too much hype in audio


does anybody remember when it was about the love of music & not the quest for perfection?

i remember when i could listen to my rig for 8 to 10 hrs & be completly involved in the music but now it seems that i spend more time cleaning & upgrading than i do listening.

what is it about this hobby that makes alot uf us this way?
anybody else feel like they have lost sight of the reason they got into hifi in the first place?
128x128bigjoe
I have always loved the music. My problem is I'm always searching for something to get that "Little more" out of the system. As a consequence, I spend a lot of money I should have kept. In addition, you're right, it does distact from my listening pleasure sometimes.
I haven't lost sight, I just caught the disease. It's an addiction! Man at the stuff I have bought and sold playing around.
Joe:

It always has been about the music ... but time that I would devote to other hobbies (and even work) was spent differently prior to the Internet. Like magic, I could now shop both conveniently and less expensively anywhere in the country. Also, I now had access to both more information and people to chat with ... so, I was better educated ... I could now spend hours discussing cables, of all things. Even though I live in NYC, the number of choices available to me was still limited and simple (low end purchase at the Wiz; mid end purchase at Harveys; high end purchase at Sound by Singer and a few magazines each month). That has so changed now. Without the internet, this whole exchange wouldn't be possible.

Regards, Rich
I to have often reflected back on my JBL/Technics turntable days when the release of a new album from my favorite artist was the highlight of my day and I would spend hours on end playing the album over.
I have often threatned myself with the ultimatum that if this "one last upgrade" didn't get me were I want to be sonically, I was going to sell my rig and go home theater and simply play my music through my ht system.
The main problem,IMHO, was and still is the introduction of the cd as our primary source instead of vinyl.
CD has taken away the soul of music.
Maybe I keep buying and auditioning components to try to get that analog feeling back.
To answer your thread more directly, yes, I find myself critically listening vs. just listening and enjoying.
And yes, I'm wondering if it's that elusive carrot being dangled in front of me.
I'm becoming(or should I say I am) numb at this point with front cover claims of "new standard","unbelievable sound" and "performance that belies its price point".
I use these claims to add that praticular component to my audition list, nothing more, nothing less.