G13!, great to see you again Joe! My take on this is that this hobby should have some sort of direction. It should have a destination. Once that destination is reached, there is not that much more future buying needed. Maybe a big step up as a result of having a lot more money than you did 5 or 10 years ago. Maybe a new player when a new format takes hold. A cable here, a cable there. Maybe a used piece of equipment for sentimental reasons. Something built or modified because it is both fun and educational. Not the kind of turnover that would make a fast food restaurant blush. The most important investment one can make is in themselves. More important than ANY piece of equipment one will EVER buy. First, get to know everything about your tastes, and what you want out of this hobby. What kind of music and sound you like, what kind of room you will listening in, and your budget. You will then be able to seek out and buy(after a thorough audition) the kind of equipment that will provide you with LASTING(!!!) enjoyment of your music. Ask yourself, what is the purpose of me being an audiophile? Is it to be music lover or a gear lover? That will probably answer more questions, and be the best fortune teller there is in this whole hobby. If you are a gear lover, and find the music secondary(we KNOW audio has WAYYYYYYY more of these people than admit to it), read this next sentence very carefully(read it again if needed). YOU WILL NEVER GET OFF THE MERRY-GO-ROUND!!! There it is. Straight, no chaser. Face facts. These people are always tweaking, modifying, upgrading, changing. Saying that they are getting more enjoyment out of their system today than ever before, but appearing as crazy as a loon. The only difference between them and a madman is that they are not mad.
How does one get off the merry-go-round?
I'm interested in hearing from or about music lovers who have dropped out of the audio "hobby." I don't mean you were content with your system for 6 weeks. I mean, you stood pat for a long time, or--even better--you downsized...maybe got rid of your separates and got an integrated.
(I suppose if you did this, you probably aren't reading these forums any more.)
If this sounds like a cry for help, well, I dunno. Not really. I'm just curious. My thoughts have been running to things like integrated amps and small equipment racks and whatnot even as I continue to experiment and upgrade with vigor (I'm taking the room correction plunge, for example.) Just want to hear what people have to say on the subject.
---dan
(I suppose if you did this, you probably aren't reading these forums any more.)
If this sounds like a cry for help, well, I dunno. Not really. I'm just curious. My thoughts have been running to things like integrated amps and small equipment racks and whatnot even as I continue to experiment and upgrade with vigor (I'm taking the room correction plunge, for example.) Just want to hear what people have to say on the subject.
---dan