If you knew then, what you know now...

All of the audio equipment that's been in my life, for whatever reason, led me to the knowledge I have today. I would not be happy if I had not explored every opportunity. All was a learning process, even discovering what I did wrong. I do agree with one poster who said "save for what you want." I have never considered the price of equipment to be as important as the music it delivers. When I can get a bargain I am absolutely the first in line, but I will not buy a bargain if it does not deliver the magic.

All this is time dependent. In 1989 you couldn't be saving for something that isn't on the market yet.(True now for 2004)It's all a learning, understanding, appreciating,process. We will all take our present skills to the next level.Looking back, we all know how much we have learned; there will be more,unless we buy the "perfect"system and retire from "learning".

Send your money to charity (or Italy) and start reading books. Ok, just foolin. The biggest mistakes I make are two:

1) If you really know what you want just buy it. Too many times I am unwilling to throw down on an item because it is just not quite a good enough deal. But I never say after I buy 'I paid too much for this and should have waited for this slightly better deal' I just say I paid alot and I like it.

2) And almost always with any purchase there are compromises that I overlook. Usually because I am blinded by some percieved benefit my new purchase will bring. In the end the overlooked comprimse outweighs the benefit and I am wallowing in a mire of unhappiness. So, if making a new purchase make out a pro/con sheet and think about it. Demo the unit to death. The more expensive the unit is (relatively speaking) the more you think/demo and consider the purchase.

If 1) and 2) seem inconsistent, well...fine. Those are my mistakes and I stand by them.

Chris

You can buy a lot of great music for the price of a modest component.

Depending on what type of music you listen to, you're quite possibly listening to an effect more than the recreation of a "real" thing, and in this case, if it sounds good it probably is good.

The room is going to have a huge effect on how good things will ever sound.

A corrolary to that is that if you're not willing to modify / treat your room, you're going to be considerably more limited in the performance you can achieve.

An early question to ask is how much you value convenience vs. performance. CDs are a lot more convenient but many swear the only true performance is vinyl. A CD changer randomly playing tunes is great fun (as a transport only, of course), but many would say it's too big a sacrifice.

Spend the big bucks on the source. Go for the best even if the rest of the chain is worth only a few hundred. Buy second-hand and insure shipping for full value. Listen and read about others' experiences for a long time before buying. Then pay what you have to, to get what you want. Believe that having what you want will make a difference. Pass up a few hot deals if you're not quite sure. Listen, listen, listen and don't analyze the sound as you listen ; pay attention to how you feel instead. When you hear something that just seems to work, make notes on how you feel. Talk about your notes. Make audiophile friends, they're not all component-mad, they're almost all music lovers, and mine are princes.