How does one get off the merry-go-round?

jmslaw, i don't see it that way - if some amazing gnu *affordable* technology came out that provide the *perfect* reproduction of live sound (whatever that is - i've gone to some comcerts & thought it sounded better at home!), i'd be happier than a pig-in-shit! ;~) i like the *music*. drubin, don't worry - if the digital room correction works, ewe *will* be happy! :>)

regards, doug s.

I pretty much stopped listening to music from 1985 to 2000 with exception of a few music vidios, plays, the Hollywood Bowl and friends performing locally. I sold all of my gear (a tube based Ls3/5a system) and most of my vinyl in 1985 and spent my leisure time from then on reading as I was burnt out on music. The only thing that I kept was my KLH Model 21 table radio to listen to at low volume in the kitchen when I cooked (the local jazz and classical station). When I jumped back into the hobby in early 2000 I was starved for music (we have picked up 500 CD's in a little over a year's time) and as far as the gear goes finally ended up with a system composed of things that were new and interesting to me (digital source, 300B SET amplification and solid core cabling). I added the usual tweaks as well (PC's and isolation components), but found this a natural course to take, no different than replacing the tires on a new (used car) with the Michelins that I prefer or than ripping up the kitchen floor in a rented apartment and replacing it with something more to my liking and at my own expense (I have replaced our kitchen floor three times in the past 8 years:-). This system is almost completed and when I can afford to, it will replace the mini system in the spare room and then I will start all over again on another type of living room system. This is what I enjoy doing as a hobbby. As far as the Merry-Go-Round goes, I can only afford so many tickets at a time.

I did it.
But mainly out of necessity.
Like many of you guys, I am single, which affords me supreme omnipotence with respect to speaker placement.
I'll just say that my small 2 bedroom apt is totally set up around the stereo system. I had it bad. Upgrading, upgrading, upgrading. Meanwhile, I spent less and less time listening, and worse, only to 3 or 4 well recorded CDs, instead of the several hundred others I have.

I was eating at my local chinese buffet here in Charleston SC, and at the end of the meal, as is customary for Americans eating at local Chinese buffets, I opened my fortune cookie, and received the best advice of my life.
"The simplest answer is to act."
This was not a typical fortune cookie fortune. This was pure knowledge.

IF something is bothering you, address it. Don't walk around it, walk straight up to it, and slap it in the face.

I knew that my stereo habit was out of control. Plus, I knew that I didn't really enjoy the "hobby" as much as I did when I began to piece together my first high end system.

I looked at my life, where I was going (actually to law school, very, very soon), and decided that I needed to free up a little cash, plus get out of the upgrade fast lane.

I remembered hearing an inexpensive integrated amp at my local hifi boutique, and decided to take it home for a trial. (thanks, Read Bros. Stereo!!)

My thinking, reinforced by my fortune cookie, was to get rid of the frustration. I wanted a stereo system, for sure, but not one that was quite so costly and frustrating, if it was only going to be used occasionally, as the case had been lately
.
I had roughly $2k in a $5k retail amp/IC/preamp combo.
Pretty cheap CD (Planet) and speakers that I love (Nautilus 805). I decided to trim the fat from the amplification components.

SO I bought the $1k (retail) integrated amp.
Never looked back.
Sold the Preamp (no longer made CJ PV11L)
Sold the Amp (no longer cheap Audioprism Debut now RedRose model 2)
Sold the IC (no longer made Audioquest Diamondx3)

Looked at my all solid state, 2 piece stereo system, sitting there on the floor, taking up MUCH less space, producing MUCH less heat, using MUCH less power.
And I was Happy.

And you know what else??
Those poorly recorded CDs sound MUCH better.
Detail? Not as much, to be sure.
Soundstaging? not as deep, but wide, wide, wide.
Imaging? Almost as good.
Musicality? light-years ahead.
And I listen LOTS more. To Music, not Diana Krall, though she does still sound RAVISHING....
So, I still check the forums, hell, I still look at the classifieds at least 10 times a day. But I know that I ran the race, chased the grail, got as close as anyone gets, and then settled down and got on with my life.
Some of you are laughing, but I bet many of you are not.
There are jokes about the addictive nature of this hobby, but addictive it is.
How much money have you spent on drugs, legal or not, in the past year?
How much have you spent on stereo gear?
Can you say without hesitation that your $10k rig produces more happiness, and gets used more than the $2.5k rig you started out with?
Now, once I am a rich, fat old lawyer, I might be tempted to jump in again, but if I do (OK, when I do), it will be a supplement to my life, not it's main purpose.

Just Say No! to expensive stereo rigs that don't make you happy

Enjoy THE MUSIC, cliche as it may be in here, that is what it is truly about.
Joe

I don't want to get off the merry-go-round. I've got a bad case. I think Jmslaw's above post defined the disease well-- for me too, it is a "quest". Cheers and Beers. Craig

.......enjoyed your post G13. Good Luck in law school. Craig