good set-up and just enjoy their records for the next 10-20 years. I've been able to squeeze two + years out of one very good rig. Speakers have been the longest lasting components in my house at four years. Good speakers are much harder to find (and carry and ship...) than the electronics. We're playing, that's what we do. Our stereos are better than anything 99% of the people have.
Yes, At the end of your life (say 67) when hopefully your kids are on their own and you did well financially and have money to blow you can set up your Ultimate Hi Fi. Then you can spend the rest of your money on records. Well, maybe the occasional cartridge and tube.
In New England, we call him the man who invented dark. Now, can we PLEASE get back to the topic at hand?? All this friendly chitchat is going to cause all the serious audiophiles to quit the forum and it will be forced to shut down. Honestly!
Apparently Lucas ( Aka The Prince of Darkness to most British"sports car" owners) was looking the other way that day.....
Tbh although I lived in England for 40 years I never owned even one example of what were our idea of a "sports car". I was lucky as Ford had just brought out the Capri and 3000GT was just the tool for an aspiring 18 year old on a perpetual hunt for...... use your imagination.
Unfortunately I found out the too hard way that their handling sadly lagged behind the performance as I reversed it into a lamppost at 70mph. Funny I could have sworn that post was in front of me when I entered the bend.....
Quickly back to the Roger Taylor car song. He actually wrote it and dedicated it to one of the bands roadies who drove a Triumph TR4, but the exhaust note was considered a little emancipated hence Rogers Alfa became the stand in.
My system has been unchanged since late 2015. I am quite content and quite done. At this point the only changes I anticipate are a new phono cartridge one day (I’ve had my cartridge well over a decade) and repairs, when and if necessary.
I’d guess he did need to make it louder. Double the amount if it was convertible. I am not sure how it affected soundstage, though, but there was a fuse box in the front so miracles were just a pop of the cover away.
Also, no matter what model the car, it must have had a stereo in it....the question is, did Roger Taylor feel the need to upgrade it? (Just trying to stay on topic, lest I offend any audio deities looking down upon me...)
I may be wrong but I remember Alfa Romeo Spiders having just that written on them (except the number for displacement, or Veloce on some iterations, maybe Graduate in the U.S.A. to capitalize on the movie, etc.). I think Alfa Romeo model was actually called Spider while some other brands had "model+ spider" (124 Spider, for example). Sort of, Alfa Romeo Spider pinpointing to just one model.
I just remembered how we ended up with this topic. It was because of the Queen song. Ok, not too far from audio.
Interesting topic. NO doubt this is two hobbies, music and gear. If it is a hobby can it ever be over? Would you want it to be over? I have other hobbies, scale R/C model airplane for example. We have a saying; "It's finished when you stop working on it". Is there anyone who does NOT use the same handful of excerpts to evaluate a new component? This is not the music hobby. With Tidal, Roon and Idagio we have countless new musics to explore, all with the best sound we can wring out of our system at the moment.
I am aware of that, MG. My point is a little friendly banter mixed in with the topic is harmless and can be quite humorous and entertaining. A big difference from trolling and/or derailing a thread. And if it upsets certain people that much, perhaps it would be better for their wellbeing if they eliminated that aggravation from their lives....And yes, I agree with you that many threads have quickly devolved into sniping and trolling. And yes, I am not nearly as serious about wringing every single molecule of potential out of my system as some on here. But, I’ve learned to separate the wheat from the chaff and simply scroll past the nonsense. I’ve also learned a great deal on how to enhance my system’s sound through this forum, without-admittedly- having much in the way of returning the favor. More parasitic than symbiotic, I'm afraid....
Nothing wrong with humor, I'm chuckling a little as I speak. It's just that many of the threads here get dumbed down so quickly it takes away from the readers wanting to actually be a part of serious listening practices and learning. You may not wish to go as far as the next guy, but shouldn't you give them the choice?
@MG-Oh, jeez. You know, not every one lives, breathes and obsessed over all things audio every waking moment. Some of us actually have lives and interests outside the hobby. So terribly sorry that a little friendly socialising goes off topic now and again. If this offends your sensibilities or irks you to the point of throwing a wet blanket on your perception of what rigid standards this forum should adhere to, perhaps one should look for the exit door and return to his more controlling surroundings. In other words, if you don’t like the ’tune’, change the record.....
I see no way for an OP that asks the burning question, Can the addiction of Audio Nervosa be cured., to spiral out of control. I’m at a loss for an explanation. Maybe Uber nose 🤥
Uber here’s an old army expression: never poop in your own mess kit.
