Have you reached your end point with this addictive hobby?


I wonder if out there somewhere there’s a support group called Audiophile Anonymous 😂 that addresses Audiophiles constant need for perfection. For my self I would probably benefit from a couple of these group sessions. Putting humor aside there’s some truth to this hobby being addictive and at some point there has to be an end point where you are there and the need to upgrade serves no useful purpose. I can’t say I’m 100% there yet, but something inside me tells me I’m getting close to hitting rock bottom and when I do maybe I’ll see the light, or maybe not 😂!

hiendmmoe

I’m done.  Really!  Mainly because I’m 86 years old and my ears, while still fine without hearing aids, realistically cannot appreciate music details the way 20 year old ears can.  But also because I splurged a lot to make my system complete in 2024.  I bought a Luxman CL-38uC tube preamp and a Luxman MQ-88uC tube amplifier to become the perfect match for my Quad ESL-63 US Monitor electrostatic speakers.  I bought an  Ayre DX-5 DSD SACD player.  I had my Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4004 turntable completely restored.  I had my Nakamichi Dr-1 cassette deck completely restored.   I bought Iconoclast power cables to replace my stock power cables so that all my power cables are precisely produced to a length that will keep them off the floor and from crossing one another.  If I were so inclined to spend more money, which I am not, I would buy some sort of power conditioner, but I really don’t feel the need to do more.  For the curious, my other sources are all dedicated to streaming, a Roon Nucleus, an Audio Alchemy DMP-1 Media Player Roon Ready and a Berkeley Audio DAC Reference Series 2 (I do wish I could afford to go to the Series 3.)
 

 My system sounds great to me and I don’t feel the need to do more except to sit back and listen.  And enjoy, of course!

Since of January 2024, I reached my endpoint with near SOTA equipment=

Von Schweikert VR9 SE MK2 new foundation sub amps and Masterbuilt wire

Westminster Labs REI mono block amps

Lampizator Poseidon DAC (pre-amp everyone says could be even better but it sounds fabulous with my analog set up)

Westminster Labs power cables and XLR interconnects 

Jay’s Audio CD transport CDt3 Mk3

Those are the majority of my listening room equipment which I won’t have to change for the next 25 years (I’m 69).  

Depends upon what your goal was at the beginning.  For me, it's a journey to better musical enjoyment, and the spirit of continuous improvement on the gear side has collaterally opened my ears to music I'd never heard before.  The classic rock I grew up with is now the occasional listen, while I explore the endless caverns and forms of jazz and international music with a splash of classical thrown in here and there.  When I upgrade a piece in the system, it's driven more now by soft features (convenience) or curiosity (single ended amps), or the desire to compare (recently bought a little 832A Nobsound amp just to hear how ChiFi compared with my better amps.  It was a good value for $50, but not a player).  I don't really want to arrive at the destination just yet, but could easily live with what I've got for the rest of my days.

I agree with some of the points above that the synergy of the room has a huge effect on the quality of your listening experience.  Over the years I have made numerous improvements and I am currently content with my system.  I frequently visit retail stores, high-end club meetings, and as many high-end setups as I can and I keep trying to find one that sounds better than mine and I can't.  My system is relatively modest compared to some of the systems I listen to, but for me it works.  I get almost equal gratification from knowing that I bought every piece I own as lightly used, second hand equipment - and for me, that makes it sounds even better. 

I suppose I may upgrade something at some point down the road, but at this point I am 100% happy with my system and I love listening to it.

I fully understand the addictive aspect of this hobby and, "maybe", the need for there to be an end point. However this thought also leads to considering other hobbies and the question then comes up - what or where is the end point for these other hobbies? I can't think of any other hobby where the hobbiest declares that -whatever that is- to be the end. Isn't it almost necessarily a quality of any hobby- in order to qualify as a hobby- that you keep working at it? How do you stay interested in anything if it is always the same and you have no interest in doing or having anything different? At one time a friend of mine was considering audio as a hobby and we discussed this choice. I remember telling my friend about how I and my father before me enjoyed this hobby. I also advised him if he decided to move forward with this as a hobby to photograph his money because it will make a nice memory.