2. misc-audio
  3. 1360637638

Cured of upgraditis?

For most of my audio life I have suffered from the affliction of updraditis. I'm sure you know of what I speak. However, after my most recent round of upgrades, and with lighter wallet, I am at a point where, with the system below, I don't feel the need to change a thing. Of course, the system is not perfect. I have a noisy tube in the preamp and a lip-sync issue with the disc player, but I just want those problems to be solved - I don't actually want to change any of the equipment. Music and movies have never sounded better. It's a curious feeling, like audio nirvana, a sort of zen-like quality. What I'm wondering now is if this condition is temporary and brief or, as I hope, will last a long time, possibly forever. Does anyone have any similar experiences to share?

Oppo BDP-105 universal player
conrad-johnson MET1 6-channel tube preamp
Sunfire Cinema Grand 5-channel power amp
Von Schweikert speakers: VR-33 mains, Unifield 1 center, TS-150 surrounds
REL T1 subwoofer
Cabling: Cardas, a mixture of quadlink and cross
A couple of beers
A good time
malcolm02
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
7,826 posts
 
A sure fire way is to purchase components with burn-in or break-in times that exceed your remaining life expectancy. Then there would be no logic in 'upgrading'. I give this advice free of charge.
Cheers
raytheprinter's avatar
raytheprinter
1,234 posts
 
I have the same speakers and preamp that I had 6 years ago,do not feel the need to upgrade those.I would like to upgrade my poweramp(PS Audio Trio A100)If I ever find fulltime work again(newspapers are not doing much hiring in the pressroom lately).Lack of income has kept me from upgrading,also had to sell a couple nice pieces during the recesion.But I am pretty happy with my system.Once I get my preamp fixed Ill be good.I t seems like once I knew buying any new stuff was out of the question,I stopped thinking much about upgrading and just enjoyed what I have.Now if some kind soul wanted to send a nice poweramp my way, I would not complain.
malcolm02 OP
43 posts
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. My post was meant in a humorous tone but it is an accurate description of where I am right now. Like a recovering alcoholic who can't touch another drop lest he relapse, I'm thinking I should just be listening to music and watching movies, and I should not be reading equipment reviews or going to audio shows or participating in audio forums ... oops, already busted on that last one.
corelli
951 posts
 
schubert, you would be cured for two years.  They take one year to break in!
bar81
791 posts
 
How long the system lasts is up to the person.  Running out of money is a great way to not have the itch to upgrade as are other priorities in one's life taking precedence in terms of budget (house, kids, etc.). 

I think the toughest situation is if your system components are not terribly expensive.  It seems that every few months some new component is hailed as the next giant killer with a massive amount of hype and one can't help but wonder if this time, it'll actually be as good as claimed and take the system to a whole new level of performance for a very reasonable price.

I'm at the point that not only am I no longer looking to change my system but I'm kind of relieved that I got to where I wanted to get to performance wise.  Spending 12 years putting together a system and ending up at double the original budget will take the allure out of any delusions that further upgrades are a good idea.
More to discover