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The Horror

After getting  back home from “The Show” in Costa Mesa, California this past weekend, I walked over to my stereo system and turned it on. And silently wept. I had held out a feint hope that my cross-over modified 1.7i Maggies and mighty Parasound A21+, fed from a Prima Luna 300 tube preamplifier could somehow manage a slight shimmer of resemblance to the robust setups I witnessed at the SHOW. Not—- on— your —-life. Not even close. I slumped into my over-stuffed couch and stared long and hard at the thing I created: an anemic concoction of false hopes and wishful thinking. The horror, the truth: entry into serious audiophile listening begins with purchase of speakers that cost the price of the car I had to finance for 4 years, closely followed with the added expense of beefy sophisticated electronics and wiring, not a gaggle of cheap wanna-be plastic and tweeks. I so wanted to belong, but that’s turned out to be just a fever dream I’ve got to wake up from. Maybe one day, if ever I have the nerve to rob a bank, find Jimmy Hoffa, or survive a head-on collision from a sleepy Amazon driver, I might make it. Maybe. Feel free to play the violin with two fingers.

audiodidact

Showing 2 responses by sbsail9

sbsail9
16 posts
 

Going to these show are like Monterey Car Week. Most beautiful, expensive, fast and some simply unatainable automobiles in the world. Then I get in my old M3 or Miata and just enjoy the experience that I have. 

My audio set up is modest at best but it sounds pretty good to me and I do the same. BTW, if you are in SoCal spend some of those thousands of dollars on LA Phil and Hollywood Bowl. I'm pretty sure it is the most "real" you can get, not a "representation" of sound, the actual sound. 

sbsail9
16 posts
 

Old guy advice: Spend your money going to live performances. LA Phil, Hollywood Bowl. Your local dive bar that has musicians play. I'm sure your system is better than you think but at the end of the day, no matter how much you spend it is a "representation" of the actual music. Sometimes we think it is better than real because we can tailor it to what we like. I think I'll leave that up to Dudamel, he knows what he is doing.

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