Yep 1953, I hear where you're coming from. My system sounded fascinating but had an unknown nervous quality to it until I replaced my Forte preamp (F44) with a Threshold (FET ten/hl). This made me cross over into pure musical enjoyment. I have stopped shopping! Well almost, hehe. I'm still seeking a silver FET ten/e to mate with my S350/e power amp. But there is simply no hurry anymore. Cool post! I'd been thinking the same thing since I made the switch.
Musical threshold event
This thread is related to several others concerning being an Audiophile versus a music lover....but a shade different. From my own personnal experience and from conversations I've had with others, as a person is building their system, there seems to be a threshold beyond which the beauty of the music suddenly grabs your attention instead of the beauty of the sound. After that threshold is crossed, the music is front and center. Recordings are listened ALL the way thru and there is less pre-disposition to mess around with the equipment, perhaps, in part, out of fear of loosing the magic. For me this happened when I got a pair of Forte 4s to drive my Martin Logan Quests. The music grabbed my attention instead of the sound (which was also quite good). All of my equipment purchases past that point have been in pursuit of the musical experience. Sound quality matters, but compliments, instead of dominates my equipment selections. I'd like to know at what points all of you crossed that threshold and what combination of equipment got you there. Contrasting that threshold point for vinyl and digital would be neat too.