Can one ever be "done" in this hobby?

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of........

Pretty sure my answer is quite definitely no.... doh!

Saw a listing for a set of Maggies, brand new in the box at a very fair price imho.

So yes I had to buy them as I always wondered how they may sound.

Placed them in system last night and deeply impressed, surprising bass extension and superb vocals and acoustic instruments. Another nice aspect is there is not a small listening sweet spot, I can move around the room and it sounds good in most areas, even right behind them!

I am thinking my room and its limitations especially on speaker placement actually worked much in their favour, about 3ft from back wall and 4ft from side walls and approx. 8ft apart.

Of course now I have to wonder just how much better some of the bigger Maggies might sound...…..

And on it goes!

Yes, once we stop attending all those audio club meetings + stop hosting your audiophile buddied at your home.

Real hard for me, too.

Sorry, tried that. Didn’t work. 😢 For me SOUND=MUSIC

Concentrate on the fine points of the MUSIC, not the SOUND and you’ll be happy.

You'd think with all the improvements we hear about from one year to the next that the best audio system for a given price today would wipe the floor with the best audio system at the same inflation-adjusted price point from ten years ago.
I'm not so sure that's true. In fact, I think we'd find the difference subtle.  Which is a reason to pause.
I only came back to this because my old system broke down.  I did not find speakers at the equivalent price point that blew away my old Thiels. In fact I found quite a few that didn't hold a candle to them.  As for amps - well the differences are subtle there even among current models.  DACs have improved, I think.

For me, the hobby has three aspects; the music, the gear and the technology.  As a result, at any given point in time, any of the three may beckon.  I usually ask myself, how much am I willing to lose when its time to move on and try something different.  This allows me to make "no regret" type decisions and enjoy where I am in the moment...knowing that its OK to move on when it feels right to do so.

For me - the sound is just part of it. The music is another part. I’d take my favorite music on a lessor playback than best playback of a track I don’t enjoy. But the tweaking, the look, the stuff is likely the biggest part. I tweak about everything I have. Sometimes, I make it worse, but it is always fun to tweak. That said, we are remodeling a house right now and  I can justify thinks for work, but for listening, that is not so easy.  My computer streams and drives a Qutest DAC, using the fancy cables, Goal Zero 1000 battery powered (sometimes) Cary CAD-300SEI SET amp with way more power than I need, and some Watkins gen 4 speakers, REL sub, and Sony MDR-Z1R headset, with RODE mic.    Its for work, as I said.  When I leave work, I don't listen to it (but I get 8+ hours a day).
I think about other speakers I might try, but have a hard time believing any bookshelf/desktop will be better for near the $ of the Watkins.  So I'm done - for work. 
When the remodel is done I think I'll find some budget higher power tube stuff.  If the wife enjoys it, it could become very expensive. 

I have amassed a very nice system to date. 
DeHavilland UV3 preamp
Lumiin D2 streamer 
Rega Saturn R CD player / DAC ( currently using as a DAC) 
My treasured CEC TL2 CD transport
Pass Labs 260.8 monoblocks
Rythmik F12 subs
Audio Physic Tempo plus speakers
Nordost Blue Heaven IC's and PC's
I know I'm a little silly and  "top heavy" for amplification but I never really need to worry about enough or power or the quality of the power amps when I'm ready to upgrade speakers. IC's and PC's I'm content with..... For now!

"I celebrate his entire catalog!"

Whose haircut? Yours or his?

His voice was better post haircut.

That is a good one!

Did Michael Bolton ever "sing"??

😂😂😂😂😂

Is Michael Bolton still singing?

Prof.


You had me at Michael Bolton ......

Maybe if someone wants to be "done" spending  money on their system they should do something like a Clockwork Orange retraining therapy.

Commit to playing only Michael Bolton, Wang Chung, and Mumble Rap only for a month.  Your interest in and spending on your stereo system will likely subside. 

Nope, I am beyond saving!

Just bought 2sets of speakers because dirt cheap and always wanted to try these particular ones and seriously eying up a Well Tempered Labs TT.

