Hi I'm back. Yes, I feel that it can be a very neurotic hobby. After all many people are content listening to a mini system or a table radio. I think that most of us are trying to create a live musical experience in our homes and to do so is quite an achievement when taking all of the variables into account. I do not listen to music at loud levels nor am I concerned with the lowest of the LF's. Because of this I can be satisfied much easier and less expensively than others. If something is out of whack in the sound, yes I obsess over it. But I also up to now have been able to solve most of these problems "to my satisfaction" with a lot of thought and very little cash output on a whole. Doing so has "been" satisfying. Most of the problems that I have encountered have been due to speaker placement, isolation components, the compatibility of cables and cords, room synergy, etc., (the basics). The more thought and energy I have put into it the better our meager system has sounded. I enjoy doing all of this, really. Well, maybe not speaker placement, but somebody has to do it. And yes sometimes the music becomes an after thought, but never for very long. When this system reaches its peak and I cannot improve it anymore I will start experimenting with new components. I also plan on putting together a second system in a spare bedroom and I look forward to the challenge. Music aside it's just something to do, like gardening or working on an old car and yes dissatisfaction is a part of it. I stated before that I took fifteen years off from this hobby. And to be perfectly honest when I experienced my first dissatisfaction with our new system once it was set up, I actually enjoyed having that feeling again about hifi gear. Do you know why? Because I wanted to work on the puzzle of "what is wrong with this picture." I am much better at this than crossword puzzles and the bonus is that our home is full of music that sounds really good.
