Winding down

[Legolas]

Interesting subject this, and seems to have lit the fuse wire, which is good, lots of responses.

In my opinion this hobby tends to be a bloke thing, I wish it wasn't, and there are exceptions, but folk at hifi shows and folk on these forums (regular basis) sadly it looks to me like a male dominated hobby. And I wish it wasn't. Lots of exceptions, but generally I believe that is so.

Now in my mind, one of the key things things to a relationship with someone, taking a simplistic 50+ something couple with kids moved out, it doing stuff together. I may be lucky in the fact my other half loves sport, so unlike my previous marriage, we do 90% of all our interests together. And this includes music.

My music room is small, and off my lounge which is a decent size. So in effect my 'man cave' as my wife calls it, is part of the set. If I play music she hears it. There are occasions she may watch a movie and wear headphones, or on an evening I use the LCD4s, but 70% of our listening is on the speakers. What does this mean, why is this relevant.

Well I believe in my situation it is very relevant. I need to share my / our hobby. This in a way justifies the effort, energy and cost of it. The danger is if I had long ago separated it out to be my 'man cave' as an exclusive or separated element to our living space, it would have damaged my relationship, I am convinced of it.

So, the obsession of this hobby is one thing, the cost of it another, and the involvement of the family in it is another, and that last point is possibly the most important to me.

Obviously this is my personal life / view and won't apply to everyone, but my take on this odd-ball h-end audio world we live in. If it brings a smile on your face, you know you are there. If it makes to chill out, feels at ease and generally glow all over, then you are definitely there!

 

[spiritofmusic]

XV, part of this decision is informed by the wish to just get back to the music. So my lp buying is starting to fly again.
I’ll keep up low level gear buying, more GIK panels maybe, the odd Black Magic tweak. I still need to mod a couple more pwr cords, star grounding could become an obsession. The streamer is the only new “box” I’m planning to buy next yr. And I’ll always need to fund tubes replacement, cart/stylus work.
I’m just going to be more in the Slow Lane from now on.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Julian, fantastic, this is the reason for my thread.
Not crowing from a lofty perch (although I’m sitting in my audio room 20’ above ground level), but wanting to hear other stories.
Unlike you, music together is not happening. I love Stravinsky, Rush, Coltrane, and Magma. In the same day. On Repeat Mode. This would drive Ra to the arms of the local busy body .
So, she’ll come up when we do 80s Nights, Depeche Mode, DuranDuran sound great, and I even throw in Yes 90125.
What we do really enjoy is going to more classical concerts together, Ravel/Debussy/Chausson last week, soon Tchaikovsky/Khachaturian/Prokofiev.
Part of the deal was I get my room, she gets her garden, and early retirement. Boys, I can tell you, that buys an AWFUL lot of goodwill.
Ironically, had she been just as much into music as me, we’d have had the system down in the main space, it probably would have sounded as substandard as it did in London (27x22x20 v 27x22x20, w cubby holes and annexes galore, lots of vortexes, bass suck outs, nodes, standing waves, harsh elongated slap echo), and my thread would be:
“I was going to spend $90k on a dedicated space, but I need some new loudspeakers, any suggestions for a harsh space?”

 

[Rodney Gold]

My wife comments on my "beautiful music" but has never even sat in my sweet spot..
My room is my retreat .. my spend does not deprive anyone of anything and there is no temptation to stray ..Im at home.. how much better does it get?
As I said before .. wot you got is not curable.. you are already hatching plans for your next tweak and "the last" capital purchase.
I would suggest you get a trinnov room correction device.. you can actually tailor the system to sound exactly as you want and more..it will cure you of further spending on tweaks as you realise and discover what it can do and start to explore the advanced settings..their amethyst model is a roon ready streamer ..kills 2 birds with one stone

Read about it .. http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/trinnov/1.html

 

[spiritofmusic]

Rodney, I’ve heard a top class DRC unit (Illusonic) absolutely crucify vinyl. It ain’t gonna happen here.
Yes, I’m not saying “stop the bus”, I’m saying I feel I’ve achieved a massive result, indeed the reality of less and less funds has combined w better and better sound.
When I reveal the change I’ve just made that has rocked my world, you’ll understand why I’m so happy.
For another day.
For me it’s massive for me to see the finish line, now it’s (nearly) all about the music.

 

[DaveC]

Since I build everything but my source gear I often simply seek to refine and improve what I already have. My amp is probably 12-15 years old but has gone through many different iterations, same with my driver section (separate component). I did add a preamp recently in order to have a better/buffered volume control, and this is likely to get rebuilt with Slagle's silver autoformers instead of the current LDR setup eventually...

I'm sure I'll upgrade my source eventually too, and I have ideas for an even better speaker, etc. but for me it's more about design and making my vision into reality.

For what I don't build I tend to go through phases, I'll listen to what I have for months or years and then maybe something new comes out, like recently the Sophia EL34s, and I'll buy and test some tubes... or footers, or XXX just to have fun and continue to learn.

Like anything, it's possible to find a reasonable balance between never doing anything and constantly churning gear. Any hobby costs money, and we need to find a balance with spending as well.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Dave, I also think it’s the balance between sticking w gear that really talks to you, only upgrading if you truly feels a new piece takes you above and beyond, and finding ways to make current gear perform better/more optimally.
For me, I’ve been able to have cost effective mods done to all the gear I currently run (other than the cdp) that have opened up performance further, and of course the room is the cherry on the cake.

 

[thedudeabides]

Why should someone feel neurotic just because he wants to have an evolutive and dynamic hobby?

