Not impressed

Dj,

What does you system consist of today?

Good Listening

Peter

I HAVE a six-figure system in the living room- Hurray for me, right?
BUT WAIT-
I also have a Tivoli radio with dual subwoofers on either side of my bed to relax
at night and listen to broadcasts; with my head in the middle i get almost as much satisfaction and enjoyment from that system as well.
now i am slowly beginning to investigate computer-audio (to keep up with the Jones's of course), but every time i think i am going to get an I-PAD and all that
other stuff i fail to launch, even though i can afford it. tell me what, WHAT am i missing so badly that i HAVE TO get more things?
So in conclusion, you're right. this hobby is primarily for equipment freaks, not necessarily music lovers.
but IF YOU ARE BOTH, well GOOD LUCK, and let's have a pint together and listen to some Coltrane (and Chopin, and The Clash, and Bob Dylan, and...)

The only truly high end sound is the one each person puts together that floats their boat anytime they listen.

+1! Good post Mapman. Not one of my components cost me more than $2900, yet my system satisfies me more than anything I've ever heard.

I've worked pretty hard to get good sound out of my second system using whatever I can and not having to make a huge investment. Its currently built around a 30 year old Nad 7020 receiver used as a pre-amp only at present that I picked up in a pawn shop circa 1987 for $20. It does 90% or more of what most anyone would need these days. Via my 20 year old Stax headphones attached, it sounds about as good as most any headphone based system I have heard recently, and I have heard most of the best known ones these days.

Dealijng with room acoustics much less integrating components well is HARD to get right. Money alone is not the solution (but it always helps...). Knowledge and trial and error is. GO with something like the Xeo that is integrated FOR you. Then all you have to do is get teh setup in teh room right. If that's too much still, then headphones are the answer. Even good $80 earbuds of a decent modern mobile device can sound pretty darn good! RIp you tunes and put it out on Amazon player website for access from anywhere for free (up to a few hundred songs and BINGO, audio paradise whenever and wherever you want.

My system is cobbled together from a few things bought new and lots of used stuff, which is part of the fun. Something seems weak I sell it, things that sound great I keep, and the result is music played at a very high level of resolution and accuracy that keeps me spellbound in front of it for hours. You can lament the price vs. value of a lot of things you might like, but if you express it in a defeatist tone you're just whining, it's pathetic, and life is way too short to suffer those who choose to be pathetic whiners. To sum up: Me good, pathetic whiners bad.