Gunbunny, your post hits home with me. I own two custom made Tad Kohara pool cues. Two early 1980's custom Les De Asis Balisong knives. A Beretta 92 Border Marshall, a Springfield Armory 45, a Desert Eagle and a Benelli M1 Super 90. And I shoot LESS than you. But this audio bug is the absolute worst. This merry-go-round is making me dizzy. |
you know what's worse.... when you do all this research, spend all this money only to realize you made a mistake. I have a Toshiba 57HX81 widescreen TV that is just too damn big for my room. It wouldn't be if I didn't have a nice sofa and chairs, not to mention a coffee table.
I've been searching for speakers for the past 4 months. Last night I almost said "freak it" for lack of better word I can't say on here. I thought I had found my speakers only to relaize that they're rear ported and require significant room to breathe, which my room has no more of.
Since you seem to be into guns. I guess I should also noted the Remington M700 synthectic .300 mag with McMillian stock, custom bedded, fluted barell, and Swavorwski scope. Also a 30mm, helmet sighted chain gun, but that really belongs to my employer. |
I got off the merry go round after attending a Stereophile show and met some of the circus clowns. Just because so and so uses this or that as a reference or purchased an item means nothing to me now! Most are over obsessed babies when you disagree with them. In ten years time there won't be a high end audio as the hobby does nothing to perpetuate new/younger people to participate. I have more than adequate
high end system (built around Quad ESL'S) but now concentrate on my real passion, record collecting, and, listening. And, having fun!! |
Trebleclef, we must be brothers in arms! The Quads are the centre of my system as well, I hunt after good music on Lp and CD, I'm having fun and in the course of the years, to borrow a phrase of Sean's, have turned from audiophile to music lover. Interesting your remark, that the hobby might die out with us. Here I am less pessimistic than you seem to be, because surely there will always be folks ,who love music and who will try to recreate it in their homes, like we do. |
Well Detlof, my experience is the opposite of yours, gone from music lover to audiophile, that is as of late. I'm spending too damn much money and time on this gear business but then again I am rediscovering the music I already have and am very happy, for the time being. How long does it last before the next tweek/big purchase? Seems to be getting shorter as the compulsion grows. This audiophile business is an addiction I'm afraid. And this site sure doesn't do anything to remedy it. |
Tubegroover, isn't happyness the main thing? And the drive for perfection is a noble endevour, is it not? And if we do not make our loved ones unhappy or harm them with what we are doing, why shouldn't we? Mind you, and I've been at it for over 35 years, there comes a point, when you will reconcile yourself with the fact, that you will NEVER be able to simulate real, live music in all its wonderful entirety and that you can leave your system more or less as it is and just enjoy the music. What helps here, is the realisation, that really old gear, like the Threshold Stasis amps of the seventies, or the AR 79 tube amp, not to speak of the 120, that wonderful Quad 57 or the ML 25 watter, class A monos still hold their own, when compared to modern gear. There have been huge advances in loudspeakers, but comparing the old stuff to modern designs, I doubt a bit, if really essential breakthroughs in electronic designs have happened. Possibly my ears are just sentimental and I'm indeed using modern electronics, but I find the differences are not that huge to really be "blown away". What has changed though, is our perception of recorded music and our way to describe it. We have developed a vocabulary, that was not around fourty years ago and if we apply it to vintage gear, I at least have found, that it is not doing badly at all. Cheers! Detlof |
Detlof Yes indeed and happy I am but I want to be happier :). The problem is the compulsive search for the best which is fortunately/unfortunately, depending on the view, the course I'm on. I have designs on one of those ultraexpensive products which will make my "arrival" a reality (does that ever really happen?). The final purchase, for now. I been saying this all along but with each improvement the envelope is pushed further. Ironically the improvements are the driving force to see how much better it can get. You're a shrink, you tell me. A drive for excellence/perfection or obsessive/compulsive behavior (the merry-go-round syndrome).
