Recommend me a good psychologist

You've fallen into the trap that most of us do. You assembled a "Hi-Fi" and not a "music system". Your probably looking for a "cross" between the two, something that will keep your toes tappin' for ALL of your discs but will still allow you to take notice of an especially good recording when it shows up.

My suggestion is to start listening to the gear and how it works together in your system rather than buying by review, brand name or what the salesperson / friend "pushes" you into. Your first step towards enjoying the musicality of your system is to install a reasonably priced tube DAC into it. With as much money as you've got sunk into it, a few hundred more won't hurt anything and should make a WORLD of a difference. Sean
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PS: NO, you aren't crazy or alone.....

Several months ago I played a new CD for some high end audiophile friends. I thought the female singer was very talented and was kind of proud to have discovered her. I played my favorite selection for the group expecting them to go ga-ga over the performance. Much to my amazement not one person commented on the music. Every comment made focused on what they considered a flawed recording process, not the music or performer. Is there any hope for these people or are they terminal ?

Pancho, the answer to your problem, be it real or put on, is quite simple, but perhaps not so simple to achieve: If you can enjoy music on your car radio for example and get drawn into it, but cannot with your system, generally you've lost your innocence, because you're bugged by the idea, that your system could be "better". Rest assured, even a system, expertly assembled and costing half a million dollars or more- and those do exist -can all be "bettered" , by live music as the last resort. Unless you have something in your system which is really jarring and disturbing your musical sensibilities - and mostly this is caused by a harsh and twangy high-end or lifeless mids -just train yourself to NOT listen to your SYSTEM. This can best be achieved by putting on your favourite music, or even better, by putting on and discovering music of your favourite artists, which you are still unfamiliar with. Get the emphasis on to music and away from the system, as has already been suggested above. And then, most importantly, develop a little wisdom: Do you live in the house of your absolute dreams? Probably not. Do you own and drive your dream automobile? Also probably not. Do you fret about it ? Probably not. Do you constantly nag your significant other, because also there the old saying holds true, that "nothing is perfect"? Probably not. So, why not develop the same attitude about your stereo? Be happy with what you have, as long as you have it. This should not stop you from dreaming though, how one day you will get other and perhaps "better" PLAY things.(pun intended )But separate thinking about your system and listening to it for reasons of tweaking and experimenting strictly from listening for musical enjoyment. It can be done. All it needs is a bit of mental discipline.
I'll send you my bill later. (-;
Happy innocent listening! Detlof

Boy can I ever relate. I've scrimped and saved to aquire my first hi-end system piece by piece over the last year and a half. The addition of each piece has brought improvement but I still feel it could/should sound better for all that I've spent (almost $9K used and demos-all Stereophile class A recommended components except the cd player). I found that much of the music I used to listen to sounded bad on new system (either recorded, mastered or manufactured poorly). Started buying redbook remasters. Most sound better but not necessarily great (i.e. added detail and eliminate some of the bright highs). Bought a few MFSL cds. Not being made any more (I read MFSL will be revived soon, but old titles will not be reproduced). Sound better than US mass produced remasters but boy they can get pricey. I now find myself searching the internet for high definition Japanese pressings. Sound very good for most part (on my system) IMO. However, limited production runs, import duties and the fact that many titles are out of print make this expensive. And you can't always get what you want. I'm begining to wonder if I should go buy a turntable and start looking for the 1000 albums I sold 12 years ago.
Back when I was shopping for speakers a while back I carried several of my favorite CDs with me to 3 local high end stores. When the salesmen heard what I had brought AS MY REFERENCE, they all tactfully commented that it sounded like they were recorded poorly. In addition they said "purchasing a hi-end system tends to change the type of music you listen to". I refused to believe it at the time. ITS TRUE. ITS TRUE.

When I described these very same symptoms to my therapist, I was informed that I suffered from a skewed perspective, and a consuming obsession with my equipment. This results in a perpetual sense of dissatisfaction with "the medium", which in turn, tends to distract me from "the message". It is ironic that the equipment, designed to do nothing more than deliver to us the music that our souls crave, can become the object of our passion, distancing us from, rather than bringing us closer to our muse.

What helps me when things get turned so upside-down, and I'm being completely genuine here, is to take a break from all this audiophile mania. It's hard to do once you've developed the full-blown neurosis, but it can be done with deliberate effort: Leave the audio magazines unread, give the internet a rest (this forum?), leave your system alone for a while - no upgrades or tweaking! Listen THROUGH your system, not TO your system. Listen to FM radio, where the only control you have is your choice of station. Listen to live music. Commune with nature. Get real.

If you can create some space between you and your gear, the music will return to fill the void. It works! And when you return to the "madness", as you (we) are destined to do, not much will have changed, but even it will seem fresh again, and we'll be here waiting for you.

Oh, my name's Jon, and I'm an Audiophile...