The argument against upgrading

Maybe it’s The Grass is Greener syndrome. Maybe some boredom with current Sonics.

I build variety to keep from being bored with my SS audio chain:

various cartridges from detailed to musical Koetsu, SPUs.  Maybe someday I’ll pickup a warm SS like GanFet, sliding bias A, or a punchy Gryphon amp for SS variety.

I also have a second audio chain with highly efficient speakers for tube amps including flea watt SET.   

I still go nuts about the improvement from 19K cables to 24K cables. Best 5K I have ever spent.

I won’t comment on this subject for those with unlimited budgets or a $100,000 budget ceiling. It’s clear that any upgrade must be defined by the overall synergy of the elements involved and their integration within a specific room, considering its acoustic properties and content and for a definite budget with all pieces with a comparative proportional price.

Every upgrade must have a general goal: the integration of an element into an acoustic whole. Therefore, changing an element without knowing how to optimize it for optimal integration within the overall acoustic environment and the synergy of all participating designs is a mistake, even if the upgrade proves positive.

A difference is not often really an improvement if its significance in relation to the total acoustic experience is not understood.

Upgrading is a dead end and often a pointless expense if we don’t understand the source of our acoustic dissatisfaction and its underlying cause.

Upgrading is a dead end if you don’t learn the basics of the system optimization process, regardless of the price of the system pieces...

Upgrading often reflects our ignorance of a fundamental fact: there is a huge difference between a system and its acoustic environment before and after optimization.

Before upgrading a piece you dim obsolete or not working well or unsufficient you must optimize it and the system also...

The optimization process—mechanical, electrical, acoustic, or DSP-based—generally costs less than an upgrade, and even if it does cost the same, once implemented, it provides a satisfaction that reveals the absurdity of throwing money away, when we are influenced by marketing instead of basic knowledge. As i said there is no comparison between the same piece or the same system working at his peak potential after optimization or right out of the box without optimization...

I call the state of being happy with the least possible costing system/room with no frustration of any kind in spite of the limits of a specific system for specific needs (mine is for nearfield  and optimized for a small acoustic corner) the "minimal acoustical satisfaction threshold  or MAST.

Once there you smile and laugh because of the low cost /S.Q. ratio.... You quit upgrade and marketing because you have learned minimal acoustics basic......

There is listening to music, I do it very regular in situations that are deliberate, like when having a Coffee with my wife and we have alexia, to call up a few tunes, there is also when I use the vehicle and put the radio on or a CD, there is also watching a performance of some type on the TV where a vast range of genre is readily available to be seen as a created song/sound whilst being heard.

The above is listening to music, with not too much / if any consideration for the engineering that is developed around listening to music.

When it comes to taking the time to use equipment that enables the Technology and Engineering that is used to produce a Musical Recording to be fully appreciated. This requires a different approach, I have created a system through learning what is not being presented within my Audio System and Listening Space.

Counter measures have resulted in my seeking new experiences in Audio and  putting in place equipment that is able to improve what is being presented. This is a learning experience, not achievable as a one jump design, which is well documented for not being achievable for a host of reasons.

Today after remaining loyal to the hobby of listening to replays of recorded music, and having been on a long journey of discovery, where all encounters have been the utmost enjoyment, I have a Audio System and Room Set Up that totally suits my own purposes and is not failing to impress others who visit and experience it.

My system today using both Vinyl and CD as a Source Medium, presents in a way, where it can not be doubted that what the creators of the recorded music wanted to be embedded in the medium, is being fully presented in its entirety. 

This is the fundamental of using audio equipment and a recorded medium, to create a replay that is as close to the original production as possible. 

It is a Journey, and where an individual decides to get off the bus, is their choice, but getting of it too soon is with the potential to deprive oneself of a ultimate encounter with recorded music.   

IF you don’t know where you are going, ANY road will get you there….

Audiophile know thyself and your true North references 

lacking that sample the ice cream flavors…. Repeat