My Poop theory by kublakhan


I’m willing to bet all of you have had this experience and keep on having it, am I right? Have I said what the experience is yet? (Reading back, reading back…no, I didn’t). Ok, here’s the experience: You get a new piece of gear, be it some new cables, new speakers whatever, and the sound difference is extraordinary. You can’t believe what a beautiful improvement the item has made. Then, days, weeks, months later you find yourself remembering back to the good old days when you first got the piece and smiled ear to ear every time you listened to music through it. What happened, you say to yourself? I LIKE my system, but I no longer smile as I used to.

So okay, you go to audiogon.com and search out some answers. Answers which almost always cost money and a lot of hassle with research and this that and the other thing. Then you fixate on the new ‘solution’ buy the item and WOW, that is what was missing! And you write your ‘gon review of how stupid everyone is for not having used this xlr cable or that capacitor, etc….you get my drift. But the cycle continues. And continues.

Thanks for all of you who are still with me because here is where my ‘poop’ theory comes into play and it’s what we call in scriptwriting (and good sex) ‘the payoff.’ The poop theory (I’d use a stronger term for ‘poop’ by the way but audiogon already deleted one of my posts for vulgarity. I wrote a synonym for ‘posterior cavity’). Anyway, the poop theory says that if you put someone in a room full of …poop… they will cringe from the smell. But after a while, they will no longer notice the smell. At all. Can this theory be at work with us freakish audiophiles? I think perhaps so. After a while some part of our body gets accustomed to the poop (which in this case would be good, like a new preamp) and we no longer notice it. We need the poop back and we search for the poop (this time read like, you know… ‘the skinny’) on audiogon. We spend our money and time and finally, shazam! Once again we smell the poop …but the sh*t starts right up after a period of time. When will it all end? When will we all stop to smell the poop?

I write this because I’m now bored out of my mind with my system. And I’m refusing to pour more money into it. So now what? Look for new music I suppose – that’s the cheapest poop I can think of. I don’t know. I just know I miss the stench of a pair of newly retubed ARC monoblock 300s.

We’re all doomed. The cycle continues. I’m willing to bet all of you have had this experience and keep on having it, am I right? Have I said what the experience is yet?
kublakhan
I am with Paul and Craig and have zero burnout. My second system however is a Lo-Fi one on which I also play cassettes. New intersting music is what it is all about. I have picked up six killer CD's in the last two days, one is the Boz Scaggs "Come on Home" Radio Special recorded live from The Supper Club, NYC. It has radio commercials, interviews and live music. Others are "Appalachian Journey" with Yo Yo Ma, "Dusty Trails" on Atlantic (many female artists), a Haitian folk music CD and Uman "You are Here" which is French techno music. Right now I am listening to "Innovation in Contemporary Japanese Composition" which is way out there.
Long term satisfaction will not be found in material things. There is always better equipment in whatever hobby you choose and if you don't know it, the advertisers will tell you. Dissatisfaction is not all bad. It is what drives us on to invent and create better things. It seems that is what you are doing; trying to create something better. However that is work. You need time for relaxation which brings me to a question. Do you enjoy the music or do you enjoy the sound of the music? As I type , I am listening to Jethro Tull on my computer system and enjoying it. It certainly will not compare to the CJ gear in the main system (which still need new speakers to help get me closer to audio bliss)but I am still enjoying it. After speaker purchase is accomplished I will spend more time listening and much less time researching audio equipment(though I know that speaker matching may be a little tricky).
A quick fix may be to buy a Kenwood receiver, Technics cdp and Bose speakers, hook them up and listen. There is nothing like a little torture to help one appreciate life; even the parts that we thought unacceptable.
A cheaper fix is to go to the "high end" room of Circuit City and listen. This is where the majority of the people get their "high end" gear and they think it's great. I guess ignorance is bliss. And here we are on the threads trying to learn all we can to put together the system which will give us musical bliss. Quite a paradox don't you think?
Hey, Artemus: How interesting that you chose Bose speakers as part of your description of torture. I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly. Back in the days when I was a high end dealer, if a customer came in looking for new electronics but said he was totally happy with his Bose 901's, I would turn around with my back to him and talk to the wall. When I saw the baffled (no pun intended) look on his face, I would explain that I did it because he obviously liked that kind of sound. Sure I lost a few sales, but it was worth it!
Doug, I laughed so hard I almost pooped. The poop theory is alive and well.....Bluenose
Bluenose hit the bullsnose...err eye. So did Mr poop theory. It has happened to me too. Not intentionally but due to family duties etc can't get to sit down for session for few days although I am dying to. But when I listen after say more than few days, I almost always enjoy a great amount. All of a sudden there is the soundstage, detail, dynamics that you always desired. It is like restraining and having sex from weekend to weekend. You always enjoy way more because you been craving for it.
Now if only If I can enforce my own theory and go away from my system to a vacation or business trip that I am always trying to postpone or have it thru telecon, just so that I can go back to my system every evening at 8.00 sharp!!! God ! Force be with me.