Ugrade-itis - is there a cure?

Hi Toi

"However, after one investment in a stem to stern rebuild/cleaning/maintenance, my Pioneer SX 838 still "shines" in my ears. (I can hear some of you laughing!) The point is, obtain what you need to fulfil your own musical tastes."

Not me, I'm not laughing, I love my Pioneer! The Pioneer sx 3400 (have 3 of them) is one of my price no object reference amplifiers.

MG

Only you can say what you prefer from your system.  BUT once you learn what makes a component sound the way it does, then you can figure out how to improve your system.  Understand different designs SS vs. tubes, how tube sizes make a difference (small, large), tube rectification, tube regulation, choke loaded, transformer coupled, direct heated triode, class A, Class D, etc.  You have to experiment to see what you like.

You also can have an existing component modified that can be the best way to go.  The majority of manufacturers do not use high quality parts so upgrading them can possibly have a bigger impact on sound for much less than swapping out a component.  Better power supply capacitors (think Nichicon), AC filter chokes, output resistors (Shinkoh, Caddock, Amtrans, Vishay), upgrade the volume control, just for starters.

Happy Listening. 

I do wonder how much upgradeitis is simple the need for novelty and change like in any hobby collection. I know that I could quite easily upgrade my system but I have toyed with the idea of having several loudspeakers that have entirely different presentations to suit different music/mood/volume needs (steve guttenberg has a similar idea and is posted on his channel). Of course it then down to which speaker (etc) but I can envisage having say 3-4 pairs of $2000 speakers with entirely different signatures and or design helping to prevent that stagnation from having your favourite music sounding the same every time you play it! The counter argument would easily be that an $8000 well chosen speaker might well trounce the 4 cheaper ones.