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Stopped looking for the best system

I've been in this hobby since I was 16 years old and, like so many of us, have stayed on a constant quest of finding the perfect, or at least best for me, overall system. It's a quest, though, that has no end; there are just too many variables as well as listening tastes to address.

Many times I have made changes, put in a familiar and favorite CD and said, wow, I finally found the answer, only to find that the next CD selection was a disappointment. With that in mind, it crossed my mind that the best solution would be separate systems dedicated to certain genres of music, for examples, acoustic guitar, vocal, concert, etc.

Of course, that wouldn't be practical and there would still be a question in each case of whether I had gotten it right. So, the only real alternative is to try maximizing one complete system for everything which means that some things will necessarily be compromised.

This all sounds a little negative but it really isn't the case because it, at least, gives us all something to do. After all, the value of any hobby is in the journey. This journey, though, can be quite expensive so I consider myself somewhat fortunate to have a limited budget that restricts the number of choices. Further, if I was given access to anything available, regardless of cost, I'm sure I would still find some fault. O.K., so I guess I am being a little negative.

I'm pretty happy with my present system which I believe most would consider at least good. It consists of the Shanling S100 CD player, CAL Sigma 2 DAC, Rogue Audio Sphinx hybrid integrated amp, Straightwire Octave 2 biwire cable and Martin Logan Odyssey speakers. I've tried quite a few different amps and have gone through many speakers including Acoustat, Magnepan X 2, JM Labs, and Martin Logan (SL3, Prodigy and Odyssey). I got the present speakers and cable together in 2003 or 2004.

I cannot hear the difference in speaker or interconnect wires which may have something to do with my age (72) so it is something that I don't mess with any more. As a last ditch effort I will try a good tube based amplifier and have made a promise to myself and my wife that this will be the final big purchase.

O.K., I'm rambling with no other real purpose than to vent and I'm sure that these issues are not unique to me but as Dietrich on Barney Miller used to say "it had to be said".
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Showing 3 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,830 posts
 
If one finds it difficult to get the sound they seek out of a single system, there is no rule that says one cannot set up multiple systems or swap in different components of the same type to help get better results.

WIth teh money many high end audio folks sink into this stuff, the average person could likely set up multiple different sounding systems which each meeting expectations of the moment as needed.

Plus its always useful to have something else good to compare to when needed, for a different frame of reference.

Plus variety is also often the spice of life so why limit oneself to just one fixed system when multiple variations are possible?

SInking more money into one is often not the best approach.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,830 posts
 
OR, another very viable path to go down when all else fails is good quality digital equalization.

Sometimes, there is nothing that will optimally in a particular room out of the box. Equalization may be the best solution at that point. Results possible with modern digital technology far exceeds what one might have been able to coax out of the various analog parametric or graphic equalizers of years past.

All gear inherently performs its own form of equalization in order to do its job. When its all working as it should, but still sounds wrong, then one might be best advised to take matters into their own hands and disregard the limited and misinformed audiophile perspective that all equalization is bad. Its nice to avoid, if possible, but sometimes.....
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,830 posts
 
Jmcgrogan2,

I agree with you that no one system can sound great all the time with all recordings.

All it can do is deliver what its fed accurately or in some similarly pleasing manner.

All recordings are different. There are two many permutations to adapt to, at least manually.

That's where modern digital processing in its many forms provides a unique opportunity that many do not understand or appreciate because its gasp "digital".

But digital gear can be programmed to account for variations and make it all sound as similar as possible , if desired.

Its the if desired part that's an interesting question. I prefer to hear each work of art on its own terms good or bad, not make it all sound similar.

I would not want to transform a Monet painting into a high res photo graph. Why would I want to do that to a recorded work?

It's like that Twilight Zone episode where everyone gets transformed into a similarly beautiful person at a certain time in their life, and the main character who wanted to be uniquely herself, not a beautiful reproduction like everyone else.
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