is it important to remember from where you have come?

[Schu]

In the light of the WAF thread and while sitting here listening to The Dark Knight @ 90db on my system, I am left in a bit of a quandary... is it important to vividly remember from where you have come, sonically, to really appreciate to where you are currently?

The reason I ask is because I have dreamed of having a wonderful sounding system fillied with nuance, detail, dimension and impact since I was very young... and only now am I really feeling I have accomplished that. I, like most all of you, have owned many systems and in many configurations without ever feeling truly satisfied.

Is this constant search for more and better a function of acquisition syndrome as opposed to actual listening enjoyment?

Waiting for a new DAC to arrive next week,when is enough really... enough? Spend another two or three thousand dollars on equipment trying to achieve an additional two or three percent in perfection, or be satisfied in what perfection you have already achieved?

This really does wreak of shopping addiction.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Schu

[oldtimer]

It starts with listening enjoyment.  Where it goes from there is up to you.  Musicians generally get to the enjoyment part and stop.

[A1UC]

In the light of the WAF thread and while sitting here listening to The Dark Knight @ 90db on my system, I am left in a bit of a quandary... is it important to vividly remember from where you have come, sonically, to really appreciate to where you are currently?

The reason I ask is because I have dreamed of having a wonderful sounding system fillied with nuance, detail, dimension and impact since I was very young... and only now am I really feeling I have accomplished that. I, like most all of you, have owned many systems and in many configurations without ever feeling truly satisfied.

Is this constant search for more and better a function of acquisition syndrome as opposed to actual listening enjoyment?

Waiting for a new DAC to arrive next week,when is enough really... enough? Spend another two or three thousand dollars on equipment trying to achieve an additional two or three percent in perfection, or be satisfied in what perfection you have already achieved?

This really does wreak of shopping addiction.

The same thing crossed my mind last week , I think except for a couple more items I will be done . I looked at the cost of upgrading what I have now to something better and it would be such a costly upgrade I don't ever see myself doing it . I think for the cost of my current gear I'm not going to do much better without spending 10k per and that wont happen . Now its time to enjoy what I have built and work on room treatments .  

[derrickdj1]

I hate to even start to think of needing a better piece of gear because, the thought get's fixed in my head.  At that point I have no defense to prevent the purchase.

[totalcomfort]

Was just thinking of this myself while building a set of new speakers. I still use a 30 something year old

amp to test them with. I keep it around to remind me just how blessed I am, and how far I have come in this

hobby.

[minermark]

A couple months back i finished up my current system, day three into tuning the active crossover i get my first visit from a pizzed off neighbor.

Lived here five years, Current system is the third built from the ground up, i must be doing something right.

This system will do untill we move.

[Turbox]

I think about it this way...I could have worse addictions, so I chose klipsch

[Paducah Home Theater]

is it important to vividly remember from where you have come, sonically, to really appreciate to where you are currently?

Yes, but I think it goes well beyond audio. For example I'm a jeep fan way more than I'm an audio fan. I started out with an $1,800 POS that had no top, had rusted floor boards, flywheel didn't even have a cover, was barely driveable due to the steering components being worn out. Over the years I've upgraded Jeeps 8 times, learning what I could, scheming however possible to get something better. The last time I knew something good was coming up and I saved up for about 7 years just to afford the down payment. When it was time to pull the trigger, we got a brand new unlimited Rubicon, drove 10 hours one way to find the combination of color and options that we wanted.

Here's the thing though. We have a friend who is a doctor, our daughters were best friends. He was not into jeeps like I was, he did not learn anything about them, he did not upgrade jeeps multiple times, I doubt he has ever been off road, so he hardly knows what a locker is and whatnot, he has probably never experienced death wobble, or the hot air of the engine coming through the floorboards, or any inconvenience or down side to them including the financial aspect. He just saw ours and thought it looked cool and fun, so he went out and bought a VERY similar looking Sahara in the same color, just wrote a check for it.

Your question is basically asking if we can both appreciate our jeep the same. I can guarantee it's nowhere near the same level.

Edited December 8, 2014 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[oldtimer]

And your guarantee is worth what?  And backed by what? 

[Audible Nectar]

I am extremely fortunate to have been able to build systems that match and exceed my high expectations. It has been in excess of a decade-long pursuit, coming from a recycled rack system amp and used Peaveys to finally having the speakers and systems I have always wanted, based on Heritage Klipsch. I wanted those speakers since youth - and I not only have them, but I find them to be even more of a valid choice than when I first became familiar with them, which is quite a feat given that I first discovered them over 30 years ago.

 

I learned something from my years of hanging around this forum and building my systems: Get what you really want - even if it means delaying the gratification. This often means taking some serious time to find out "what I want" really is. I did a fair amount of road miles just finding out what it was I really wanted. I researched, plotted, planned - then struck when the time was right. Building the systems, piece by piece - even tube by tube.

 

In my systems, I have very little that I'm looking to change. I will likely swap my Peach for a NOSValves NBS preamp, simply because I like that unit as a decades long preamp solution. So more of a lateral move. I am also investigating a possible upgrade to the Belle Klipsch (Volti Audio top section upgrade) as well as a cabinet restoration, since I now know I will be staying in this dwelling long term. However, I will not be making that change until I hear it. I may also end up just changing the horn, but still want to do a cabinet restoration - then keep 'em 'til I'm dead.

 

I'm not one of the "gear flippers" - if I had felt a need to flip the gear I wouldn't have bought it in the first place. Granted, mistakes can be made, but I try to approach this with some sort of educated purchasing, so a given result is predictable. I've done quite well so far.

