2. amps-preamps
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I need help with my Equipment addiction

I can't leave well enough alone. My most disappointing days are days like today where I sit down to listen to my system, drink some wine, and unwind and... the system sounds great. I hate that. Nothing to tweak, everything is intergrating well: Clear highs, check. Fast, deep bass, check. Digital sound good with weight and impact, Check. Vinyl sound deep and well rounded with extended highs and excellent speed, check.

That's when the trouble starts. I start thinking, "What if changed cartridges?" "Well then I need a step up transformer, or a seperate MC phono stage", "Maybe I should just look at new preamps, even thbough I love mine now", "Then I need a separate phono preamp, I've always wanted an ARC preamp", then "Hey then I could buy an ARC tube amp for the high end of the Maggies and get bi-amp them"

Does it ever stop? How can I stop the cycle? I think I'm going to drink some more wine.
macdadtexas

Showing 7 responses by tholt

tholt
552 posts
 
i suspect a huge number of people here are in your boat, which is why we're here in the first place. The urge to not leave well enough alone, to find 'better', an endless curiosity and desire to try more things, the itch to tweak incessantly...it's not really about the music...it's about how 'good' the music sounds...which of course could always be better. If i honestly asked myself which i prefer more, to listen to music or tweak my system, i would have to sadly answer the latter.

i feel your pain bro. Satisfaction is kind of a buzz kill.. Then again I do really enjoy listening to my system and can honestly say it's never sounded better then it does today. Which is exactly why I play it while poring over agon ads.
tholt
552 posts
 
Tholt is my twin brother of a different mother. I don't know where you live, but I owe you dinner!!

Deal. I assume you'll still want 3% paypal? pls send fed ex insured to CA, 93401.

BTW nice house - your listening room and architecture in general is way cool.

It's surely a guy thing. If you tweak your system too much you'll go blind.

lol - friggin hilarious.
tholt
552 posts
 
macdaddy, ever find yourself air drumming/guitar to your music? if so, rest assured your system is at least of 'very good' caliber. a good litmus test.

a few to try: Govt Mule, Lynam (my new favorite band), Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (nothing else is worth it), Black Keys. If you can't feel it with those, your upgraditis is justified.
tholt
552 posts
 
By the way are there more than 1% women who are this crazy? I very much doubt it.

You have to be joking. How about every woman from teens into their 40's once a month? I'll take a fairly rational man obsessed with a couple hobbies then try to make sense of an entire gender who are generally ruled more by emotion then logic.

Audio is very much a guy's thing -- it's mechanical and gadget driven. Women aren't drawn to shiny lights and buttons like guys are.
tholt
552 posts
 
New tubes. Even more new tubes. Oh and some shiny brass footers. Telling yourself these things are pretty cheap doesn't work when you buy them all at once.
tholt
552 posts
 
Chadeffect pretty much nailed it.

I just spent collectively about a week dialing in speaker positioning, 1/8 of an inch at a time. Luckily the songs I use for reference are ones I still like, but they've pretty much stopped becoming music and more like research material.
tholt
552 posts
 
Macdaddy, ill venture a guess and say that your system probably sounds pretty f*in good right now.
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