Truly it is about the music and I never knew reproduced audio could be realized to this extent. Just wonder how much better it can get, thats all. Only regret is the cost
:(
So far as those products you mention, they mirrow my own lust wish but a decade forward. The Threshold SA-1 monos and ARC D-250 Servo and M-100 monos were my introduction into hi-end back in the mid 80's. Even ended up purchasing a lowly Class AB Threshold amp but unfortunately it wasn't in the same league as the SA-1's. I went tubes and never looked back. Now it's OTL amps which to me are the best yet. Will it stop there? I sure hope at that point the reconciliation you speak of is realized!! |
Tubegroover, if your only regret is the cost, then actually you belong to the more lucky ones. If you can afford it, why not spend it. Life is too short, to castigate yourself, unless you are of fundamentalist disposition, where your rewards will be in heaven. Wether we're a bunch of compulsive neurotics or on a noble quest depends on your point of view. I personally think that Papa Freud was right, when he said, that the essentials of a healthy life were the ability to work and to ENJOY oneself. I'm probably a bit longer in this quest of ours than you are and my experience is - also after listening to many megabuck systems, costing several hundred thousand bucks - that there comes a time, when "improvements" happen only in very tiny steps, the cost of which is entirely out of proportion. Happy Listening! Detlof |
Detlof: I don't mean to be pessimistic. My assesment comes from being associated with an audiophile company. I was at the Stereophile show in NY in 1996. Audio is more like a small club with rich members.Very select group.Manufactures have to impress reviewers to build demand.Reviewers are more impressd with themselves. Some reviewers have more fans than many artist. Add to the mix too many companies making software, decline in software quality,magazine distribution etc. The fact that music has been replaced by video games when it comes to young people with discretionary spending (video games are 50-70% higher than the average cd)and it all adds up to certain extinction. But, I enjoy buying music, (records mostly) and do so daily.I haven't had a significant change in my reference system in almost 12 years. Once I found the Quads and an adequate sub woofer system, significant changes are hard to make!! I did get a better listening chair. |
Trebleclef, your points are hard to refute and in terms of sociological assessment probably more than correct. Looking at it that way, it is indeed a pessimistic picture. Here in Europe, people still flock to classical concerts and to opera, how much of that is social snobbery and how much true love of music is hard to say. Youngsters act much the way here too as you describe, but if you go to the local recordstores, they are ususally full of young people, but also here after the quick electronic fix, the demand for classical music has severely declined. However, I'm still hoping, that we are not a breed, that is dying out. Cheers , Detlof |
Not certain I was as hooked as some but an old friend pulled me off with an experience close to Detlofs. My tweaker friend sat me down to his system based on an old Dynaco 70 that he tweaked a little and speakers that he made for under $750 (scanspeak drivers). I think Vance Dickason claims you can make 10k speakers for under 1k. Well, if you know what you are doing, I think you can lower that to $750. He made a few comments about the caps he used on his tweeters and fired her up and well... it was embarrasing to think about the money I had in my system. I have since spent a little time with the old Dynacos and in my opinion, all marketing and modern "improvements" aside, they stand up to 90% of the stuff sold at at 10-20 times the price.
I do not think that this is in any way unique to audio. I used to race bicycles and had a fair amount of experience in a cycle shop. The bicycle companies are so pressed to differentiate themselves from one another, and convince you to but theirs, that they throw out a steady stream of BS that has little to do with anything. They actually avoid the obvious and simple which is proven and effective for the gimmick of the week. I had to leave the business because it was hard to present the industry line with a straight face. Granted, audio needs folks pushing the envelope to improve sound... but I do not see a lot of that going on. Lots of gloss and ego.. reading most "audiophile" mags is like looking at GQ or something. |
Never get on it in the first place. I did a lot of listening before i bought and then bought what i felt was a good well balanced system that smoked a few much more expensive system. I then faced the realities of the room the system was destine to live in and the limitations of what i could/would do to the room. I then looked at the low to mid-fi gear used to generate the music we so love to listen to (i've been a part time working musician going on 25 yrs now)and the fact that the room that it is played in has a huge effect on the sound on that end as well. Adding all that up i dressed my cables, put in dedicated power, concluded that given room and source limitations close counts and proceeded to buy more music. The music is what it is all about anyway, isn't it? |
Detlof; I do wish I were wrong. I live here in Washington DC. Of the four remaining audio stores in the area (there once were eight) they all consider themselves high end. You can get the best in electronics and turntables. Exactly NONE of them carry any vinyl. Besides the erroding of interest we are also self destructing. Tower Records has six area stores and occaisionally vinyl but not of any quality. Rarely a Classic Record reissue and then only at one outlet. The Wall Street Journal predicted last summer that they might go out of business by April if a lackluster Christmas season materialized and it did. Worst retail season in thirteen years. Used record stores have dwindled to about three or four from a high of ten three years ago. But, if you don't take this stuff too seriously,the merry go round produces a lovely ride! Again, I enjoy my music daily. Hope you do as well. |
Yes, it does not look good. We're a bit behind here, as in everything, but there are the same signs here written on the wall. Mind you, the one, two high end stores are still making good business and HT is only beginning to hit the market now in a more serious fashion. The big record outlets have seen no vinyl for decades either. But I'm still hoping that the bug that bit us once is contageous.... Cheers, Detlof |
I recently jumped off the merry-go-round due to a business setback so the experience is fresh in my mind. I went from a new Class A system to Class B components played through some borrowed 15 year old speakers from a friend (I was happy to have anything).
It was a bit of a shock, but once I licked my wounds, I adjusted by shifting my focus from the equipment to the music. I no longer sit in the "sweet spot" and critique every note that is played and the inevitable shortcomings of the $25K worth of equipment that reproduced it. Rather, I now put on some music and go about my business as I move around the house. So while I'm not critically listening to the music, I am actually LISTENING to much more music and much less equipment.
This is not the standard audiophile approach (and it wasn't mine either), but it has changed my priorities. I've bought about 200 jazz discs, so now I actually have something to listen to, rather than a dozen or so discs that were hand selected because of the quality of the recording and their ability to show the strength or weakness of my system. So while I no longer sit and obsess over which part of my system is holding me back, I just play music and enjoy it.
I'm sure I'll upgrade again in the future, but I think this has been a good lesson for me. I didn't want or chose the cure, but it found me and now I've seen how much effort I spent pursuing equipment rather than enjoying music. Like wine lovers or any other passionate, perfectionist group of people, it's easy to lose focus and find yourself enjoying your hobby less. I now try to get my pleasure from the performance, and the emotional connection with the music. These are the things I was missing when I was listening to my equipment, and not my music.
But you know what's really sad- right now someone is probably reading this post and thinking "You can't build a Class A system for $25K, what is he talking about." I rest my case. |
I recently downsized from tube separates to a solid state integrated amp and from large floor standing speakers to smaller bookshelf size speakers.
I did this for two reasons: 1. Lack of time to spend listening to this system other than for background music due to family and job commitments. Most of my "critical" listening is now done thru Grado RS-2 headphones in a 2nd system. 2. I needed smaller, better looking speakers that could work close to a wall, severely limiting my choices.
I do not have quite the same level of sound quality that I had before I started this, but the system I went to costs about 25% of what my previous stuff did new. Sound quality is about 80%. I have been able to maintain the sound quality by selecting stuff that works well together and using cables to fine tune. Component interface is a subject often overlooked by many.
I did recently purchase a used tubed dac, because I could not live w/o at least some semblance of tube sound in my system. |
I was kicked off the m-g-round. I had to sell the "dream system" before it was complete, and have remained calm since (only one power amp during the whole of 2001 -- but more than 500 pieces of music). On the other hand, I get to audition a plethora of equipment -- often @ home; this keeps investment down and the family financially happy, I suppose. It also allows me to contribute a few impressions here and there at A'gon -- which is fun and, hopefully, useful.
But, you know what? I miss the merry go round. Music & books are my daily food; equipment, my hobby -- and I enjoyed it! I didn't want to get off -- I mean, crazy systems like Detlof's (D, pls don't send the Swiss artillery yet) get me going... I wouldn't mind Kelly's Boulder either, A-Porter's pre, a pair of Osiris, and FM Acoustics' big pre with modified power supply.
For the time being, I'll have to content myself with listening to some of these items.
Something is always better than nothing... and, after all, I'm lucky to have what is now playing!