I am afraid I may have to agree with some of your post there MG. And yes also admit part culpability to that end, usually when GK gets involved we end up spiraling downhill at a rapid rate of knots. I do appreciate all the serious and on topic posts this thread has garnered to date as well though.
Done with the hobby? no. Done with these forums? …..
Any audio forum that can not remain on topic shows the lack of interest or the lack of long term interest in the subject. While other audio forums go deeper into the topics this one seems to die out quickly and ends up in troll zone or completely off topic. For the serious audiophile coming up here the last few weeks looking for the exit sign is more likely than hanging out, or so I am being told and witnessing.
Years back I owned a Fiat Pininfarina Spyder 2000. I quickly learned that ’Fiat’ is the Italian word for rust, and the acronym "Fix it again, Tony...!"
I still have 4,000 LPs and 2,000 78s in storage which I haven't auditioned yet. I have sold 18,000 LPs & 78s over the last 35 years. I made up my own criteria for keeping a recording-I have to want to play it 3 times annually (cannot be done in actuality as I have 25,000 LPs, 7,000 78s and 7,000 CDs).
My cable manufacturing friend has improved his CD playback immensely using his new COS Engineering H1 DAC. It beats the pants off our very analog (warm) sounding all in one CD players (EAR Acute and highly modified Pioneer DV 05). It could be that he added immense power supply caps, superior A/C cabling and vibration resistant material to the chassis to allow the dual laser Pioneer to track the CD more accurately. It beat out a Meridian Ultra DAC in a high end system with an Audio Research CD transport (a recent player).
My other friend Frank/Oregonpapa has extremely modified the same Pioneer DV-05 with Synergistic Research fuses and PP total contact, omega e-mats and now the gate to also wildly improve his CD sound to high end status.
I desire to be “done” because audio is a means to an end. The end is an appreciation of the music.
I have got my system up to where, while I know it’s not likely the best, it’s at least 90% there.
I have 5,800 LPs. It will take me years to go through all of them just on what I currently have.
After a while, like whats the point of fussing with it? Records having the wide range of engineering quality that they do, there’s enuf fussing around with each LP as it is.
Depends on how far the technology can and will go. I think 🤔 as a headphone and loud speaker user you can stay put for quite a while if everything in your soundchain has some degree of performing on an elite level.
The audio world really shifts every 7 to 10 years in terms of huge leaps in audio tech performance and quality.
fleschler, the irony for you is that all that time and expense and you still have a long way to go. The reason I say that is because the problems with scattered laser light and the vibrating and fluttering CD can not (rpt not) be recovered by anything you do downstream. Not cables, tweaks, speakers, fuses, room treatment. The information that’s lost as soon as the laser strikes the CD is gone forever. That’s the very first thing that happens - Distortion and noise. And it has always been so. Everybody is used to by now. That’s why audiophiles deep down inside are dissatisfied with their sound, they know deep down there’s got to be more to it than this. 😛
Please, no angry emails telling me have much everyone loves their system’s sound.
Unreceivedogma I also have stabilized my system over the years in my main audio system . SME IV modified tonearm - 30 years Amp/Pre-Amp/Phono pre-amp - 20 years Audio Interface SUT - 35 years (maybe a Cartridge Benz Ruby - 13 years (time soon for a replacement) VPI TNT VI+ - 13 years VPI 19-4 turntable (for 78s) - 38 years Legacy Focus - 20 years (maybe upgrade in the future) EAR Acute - 12 years (maybe separate high end DAC in future) Cabling - I'm a beta tester but only 3 sets of speaker cables in 20 years Stillpoints - both original and mostly current models when they were first introduced Synergistic Research HFTs, Fuses and Outlets-when they were first introduced Shakti Hallographs - 2 pair 15 years Townsend Seismic Sink - 13 years Walker Talisman - 13 years Equipment Stands - 22 years Omega E- Mats - when they were first introduced The Gate - future purchase?
Basically, I have maintained most of my components for decades with more recent tweaks adding their abilities. I used to change equipment more often because I was dissatisfied with the sound but there are many tweaks that I added which could have improved their abilities. Sure, I'd like a Kronos turntable and $10-$15K cartridge to go along with my 25,000 LPs. There is also a possible SUT upgrade to the
Zesto Andros Allasso which uses even higher end Jensen transformers and uses them to adjust impedance rather than my using a resistor in my Audio Interface.
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