An unscientific poll: How often are you happy?

Geez, I'd have to say darn close to 100% - my system is off in it's own room and when I'm in there I'm a)not at work, b) not listening to somebody tell me their problems (work, not wife!), and c) often have a beer in my hand. And, oh yeah, the music usually sounds really good too. I often hear the phone ring when I'm in listening to the music with a cold one beside me and I think, "now what's the point of answering that? There is NOBODY that could be calling that would improve my current situation!".

I'm actually happy close to 100% of the time even in the spirit of the question. It almost always puts a smile on my face to listen to my system. Without question, thoughts run through my mind occassionally during any given listening about what might be improved, but it's more intellectual than emotional, hence I remain happy but inquisitive. As stated in some of the other responses, my times of being less than happy are when the music I'm listening to isn't a particularly good recording. If I could get all the music I love to listen to in a recorded form that was equal to the best recordings I have, I'd never be unhappy. Which is not the same as saying I'd never upgrade again.

I have a combination audio / HT system - total cost is probably a bit over $30K retail, a bit under $20K of my $$ actually in it. -Kirk

Z; an interesting if esoteric question to an audiophile. But I think a big part of happiness vs unhappiness does not necessarily have to do with the stereo system per se, but rather with the individuals prevailing state of mind (mood) at the time the ol' big rig is fired up. Atleast this is true for me, and as I have a tendency to be negative, depressive, introspective, obsessive, analytical and realistic, I'm in agreement w/ Drubin, and would go with 50/50-- while recognizing that my dis-satisfaction does not necessarily have to do with my systems performance, but rather with MY performance.

I have about $50K (MSRP) in my big rig and an another $12-14K (MSRP) in a half-assed HT system. When I'm in a good mood, and settle in to listen for awhile, it sounds fantastic and I'm very happy with it. But when in a foul mood, I have a hard time finding anything that sounds good.

But I'll add this: I'm damn glad I have (especially) my main stereo system, and on balance it brings me a great deal of pleasure. And the happiness includes upgrade planning, auditioning, tweaking etc. There certainly are times that I'm disappointed in my system, but I've now gotten to the point that I agree with Audiogon Arnie when he said "I've gotten to the point that I can make a system sound however I want"-- that's a paraphrase, and I hope Arnie doesn't mind me using his observation. I think it's an astute observation by a confident audiophile, and I've thought a lot about it myself.

Beemer makes an excellent point too-- sometimes it's both scary and disappointing when buying new music. But sometimes it's exciting too, and I find that one of the most appealing aspects of this affliction is finding new music that really turns me on. Cheers? and good luck w/this thread. Craig

Zaikesman, good thread! My investment,if I were to calculate store prices, is about 200k, spent in the course of the last two decades about. Satisfaction percentage is about 10%. But those 10% are pure bliss. Why so low, you may ask? Well I'm cursed with absolute pitch and am an avid concert goer. Live music is the benchmark and the goal for my efforts. A rather poor return you might think for all that dough spent. Not for me though, because there have been moments of rare rapture, which I would not miss for all the money in the world. This happens, when the mood is right, the performance musically outstanding and the system doing what it should.

Throughout the years, I have raised my satisfaction ratio to ~50%... through self-imposed leniency rather than system performance level. As I, too, attend many live performances, my pure expectations from a home system (mine is ~60k) had been inordinately high with an inversly proportional satisfaction/ music enjoyment rating...

BUT:
On the one hand, I cannot hear all the music and performers I want live and on the other, I NEED to enjoy the music at home, too -- and get away, get transported... what have you. Hence, the Pavlov trick: it works as a catalyst, keeping sonic considerations from putting too much of a damper on my enjoyment of the music. Cheers!

Well thought out posts and it always bugs me when my two cents have already been mentioned by Craig and Beemer.
Still, here goes...I do have trouble finding music taht really wows me. I have gotten a bunch of music from other people's posts and these have varied for me along the lines of Beemer's posts. I wonder if it is part of a transition to listening and audiophilism (nice word huh) that we accept that we may buy alot mediocre stuff to get to the stuff.
As an addition to Craig's zenlike post, I would that in a way my stereo gets the brunt of my moods. It makes me happier when I am sad, relaxed when I am tense and adds to my happiness when I have enough brains to realize my good fortunes.
Now having said all that are there any audiophiles in the san diego area who want to go disk shopping?