Enough banter, cheers everyone! |
Sounds to me like people are getting their priorites back in line with what"s important, the music. Wehamilton, I salute your attitude. Mine is very similar. If you enjoy music for it's own sake it doesn't matter what you listen to it on per se. I find many great performances on the radio in my car, hardly an audiophile friendly environment. When I want to critically listen to something in my dedicated listening room, I listen to the state of the art system for me, considerably less than $25K, but I get much more than $25K in enjoyment out of it. Getting off of the merry go round made me realize we now have state of the art equiptment to listen to. It's great but music companies are producing mostly state of the art junk to play on it. I'd rather chase the music than the equiptment at this point. I may have changed from one merry go round to another but this one is a better ride. I enjoy audio but love the pursusit of music much more, (vinyl in particular). |
I have given up on hi-fi twice in my life:
1. I was played a demo system in which I heard distortion in the source of 9 out of 10 recordings. The 10th was clean, but I couldn't stand the music.
2. When I was no-the-air at a classical FM station, the sound we put out was terrible.
Therefore, if the source is normally sub-perfect, there's no point in spending tons of time and money on equipment superior to the "software." It is more satisfying to listen to real music on a system that "masks" the accuracy in favor of musicality.
Remember the sound of a Grundig console?
Unfortunately, that has to be my bottom line.
Richard |
rgstein: Its all been downhill since vinyle. Listening to a cd on good stuff is like looking at a vangogh through a screen door. A clean screen door though.
Sincerely, I remain |
Nice simile, Clueless, but I'd rather say through a thin layer of jelly-pudding, especially on big orchestral music. |
Ah... some semblance of sanity creeping in. Thank you Wehamilton. Thank you Trebleclef. No I don't see this as some great personal victory in an never ending, semi-sterile debate, but as some confirmation that music is the thing to be enjoyed. I remember someone's definition of "audiophile" as a person who upgrades his hardware until he can prove that all software is garbage. I made the point a long time back in this forum that a system should be seen as something able to reproduce a broad variety of the music a person actually wants to listen too. That one ends up with the ultimate system that is only of use with a handful of audiophile records may be the ultimate justice for those having a passion towards buying equipment and squinting to hear "differences" and "improvements", whether appreciable or "HUGE". Detlof, in keeping with the food analogy, my memory of vinyl is of solo instruments or quiet passages with the sound of bacon frying or, in the most extreme cases, popcorn popping. I can almost smell it... Which brings me to the subject of another comment I made not long ago: since music is actually air being moved in the room by some transducer, I have come to believe that the olfactory quality of that air has an effect on the perceived sound, sometimes creating "HUGE" differences. I am still in the process of assessing whether the effect is more noticeable on the equipment or the music. For now my work is limited to various run of the mill deodorizers from Wal-Mart. To ease into this endeavour, I am presently experimenting with pine scented plug-ins, sprays and solids in concert with Respighi's Pines of Rome. Other suggestions would be appreciated. Please stop short of single, double and triple blind and dead olfactory system testing for now. And to all my wine loving friends out there, I have found a way of fine tuning lesser wines by using Grand Cru Classé bottles, complete with labels. Quite astonishing, a California wine, fine tuned with a Château Pape Clément label, was more full-bodied, with a distinct woodsy quality and good blackberry and hackberry overtones. Just my contribution to a better world. Regards one and all. |
Pbb, when I was in college and used my turn table as a pizza carousel my vinyle sounded that way too! The hell of it is those were good days and the music never sounded so good.
Sincerely, I remain |
Yes, especially with a tonno e cipolla pizza! |
Clueless, touchy, touchy on vinyl's Achilles heel are we not? Look if you enjoy it, more power to you. I am just too neurotic to enjoy a system where the recording medium is damaged every time it's played. Call me nuts, I 'spose. Seems more incontrovertible that a vinyl record starts dying the minute it is played than believing that music signals bounce inside cables though. Geez, maybe I'm not so neurotic after all! |
Pbb, we all start dying the minute we are played. Maybe I fell some psychological affinity with vinyl(we need to talk Detlof). Not touchy, just the truth and the sooner one realizes it the better. You will notice from my last post(i wasn't kidding), I never enjoyed the music more than when the bacon was popping. By the way, I enjoy talk with you notwithstanding our differences. And, with regard to the olfactory issue, have you ever tried noseplugs, I never sit down to serious listening without them. |
Corks, pbb. Corks. A simple cork upgrade can open whole new dimensions in your tastebudstage. I recently replaced the corks in a case of Chateau Montelana cabernet with Lafitte Rothchild corks w/Van Alstine mods ($350 for 12). Wow! It was as though a veil was lifted, revealing fascinating gustatory details previously hidden from taste. Oaks simply became oakier; cherry-chocolates were cherry-chocolatier; vanilla was vanillaier (sic). Tertiary flavors lingered longer on the palate with not the slightest hint of Mogen David aftertaste.
