I don't know about you guys, but the amount of thought, time and money that I devote to this hobby/quest can hardly be called insignificant. Let's assume, pretend might be better, that perfect sound is actually achieved. Bose does it! They crack the code and give us perfection... on the cheap (I never promised this wasn't going to hurt a little). What would you guys do to fill the void. What activities would you pour your considerable, newly found, disposable income time and effort into? I think I'd like to give photography a whirl. Maybe build an ultralight plane. Ever give this any thought?
I had experiences similar to those who have posted here.
When I "finished" my 5-6 year journey, swapping out this, upgrading that, I got my system to the point where I could relax and enjoy the music, as the "sound of the system" was where I wanted it to be.
Lloydc - Do you realize that many people on the forum spend a lot more on their systems in a year than is required for season symphony tickets?
A friend of mine had tickets to the Seattle symphony for nearly 9 years and didn't spend as much total as I did on my system this year. He got a great original price and then the price didn't change as long as he renewed his seats. You might look into it since it sounds like something you would enjoy.
drugs and sex and rock and roll. Since you're positing a fantasy world, those things would have no side effects, and we'd all be different, too.
the next step up from a great stereo is to get season tickets to the symphony. Or have Sting come play at your Christmas party, as an attorney in Texas did this year.
Since completing my system (for the most part), I have really enjoyed the process of collecting music. For years, I spent my money on gear and would squeeze in media when I could. Now, over the last 2 years, my media collection as exploded and it is fantastic...I keep searching for and finding more and more interesting music. I do find I am often late to the scene though, i.e. I just discovered Buckethead! I have so much to re-discover and uncover...
Other than that I would hone my photography skills and take more weekend trips...
I guess if everyone else bought into the "perfect sound" machine I'd spend my time buying all the cool gear they were selling on the cheap. And I would listen to all my music on all that cool gear, over and over again.
write my book that I have been itching to write but not had the time because of this hobbie...my book will be blowing the lid off of the upholstery business. I name names..
First the neverending search for great music to listen to. So yes building up your music collection absolutely. Enjoying what you have that is perfect to your ears is only one aspect of this hobby. I am also very interested in the history of audio and spend time and money learning and listening to less than perfect but fascinating vintage equipment. This hobby is not only about figuring out an absolute perfect system. You very well know that such a thing cannot exist as long as each person has to decide that what they hear from that system is perfect. It is impossible. Cheap or costly by any manufacturer except by one perhaps and for that you must have faith.
You'll never know you have the perfect system until you've changed multiple components and long for the day when it sounded as "perfect" as it once did. Then you'll find that the components you want are nearly impossible to purchase and you'll spend the rest of your life trying to match the "utopian" sound that you remember but will never match because the longer it's been the better you remember it sounding.
I'm not really heading for perfection, but I only started really upgrading my audio equipment after I had essentially finished building my 89 4Runner for rockcrawling while still being able to use it as a daily driver.
If you want to stick with audio, simply move and your system will sound different again.
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