I'm also guilty of going off topic, my enthusiasm ran away with me, I'll keep things on subject.
How do you know when you are done?
- Thread starter Mike Lavigne
- Start date
It is about the journey, and also the destination.
Building and recreating a HiFi sound system that met my ideals and lifestyle and affordability at the time has progressed through many evolutions, a number of complete systems, then tweaked to a fine tuned iteration. Always fun. Each was very satisfying to me, and my listening friends at those moments. Each was frustrating at times and then inevitably nourishing for where my head and heart were at with music listening at that phase. Each evolved the listener and we grew from the experiences.
Now perhaps I find myself, not so much intellectually, but based on habits and satisfaction levels to be in a different place. I buy lots of music (as always), mostly vinyl. But I find far less interest in slogging through shows, moving gear around, or entertaining new levels of major equipment change. Dust has actually collected on things that don’t regularly get handled, like knobs and tonearms. It’s just too much hassle and I’m TOO SATISFIED with my listening. Our local audio club SMAC meets monthly and has for the last twenty years. This really satisfies my need for connection to friends and like minded enthusiasts. The camaraderie is still heartfelt and we help each other out and help with a reality check too from time to time. But mostly, we just share in the adventure and the emotional thrill of a beautiful performance together.
I’ve been retired now for almost two years. This gives me more discretionary time to explore my record collection and simply enjoy longer listening sessions, sitting alone (with my cat), or with friends. I’m finding a lot of old friends in there, and new surprises from time to time. There are a lot of records! One of the greatest jokes of life is that someone will put on a record and I’ll say, “wow, that was a great choice that they brought”… and then they respond with, “listen my friend, I pulled that off your shelf! Ha, ha, ha.
To me, this hobby/lifestyle has been so rewarding in so many ways. In all its different facets. I love gear, I can’t satisfy my interests in design and engineering and after being an industrial designer for 45 years, I know that “interest” is part of my DNA. Yet that doesn’t mean that I need to keep changing or acquiring gear. But these are very separate things in my mind. I’m there! My system, it’s reliable performance, is utterly satisfying, thrilling, and nourishing most always. It serves the master, his dreams, his whims, and his desires.
Happy Listener
Building and recreating a HiFi sound system that met my ideals and lifestyle and affordability at the time has progressed through many evolutions, a number of complete systems, then tweaked to a fine tuned iteration. Always fun. Each was very satisfying to me, and my listening friends at those moments. Each was frustrating at times and then inevitably nourishing for where my head and heart were at with music listening at that phase. Each evolved the listener and we grew from the experiences.
Now perhaps I find myself, not so much intellectually, but based on habits and satisfaction levels to be in a different place. I buy lots of music (as always), mostly vinyl. But I find far less interest in slogging through shows, moving gear around, or entertaining new levels of major equipment change. Dust has actually collected on things that don’t regularly get handled, like knobs and tonearms. It’s just too much hassle and I’m TOO SATISFIED with my listening. Our local audio club SMAC meets monthly and has for the last twenty years. This really satisfies my need for connection to friends and like minded enthusiasts. The camaraderie is still heartfelt and we help each other out and help with a reality check too from time to time. But mostly, we just share in the adventure and the emotional thrill of a beautiful performance together.
I’ve been retired now for almost two years. This gives me more discretionary time to explore my record collection and simply enjoy longer listening sessions, sitting alone (with my cat), or with friends. I’m finding a lot of old friends in there, and new surprises from time to time. There are a lot of records! One of the greatest jokes of life is that someone will put on a record and I’ll say, “wow, that was a great choice that they brought”… and then they respond with, “listen my friend, I pulled that off your shelf! Ha, ha, ha.
To me, this hobby/lifestyle has been so rewarding in so many ways. In all its different facets. I love gear, I can’t satisfy my interests in design and engineering and after being an industrial designer for 45 years, I know that “interest” is part of my DNA. Yet that doesn’t mean that I need to keep changing or acquiring gear. But these are very separate things in my mind. I’m there! My system, it’s reliable performance, is utterly satisfying, thrilling, and nourishing most always. It serves the master, his dreams, his whims, and his desires.
Happy Listener
Last edited:
I'm done now, as I have reached the pinnacle of what is possible and the end of my budget!
Mike - if I may suggest: the built-in phono stages in the DarTZeel 18NS are nice but are leaving a lot in the grooves... I would put a world-class photo stage (e.g., CH or Nagra HD) on your list!
Mike - if I may suggest: the built-in phono stages in the DarTZeel 18NS are nice but are leaving a lot in the grooves... I would put a world-class photo stage (e.g., CH or Nagra HD) on your list!
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |