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


I'm interested in hearing from or about music lovers who have dropped out of the audio "hobby." I don't mean you were content with your system for 6 weeks. I mean, you stood pat for a long time, or--even better--you downsized...maybe got rid of your separates and got an integrated.

(I suppose if you did this, you probably aren't reading these forums any more.)

If this sounds like a cry for help, well, I dunno. Not really. I'm just curious. My thoughts have been running to things like integrated amps and small equipment racks and whatnot even as I continue to experiment and upgrade with vigor (I'm taking the room correction plunge, for example.) Just want to hear what people have to say on the subject.

---dan
Ag insider logo xs@2xdrubin
rgstein: Its all been downhill since vinyle. Listening to a cd on good stuff is like looking at a vangogh through a screen door. A clean screen door though.

Sincerely, I remain
Nice simile, Clueless, but I'd rather say through a thin layer of jelly-pudding, especially on big orchestral music.
Ah... some semblance of sanity creeping in. Thank you Wehamilton. Thank you Trebleclef. No I don't see this as some great personal victory in an never ending, semi-sterile debate, but as some confirmation that music is the thing to be enjoyed. I remember someone's definition of "audiophile" as a person who upgrades his hardware until he can prove that all software is garbage. I made the point a long time back in this forum that a system should be seen as something able to reproduce a broad variety of the music a person actually wants to listen too. That one ends up with the ultimate system that is only of use with a handful of audiophile records may be the ultimate justice for those having a passion towards buying equipment and squinting to hear "differences" and "improvements", whether appreciable or "HUGE". Detlof, in keeping with the food analogy, my memory of vinyl is of solo instruments or quiet passages with the sound of bacon frying or, in the most extreme cases, popcorn popping. I can almost smell it... Which brings me to the subject of another comment I made not long ago: since music is actually air being moved in the room by some transducer, I have come to believe that the olfactory quality of that air has an effect on the perceived sound, sometimes creating "HUGE" differences. I am still in the process of assessing whether the effect is more noticeable on the equipment or the music. For now my work is limited to various run of the mill deodorizers from Wal-Mart. To ease into this endeavour, I am presently experimenting with pine scented plug-ins, sprays and solids in concert with Respighi's Pines of Rome. Other suggestions would be appreciated. Please stop short of single, double and triple blind and dead olfactory system testing for now. And to all my wine loving friends out there, I have found a way of fine tuning lesser wines by using Grand Cru Classé bottles, complete with labels. Quite astonishing, a California wine, fine tuned with a Château Pape Clément label, was more full-bodied, with a distinct woodsy quality and good blackberry and hackberry overtones. Just my contribution to a better world. Regards one and all.
Pbb, when I was in college and used my turn table as a pizza carousel my vinyle sounded that way too! The hell of it is those were good days and the music never sounded so good.

Sincerely, I remain