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Audiophile Addiction

I met a man on Audiogon who had a fairly high-end system and he was selling the whole thing off. I asked him why, which is the purpose of this posting, is that he was constantly trying to find the perfect sound from his audio system and came to the conclusion it does not exist. Additionally, he said most often all of his hours of listening were alone, taking many hours of quality time from his family. In addition, he said he was listening to his equipment vs. the music. He is now very happy listening to background music with his family from his AV system. I don't know, I just wanted to share this story as I myself fall into this trap (made me think).
rpg
cdc
1,677 posts
 
I enjoy playing with sounds -that's how I describe my time with hi-end audio. I would get real upset, real quick if I was going after the Holy Grail because:

1) It doesn't exist, IMHO
2) for the vast majority of the time, any stereo sounds fake compared to live.
3) The quality of the recording plays a HUGE role and the components much less so IMHO. Most recordings of music that I like stink. No, I'm not about to change what I listen to just because the recordings sound better. Ditto with vinyl. Music I like just doesn't exist on that medium.
4) Most differences between components are lateral changes IMHO, not significant upgrades. In the short term, different = better until you get sick of that sound. Besides, it's MUCH easier to make a component sound "different" than "better".

The philosophy that:

1) all components damage the sound and you put together a stereo for "damage control". As such, I have a CDP, volume knob, amp, and full range speaker with no x-overs. Can't get much simpler = less damage than that.

and

2) Being able to tell how components sound based on measurements vs. unreliable hearing is also a help.

Has been a help as well.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,406 posts
 
Cdc - absolutely agree with all your points except being upset not finding Holly Grail. Pleasure is in the chase itself IMHO.

One point you made about quality of recordings is very valid. People often talk about great playback of some older recordings that I find absolutely horrible and only low resolution of the system or complete lack of hearing can explain this.
cdc
1,677 posts
 
Kijanki, thanks. I'm glad you've found the Holy Grail. I always seem to be 1 step away.... . . . .
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