The Psychology of Constant (Equipment) Change

About the picture…it’s a power cord that came with my Running Springs Maxima.  The outer sheath was loose and taped in place so I decided to pull it back and take a look.

Now, this is PC that I was told costs over $1K new!!!  Turns out it has about $900 worth of plumbers tape.  Crazy.

I think my room makes most speakers sound good.  It’s small (13x14), with bad dimensions, but all the GIK panels I have help it work.  

 

Case in point of what I do:  I just swapped out my system (amp, pre, speakers) last weekend because I wanted to put my Spatial M3 TM in.  I also wanted a flea watt amp and a tubed pre.  So out came the James Burgess 2A3/45 amp and the Calypso pre.

I’ve not optimized speaker placement yet but they sound wonderful where they’re now situated.  The thing I like about this setup is how even at low volumes it sounds really full.

But anyhoo, I have a pair of speakers (Acoustic Technologies Classic One) that I have a somewhat love/hate relationship with.  These are my first single driver speakers I’ve ever owned and when placed correctly in a room are rather amazing.  Three inch drivers that disappear and fill the room with sound…mind blowing.  But they tend to be picky about associated gear and especially placement.  

So since I removed all the extra amps sitting on the floor when I put the Spatials in, and there’s room to do the speaker dance with the Classic Ones, I’m thinking of putting them in to see if I can get them to sound as they’re able.  Of course I’ll have to switch the amp and maybe the pre out again.  

This is what I mean by a desire to constantly change gear.  I can never leave good enough alone.

I think for me I “wonder” how a certain speaker will sound in my current room since not all my speakers have made their way into the system.  Or wonder how one of my speakers will sound with whichever amp is currently supplying the juice.

Thanks, everyone for your thoughts and suggestions.

I appreciate all of you.

At one point I had three separate systems set up in my house (well, yes, obviously I am single).  I got rid of most of that gear about 7 years ago as I started having back issues and I couldn't sit comfortably.  I could stand and move without any issues but to actually sit back in a chair was painful.

One day, I realized that I had sat in the sweet spot for less than an hour a month for about three months.  So I dumped most of it.

Regret?  Not for a while, but once my back improved and I got back into audio a few years later...yes.  Yes, I did regret getting rid of all the stuff.

I ended up buying a lot of the same (or improved gear back) and then some.  So I now have lots of gear and only one small room to play with (13x14).  Surprisingly, the room, as it's treated with quite a bit of acoustic treatment, makes most of my speakers, whether small monitors or large floor standers, sound pretty darn good.  And I think most of my electronics are pretty decent, which helps in the sound department.

But one day I got to thinking:  Maybe it's not so much the "quality" of my gear but more so the "not demanding" music I listen to.  Maybe Fourplay, Yellowjackets, Joe Sample and gang don't require high end gear to sound good.

I don't know...it was just a thought.

I'm also not too sure about not buying stuff.  I mean, really, who doesn't need another better, bestest version of KOB, ever?  Over and over and over.  And over.

Cheers, all.

ahuvia, thanks for sharing your thoughts.  

ggch, I totally agree with the last sentence of your post.

jjss49, and with your post this thread can be closed.

Thanks all for your input and suggestions.