 

 

 

The same thing crossed my mind last week , I think except for a couple more items I will be done . I looked at the cost of upgrading what I have now to something better and it would be such a costly upgrade I don't ever see myself doing it . I think for the cost of my current gear I'm not going to do much better without spending 10k per and that wont happen . Now its time to enjoy what I have built and work on room treatments .  

 

 

I cannot imagine the need for upgrading an NBS preamp and VRDs. You would have to spend some serious money to get even a marginal improvement in performance. Even at 6K for the three pieces with cap upgrades, I feel like that's stealing them. When I see some serious audio freaks turn in more expensive gear and buy these pieces while these same people consider it an upgrade, I know there's just no reason to go looking for greener pastures. The money needed to beat these buys a helluvalotta room treatments - and music.

[Paducah Home Theater]

And your guarantee is worth what?  And backed by what?

Worth nothing, backed by the Bible.

Read the book of Ecclesiastes sometime. Solomon had everything a man could ever wish for, the finest food and wine, gardens, servants, the best of everything was at his disposal. Do you think he appreciated it? No, he was absolutely miserable, didn't appreciate any of it. I'm paraphrasing, but he concluded that there is nothing better in this life than to work and to enjoy the fruits of your labor, you appreciate things much more. That's the way it is in this life.

Women are the same way. They're not worth having unless you have to work for it.

[oldtimer]

That was his problem.  Lets say I am a driver who never was all that mechanically inclined yet I knew how to drive and really enjoyed doing it.  I never got started with a problem child and worked on it myself, or maybe I started with a problem child and had someone else help get it straight.  Now I really enjoy the crud out of driving this particular vehicle.  I drive the capital H out of it and continue buying the same brand and driving the capital H out of each.  You say you still guarantee that you get more enjoyment out of than I do simply because you did some mechanical work yourself?  You are making a judgment of your personal satisfaction over another's which by definition is totally subjective and therefore non guarantee worthy.  If I buy a car I love to drive it was with money gained by the fruits of my labor is it not?  Smugness is not a virtue in the bible as far as I know.

[T2K]

That was his problem.  Lets say I am a driver who never was all that mechanically inclined yet I knew how to drive and really enjoyed doing it.  I never got started with a problem child and worked on it myself, or maybe I started with a problem child and had someone else help get it straight.  Now I really enjoy the crud out of driving this particular vehicle.  I drive the capital H out of it and continue buying the same brand and driving the capital H out of each.  You say you still guarantee that you get more enjoyment out of than I do simply because you did some mechanical work yourself?  You are making a judgment of your personal satisfaction over another's which by definition is totally subjective and therefore non guarantee worthy.  If I buy a car I love to drive it was with money gained by the fruits of my labor is it not?  Smugness is not a virtue in the bible as far as I know.

 

I appreciate your remarks less than the other guys.

 

Keith

[oldtimer]

I'll make it more forum specific.  I am a degreed musician.  I love music and I love how Klipsch speakers reproduce the music I listen to.  But I have never inferred in any way that somehow I appreciate this more than anyone else here because of my background. 

[oldtimer]

 

That was his problem.  Lets say I am a driver who never was all that mechanically inclined yet I knew how to drive and really enjoyed doing it.  I never got started with a problem child and worked on it myself, or maybe I started with a problem child and had someone else help get it straight.  Now I really enjoy the crud out of driving this particular vehicle.  I drive the capital H out of it and continue buying the same brand and driving the capital H out of each.  You say you still guarantee that you get more enjoyment out of than I do simply because you did some mechanical work yourself?  You are making a judgment of your personal satisfaction over another's which by definition is totally subjective and therefore non guarantee worthy.  If I buy a car I love to drive it was with money gained by the fruits of my labor is it not?  Smugness is not a virtue in the bible as far as I know.

 

I appreciate your remarks less than the other guys.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith.

[Paducah Home Theater]

That was his problem.  Lets say I am a driver who never was all that mechanically inclined yet I knew how to drive and really enjoyed doing it.  I never got started with a problem child and worked on it myself, or maybe I started with a problem child and had someone else help get it straight.  Now I really enjoy the crud out of driving this particular vehicle.  I drive the capital H out of it and continue buying the same brand and driving the capital H out of each.  You say you still guarantee that you get more enjoyment out of than I do simply because you did some mechanical work yourself?  You are making a judgment of your personal satisfaction over another's which by definition is totally subjective and therefore non guarantee worthy.  If I buy a car I love to drive it was with money gained by the fruits of my labor is it not?  Smugness is not a virtue in the bible as far as I know.

How can you truly appreciate something without knowing all about it? How can most people truly know all about something without going through the school of hard knocks? If you want to talk about driving, multiple top drivers got their start on dirt tracks with a POS car. They lived and breathed driving even while working paycheck to paycheck, probably from multiple jobs to support their lifestyle. So when they finally get their break and find themselves on a competitive track in a nice car, who do you think appreciates the experience more, them, or somebody without that back story experience who just writes a check for a cool car and knows how to hit the gas pedal?

[BigStewMan]

Your question is basically asking if we can both appreciate our jeep the same. I can guarantee it's nowhere near the same level.

how can you gauge another person’s appreciation of something? It would be nonsensical to use “your” standards.  

[oldtimer]

Again you hit at the subjective.  Who can judge who appreciates something more?

[oldtimer]

Knowing all about it Metro?  Tell me what you know about music then.  Your point is that I appreciate my klipsch more than you because quite frankly I know more about music than you.  I don't buy into that.

Edited December 8, 2014 by oldtimer

[BigStewMan]

 

How can you truly appreciate something without knowing all about it? 

 

Got bit by a venomous spider. Doctor gave me a shot of some antibiotic that halted the progression of the infection and eventually got rid of it completely.  I sure appreciate that medication; but, can’t tell you much about it at all.