I spent many years putting together my headphone system… starting in the early 2000’s. I spent a lot of time on Head-Fi. Although I have had some sort of really good headphone system for over fifty years.
I had a great main audio system and wanted my headphone system to reach the
“magical” level. That level at which the music, some of which you would “never” listen to would completely captivate you. This was my office system, it would allow me to dive into a work problem and the better the music the more I could let go and intellectually dive into the problem.
I think I worked on it for four or five years until I finally reached that tipping point… it became magical (many of us know what that means). I think the last pieces were a power conditioner. Anyway, no one in the office knew my system, hidden behind my computer and monitors was worth about $7K.
But the thing is, when you reach this level.. everything changes… upgrades are no longer required, the music becomes captivating and, well, it is just magical.
My feeling is some of the folks on Head-Fi either know this or have experienced it. It is this dedication to get better sound that drives us. I think it is important that the journey be the enjoyment… and then if you are really fortunate, the destination is simply incredible.
I am really fortunate. The journey has been incredible. I was a Geologist and spent a decade with the best portable systems wondering all over the West. I worked internationally for the next thirty years… and the memories like listening to ERA (the band), while looking out my window in Tokyo, and grooving to tunes in the middle of nowhere in mainland China… and dining in the Bankton Hotel in Scotland while listening to my favorite Scottish band are absolutely irreplaceable memories from all over the world. I also collected music from all over the world.
The real pay off for me came after retirement when I upgraded my system 2x. For the last 3 - 4 years I have been in real heaven… now having time to listen. I spend about 2 - 3 hours a day with my main system and about an hour with my headphone system. I find it hard to pull myself away from either… every day. They are the most amazing thing in my life… the result of over fifty years of learning, enjoyment, and investing. You can see my systems under my UseID.
Worth the thousands of hours of research and thousands of dollars.