@blisshifi @jasonbourne52 @ghdprentice @elliottbnewcombjr @syntax @sns @mike_in_nc @islandmandan @larsman @fuzztone @willgolf @cd318 @thecarpathian @deadhead1000 @rsf507 @baylinor @corelli @baclagg @jl1ny @pdspecl @asvjerry @jbmac75 @dekay @aewarren @rockysantoro @roadwhorerecords @panzrwagn @robertgagnon @joey_v @sls141 @audioman58 @serjio @holmz
A massive thanks to everyone who responded in the 24 hours since I posted this question, your comments are gratefully appreciated!
I purposely kept the question simple, to allow you to respond with your opinions. After all, your opinion is all that matters in this subjective hobby of ours.
It has been satisfying to read your responses, which clearly come from a wealth of experience. It has also been very encouraging to read that, save for one or two excursions, respondents have replied politely and remained on message.
It has taken me almost 50 years to find my audio nirvana. I say nirvana, because I have arrived at a place where I just do not want to spend any more money on trying to find more entertainment value from my home audio listening experience. What I have is not “perfect” but it leaves me wanting little more. During this time, I have come to understand that all of the elements you have raised in response to this post are important. There are many more elements that have not been mentioned, both technical and, psychological.
Everything – and I mean everything – that we can think of in the music reproduction chain can, and does, have an effect on the entertainment value and our enjoyment of our selection of music programme. Highly tuned hi-fi systems, including the all-important associated upstream and downstream elements can be very fragile and fickle. Many of these are outside of our control. My system performance is fickle and fragile and I hear it change quite frequently. Add to this, our state of mind (as blisshifi put it) and the complexity of human hearing psychology and it is no small miracle that we ever get moved to tears by the music we listen to in our home environs.
I could go on and on, but that would not be helpful to anyone. However, if, during my 50 years journey along the path to my audio nirvana, I could have done one thing different, it would have been to research and understand the psychology and perception of human hearing, at a very early stage of my journey.
Thank you all and happy listening!
BP