Think twice before concluding some thing sounds better

Onhwy61,  I wish to God that recording engineers spent more time trying to get better sound.  So much of what they produce sounds like crap that no amount of money spent at home can fix.  The improvements that could be made in the recording studio dwarf what we can do at home, at least within the budget constraints most of us have.

tomcy6,
Truer words have not been spoken. The crap we get from the major record labels leave a lot to be desired. I mentioned on a different thread of listening to a well recorded 16 bit CD of a jazz band, done by Tony Manasian and it laid to rest any dreams of going high rez, for the foreseeable future. I believe he only uses two mikes (partially his design) and no equalization and the end product even bettered any Mapleshade CDs that I have. Talk about a purist. The performers literally left the speakers: a first in my living room.

The end result is literally in reach for all of us if the recording was done right in the first place. One of the biggest frauds perpetrated on us is the notion that we can get more out of a recording if only.....

All the best,
Nonoise

Onhwy61--Luv the comparisons--so right--hell getting any so called dealer to loan a piece for "months so I can see if I REALLY like it!"
is akin to pulling teeth!

Team212

No matter what, just enjoy what you have in spite of the fact that we get used to what thrilled us in the beginning became business as usual.. Keep a few pieces around just to change up the sound and to keep things more interesting. Don't underestimate what you have, you could do a lot worse. More importantly play all your CDs regardless because its about the music and nothing else.

Totally agree on the OLED TV's. I go "visit" my 65 inch at Magnolia from time to time. When it breaks $2K ($4K now) it will be mine, which should be in the next two years. My Panasonic 58" plasma works great still. 

I found the OLED doing the same walk I've done since I saw my first Pioneer Elite.  I saw the 65" Elite and knew it was perfection within 5 seconds.  But it was $7K.  Bought the Panny on sale at $1,250. Haven't seen anything else close to the Elite until OLED showed up and WOW!

More on topic with this site and thread, I qualify my statements with the admission I am not an audiophile in the typical definition.  I don't listen to classical and female vocal records to try to hear every nuance, to analyze whether the instruments are in their exact place on the stage and the extreme subtleties of the timbre of the instruments.  I do have a good enough ear to hear all of those things, unlike most of the people I've known.  But I'm not driven by the quest to reproduce a live performance and don't feel it can be done.  I just want my system to get me close enough that I can remember the live performance and let the emotion of the music take over. 

I previously used Infinity Kappa 8's.  Not high brow at all, but good speakers.  Purchased them and a Carver TFM-35 from a friend many years ago.  I typically know the strengths and weaknesses of my gear and my sonic preferences (typically like soft domes and laid back presentation) which the Infinitys were not.  But they could play very loud and dynamically when I wanted them to.  At that time of my life, that's why I played the music, often at club level volume, and it was awesome.

Now I live in a condo.  Kappa 8's are completely ridiculous in a sub 900 sq. ft. total space.  I started looking at small bookshelf speakers that could play the types of music I like and came across Ascend Acoustics. They were the right price and Ascend is local to me so I could go and audition the different models.  I knew I liked the Dynaudio sound and Dave said the Sierra 1's had that type of sound.  I listened to the standard Sierra 1's for 30 min., the Sierras with the NrT tweeters for 10 min. and the Sierra 2's for 20 min.  Then went back to the Sierra 1's for another 20 min.  Chose the Sierra 1's he recommended initially and am thrilled with them. They do everything I need them to do.

And that's the point I'm trying to make in this admittedly long winded post.  
1.  Get gear that has the basic sound signature you like.  Read reviews and posts before buying anything, and listen to as much gear as you can WITHOUT BUYING IT FIRST to get an idea of what you like and if your ears agree with the reviewers and more experienced forum members.  If so, then you have a good guide to start with.
2.  Get recommendations from those who have heard a lot of gear and understand the sonic signatures of different brands/models.  Then purchase what you can comfortably afford on the used market. 
3.  Do your very best to set up your system to suit your ears and room acoustics
4.  Find the music that makes you happy, that gets you emotionally involved
5.  Play said music instead of reading never ending reviews/posts/ads about what piece of gear will get you to perfection and making trips to the UPS/FedEx store cycling through equipment in an endless quest to get to somewhere that may not exist in your budget or your hearing ability. 

Upgrades are fine if you know a component is truly in another class and you find a bargain.  Endless tweaking and the justificaton that what you hear is better, then you want the old one back is madness to me.  I do understand those in the hobby that like to compare and experiment with gear, but for you guys, it seems like the journey is the satisfaction, not the end product. It's about experiences and knowledge over the outright sound quality.

For you guys and gals that are after sonic perfection, do you actually do the same in any other part of your life?  Do you drive your car and think about every suspension movement, gear change and partial throttle response and go on a quest to make it better, no matter the cost and effort?  I mention this because I suffer from this type of car/motorcycle OCD at times.  I only fix it if it really bothers me.  Otherwise, it becomes the "character" of the vehicle and something that makes it interesting to drive.

And we have the same character in each of our systems.  Those characteristics should be tailored to your ear and the music you love.  I listen to a lot of different types of music, all demanding different sonic qualities .  Would I want to trade for a system costing 10 times more that is set up for chamber music and is sonically "flat" and completely accurate?  Probably not.

And isn't this whole audio thing just a way escape to a happy place after a hectic day????  Not a burden that borders on neurosis that makes people question and doubt their ability to even know what happy is????