"You're chasing the perfect sound that does not exist"
Henry H.
How do you get Happy as an Audiophile?
There’s an interesting, relatively modern take on mental health called Positive Psychology. While not without it’s faults and detractors, PP has a very interesting approach. Instead of asking questions on the axis of illness and diagnosis PP asks questions on the scale of happiness:
What is it that makes you more or less content with your life and in your pursuits? How can these actions, events or states be codified and applied as general principles?
In the spirit of PP then I ask:
How do you get happy? What advice would you give an audiophile that asks "What is satisfying about being an audiophile, and what are the approaches that get me there? Do you personally know the answers for yourself? "
89 responses Add your response
Great question. As a trained physician I appreciate very much this small, but important tweak in the psychological approach. For sure it makes big difference. To your question - for me usually the first few minutes when I start listening late night are the nirvana. Starting with some favorites like Tord Gostavsen trio or Patricia Barber and I feel mostly concentrated on what I hear and feel. Great moments, endorphins come to play :) |
bjesien My room measures 12.2' x 18'. I have hardwood floors with a 9 x 12 Persian rug. Systems consists of ARCAM AVR550, Paradigm Prestige 85F towers, two Rell S2 SHO subwoofers, BlueSound Node 2i and OPPO 105 blue ray player. I just spent about $4,000 on Synergistic speaker wires, Synergistic power cable, power cable for BlueSound and digital cable between the BlueSound and my ARCAM. I am sitting about 15 feet from my speakers. My Harman Kardon sound system in my cars sounds way better. Maybe I should add the rear left and right surround systems and listen in surround sound. |
@larry5729 i’m not familiar with your speakers but just based on the dimensions of your room, is it possible that you’re sitting too far away from your speakers? Normally the best listening position is somewhere in the region of an equilateral triangle or a bit closer. That would definitely widen soundstage and perhaps give you that enveloping feeling that you are missing. |
@larry5729 Somethins not right. I've heard some really good car stereos and they have never been close to a proper home system. When nobody's home you should experiment with speaker and listening position placement. Move your speakers out at least 3 to 6ft from the back wall about 8 ft apart. Turn off the subs. Start by sitting in the middle about 3 ft from the front of the speakers. Does this sound better than your car? (If it doesn't then you may have an amplifier or speaker issue.) Move back 3ft. Did the sound get better? if so move back another 3 ft. If it didn't get better move your speakers further apart. and try again. When you get to a spot that it sounds good you can then toe the speakers in to increase the focus. Now you should have a sound stage and a full detailed sound. Now turn on one of your subs and adjust the volume to add some depth and then turn on the other sub and adjust it. If it's boomy move them out at least a foot from the wall. So before everybody gets home you can readjust the speakers and the listening position to a compensate for life for everyone who doesn't have a dedicated sound room. That's how us robots do it. |
@larry5729 Hi Larry. I found your comments very interesting. Music has always been a huge part of my life. My wife, not so much. (music that is). A few years back, my wife asked if I minded if she sat and played word on her tablet while I listed to music. Of course I didn't mind. What started as her just wanting to be more involved with my passion, has morphed into a music date for two hours most every evening. While she still doesn't share my attachment to my entire music collection, her taste in music has expanded greatly. She doesn't care to understand the specifics of my system, but loves the esthetics of the room. I can honestly say that music has improved our relationship even though it's for different reasons. The only downside is she fully supports me spending money on new equipment. Not sure that others members on this site can learn anything from my experience but you just never know where our music adventure will lead us? |
*...!....* I was busy listening... let me turn this
down.....engaged in reverie... *S* Lack of legality doesn't necessarily stop much of anything...imhexperience... Nice topic, @erik_squires . We all Can play well with each other... ;) Happy Pre-Xmas, y'all. ( Not a gun owner, just like the song 'feels'....*G* )
....but 'bots with guns? Rethink that....😖....
