Ugrade-itis - is there a cure?


If, by some "dark magic" you woke up one day and your system sounded the best you've ever heard it - AND - better than the best system you had ever listened to in a high priced audio store, would you still want to upgrade your components?

If the answer is yes - are you...
  1. an "Audio shop-o-holic"
  2. or just curious as whether that new component will make a difference 
If you are #2 - if you bought a new component and it made NO improvement - would you stop uprading?

Just curious :-)
williewonka
I’ve been an audiophile for over 30 years. And I’ve been on the audio upgrade treadmill for most of those years. But, now I’m retired both as an audiophile and literally. 
Is there a cure? Maybe, for some of us but surely not for all.
You might find, at some point, that circumstances could present themselves, as it has with me, in such a manner that interests, priorities and commitments shift.
The good news.
Nightly, I’m spinning LPs, listening to music and not the system. And my experience is that I’m profoundly enjoying and appreciating the creative variety of artists performances. I’m digging deep into my collection. Didn’t we get into this hobby because of the music anyway?
I have a very good system (Neo Vintage), but it certainly isn’t the best. Within our audio club, there are rigs, that in various ways, are truly better than mine. And that’s OK.
Contentment in life is hard to find. But, if found, even fleetingly, the music, once again returns to the forefront. It is possible, and for some, it may arrive later in life... oh well,...back to Aretha...

Thanks guys for some very interesting and diverse views.

I'm glad to see so many of you seem very happy with your rigs as they are, with perhaps only some minor tweaks being considered..

I think one of my favourite responses was from @blindjim:
if the rig is indeed the best sounding thing you've amassed to date and then one begins exchanging things which are predominately sideways steps, it ain't the system or its gear that needs a closer look at, its more likely the 'nut' behind the wheel.
Something I think many of us have been guilty of at some point.

I had personally finished upgrading about 5 weeks ago, then two fellow audiophiles suggested I try something new, so begrudgingly, I gave their suggestions a whirl, thinking it would be a marginal - one of those "sideways improvements" one of you talked about, BUT, once again it  proved to be beneficial

I'm definitely NOT in the "shop-o-holic" camp, because I do not upgarade my components that often - e.g. I have only ever owned one turntable (OK, I tweaked the crap out of that),  two sets of speakers and 4 amps over a 38 year period and I am only on my third phono stage since getting back into vinyl around 9 years ago, so I figure I'm doing pretty well, especially after reading the lists of components some of you have acquired over the years.

But this is the first time my system has approached it's current level of excellence, so I was curious if "upgrade-itis" is a persistent conditon or if it wanes as one gets older?

That would give me something I could tell my wife - there actually has an end in site :-)

I too have been more guilty of those "frivolous purchases" WRT another hobby i.e. 35mm photography. But I think todays SLR cameras/lenses are now so good, that you do not have to break the bank to get excellent images and the latest developments are more often improvements in the "experience" rather than image quality. So I have now reached my personal "photography nirvana"

Whereas the Audio world seems to keep coming up with "better sound" 

I think I may be aproaching this post from @granodemostasa ...  
I like to upgrade until i'm looking over a cliff that is impractical to cross

My "cliff" these days is Cost Benefit

BUT ! - if the lottery ticket come up - who knows :-) 

Regards - Steve

 
Is there a cure?  No.  I fin that even when I have my system sounding really good, I always get sucked in by the hype of this component or that and then it gnaws at me for months about whether X will really be smoother, better imaging, better soundstage, etc.  Generally, they have been an improvement, or at worst, a lateral move to a slightly different sound.  A big improvement, like a "blow you away" one -- no.  But you never know until you do it.  Thus, no cure, other than the lack of money!
Great thread.  Like some of the other posters I came into higher audio a bit later in life but have a similar experience in collecting wine for over 20years.  At some point, and that point is completely unique to every individual, the return in better quality of wine for the additional dollars paid is quite low, and the game reverts to ostentatious displays of wealth.  I think the same could be said of audio gear (or is that heretic?).  The whole point of both drinking good wine and listening to music on an nice system is the experience that both provide; whether it's sharing a great bottle of wine with a partner or good friends at a dinner or after listening to music alone or with some company and emerging from the room with that big happy grin on your face.......
Replace one addiction with another - tweaks. Problem solved! Places to start - vibration isolation, CD treatments, PWB Silver Rainbow Foil, explore Cable and Fuse directionality, aftermarket fuses, contact enhancers, acoustic resonators, precise speaker placement.