Who else can't sleep the night before their fancy new gears arrive?

Anticipation. I’ve had it for 45 years, excited while waiting for every piece of gear ever arrived!

I took delivery of my brand new Boulder 2160 power amp on Saturday. Definitely a restless night the night before. Then i was up hours before normal, cleaning house, dusting my kit, full of nervous energy awaiting the big arrival, plus friends to lift it in. I put on my best clothes,  even shaved this winter's beard off; i did save for three whole years, fully half of my income every month, just for this moment.

Amp arrived....absolutely ecstatic, please see my write up on WBF.

What i can say, is that once evening came, i was happy but exhausted and had an early night. I then had one of my best night's sleep in memory; i guess fulfilling a long held dream will do that to you☺

The plural of "gear" is "gear". I did get fancy new gears on my Pinarello Dogma once though. I could not sleep the night before either. 

@samureyex 

I'm nodding off just reading your reference to "Exploring Quantum History".  I'm brewing some coffee as we speak.  Got a lot of day left.  

Those "universe stuffs" programs can be a bit of a mine field.  While mostly calm (read: boring) some of them involve big things blowing up with frequent flashes of light.  It's a bit like trying to go to sleep with a strobe light going off.  So, I've learned to exclude titles that involve "creation", "demise", "destruction", etc.  Just sayin'.

@waytoomuchstuff haha TY and I agree with you. Things like this bring out the kids in us.

Also I'm like you. I turn on some universe stuffs and I fall asleep before I even try to fall asleep. My go-to was Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey with Neil Degrasse Tyson before netflix removed it. The Quantum series with Brian Green is also incredibly ENTERTAINING and sleep-inducing at the same time. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. 

I believe it's called Exploring Quantum History with Brian Greene. Not 100% sure. 

@samureyex 

Thoroughly entertaining thread.

Need more topics like this one.

No, I don’t anticipate the delivery. I’m very analytical about things. It comes, it gets tried and if it’s not everything I imagined it would be it gets kicked to the curb. Then it’s back to the hunt which is much more fulfilling.

The Buddha teaches us that when we attach ourselves to ’things’, we will eventually become disappointed and saddened, because a belief in the permanence of things is misplaced; things fade and die over time, and they loose their luster in our imaginations once they are acquired. I understand the wisdom. But all that flies out the window when it comes to audio. My pulse increases at the prospect of acquiring a pair of speakers or an amplifier, etc. It’s like Howard Hughes says in the movie, “I may seem crazy [to them]… but it all makes sense to me.” So, yeah, like a child on Christmas Eve…

@mbmi  beautiful indeed.

@baclagg  YIKES! It's always the worst to wait all day on delivery day and get nothing. I share your pain. 

Yeah, just like Christmas eve when were were kids. Still a thrill.

I was supposed to receive a shipment of GIK Acoustics panels on Good Friday and I had trouble sleeping the night before. Then I only received half of what I was supposed to receive. That cast a pall over the weekend. Then I received an email from Fedex saying the remaining packages would be delivered on Saturday. I waited all day and nothing arrived. ARGH! Finally on Monday the remainder of the shipment was delivered. But a set of brackets was missing and are out of stock. They should be here sometime next week. I feel frustrated, but I will anxiously wait with that weird pit feeling in my stomach.

A week ago a beautiful Aavik U-150 w/  dac and mc phono preamp  was delivered....Georgeous piece...It's sitting on the dining room table for me to look at and touch everytime I walk by it. I'm afraid to hook it up....I just want to look at this beauty like a fine piece of artwork......:>)

So, my repaired sub finally arrived after a weeklong journey where it shouldn't have been. The box was completely destroyed and there was some type of liquid spilled on the box. The driver said it looked like some detergent, he offered to return it. I asked him if I could open the box to check for damage. And.. at this point everything seems to be ok.

So much for the waiting and anticipation.

ozzy

@tump350 Thanks man.

@agisthos Yea I have the matching amp. The picture a little above your post is that amp. Be wary the C1 is its own integrated thing and doesn’t necessarily benefit from a BMC dac, All other BMC amps do.

