No you are not! Enjoy your system and the music and don't worry about it. Consider yourself lucky that you don't caught up in the constant evaluation of your system; always wondering how to improve it or what to upgrade next.
Am I Bad Listener?
Let me say from the outset that I love audio gear and I love the sound of mid-high end audio. But here's the thing ...
The only part of a system that I can hear a real difference in is speakers. In my system over the past few months I have tested three different amps (a 30W tube, a 150W SS integrated and a 200W SS amp plus a bi-amp configuration), a tube preamp, no preamp (direct to amp via DAC with volume control) and most recently a bunch of different speaker wires (my original Audience Maestros, a DIY Home Depot 10 gauge concoction, Anticables and two other sets of very expensive wires borrowed from a local dealer - some bi-wired & some single with jumpers). Oh, and a series of different IC's.
With the possible exception of the insertion of the tube preamp, I can't really tell much of a difference regardless of what I do. I have had similar experiences at dealers. But switching back and forth between different speakers I can hear huge differences.
I think my system sounds really good but is modest by comparison to many on A'gon - Olive Musica, Benchmark DAC, Minimax Preamp, Meridian G57 amp (sometimes switched for a Classe or Prima Luna) - so maybe that's it. In a modest system the effect of switching components or wires just won't yield huge sound changes. Or maybe I just don't hear in a very detailed manner.
I spend a fair amount of time reading posts here and people claim to have genuine sonic revelations by switching an interconnect or a tube or piece of speaker wire. I love buying the new stuff and giving it a try but I just don't seem to ever hear a sonic revelation and end up re-selling it.
Does anyone share my experience or is there something this sad, pathetic audiophile is missing?
The only part of a system that I can hear a real difference in is speakers. In my system over the past few months I have tested three different amps (a 30W tube, a 150W SS integrated and a 200W SS amp plus a bi-amp configuration), a tube preamp, no preamp (direct to amp via DAC with volume control) and most recently a bunch of different speaker wires (my original Audience Maestros, a DIY Home Depot 10 gauge concoction, Anticables and two other sets of very expensive wires borrowed from a local dealer - some bi-wired & some single with jumpers). Oh, and a series of different IC's.
With the possible exception of the insertion of the tube preamp, I can't really tell much of a difference regardless of what I do. I have had similar experiences at dealers. But switching back and forth between different speakers I can hear huge differences.
I think my system sounds really good but is modest by comparison to many on A'gon - Olive Musica, Benchmark DAC, Minimax Preamp, Meridian G57 amp (sometimes switched for a Classe or Prima Luna) - so maybe that's it. In a modest system the effect of switching components or wires just won't yield huge sound changes. Or maybe I just don't hear in a very detailed manner.
I spend a fair amount of time reading posts here and people claim to have genuine sonic revelations by switching an interconnect or a tube or piece of speaker wire. I love buying the new stuff and giving it a try but I just don't seem to ever hear a sonic revelation and end up re-selling it.
Does anyone share my experience or is there something this sad, pathetic audiophile is missing?