chayro, but if its "good enough", why keep at it? That would seem to indicate that in fact it is not for whatever reason.
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Newbee, we are similar in that regard I would say.
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"But then the next music starts to play and I start thinking, "This would sound so much better if...." and I start fidgeting."
Is it safe to assume its not just the variation of quality from recording to recording that accounts for this?
I find when I think things are good enough, I can clearly hear the differences good and bad from recording to recording and I am pretty much getting the most I can out of each. That can be hard to know for sure. In general, when I hear only good things happening in the best recordings overall, I tend to conclude that most limitations or issues I might hear in others are the recordings fault, and there is little one can do to reproduce something that is not there in the first place.
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It’s just like a having an HD TV. Picture quality varies greatly with source material. But same source material all still looks much more similar and below average by current standards on my old fashioned low res analog CRT 10" Zenith that's still kicking.
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Al, I am similar I think.
I often say you have to know what your target is before you can hit it.
Once you hit it, what more is there? Until you stop hitting it. Then the question becomes why? It could just be us having a bad day or going through a bad time. Or something with the power, weather, who knows? All the more reason to not jump to conclusions too quickly with this stuff. Its often very nebulous why things sound the way they do to us. The equipment merry go round is never a good answer. You have to be able to get off that from time to time. Unless one just likes to play with different gear, which is fine.
Also I agree with dweller. I can enjoy listening to anything for a period as long as no audible distortion. What floats ones boat beyond that is highly subjective I would say. Many tasty ways to make soup, in either small or large portions. large portions tend to cost more though if equally tasty.
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"God's greatest gift to mankind (followed closely by dogs ;-). "
I'd add family and leave it at that.
My dog loves to sit calmly and listen to my hifi. with me. Go figure. He's a typical hyper Jack Russell Terrier....does not happen very often.
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Willie that sounds like me too. |
Good sound has a physiological effect on me. It relaxes me and makes me feel good. Then I know. I'm not a doctor so would not even attempt to explain how this works. Its a kind of love I suppose.
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"As long as I can listen to a poor-quality recording, and hear through
the flaws, and instead feel like I am hearing what the artist and
recording/mastering engineers were trying to accomplish, I am happy."
That's a great one. Spoken like a true OHM man, B.
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There is not much progress without obsession. Obsessing on something good or positive that is. There is always the opposite. Any obsession can probably go out of control and become detrimental eventually if allowed.
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The best measure for me I can come up with for if my hifi is good enough or not is how much time I spend listening and how much I look forward to the opportunities.
If my interest wains its usually an indicator that something is not right because I have always looked forward to spending leisure time just listening to music.
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Just got through 1812 Overture on Mercury Living Presence cranked to fairly realistic volume. I am just getting of my knees where I was crying and sobbing. 😩
Its good enough. Blew me away and nothing blew out in the process. 😗
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Good answer j. I'll buy that. |
I have currently have 9 different main listening configurations available in my house in most any room (including outside). They are all "good enough" on their own in that I very much enjoy using each as is, but only one is the best among them that brings the most frequent and biggest smiles. There are ways to make them all even better I’m sure, but hey there is only so much time in the week to sit and enjoy music and maybe dabble here and there once in a while just to try something different if not necessarily better. Too bad! |
I agree room is the biggest factor and matching speakers accordingly. Then a well suited amp to drive them and lastly a good quality source which is not hard to find these days, at least with digital. It all works in the end as long as system (including room) integration and synergy is high. Many ways to get there, some faster than others perhaps. After that, I think the more minor tweaks that might be done often come down largely to personal preferences. |