About your pre-amp question, if you use headphones, 100% get this. I’m not aware of anything better. If you have a matching BMC amp, 100% get this as well. You can say the amp is handicapped until it is unlocked via the CI link. Other than that, maybe a direct talk with BMC can yield more result than me.

Do look into the Sonnet Morpheus though. Based on what I’ve read, it is a stupendous dac with a stupendous pre-amp.

@elliottbnewcombjr "I thought Pratt Institute had made a mistake admitting me"
probably gonna be the most humble thing I see today. Haha love it. I can say since you worked your butt off, They didn't make a mistake in the end. I guess more college should accept "mistake students" =P

@samureyex I answered your PMs

I do not get to worked up. I have 2 new components that arrived this week and they are sitting in my office. I will not be installing for another week or 2. Helps that I am out of town on business, but no big deal. It will be there when I get home and I will have things to do before the installs. 

Not me.. I bought an accuphase e280...it's still sitting in the box. I can't bring myself to install it right now...too much to disconnect. At least I own it...well, the credit card company really owns it lol.

+1 @thecarpathian 

Geez, I think a certain member here may be an emotionless cyborg.

The 'Buzz Killington' model...

@samureyex You have the matching BMC amp to go with the DAC? I remember when this brand dropped about 10 years ago and it was very well regarded, in both performance and price. But I have not seen basically any reviews since then.

The DAC really interests me because I want a DAC+analog volume control in one box. What is the volume control like on this compared to a normal preamp?

 

@samureyex      I'm sorry, I'm unclear what point you are trying to make, but I'm sure you will perceive your new power cord seems way better than the stock item.

@agisthos ahahaha, this is very true. I'm looking at you Topping D90SE. You mfer. 

Sometimes the anticipation and wait for the new gear ends up being more exciting and satisfying than the product itself.

@tump350 Ah, another ultra owner. We are a rare breed =)
I really like it too. I am planning to exploit its fabulous headphone output and maximize my purchase *insert evil laugh* Muahahahaha.

I have a few questions and will PM you in a minute, hope you don't mind.

😉 

@samureyex +1, I have the UltraDac and have been enjoying it alot for about 2 years. Everytime I time I think about ’upgrading’ it, I conclude that any difference in sq will be too slight or subjectively different to make it worth while; meaning, I really like the UltraDac.

Ohh, and I obsessed for about a week before I got it and still do with this that or the other possible tweak. Besides the other stuff I did, I found that an etherregen, silver XLR’s and a Zafino PC substantially improved imaging, soundstage and bloom (which for me happens when micro resonances are abundant and believable).

@clearthinker I don’t intend to debate what you are saying. But what you are saying doesn’t apply to my specific situation. The amp I have and the DAC I bought are meant to go together. You can say it was "mandatory" to buy the dac. There’s an optical cable that does not carry audio signal, that cable connects the dac to the amp to unlock a current-injection function and allow the amp to perform optimally the way it was designed.

Please disregard my basic stock cable, I’m awaiting delivery of a better one =P

@toro3 Yea it is a beautiful piece. But I don’t agree with some of the design language and there are quite a few things I would change about it. Like too many buttons on the beautiful frontplate. Nothing I’d need to press that I can’t do with the remote. I'm actually thinking of ways to hide all the buttons and still keep it cosmetically pleasing. 

@agisthos "For new audio toys I basically refresh the online shipment tracking page relentlessly."

haha this is so me. I laughed and looked to the side when I read this.

I was sitting on the front deck as I was stalking the DHL van location on my phone.

👍 Joyful anticipation 🎉 definitely! Hard worked for, heavily researched… the greatest things of life. 

 

"Was that the door bell?" "Out of my way, look out! "Nobody move"  I'll get that it's for me!"🤪

I've been waiting for my repaired sub-woofer for over a week. It looks like it started out with the wrong address and now Fed Ex can't seem to find it.

Every day I get an email that it will be delivered but it never does. I and the shipper have called Fed Ex daily.

I know it's because of Covid...

ozzy

In 2017, I waited 6 months for my speakers to be delivered. During that time, at least 2-3 times a week I could not stop thinking about them and could not sleep. As it got  closer and closer to my delivery date, I couldn’t get a decent nights sleep. I guess it goes with the territory.