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I’m not going to dissuade anyone from being a fanboy/girl of their favorite brands, but can we make these into generalized principles of our hobby? Was it really buying brand X that made you happy, or was it fulfilling certain needs, and if so, what were those needs? If a new audiophile reads this, are you saying if they don't buy cable y or speaker z they won't be happy?? |
I know a lot of older folks like me that are struggling with significant health issues that hamper their being able to do basic things and go places. Seeing this has given me a new-found appreciation for my health and mobility. Yes, I enjoy the music, but I enjoy even more the knowledge that at any moment I can stop listening and go outside, drive my car and get just what I want for lunch (rather than someone’s forced choice that is all I can choose. At older ages, health and the freedom to go and do as I please are the greatest happiness. |
I’m going to start answering my own question now that others have chimed in. For me, DIY was important. I got to make exactly what I wanted. It’s like cooking your own meal. I find I am 100 times less critical of my own speakers than I am of anything I'd buy. Not forcing you to go this route, just explaining my own path. Giving up on cables. I found pure silver wiring from Parts Connexion that was loads better than basic, and yet good enough. I make my own. Room acoustics. I found that a lot of the reasons I wanted to keep changing speakers were not solvable by new speakers but by having room acoustics that helped me see through my room. Giving up on imaging. It’s not that I don’t care about imaging, but given a preference I prefer hearing the acoustic recording space, and smooth tonal accuracy over being able to feel musicians in my room, or attempting to place each violinist. These items are often in conflict and I made my choices. This is also related to giving up on cables. I found too often I was giving up musical experience for imaging. Kind of related to all of this is I gave up on mining for details. There’s always some piece of gear that accentuates a different band of music than what I own, and for the moment it feels like I would "rediscover" my music all over again if I switched, when all I’m doing is switching one set of highlights for another. |
@erik_squires Good OP and interesting last response! +1 on the room acoustics point. I've found that some of the greatest improvements in overall satisfaction come from having friends who've ignored treating their rooms take a few basic steps to control side wall and floor reflections and experiment a bit with speaker and seating position combinations. Going in a different direction, my happiness JUMPS when I share unknown music with friends and it brings a smile to their face. Jaws drop, followed by "I have to get that recording". Cheers, Spencer |
The reason of this conflict is that passive material treatment in general adress more the imaging and position in space than the Tonal accuracy... Active acoustic control adress more the tonal aspect than the location of sound source in space... I dont have this conflict at all with my audio system because i use passive material treatment and active mechanical control with Helmholtz resonators... Why this is so ? Because the right balance between absorbtion-diffusion-reflection make imaging optimal...by taming reverberation time in particular... But to adapt the room FOR the speakers specs i used active mechanichal equalization were my devices are part of the room in a permant way introducing by their location different pressures zones that optimized for my specific ears the way the speakers deliver timbre tonal microstructure experience...By driving each speakers first wavefront for my 2 different ears by the dyssimetric locations of the Helmoltz resonators near each speakers and around the room... You are spot on about the uncessary upgrade of speakers most of the time by ignorance of acoustic and psycho-acoustic basic facts...
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Or, maybe it just gets me High...