Next tweak for me: Lingual Alchemy wine racks. A bit expensive at $12K for the 48-bottle model but where else can you find that perfect blend of engineering (components laser cut in an argon atmosphere) with high-tech materials (osmium-tungsten alloy tubing filled with Maui sand quadruple-washed with water from Lourdes and sun-dried in the mountains of Afghanistan.
Great things portend. Full report follows.
Will
PS. Anybody know where I can pick up some bottle-neck ferrites? |
Bottle-neck ferrites?? Check out the full back page ad in Whineophile. I've got all the back issues if your interested ...can't bear to part with them and February is the special annual cork issue with all the "A" recommendations.
Sincerely, I remain |
I must be doing something wrong, 'cause when I use it, I can't tweak it, and when I've used enough of it, it tweaks me. This leaves me all perplexed. Has that to do with the ongoing battle in these pages between subjectivists and that strange brotherhood of EEs, whoever they might be. Aliens? Please enlighten!
Sincerely clueless, |
You can always develop a serious hearing loss |
I have a friend who's been in this since the early 1970s. He recently dumped his Conrad Johonson and Theta separates, and bought a Classe integrated amp and a Theta Miles. He likes the new system better than the old, and he put some cash in his pocket. |
I don't think I could ever get off the merry-go-round because I have always loved this hobby. As I have gotten older though I have tried to simplify my system. I now have a nice integrated tube amplifier, smaller floor-standing speakers (so I don't have to mess around with stands), a high-end cd player and high quality interconnects and speaker cables. I still feel, eventhough I have downsized, that it is important to stay with quality high-end equipment. |
There is no getting off! It is like being in the Mafia, (which doesn't exist), once your in, your in for life! If you try to get off the merry-go-round, the Audio gods will strike you with deafness! |
Lots of good ideas here. The one I most agree with is the poster who wrote "don't read the mags". He's right. Every time I pick up one of these things there's some ear and eye candy, not unlike seeing some mags with scantily clad and attractive ladies. Don't know about you guys, but that will most definitely put the wrong thoughts in my mind. BTW, look at Musical Fidelity's latest ads for their NuVista: "audio jewelry for the ears and eyes". That should tell us something about their knowing how to pull our strings. |
Own multiple systems. Not every recording sounds good on every system, right?. So put together as many systems as necessary to enable you to enjoy *all* of your recordings.
This also helps solve the problem of what to do with leftover gear when you upgrade your main system.
For those days when you need the illusion of simplicity, hide your system behind sonically transparent screens or -- as a last resort -- add an in-wall system to your collection of hi-fi's.
Eventually, we will all wind up sitting in front huge horn speakers from the 1950's listening through H. H. Scott receivers to 78's played on turntables with three-pound tonearms painted brown. But until then, it is our *obligation* as audiophiles to have owned (and kept!) as many different combinations of equipment as possible.
Now enough talk about "getting off the Merry-Go-Round" and return to the "For Sale" section. |
I kicked the habit completely for 20 years! Got rid of all my audio equipment; i was buying and selling every week! I doubled up my opera subscription, bought tickets to three Carnegie Hall subscriptions every year, went to jazz clubs a couple times per month. It wasn't completely cold turkey as I am in the music business and listen to music all day long in and out of studios. But the listening I did for pleasure was to live music. And there was no system at home. Now I have just bought a system and all that "live" listening has served me well in making judgements. But believe it or not I still have to resist the temptation to fiddle around. Witness the fact that I am on these boards! |
"hunter..." had hit the spot! We are just like drug-addicts.
I am kicking the habbit as we speak. Drubin, you are on the right path...don't give-up. Don;t be a sucker (like 99% poster on these pages, including me) anymore! |
Right on!
