Audiophile Addiction

I could not agree with this post more....I can still remember the days when Bose used to make me and my entire family so happy..:-(

Rpg wrote: he was constantly trying to find the perfect sound from his audio system

Art Dudley has long been one of my favorite writers in the field, and in the introduction to his review of some modestly priced preamps (HiFi Heretic, number eight, 1987) he made a distinction between hifi as a means of bringing music into your home, and hifi as a "jockishly obsessive exercise where what you have in mind is to keep trading gear season after season, with even new components viewed from the start as mere stations along the way." Paraphrasing a bit to shorten it up, he contended that investing in a mid-priced system--and stopping there--is a perfectly satisfactory way of bringing music into your home. The goal of hifi should be to assemble a real music system you can keep and enjoy, and not be just another pastime you can dump cash into.

A good dealer can really help sort this out, and I'm grateful to the dealer who helped me 25 years agot to 1) define my priorities (pacing, rhythmic drive, tunefulness, and microdynamics were more important to me than soundstaging, frequency extension, macrodynamics, and hyper detail); 2) determine the system needed to meet my level of musical expectation (that is, what level of quality and price was it going to take to keep me happy); and 3) devise a plan of starter system and upgrades over time (as budget allowed) to get me where I wanted to be with minimal loss along the way.

It took three years, but I eventually got my preferred system (all Linn, LP12/Ittok/LK1/LK2/Saras), and it provided musical satisfaction virtually unchanged (job layoff led to selling the Ittok LVII to pay a bill, but I was later able to sell my original LP12 to help fund getting the LVIII/2 and a Cirkus LP12) for about 20 years.

Age and use took its toll, and two years ago I put together a new system, but less systematically and with the priority of "buying American" (in response to the President's stimulus spending plea) rather than focusing strictly on the sonic attributes most important to me. It's not a bad system, and it does some things better than my all-Linn gear did (width and depth of soundstage, image localization, richer tonality, detail retrieval), but rather than satisfy me for 20 years, I'm already getting the itch for change. I think it's time to head back to the dealers, re-focus on what's most important to me in reproducing music, and make a new plan for bringing music into my home.

Avguy wrote: I can still remember the days when Bose used to make me and my entire family so happy...

When I brought home a pair of Bose 301's a few months ago, mainly as something cheap to support the new plasma TV in my bedroom, and found that they made music through my main system more rather than less enjoyable, I realized I had gone awry in assembling my system.

That addiction I'm am finding is true. to combat it, I try to insure time with the family, and keep myself out of the man-cave and off of the computer, as much. Having the music is a great retreat and needed, but family should come first. Your kids will be with you for what in hindsight at least is a very short time. The good relationship of your spouse, can be sweeter than any new gear. Try to bring the family into the music as much as possible, but one yet needs some time and something for themselves as well. It will help to keep you sane and interesting, All things in moderation.

Speaking of good dealers, a dealer once wisely advised me that the hobby is full of men who after many turnovers, arrive at their retirement and sell everything off as a result of psychic burn-out or financial necessity. We saw some of this after the financial crisis of 2008-- and probably from many who were well short of their planned retirement age.

It has been helpful for me to redirect audio restlessness into a light study of electronics and piece-part substitutions and circuit mods. It's less complicated than one might think and the sonic & psychic rewards can be significant. This is a way to think about continuous improvement in a slow & deliberate way without becoming too obsessed. Moreover, as the roots of the high end are in DIY it's a small holding action against the luxury goods mentality that threatens to consume the entire hobby.

While meaningful internal modifications can be inexpensive and rewarding relative to endless component swaps, the grossest addictions may be the so-called affordable luxuries of over-priced external commercial tweaks and cable swaps. Though cheaper than electronics, over a lifetime of purchases these external tweaks can add up to some serious waste. On similar grounds I resist the temptation of a $5 cup of coffee.

It is an indulgence. It can be great fun, but, like any indulgence (wine, sports), you need to monitor it's effect on your life. People often drop the hobby entirely when they simply need to focus on other things (e.g. raising children). Also the audiophile "itch" seems to come and go.