Mo' money. Mo' problems.

I feel for those who just want to enjoy their music but get caught up in high end hystera. Heh is largely Bout vendors keeping willing customers on the hook. Why do some find it so hard to just enjoytheir music? I have my opinions why and how to escape the trap, in essence, it boils down to getting just a few fundamentals right. If you can do that, all the rest becomes of little or no real significance, nothing more.

I suppose audio is not the only domain in life where people allow others to trap them in a cycld of worrying about what others want them to rather than what should really matter to them.

I've got to say that in my experience audiophiles are a particularly quirky obsessive-compulsive lot. By nature, most of us will never be completely satisfied or finished and I suppose that is why we have high-end companies catering to our neurosis.

Many times I've gotten my system to such a wonderful state of mind-blowing bliss that I do ask myself why can't this one be good enough? And is absolutely is good enough... at least until the next Mk-II or Mk-III version is introduced.

What I have now is 2 stereo systems and one multi-channel A/V system and I've got them all sounding incredible. But I'm sure I won't stop. Why should I!

The back-handed slap in my face comes from the realization that no one else cares about or even appreciates what I've managed to achieve. I've tried to start an audiophile group here in Tucson and I don't get any replies. So now I'm trying to start an A/V Concert group hoping that throwing in the video aspect will attract potential members.

But my family and I do enjoy all the music and videos here in the home so maybe that will have to be enough for me. And since my systems have matured maybe I can finally say "Good Enough" and get off this merry-go-round perhaps devoting more time to other pursuits. Maybe...

Recent Wall Street Journal financial advice column (yea, go figure); Kurt Vonnegut ribbing Joseph Heller at a lavish party hosted by a billionaire on Shelter Island "How do you feel knowing he probably made more in one day than all your proceeds from Catch 22?" Heller's reply; " Yes, but I have something he'll never have....enough."

Bonham- I think we've all been there, to one degree or another and I think
there are several reasons for these 'road bumps':
1. Our expectations are higher with fancier gear;
2. Some of the gear is on the 'cutting edge' and is more prone to failure
than mass produced stuff, whether because it comes from small shops that
don't have the number of units in the field or because it is pushing the limits
of design or implementation.
Frankly, even consumer grade (non-high end box shop type gear) can have
its share of problems. Some of this may have to do with the implementation
of software in gear- just like cars, you get the bugs.
3. I haven't had many outright tube failures lately, but I've certainly had my
share of tube noise problems over the years- this is nothing new, it comes
with the territory.
4. Vinyl pressing is pretty inconsistent too- not sure if it is worse than the
old days (lost art) or if we are just more likely to bitch when we spend 50
bucks or more on some fancy pressing and it's noisy or warped.
Brownsfan: on cars, my wife has had an endless string of BMWs which she
uses as a daily driver and we've had very, very few problems over the
years. (I think we are on our 7th one over the course of about 15 years. We
only keep them for a few years, so we've never run past the warranty
period. BMW has a pretty all inclusive maintenance program for new cars,
and I think the same can be gotten- not sure- if you buy a certified car from
an authorized dealer, used). We managed to avoid the 7 series when it
changed in the early 2000's, i know those had engine issues and lot's of
people hated the iDrive ergonomics, it's mostly been 3 series, with the odd
'M' version, after our 2001 740i got turned in- that was a terrific car and
surprisingly fast and nimble for its relatively low HP and size. Interestingly, I
think now the 7 series has been 'debugged,' the cars are just too big for
me, though I certainly wouldn't mind riding in the back :)
Wife just got a new 335 coupe with stick, that light metallic blue with saddle
leather. Hope we don't have turbo issues, I thought those got sorted after
the first few years. My only real gripe with BMW is run flats- I just hate 'em!
Buy a used, well- sorted Porsche 993 and never look back. It's one of the
only cars I've kept for any length of time and I've been through many more,
far more exotic, faster cars. Life is too short when you are having fun and
too long when you are not.

+1 to everything Zd542 said, esp. the importance of the pre-amp being the backbone of your system (even if it's a great passive like the Lightspeed). And also what Whart said about it not being unusual for high performance audio (or cars) to have higher failure rates for the reasons he said. Remember that any design is a compromise. When performance is the primary design criterion sometimes reliability (or you could call it longevity) suffers. And as far as the Beemer goes, if you go for a certified pre-owned, they do extend the no-cost maintenance coverage, but I'd skip the 2011 3 series. My wife's '11 328 isn't half the car her 2002 was. Heavier, slower, much poorer fuel economy (but hey it does have retractable side mirrors!)