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Is Upgrading Degrading?

Is the search for the "perfect system" a kind of vulgarity?

We don't tend to say "I' had an old Bach recording, but I've upgraded to Schoenberg!" We appreciate the wildly diverse character of these two geniuses on their own terms.

ok--it may make sense to say "I've upgraded from the Spice Girls to Bartok" but once music reaches a certain level of seriousness, it seems to me the correct approach is to bask in the aesthetic differences and perhaps the same is true of music systems.

Are we really getting "better sound" along an imagined continuum that runs from ghastly cacophony to some auditory Valhalla or are we just experiencing different wonderful systems with personalities as varied and unique as human beings are?
marburg

Showing 1 response by hifiman5

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hifiman5
1,823 posts
 
I have noticed recently less of an interest in reading reviews in Stereophile and TAS as well as the many online publications since I finished "tuning" my system after years of investment in gear of all kinds. My shift is clearly to music and I find myself opening up to new genres. I am on a huge bluegrass kick right now. I've been in this hobby for decades and never really appreciated the musical chops that the finer bluegrass musicians possess. As I write this I'm thoroughly enjoying the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle be Unbroken" Awesome stuff.

For me at least, settling on the performance of my system has sifted my focus to the music. Good thing that.
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