I could quit anytime, I just don't choose to right now. :-)
Maybe after the New York show. :-) :-) |
I agree with Garfish. I'm balls to the wall when it comes to high end audio. |
I am FAR from being off the merry go round but anyhow.....
* KNOW WHAT YOU WANT **
If you aren't sure what you want how will know when you've found it? If there is something blantantly wrong in your current setup then there's an obvious fix.
I want neutrality. Good luck to anyone deciding to add colorations to their sound. I wouldn't know where to start. So I'm guilty of letting others form my opinions but here goes:
==>As Sam Tellig says in his Jauary 1999 Pathos Twin Towers review "over time, neutrality wears very well". Mike Sanders said in Sterephile March 2001 "An SET is fun at first but kind of grates on you after awhile.. the bad points start eating away at you...I don't think having a little less bass or a less high is annoying...the annoying thing is the higher distortion because you don't get the distortion cancellation that you do with push pull".
*** TRUST YOUR OWN EARS ******
Hearing is a skill which is developed over time and with a lot of effort. But it is subjective and there is little agreement between people on anything. You can get totally confused reading everyone's opinion on the web. Better to spend your time in the stores listening to stuff and developing your own opinions and hearing skills. Then you can be confident in what you know.
*** DON"T OBSESS OVER THE LAST FEW PERCENT ***
Wire, power cords, vibration isolation (except for TT), amber blocks, Auric Illuminator, and on and on. First there may be no difference. There is no measured data to show that there could be any audible differences (unless a mfg'r intentionally messes with the AC waveform to color the sound). Search Audio Asylum on Auric Illiminator. No one can even agree on what it does to the sound! Some say it's more bright. Others say it smoothes the sound out.
No one in the history of mankind can tell the differences between wire if they can't see it first.
These last few percent can make you loose sight between reality and fantasy. What you perceive and what really exists. If there are differences, they are extremely slight. Why get hung up on "magic sh!t"?
*** OWNING A STEREO IS WALKING A TIGHTROPE ***
I am always wondering, will buying better stuff make me HAPPY? If so, for how long? What happens once the newness wears off. When my ears adjust to the better sound?
Then I'll wonder if I'd be just as satisfied if I had spent less. Learn to accept and be happy with a bit less resolution. If someone switches components and I walk back in the room and can't tell the difference or don't care, why should I pay for that??? If a cheaper component doesn't annoy me over time why upgrade?
Is there something better out there? I don't know. Go to the stereo shop and give it a listen.
*** JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING SOUNDS DIFFERENT DOESN"T MEANS IT"S BETTER ***
You can get bored with your stereo if you spend your time listening to components and not the music. So buy more music, forget the components! I push my speakers back. Get more bass. Great! A week later I pull 'em out into the room. Better frequency response and midrange. Great! Not better - different. But that was free. How many amps should I buy to keep changing the type of sound? Gets expensive and I'm not really moving forward. Only in circles. |
Drubin:
I cannot speak for anyone else. I think that everyone else has their own way of getting off of the ""high-end" audiophile component of the month" merry-go-round?? Me myself??? If you were to liken me to anyone here at "Audiogon"??? Then I would be a combination of "Psychicanimal" and "Sdcampbell". Because just like "Psychicanimal", I hold the viewpoint that the system that you design is an extention of your personality, and to a greater extent, an extention to the music that you listen to. Therefore, because I listen to R&B (both modern and classic), Rap & Hip-Hop, Jazz, and some Light Rock, I don't need an "over-the-top-system" to get the most out of the music that I listen to. For me, a "middle-of-the-road" system will do just fine. My system is revealing enough to allow me to pick out instruments (what type they are, who makes them, and where they are placed on stage in the recording) and identify artists as well, but is well rounded enough for me to play music sometimes without getting too serious about it. When it is all said and done, my system is going to have a "get-up-and-boogie" factor too. That way, I can get even more pleasure out of my R&B and Rap recordings too. I am now shopping for a Subwoofer to mate with my British made KEF's (they're made in England, so that qualifies them for British) which will allow me to do JUST that. And I am like "Sdcampbell" in the sense that I always tend to shop for components that offer a "high performance to the dollar" ratio, and can do more than is otherwise possible at a given price point. That's why I tend to go for components that offer me a lot of engineering and know how, but at affordable amounts of money (i.e.-- Adcom, Thorens, and now..... Monolithic). I also tend to go for designs that can withstand time. That is because I am not interested in buying and changing components every time a new component comes out. I prefer to do it right the first time, or else, don't do it at all. Now, when this system is finally completed, what will ACTUALLY happen after the fact??? Who knows??? But I will say this. My intent right now is to put together a system that is going to have some staying power behind it. When I am done, I intend to stand pat for a VERY long time. Now, if I were to upgrade today, then what I would probably do is go for simplicity as opposed complexity. And for that, to me, that would mean a pair of high quality monitors (like my KEF's, but only more expensive this time. The intent then is to upgrade my sound quality) being married to a "high-end" integrated, being topped off yet by a high quality digital source and ONE analog source (and that mean LPs will reign supreme and cassettes will be out).
