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Hi-Fi and the Folly of Perfection

I wonder whether at a certain point the pursuit of absolute hi-fi is in danger of blending into a folly of perfection. As I sit listening to my--frankly madly expensive-- set up, my enjoyment of the music I should be listening to becomes plagued with doubts - should I shift my chair a few inches left or right to get a better focus on the stereo image? Should I toe the speakers in a little more? Should I move my wife closer to the corner of the room to improve bass response?

I sometimes philosophize that the audiophile bug is a special--pleasantly harmless--form of nostalgia; a thankfully less embarrassing analogue of the hankering certain middle-aged men have for absurdly inappropriate sports cars, motorbikes, or even second wives. . . .

I would illustrate what I mean with a personal story. The summer before I went off to university in 1982, I bought my first "system," an Amstrad 8080 stereo tuner and cassette player with detachable speakers that cost me about £30 from my local Woolworth:

This was the system I discovered music on; discovered my own musical tastes, and I suppose it's what set me on the path to where I am today with a set-up whose speaker wires could buy me fifteen or more Amstrads.

I know that, without question, the sound I hear coming from my speakers today is "better" in all sorts of ways than what I heard back in the 80's. But I do, in my more self-analytic moments, wonder if "better" is, well, better. How much is one's endless quest for audio perfection (a quest I adore and wouldn't give up for anything) actually a quest to listen again with the ears of that young man diligently respooling mangles cassettes with a pencil and a lot of patience?

I wonder if anyone else indulges in such lugubrious ruminations?

 

grauerbar

Showing 1 response by alexatpos

alexatpos
1,170 posts
 

When I was 15, had a cousin that bought new Suzuki 750cc motorcycle and often he would take me for a ride. To have such bike, was a 'dream' for me. Few years later, bought similar sized bike and had a friend who had the exact bike that my cousin have had. Naturally, we swap them and finally I had an opportunity to drive my 'dream' bike. Than, went to see that my cousin to tell him that story...his answer was: 'do you realise now that such dreams are 'biggus dickus' (as Monthy Python guys would say)

Same sensation with first decent car, or piece of hi fi gear. That feeling is hard to ovecome with new 'toys' now, when we are grown up (well, sort of) which is quite understandable. As one becomes wiser, he understands where 'real' values are, no matter how still great the pleasure might be when enjoying 'trivial' things as 'planes, trains and automibiles', or hi fi systems, for that matter...

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