Audiophile Addiction

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.

We need to strike a good balance between this hobby and other things such as family. Whatever you do that is excessive would not be good to you. Like yin/yan, one is more than the other would upset the balance.

I continue to upgrade the components and tweak the system to ensure high quality sound reproduction. I admit that I am more into the electronics than the software. Equipment is the priority in this hobby for me. To the contrary, my friend is more into softwares. He hasn't upgraded anything (except tweaking) for 20 years, but he has been buying so many LPs and CDs. A lot of the older LPs and CDs are just sitting in the shelves and collecting dust since he mostly listens to the new ones.

Regardless of your priority, make sure you enjoy this hobby and balance it properly with other things. Oh, make sure you don't go overboard and become bankrupt. Enjoy.

>>07-22-10: Loomisjohnson
why would anyone choose to spend more time with his family than with a high-end system?<<

Some times it's better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you're a fool rather than open your mouth and prove it.

Everybody has a right to be stupid but you're abusing the privelege.

I'm no audiophile by any stretch of the imagination (and have the system to prove it!), but reading these posts two things occur to me. First (with a nod to Macdadtexas), involving the family can be a great thing; for example, it was my then three-year-old son who turned me on to Radiohead (I bought the cd, but he insisted that we listen to it again and again). Two, I think Jrtrent's post says something important about system synergy. A system that works--and works together--doesn't leave you feeling that you have "work" to do.