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The Next Level

What I am about to write is going to sound familiar to a lot of you in AudiogonLand. Let me first set the stage.

My wife and I both had another stressful, crazy work week under our belt and we settled in for a quiet, ‘ lock the doors and chill out with a great steak, a bottle of Bordeaux, and just kick back and enjoy the music ‘ night. Everything seemed excellent. Filet mignon wrapped in bacon, steamed asparagus lightly pan fried with bacon and garlic, then lightly covered with a dash of fresh Parmesan grated cheese accompanied with a nice bottle of a very smooth bottle of French Bordeux that didn’t cost us an arm and a leg. Great conversion and we were both laughing and enjoying each other. Wonderful night.

We were listening to my newly reconfigured tube system in the basement listening room. As favorite pieces played, we occasionally closed our eyes and caught each other smiling and swaying with the rhythm of the music. It was the first time that we had both sat down to listen to the new combination of tubes and cables that we had recently purchased.

Then we put on Beth Orton’s Pass in Time and entered the next level…

Moving 3 dimensional sounds shot at us from all angles. This was much more than sound stage… we were IN THE MUSIC. I have never experienced anything like this with music in my life. Beth’s lyrics were very beautiful and her band was extremely hypnotic. I wanted to grab and hug the beautiful sounds that were totally filling our room. The pluck of guitar strings was right in front of me, the hidden texture of so many of the electronic effects revealed itself to me in the most crisp, clear, gentle, touchable, growing, moving …. words fail me now. We were on an indescribably pleasant trip for about 45 minutes.

I thought I had a great system before last night. I enjoyed it every day and never got tired of it. I always seem to be analyzing where I could make the next improvement. I have finally evolved to a new level where all I could do was let the music come and take me away and I was no longer in control, and I loved every minute of it.

Does anyone else have that memory of realizing that your system was everything and more than you had ever hoped for? For me, it was very punch in the nose obvious. I’d like to hear of anyone else that can remember reaching their next level.
128x128mattzack2
fplanner2000
616 posts
 
I am in the process as we speak of FINALLY getting "lost in the music". I added a 2nd amp and new power conditioner last week and then picked my jaw up off the floor. The musicality is now so amazing that I find myself playing big band music just because it now sounds so lifelike and great in my room. Particularly, "For Duke" and "Fatha" on 24K gold series CD, among others.

I really excited because my system is now at the level that I had hoped to someday get to, where everything just sounds so "right" as all the pieces have finally meshed together perfectly. I now find myself getting totally immersed in the music, instead of half-listening for weaknesses to improve upon. Needless to say, I will be re-visiting all my CDs over the coming months to hear what I've been "missing". The best analogy for me is the tumblers on a big walk-in vault all clicking into place and the door finally opening.

Thanks mattzack2 for this thread - the timing couldn't be better for me and I'm happy to share, since it was the advice and counsel of many of you over the years that helped me get to this point. Thank you.
garebear
1,168 posts
 
It has always been about the music being enjoyed.....

Nice thread for a change
williamsims
32 posts
 
But a shocking commentary on Audiofeil's profit margins.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
Excuse me; I need to go take a cold shower.
mattzack2's avatar
mattzack2 OP
175 posts
 
It's funny, but I was so wrapped up in my analytical buying frenzy, that I was reading and buying and swapping things around every day. I was having a blast.

It didn't dawn on me that all the tweaking that I was doing was all heading in the direction of better listening.

The music that I now hear is so different in that it seems to be inviting me into it. I get seduced into listening to a guitar, or an electronic, or a vocal... just riding that portion of the music, when all of a sudden another interesting, beautiful instrument or something grabs my attention and invites me to drift with it.

So, now that my CD's sound exquisite, I have the challenge of trying to get my music from my hard drives to be as good. I already have some new caps coming and a super USB cable as well.

I love this hobby... yeah, I know, I still call it a hobby because I don't really have the right word to describe it.

Thanks to Audiogon and all of you that share this love we have in common.

Happy listening !
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