Musical threshold event


This thread is related to several others concerning being an Audiophile versus a music lover....but a shade different. From my own personnal experience and from conversations I've had with others, as a person is building their system, there seems to be a threshold beyond which the beauty of the music suddenly grabs your attention instead of the beauty of the sound. After that threshold is crossed, the music is front and center. Recordings are listened ALL the way thru and there is less pre-disposition to mess around with the equipment, perhaps, in part, out of fear of loosing the magic. For me this happened when I got a pair of Forte 4s to drive my Martin Logan Quests. The music grabbed my attention instead of the sound (which was also quite good). All of my equipment purchases past that point have been in pursuit of the musical experience. Sound quality matters, but compliments, instead of dominates my equipment selections. I'd like to know at what points all of you crossed that threshold and what combination of equipment got you there. Contrasting that threshold point for vinyl and digital would be neat too.
1953

Showing 1 response by plato

This is an interesting question. I have personally hit the "musical threshold" in many different systems, many times over the years. Each time I hit that magical zone I pause to ask myself, "Isn't it good enough yet?" It seems that by definition, an audiophile is someone who is never satisfied with what he has, and who constantly strives for ways to improve on what he's accomplished. So now I'm at a point where I'm looking back over my experiences with past systems and thinking, "maybe I should have stopped with the Magnepans or the Accoustats, or the modified Dyna 70, or the VPI Mk-IV." Surely the sound I've attained with those components was enjoyable and musically satisfying -- so why do I feel the need for change? Marketing hype? Peer pressure? What? Do I hear differences? Yes. Are they worth the trouble and expense? Some of them are, some of the time. Ah, I'm really enjoying my psychosis, er, hobby. :)