Do I need any of these items? Course not but decided what the heck does that matter!

Whatever I do not like will go towards upgrading my daughter's system so no loser in the game at all.

"The audio thing has just sort of gone away"


That's why you are here right?

^^^^^
I respectfully disagree. The whole point of this hobby is to enjoy and be immersed in your music. Once that's accomplished, what more is there, really? 

An audiophile will never be done.  The whole point of the hobby is to twiddle.
Once you have reached stasis, you’re no longer an audiophile.

I’m getting close to being done.

Had a VTL tube preamp for 20 years. Upgraded to next VTL preamp. Telefunken tubes - Done.

SS amp died a couple years ago. New better SS amp. Probably done.

Same cables for 20 years. Upgraded cables. Need to upgrade one more set of interconnects.

On good recordings, I can now hear singers inhaling, timbres are correct, & you can hear the size of the recording room as if you are there.

I’m close to being done...

The Holy Grail, its the journey' not the destination.

This has been posted a few times and is so true. The better are systems sound the more we want more.

Weekend at Bernie’s is the end of it all,
Once you have entered, for help you will call...

Big black nemesis, thick green emesis....

Hey, this is almost as much fun as Weekend at Bernie’s.

Dead man's party- Oingo Boingo.

Sporange....

Give me a word that rhymes with orange.

Well not much rhymes with nemesis of course so I can see it......😲😲


 Going Underground ... The Jam.

True classic

Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals
Everybody’s happy when the dead come home
Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis
No one moves a muscle when the dead come home...

Shriekback- Nemesis.
Probably the only song in history with the word parthenogenesis in it.

Back to back, belly to belly
I don’t give a damn, I done dead already
Oho back to back, belly to belly
At the Zombie Jamboree

One female Zombie wouldn’t behave
See how she jumping out of the grave
In one hand a quarter rum
In the other hand she knocking Congo drum
Believe singer start to make his rhyme
The Zombies are racking their bones in thyme
One bystander had this to say
T was a pleasure to see the Zombies break away

Back to back, belly to belly
I don’t give a damn, I done dead already
Oho… 🧟‍♂️

By chance, I heard "Le Moribond" by Jacques Brel today and could not be done with it so continued with its copy "Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks (lyrics significantly changed). It is a great song, I think. It is about being done in this hobby of life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h02pNUKInBo

(there are subtitles in English, if anyone is interested in lyrics and is not adept at French, they may be worth thinking about)

I heard 'Time of the season' by the Zombies today. There, back on track...!

No worries. We will not mention cables.

Please refrain from turning this thread into another trainwreck!
The Management.........

No thanks. I’m not into the whole zombie thing. 

I just came from underground. It was not that crowded. You should try some day.

Are you planning on going underground soon? 

Your current bare-bones system would fit there perfectly.

I did not anticipate that afterlife sound systems would be subject to peer review. 

Get the best audio and enjoy the best music. Hobbies portrays our soul so never let it go. Just have fund and enjoy what you've got, and improve what must be improved.

@unreceivedogma It is great that you are happy with your system! 

I think this is kind of a mood thing but some of us may  need to actively decide to be happy with what we got. And we may of couse change mood a couple of years later.

I do think you should try a newer cd though, a lot have happened on that front in 35 years.

And your evidence that Spotify works 6-ft under or auditory functions persist post-death is where?

Not necessarily.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/catacombo-sound-system_n_3874456

When one is 6-ft under, then it’s time to call the hobby done. 

Once I retired at the end of 2011, giving me more time to actually play the full sized system instead of listening mostly through my Grados, I got restless and upgraded my cd player and speakers a year later to an Oppo 93 and a pair of Maggies. My wife was critical of the expense (which really wasn’t much considering I bought both used and got excellent deals from two kind folks) until she heard the results. We played music non stop for 15 hours the first day everything was hooked up and my only negative was thinking about how I should have done it sooner.

Would anything short of equipment failure bring me back to the marketplace as a potential buyer? Not yet... but never is a long time...

I got that part right away......

But as you decided to embellish the lesson so did I.......