Living the audiophile life.


Couldn't agree with you more about diminishing returns. Marginal cost is another way to look at it. I'd say the NAD stuff boosted my system 25 percent over the old Arcam gear. How much is the next 10 percent going to cost? $5,000? Enough for a serious set of speakers? Probably.

Interesting to note that I am the only person I know who has any kind of serious set-up. I run with a fairly fast-lane, yuppie-ish, New York crowd. (Although one that has been slowed by the arrival of children.) Everyone listens to Alexa or plugs their phone into something. If these people don't care about sound . . . 

Note that I've already declared many "advances" to be the end of civilization. I believe that texting is the main culprit. And granted that the audio industry is doing everything possible to drive these people away. But you'd think that somebody would care.

Is it possible to send you messages or replies right from the discussion?
paul6001
Confucius say man who spend time talking can’t hear at same time.
@geoffkait i understand perfectly what you mean about ‘costs’ and ‘nirvana’.

i sat in front of my system listening to a beautiful copy of Jimi Hendrix Axis: Bold As Love on reel-to-reel, knowing that the tape would most likely self destruct at the end.
It did.

but it was the most beautiful live performance I have ever heard, in my own home.


@brettmcee / brett - Many thanks for yours posts here. Your description of the Jimi Hendrix reel-to-reel experience hooked me in, which brought me to the story you offered on our (individual) journeys to experience the music beyond its sonic properties. I couldn't agree more with your museum analogy, and every recording is indeed a gift.

It turns out some of my most cherished tracks are, in part, favored for their very obvious compromises in recording and/or transcription fidelity (i.e. 7th generation recordings....). Depending on the music and lyrics of a given track, a rough recording can be integral in delivering a more impactful experience than if the recording was clean and pure. Thank you for your thoughts!
I dont know, i look at like a fish that gets hooked for the first time. The fish did not know there was a world above the water. The first time i got hooked was at Alma Hifi, in metro Detroit. 1989 BW801S2 and about 25 grand worth of Krell hardware backing it up. I could not belive the sonic images that were floating in front of me. I was hooked. Been mostly fun ever since. Maybe a little bit addiction/coping mechanism...ah.