When is your Hifi good enough?

I interpret this question as a variation of "at what point does diminishing returns start to set in?"  I take it as axiomatic that any system, from the intro audiophile to those pushing the SOTA, can be improved upon.  For me it comes down to a case of incremental money spent and added system complexity versus current enjoyment levels.  I look at some people's system pages and they have listed 30+ components (including tweaks) in single source systems.  I just don't want a system that has that many variables.  Nor do I want to spend $100k plus either.  I became an audiophile when $5,000 was a very expensive component and only a single company made a loudspeaker costing more than $10,000.  When I listen to systems costing multiples of what my current setup costs I marvel at the sound, but I still find myself perfectly content with what I have.

Among people who post here I suspect I'm a little more forgiving of sound quality than most.  To give an example, I recently had to replace a tube in my preamp so I ran the system without a preamp with the D/A going directly into the power amp.  I strongly prefer the sound of the system with the preamp, but it still sounded great without it and after a few days of acclimation I really didn't miss the preamp.  Push come to shove I could live with my Fisher 400/Monitor Audio Studio 20 system as my only system.  That system does everything Dweller outlines in his post.  But then again, that's just me.

Mapman,

You make a good point that applies to me:

Is it my system or is it the recording? 

In the future I will keep that in mind and will attempt to answer that question first before I do anything else.

Something I never expected from this hobby has been the realization that hifi reveals poor recordings. It reminded me of when I was a young man how I avoided Motown cassettes/8-tracks because they sounded so awful and CBS/Columbia tapes usually sounded better than other labels. I had forgotten how disappointed I was when I first obtained Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions" on tape. Whoah! That hiss!

Thanks,

It’s just like a having an HD TV. Picture quality varies greatly with source material. But same source material all still looks much more similar and below average by current standards on my old fashioned low res analog CRT 10" Zenith that's still kicking.

First and foremost for me, the music has to sound like music.  Set aside for a moment that I have absolutely no idea what the actual recording process was or what the recording engineer heard,  instruments must sound like instruments that I am familiar with.

Notwithstanding that different pianos or violins will sound different.  I know a good violin or piano sound when I hear it.  Joe Sample's piano sounds totally different than Bob Jame's piano. 

I know what a cymbal sounds like.  Again, it does depend on the recording, because the engineer or artist may have used electronic instruments instead of the real thing.

But, first, it has to sound natural to me.  Space and dimension are separate and totally recording dependent.  Its hard to get space and dimensionality from electronic instruments that are wired directly into the mixing board.  But, place mikes in front of the instruments in space, then maybe you have something.
Is it natural?  is it too bright, too soft?  Do the artist step out of your speakers, place themselves in your room exactly as they were when the recording was made?  Yeah!!! there we are.

I have played classical violin, sax, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, etc.  I know what instruments are suppose to sound like.  That is one reason why I'm so critical of my system, music and sound.  Basically, I know what I like.   Others have their own criteria.

People can and will pick your system and styles apart, because to them, you don't know anything and they are the master.  But, they aren't the one listening in your home to your music.  your are.  They aren't the one that has to come out-of-pocket and purchase your equipment.you do.  If you enjoy the system (yeah it can be nice furniture also.  My turntable is made out of Rosewood and really is beautiful to me) and your music, and it doesn't drive you out of the room, and sounds real to you, then you are there.

Yes, you can (and often will) improve things, but, that will be in small incremental steps. 

enjoy

Mapman ...

If I had a dollar for each time I thought I had reached nirvana with my system, I could buy ... well, another system. *lol*

First and foremost, this hobby is about the music. The more revealing the system is in an accurate musical sense, the more in touch we are with the artists and to their artistry. 

I think a lot of us desire periodic "fixes" that allow for more information from our music collection to be revealed. This may take the form of a high-end fuse in the preamp ... or a new and better sounding preamp. Spikes under the speakers ... or new speakers. 

Personally for me, I continue to experiment with tweaks to get the best out of what I already have. There are advancements all the time in this industry. 

The curse is when a person continually buys and swaps out expensive equipment in an effort to find what they want without knowing what it is they really want. We all know the type ... credit cards maxed out buying equipment, only to sell the equipment, pay off the credit cards and then start all over again. One thing I've noticed about these sorts ... they never seem to have an extensive collection of recordings. Maybe fifty CD's and a hundred records max ... all "audiophile" releases. 


onhwy61  commented above about his Fisher 400. I had one at one time as part of a bedroom system. Loved it. If I had it today it would be sporting a SR RED fuse and tube dampening rings. All tubes would be replaced. Every contact area, including the tube pins would be treated with Caig Pro Gold. A qualified tech would have tested all components to be sure the Fisher was operating at it's best. Then, I'd be using high quality cables and  good footers. Oh .. and a pair of the small Harbeths would be nice too. And now for the CD player ... Bottom line, one great Fisher 400 transporting me to the world of great music while enjoying my morning coffee and a magnificent sunrise while listening to Bach's beautiful "Air On A G-String."

In other words Mapman ... I don't think it's ever "good enough."