Is Audio nirvana real?

For some it's a journey.  I ran into a bunch of car collectors at lunch.  They were quite happy to have owned and sold lots of cool cars.

Personally, I want something fabulous that I'm happy with and can focus on music and the living room.  While I feel I've developed a discriminating ear, I have to shut it off if I want to enjoy what I have.

At some point too I decided that while I could sometimes hear differences in cables, it was just not worth it. I stuck to things with big payoffs. I use all silver interconnects, and plain speaker wire.  If a system won't sound fabulous with that, it's just not for me.

Your mileage and pleasure of course will vary! :-) But there are some who like the trading and various experiences, including getting to meet people like me (cough cough) and for them it's like taking a road trip. It's not that they want to move so much as they want to see the road.

Best,

Erik

Is it real? YES! Very definitely. Did not know that for sure when I began building my current system about 7 years ago...or, if I got there at all, how much it would cost, what it would take or how long...but, I basically already have it. All I can say for sure about it is that once you're there, you Know it, straight away - no two ways about it.

It IS possible...though looking back, I now know a helluva lot had to happen for me to get here.  For one I actually had to Learn how to not give up on the dream until I had it in my hands. Sincerely hope others can do the same and reach that place for themselves. For me it was absolutely worth it.

Audio nirvana is real, but not tangible......it's a state of mind.

Audio nirvana is real, but not tangible......it’s a state of mind.

Yes.....and no....for me it has turned out to be a little of both. When nirvana is real, then the answer becomes "yes....but for how long??" You can get pretty familiar with those nagging little dissatisfactions along the way when system building....the ones that seem to take the longest to overcome maybe in particular. But, once they indeed were All Truly Gone, then I found that to be a game changer. Looking back at it now, I can recall the exact point at which the balance tipped.

Will it still be nirvana for me 10 yrs from now?? I don’t know. But, then again I’m 56. Maybe the better question for me now is will my hearing still be good enough for me to enjoy it. But, if anyone is going to take at least a decade or so to slog it out like I did (lots of mods and DIY, etc), then my advice is to not leave it too late...! Lol

Hmmmm...I’m thinking the square root of minus 1.

"A rich audiophile has about as much chance of entering audio nirvana as a camel has of passing through the eye of a needle."
- old audiophile axiom