Perhaps the danger of equipment can be like desperately smoking as many cigarettes as one can, in order to quit. |
Hearing/noticing new sounds or depths of the sounds on my records and realizing how good my favorite records sound. When time passes and you don't realize it - when my measure of time is in albums/sides of albums. I find that whenever I do something and I am not aware of time passing I am happy. I feel sorry for clock watchers. |
@erik_squires +1 on DIY. LXmini and a pair of OB-subs has been very fulfilling in my journey. Related to this has been the introduction to new tools and required learning; 3D printer, CAD software, crossovers, DSP, measurement software (REW), and calibrated mic. All have contributed to satisfaction/achievement/happiness. @oldhvymec mentioned, "progress", and I can relate/resemble that comment (just ask my wife - why I "always have to be doing something"). In addition to measurements, I kept a stable of reference products to compare against my builds. That included; Tekton DI w/FU, ML e-stats, GE Tritons, B&W (speakers) and AQ Mont Blanc w/FU (cables). These references help ensure DIY builds are 'sound', and in some cases have effected configuration decisions in achievement of superior results. |
I find that being an Audiophile is a forever journey and not a final destination. You are moving up levels as you pursue better sound, things like, 'sound stage', 'punch' and 'air' start to make sense to you instead of just nodding your head. It is always about the music, the audiophile attribute just enables one to enjoy their music at a more enjoyable level. I always seperat my live for music from my Audiophile quest. The important part is to always enjoy and be satisfied with whatever level you are currently at. There is always more tweaking to do and different speakers to audition, it's all part of the experience. Be content or 'happy' that you can listen to your favorite tunes at a higher level than you did a few months prior. It's never 'over' and most of us would never want it to end. It's all good. Merry Christmas! |
another take on this question, as i read the entries so far, is the notion of figuring out what you (not the reviewer, not the salesman, not another forum poster) like abd want from your music. your hifi ... it takes some significant experience, some effort, a journey of sorts, a real attraction and interest in the pursuit -- to figure this out -- something akin to the broader notion of each person figuring out what makes him/her happy in life through the journey of life in hifi terms, it has meant, for me, to understand and be honest with myself about, for instance: - the sound, the presentation of my music -- i chased the live. tactile, fast, impactful sound so some years, but over time, felt that that sound could be hard to listen to over long sittings, and while it excited me for a while at the start, i understood i much more often used music to find my inner solace and peace, and thus ’beautifully’ presented music is more important to me than overtly ’live-sounding’ music - how i play music -- i have learned that streaming pleases me greatly - less ritualistic than lp’s, less limiting than cd’s - i enjoy discovering new music as much and as often as playing the old chestnuts, i also enjoy the ability to easily set up music queues and playlists that i especially enjoy - i fuss less, listen more, listen more intently to the music, limit the ocd-ness - make the genres i listen to sound best -- while i have broad tastes in musical genres i listen mostly to vocals, jazz, world music - with some pop rock folk and blues but much less so, so i have tuned my rig to make miles davis, shirley horn, mary stallings, omar sosa, michael franks, charles lloyd, paolo frescu and others sound ’just right’, even if it takes a little of the edge off of steely dan, tower of power, robert cray and such my two cents, my humble contribution to this broad discussion about how one goes about achieving personal happiness in this pursuit wishing all a merry xmas and each of you good health |
@mapman +1 Amen, brother. Giving is good.
Cheers, Spencer |
I agree with many who have said MUSIC is the primary goal. But first I believe you have to be in a receptive state of mind for the music.
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The 2 goal music and sound satisfaction are attainable at low cost but and there is a BUT, you must learn to controls mechanical, electrical and acoustical working dimensions... Is it only my opinion ? No it is my experience... Is my audio system perfect ? Not at all... But it is enough good to make me smiling at any COSTLY upgrade.... Diminishing return law exist... Especially if you use acoustic but also psycho-acoustic control to optimize your gear/room/ears relation... i say that to give hope... I never want to live with music in an unsatisfied sonic clothes...I only had the time to solve this problem after my retirement... i will never upgrade nor be envious again ....Think acoustic to begin with at least... |
For me a positive outcome of this hobby, and one I never envisaged before getting into it, is forming friendships with other audiophiles. This includes some I've only interacted virtually (messages, phone, text, etc.), and some I've had the pleasure to meet in person. Either way, it's great to talk to someone who shares your hobbies and passions without worrying about politics, religion, race, etc. |
Positive psychology certainly has its fair share of detractors. To ignore the causes of anything is one highly dubious means of attempting to build anything substantial.
Besides, perhaps the terms happy and audiophile are mutually incompatible? Perhaps once you're happy (ok, satisfied) you're no longer an audiophile. You're merely a music lover. |
I am a completely happy audiophile and music lover... Some think it is impossible by definition bit it is ONLY because all the industry completely underestimate the powerful improvement made by acoustic and psycho-acoustic over gear change... Ignorance may be bliss yess, but it is a deceiving flickering bliss in an audio "hell" of conditioned ignorance... |
