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

What I really know now after moving 9 years ago into my present environment is how very very important a good room is. Components aside, the room can be the most important component in making even a modest system magical. It is going to be my next major upgrade.

If I knew what I know now back in the day I would rather get into herion. It is also a conversation starter when someone asks "what are you up to?" you can reply with "shooting herion" which always gets a better response then I am into high end stereo, try it some time. But really I would buy everything used if I could do things again.

if i had to do it all over again, i'd be born rich, living my life as a trust fund baby and ignoring the hoi poloi on this most pedestrian of audio sites; should I, quite unlikely, find it amusing to listen in on your rf static, i'd have my secretary input all my putdowns. in other words, i'd have the best b&o system my unearned income could buy.

I wouldn't ever read another internet news group about anything audio related. I'd go into the local radio shack, buy their best middle of the road gear, and never ever find out how good music really can sound. I'd save thousands, have more time to do other things, and never have to see or hear the word "upgrade" ever again. My car radio would still sound good to me, I could re-arrange my furniture at will, and the muzak at work probably wouldn't threaten my sanity (hey, I could probably even sing along with the tunes played when some company puts me on hold on the phone).

And life would have been much diminished.

chas

Try to recreate the experience, not the sound.

I remember the first time hearing a super high-end audio set-up and being totally floored at what it sounded like. That was about just 5 years ago. I've gone through several decent systems since then, but none costing as much as that first system I heard. Well, I can now more than afford that "dream" system and went to a dealer to listen to a VERY similar system, same speakers and front-end, similar amp and preamp. I expected to be floored and was ready to buy if I was. Well, I wasn't floored. I could hear all the things wrong with it. My ears have gotten better trained, I've heard better systems and I now realize that that set up wasn't so great, but it was still better than anything that I had heard up to that initial listening 5 years ago.

When I hear people say that component XX they had 15 years ago sounded better than anything available today, I take great pause. I suspect tha it was the experience of hearing someting great back then that made it great. This experience included both acoustical and emotional aspects.

E.g. I've demo'd eqpt while on vaction (or on Caffiene), that never sounds as good while not in such a relaxed (or hyper) state. The audiophiles goal should be to recreate the experience of being blown away by the music each time you push the all those toggle switches.