Do you spend more time analyzing the sound of your system, worrying it could be better?

Generally information in audio forum is about "sound" more than about the best interpretion of Barber Quartet adagio , which is by Bernstein by the way among all other versions ...Try it....

You cannot listen music without listening to sound at some point for some time , ask a maestro, or a musician and you cannot assess what a good sound is without knowing how a natural sounding instrument timbre or voice can sound...This is acoustic matter....And musical knowledge can help....

When the relation between your sound speakers/room is tuned, and the right pieces of gear well chosen for this acoustic process , we all listen music in ectasy forgetful but thankful to our acoustic well working installation...

Before that , we are obsessed, frustrated, and embark in an upgrade chasing of the tails...Because it is more easy to give money than study acoustic...

And because we dont know what is "timbre" or listener envelopment/sound source ratio, or imaging soundscape , or Schoeder time we speak about bass and highs or mid range appropriated for this musical style or this other favorite styles not knowing that a good acoustic , and well designed pieces of gear must be GOOD when they are acoustically optimized for all musical genres anyway heavy metal included...

Then "listening music" or "listening sounds" does not means the same for all people at different point in time in their audio acoustic journey....

I listen music now after i got married with "sound"... One is the bride, the sound, i spend all day with her; the other is my mistress, the music, and my nights are for her ...They are my twins... 😁😊 The taste of bread is better cooked by my bride but making love more exciting with his sister...It is impossible to choose between one of them and they know it, the little rascals i love so much....

That’s about as concise as a version as the false-dilemma driving this thread can get.

False dilemma: Either you love your system’s sound (and are just agog, all the time, passive) or you are neurotic (frantic, chasing the dream).

The third option is the happy tinkerer. The experimenter.

Very clear thinking!

Thanks...

This false dilemna is related to another one...

FALSE DILEMMA:

Either you make of your gear brand name a fetich, claiming that it is your subjective TASTE,

Or you claim that the measuring specs tell all there is to tell about your gear, and then the objective measuring process and tools are the fetich...

the third option is acoustic/psycho-acoustic process where the SUBJECTIVE EARS and the OBJECTIVE MEASURES are CORRELATED continuously in acoustic experiments and tuning...

It is the reason why i became an experimenter in acoustic...

We listen to the system/ room relation not to the gear ALONE or DIRECTLY , and the acoustic measures are AT LEAST as important as the electrical one because in acoustic we LISTEN to assess and test what we just measure in the room ...

Well said baylinor...

My experience is the same modulo acoustic...

😊

I wish i could explain myself so clearly and with few words as you...

This hobby is about " plurality" yes, (not universal perfection, with a universal recipe, and some universally good gear) because of the acoustic specificity of any content in a room , of any gear and of any particular ears... And it is about fun learning of acoustic or /and electronical design yes...

Music was fun all along....From my few bucks battery radio at 13 years old till my system/room now...

Thanks to say it so eloquently...

In other words, the challenge of upgrade-itis isn’t about material after all; it’s about a dogmatic and myopic idea -- that "perfection" is singular and final. If perfection is about plurality and change, the "disease" of audiophiles goes right away, with the hobby left intact.

I am in the same situation than you... And i am truthful...

But with a bit of advance compared to many people OVER upgrading gear alternatives possiblities compared to acoustic ...

It is called acoustic method... So powerful that even if an upgrade of gear is possible and it is always possible, in my case i even know what piece of gear to buy but i dont give a damn , guess why?

Acoustic cues are mutiples, and together they constitute an INTEGRAL SET so intricate acoustically that almost no SINGLE piece of gear would have been enough to improve my system on ALL counts WITHOUT acoustic method...

In my case upgrading all my system will cost me at least 10,000 bucks, perhaps 15,ooo i cannot be sure here... My actual system cost me 500 bucks.. 😊 I listen music now , sound is no more a frustration, and it is enough NOW because i have it... Thanks to Helhmoltz not to the "upgrade" of one piece of gear...When a system is relatively good at some point in our journey, we must look for acoustic, not for an "upgrade" of a single piece of gear alone...It will be deceptive to do so most of the times......

I call what i have achieve with acoustic method and a low cost system : a minimal acoustic threshold of satisfaction...It exist objectively but vary a bit from one individual and system to another one...

But when a piano fill the room with his bass note in 3D it is enough to enjoy music without frustration and without lying to ourself, even if there exist for sure better possible acoustic state or experience...

Ratio S.Q. /price is a tag also in our journey, willing it or not....It is here that acoustic method can optimize ANY system to his true potential...Most of the times it is enough...it was for me...

Nothing is more fun than tuning your room save listening music at higher quality level each week during this long process... 😁😊

I suspect a lot of people who answered no aren’t being truthful and have the constant desire to wish to upgrade. I am currently in a good place, but I know that to improve my current set up I would need to ascend to a whole new price area that I am just not willing to enter

No, it could ALWAYS be better sound than mine for sure...

But all is a question about S.Q. /price ratio...Mine is over the roof at this price scale ...

Diminishing returns law play some part if we think about upgrade at some levels scale near one another and not too far away of one anther for sure...

And more importantly i am lucky enough to have acoustic control over the room in my case...

i dont bother about upgrade and i dont bother about my sound quality at all...no more frustrations...

I listen music.... 😁😊

Acoustic method surpass most upgrading of a piece of gear ...No reviewer claim that, i claim it...They sell product, i motivate people to learn about acoustic at low cost...

And it is better to understand why a system/ room may sound so good instead of just plugging a piece of gear in the wall and claiming that it sound good whitout ever knowing why....

I know exactly why and HOW my system/room sound good, i dont only claim it... How and why did i know it ?

Because i can modify all aspect of acoustic cues at will: timbre, dynamic, soundstage, Lev/asw ratio, bass impact and clarity... Thanks to Helmholtz...