The Psychology of Constant (Equipment) Change

Thanks for the topic, audiodwebe...

I have patiently read a lot of our responses while giving some thought to the question.  On the surface, it would appear that some combinations of your gear do indeed satisfy up to a point, when there is restlessness.  Thanks for your honesty. 

My journey has been long learning with a comparatively small budget inside rental apartments.  The last 24 years have been much more focused upon improving a difficult, dedicated small studio.  If interested, my posts can define much of the trip.  

The crux of my ambition is pretty much the same as TAS's Harry Pearson all those decades ago...the replication of the live event, preferably unamplified.  He and J Gordon Holt broke the ground for subjective evaluation, a nomenclature for the images of sound which set the stage for more rapid progression of the hobby. 

Progress is the fluid end game for me.  As things improve, the target gains distance...often, not realizing something was missing until it appears.  The relationship of the loudspeakers to the room, tuning, physical, and yes, digital.  Graphs and measurements of your sound are a valid starting point.  Subsequently, working to within a 1/100th of a decibel is possible, allowing the fine tuning of your preferred flavors and the exciting discovery of much that has been either blurred, distorted or frequencies hidden entirely from the reality of the capture, till now. 

Is perfection possible?  Let's hope not!  I quite enjoy the chase.  But that's me.  For example, I've savored two years before pulling the trigger on an ethernet cable upgrade, focusing on room tuning as my budget allowed.  I'm both excited and nervous since it is, for me, a substantial spend.  Thanks LL Bean for yet another bonus year!         :) 

I strongly suspect how we come to our hobby somewhat dictates our goals and pleasures.  I have a close friend whose system is constantly in flux.  His passion may surpass mine.  When he lived close by, he had three system in the mix and enjoyed them all, seeking synergy and fun.  Recently, here, there seems to be more lecturing and scolding around how one should approach our hobby...with the zeal of their definitions.  Really?    

More Peace,  Pin            (bold print for old eyes)

What would you think of a doctor who diagnosed people online?  How about someone who wanted a diagnosis from amateurs with the same nervous disorder???

I strongly suspect how we come to our hobby somewhat dictates our goals and pleasures. I have a close friend whose system is constantly in flux. His passion may surpass mine. When he lived close by, he had three system in the mix and enjoyed them all, seeking synergy and fun. Recently, here, there seems to be more lecturing and scolding around how one should approach our hobby...with the zeal of their definitions. Really?

You are certainly right...

But the hobby to rotate pieces of gear is very different than my own hobby: which is learning how to optimize any system for the sake of music listening.

I will not scold anyone if we distinguish the fun of rotating gear for the fun of it and learning how to reach the best with what we have, nevermind the price.It takes a lot of time to optimise a chosen system in a room. If you learn how to do it alone. It takes so much time that rotating gear is not an option. Why ?

Because we are able to optimize a system room once the gear synergy choices are done once for all ...The acoustic-psychoacoustics process of experiments begin after that.

i want to listen Bach or jazz in the best acoustic condition... Rotating gear is not my hobby... Anyway i dont have this budget... And basic knowledge made this useless for most people because a relatively good system well installed , mechanically, electrically and acoustically give us a relative ectasy...

And also give me with what i learned 100,000 bucks and i will create one of the great system easily but with one or two years work and experiment in a dedicated room . Being there at the end, why would i rotate pieces of gear ?😁

Unsatisfaction comes from frustration with an evident acoustic defect or gear synergy defect easy to spot and correct..

Unsatisfaction can come with boring sound room/system when the acoustic balance and the synergy is very wrong and the acoustic defect not evident to identify because there is no dedicated acoustic control anyway ..

Part of the solution can be changing the gear synergy if it is not there, but certainly not rotating gear in a race toward a "perfection" which we thank God for his inexistence as an hamster in a wheel happy to go nowhere for the fun of it and thanking God that no end location exist ....

Acoustics rule my hobby and fun ...music is the end station for me...

Very simple: just reflects unhealed trauma where buying more “stuff” is an attempt to distract from the discomfort of the underlying issues.  How many audiophiles doesn’t take to change a lightbulb? Just one, but the lightbulb has to really WANT to change…

I think we are over analyzing the whole thing. It’s pretty simple really, there are too many toys to play with! Few sound truly bad, most sound very good to amazing. Price point is somewhat irrelevant, play in the sand that suits you. There are plenty of toys at every budget. I’ve gotten to the point I’m slowing down, if not closing the revolving door. I’ve played with the toys I want to play with and have narrowed down the field to where I am both sonically and budgetary wise. Still, the door isn’t nailed shut!