That would be MY way of getting off of the "merry-go-round".
--Charles-- |
I thought I would be remiss if I did not update my comments above. I only lasted about 6 months after I downsized. I found I could not live with the sound and had to go back from an integrated ss amp to tube separates. I now have sound that is "musically satisfying" and do not plan any upgrades unless something breaks. I have still been able to stick to a reasonably low budget and have been able to achieve 95% of the sound I used to have at about 40% of the investment level. |
I don't know if I know how to get off. For me, the biggest improvement I ever heard in sound, was when I bought my first cartridge that was not a ceramic. Remember them? I grew up with them. Always a penny taped to the end of the tonearm. When I bought a Garrard turntable with an Empire cartridge it really WAS like night and day. Things were on my records that I never knew was there. It was my first shot of the drug. Since then, nothing has given me that much of an improvement. Sure, some things were better, but never that much better. I know some people that have had through re-hab for cocaine addiction, and they tell me that they never get the high they got the first time they used the drug, although that's what they're chasing from then on. |
l listen to what you have and enjoy the attributes. update only when truly necessary. the latest isnt always the greatest. incremental gains arent worth ludicrous money. i was quite happy with my sys for a long time and then bought an arc sp3a1 used for cheeeeeep. BOING! the sound was so much better than the adcom 565 pre i was using which wasnt bad to start with. i sent it to minnesota where it was upgraded to sp3c. replaced my fried RIIs with spendor s3/5s. mmmmmmmmmm, goodie! snatched a vpi19III/smeIV/sumiko virtuoso talisman vdh for a grand (too good of a price to pass up). oyeah, i forgot the kimber 8tc 15' set for $50. bought a gorilla rack, an sacd player and b+k ht pre, the switching was crummy with 2 VCRs and a dvdp. these changes have been long in coming and long in happening. after i hook up all the amp channels and stuff, i will take it easy for about 5 years. or so i say.
i cruised with passive surround for about 10 years (actually have been doing it since the 70s on and off), now its time to step forward. music first of course.
actually a lot of time passes between my changes in system, i just had abot a couple of years of important changes. the sacd player actually doubles as a dvd, the other one was my daughters and she took it into her bedroom.
.......regards.......tom |
Once you have decided to flee the merry-go-round: attach yourself to a sensible woman, one intolerant of aesthetic or other excess; seek a career keeping you on the move -- now nowhere to build a rig or lend your ear to proper gear --; force and circumstance failing, renounce, give your toys and coin away; in the absence of means no merry-go-round will prevail. Notwithstanding this, be free - enjoy! |
if you enjoy your music system with the least expensive interconnects and speaker wire...congratulations,you are on terra firma again. |
Be satisfied with what you have. If you keep worrying there is something better out there or something is wrong with your system, you'll never be done with it. |
I don't think you ever do?? I keep telling my wife and friends I am done after each upgrade, all I get is a little smile and hear sure you are?? I recently tried to down size and I did for about 4 weeks,and swore up and down I WOULD never get rid of my Pass Labs X250 when I bought it, well 9 months later it is on it's way out. |
I agree with Btstrg, i dont think you really get off the merry go round. You lay low for a couple of months or years then you get the itch to upgrade yet again. |
sometimes going retro will get you off the merry go round for a longer period of time...its less expensive too. |