@roxy54   I'm saying the same thing in both places.  But I agree it's more to the point in the other thread.

Joyful anticipation is a worthwhile experience by itself, but necessarily ends on connecting the new equipment (as it's no longer anticipation).  If this thread ends at that point then there is nothing else to say, save of course that when the new piece was demmed my previous comments apply.

@clearthinker 

I understand what you're saying in the context of that thread, but this one is about the emotion of joyful anticipation, and in that context I don't understand your original comment.

@roxy54     Sorry, I'm certainly not intending to be obtuse but it's an important point I am trying to make.  I am not trying to quantify anything.

If you refer to my contributions to the current string about the poll on sound perception of changes in power cords, it may become clearer.  In that debate the question is whether people hear such changes.  I am pointing out that any change in the sound caused by changes of power cords will emerge from the speakers.  But what we receive from our hearing is not the same as what emerges from the speakers.  It is that, plus the changes made by our conscious and sub-conscious brain input.  Such changes are caused by all sorts of factors, but mainly centering around mood, in its widest connotation.  In the same way we do not experience exactly the same taste from the same food and wine every time we consume it.  Sometimes it tastes better than usual and sometimes duller.  You might suggest that bottles of wine that are adjacent in the case can vary (not by simple being faulty) and indeed they can (especially pinot noir), but the changes we perceive go a long way beyond that.  Sometimes a scene in a film or play (or a piece of music for that matter) may make us cry.  But another time it won't.  But what was on the screen or the speakers is just the same.

@bianchi27 i've taken off work to go pick up a pair of speakers at a trucker's depot 90 minutes away because i had zero faith in my speakers arriving on my porch unharmed.   glad i did it, too.  they were still strapped to a pallet unscathed. 

@clearthinker 

After reading and re-reading your last post I'm still not certain that I understand what you're trying to say, but I believe that you are trying to quantify a purely emotional experience with logical reasoning, and I don't think that can be done.

who else skips work after their new gear arrives

@agisthos LMAO.  I do that all the time! 😂

Palisades Amusement Park

Palisades has the rides, Palisades has the fun

Come on over

Shows and dancing are free, so's the parking, so gee

Come on over

Palisades from coast to coast, where a dime buys the most

Palisades Amusement Park, swings all day and after dark

Ride the coaster, get cool, in the waves in the pool...you'll have fun!!!

So come on over…

 

 - A true Blast From The Past!

asvjerry

3,508 posts

04-12-2023 at 08:52am 

@elliottbnewcombjr .....wedding money? *L*

How that was rationalized is a tale to be told...;)

..........................................

Got married 1967, age 19, had a kid at 20, not exactly a adult wedding decision

this was the 60's man, LPs cheap, new music all the time, and I worked/listened all night all the frigging time because I thought Pratt Institute had made a mistake admitting me. That school was as hard as you made it, and I made it HARD.

Alison Steele (nightbird); Cousin Brucie, 'Palisades Amusement Park; 'Nobody Walks, Money Talks at Denison Clothes' still bouncing around my brain.

I record The Science Channel’s How the Univierse Works on my DVR and turn it on when I can’t sleep. I usually make it about 7 1/2 minutes in before falling asleep. Works everytime. More powerful than Hf-fi anticipation -- or, regret.

@elliottbnewcombjr .....wedding money? *L*

How that was rationalized is a tale to be told...;)

Understand completely!

@roxy54    Not really.  Perhaps regrettably I speak the truth on this.  It is others who persistently refresh the erroneous notion that the sound we perceive is the same as that which leaves the speakers.  As I say elsewhere here recently, hearing and, more importantly, listening are not purely mechanical functionalities, inconveniently for those who would like things straightforward the brain lies in between the ears and the perception of the sound.

Shimano Tiagra 4700 10 speed…."

@clearthinker That was a buzzkill Debbie Downer!

For new audio toys I basically refresh the online shipment tracking page relentlessly.

Not irrational at all. Enjoy your new Dac. 

This just demonstrates how we are ruled by the sub-conscious.  Such irrational excitement goes a long way to explain reinforcement syndrome because we WANT the new piece to sound better.

Beware, and try to be objective.  But actually there is nothing we can do about it.