Simple answer I think. It's never good enough. You always want something else because you are not happy with what you have.

 

[bonzo75]

Simple answer I think. It's never good enough. You always want something else because you are not happy with what you have.

It's like squatting. If you are good at squatting with weights, you want to squat more. If you are not, you should do more

 

[DaveC]

Dave, I also think it’s the balance between sticking w gear that really talks to you, only upgrading if you truly feels a new piece takes you above and beyond, and finding ways to make current gear perform better/more optimally.
For me, I’ve been able to have cost effective mods done to all the gear I currently run (other than the cdp) that have opened up performance further, and of course the room is the cherry on the cake.

Yup, optimizing what you have is not as exciting as buying new gear for many, but I prefer it. If I had constantly gone looking for or building the next new amp my current amp would never have been as good as it is now and it's certainly possible I'd have spent a lot of cash for something that ended up being not as good. The fact my EL34 SET amp, after years of tinkering, was preferred over Fi 2A3 monos w/Airtight preamp was nice.

 

[DaveC]

Simple answer I think. It's never good enough. You always want something else because you are not happy with what you have.

As long as it doesn't become an obsession I see no problem with it. If I thought my system was "good enough" I would not have been able to make products good enough to offer for sale and my entire life would look different right now... I could be sitting in a cubicle doing something I don't enjoy all day 5 days a week. No thanks!

IMO, it's important to follow your passions in life, but avoiding the extremes.

 

[Al M.]

IMO, it's important to follow your passions in life, but avoiding the extremes.

Wise words, these.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Avoiding extremes? A fantastic philosophy that seems close to dead in 2018 .
No doubt audiophiles (me included) do struggle to follow this tenet. Indeed I was close to continued splurging of cash on ever more expensive gear had I stayed in London, or maybe extensive acoustical planning/treatments that would have drained my bank balance in a different way (2000 sq ft of wall space can accommodate a LOT of pricey acoustical panels). Now I’ve in effect swapped spending on audio for spending on the chapel, so I’m not exactly spending less in total, just different priorities. And I’ve spent the equivalent of a whole new system on carving out the new space. I just feel vindicated on the basis of resultant sound that this seems the best way to have gone about things.
And when I made my totally eureka discovery a few days ago that led to everything sliding into place (after realising that lack of cash flow for audio meant my free spending days were over), something that literally cost no money, but has at a stroke sated endless musing about my sound, this was the biggest proof that both the room has been radical in unforeseen ways and the system has become so transparent and responsive as a result of the room, that I’m very close to done. This last simple change has pretty much addressed my last long standing mixed feeling I’ve had of my Zus, and taken them to the kind of place I only ever hear at really well set up, optimised systems, like U.K.-Paul, Blue58 and Audiophile Bill. For me to even begin to feel I’m not just emulating their excellent sounds, but as good as in many ways, is massive for me.

 

[Empirical Audio]

My priorities are changing too. I'm still fanatical about modding and improving my products and my personal system, but it's time to start thinking about giving back.

I'm trying now to devise a plan for doing that, maybe:

1) putting audiophile headphone systems in hospice for those that love music
2) providing high-end headphone systems to those that have spinal injuries or are bed-ridden
3) providing high-end headphone systems to terminally ill
4) providing same to people recovering in hospitals?
5) music therapy during chemotherapy or dialysis?

Others?

I'm not sure how to work this logistically or financially because the system costs is high and I don't want to lose these systems, particularly in hospice or hospitals. It's even difficult to approach people that are going through these hard times.

Maybe use kickstarter to fund systems for those that have spinal issues? Maybe take a deposit on the system for hospitals and hospice?

Thoughts?

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

 

[caesar]

Spirit, congrats on the realization. Enjoy the view from the top of the mountain!

But having a sober and realistic view of things, this hobby is all about passions. Connecting to music via high end audio technologies elevates the passions, almost like real love, and provides an escape from the trials and tribulations of life so one can rest and refresh ...

Unless you check out completely, in 3-5 years you may hear a new component, based on new technologies, that stirs your passions to an even greater extent, and you may find that you absolutely must have...only time will tell.

Enjoy!

 

[spiritofmusic]

That’s a very creditable ambition, Steve.
There was a much loved DJ in the U.K. who died in a care home, and he drove the staff and fellow residents nuts playing Deep Purple and Tchaikovsky at full tilt from his room LOL.
I’m sure he has a very special place in Heaven.

 

[Atmasphere]

The room is a huge part of the overall sound.

So in this case, went that extra mile that few audiophiles ever do- got a large room in a chapel- which often have great acoustics and make even a modest system sound amazing.

That's the true high end spirit- Well Done!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well, I cheated LOL.
Bought the chapel, doesn’t happen everyday.
But chose for v sound reasons not to install the system in the main space.
This was too close in size and nature to my outgoing London apartment, with an excess of harsh surfaces, cubby holes, height, reflectiveness, brash slap echo.
So I took a punt on the moderately smaller (but still v spacious) loft space, with much more flexibility of layout, and abs critically, vastly more manageable acoustics.

 

[Empirical Audio]

The best acoustic experience I ever had was in a dome-shaped synagogue in Portland where I attended my neighbor kids bar mits fa. I'm not Jewish, so I don't know how to spell it....

The choir in that space was amazing, anywhere you sat.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

 

[thedudeabides]

As long as it doesn't become an obsession I see no problem with it.

Agreed but for some it's a very thin line and easy to rationalize spending more money.