How Do You Live The Audiophile Life

@knotscott, +1....Breathing new life into some vintage things is a reward unto itself...*S*  "Returning to one's roots' is just as valid (imho) as chasing SOTA....

Those objects may have begun your 'obsession'....so there's a certain degree of joy in engaging in some 'introspection' as to what lit your fire in the first place. ;)

Spouse & self took great satisfaction in taking a 1907 Victorian bungalow back in SF and getting it ready for it's next century.

Absolutely no qualms about doing the same for 'vintage' anything should be the same, frankly.....unless the item has achieved some sort of status of 'religious worship' amongst 'those that know'.  Then it's better to send it on it's way, and let someone else default virgin status...*L*

Hi, cd...*G*  I keep thinking about a line from Laurie Anderson....

"Are things getting better?  Or are things getting worse?"

I suspect we've all gotten to plumb that ying/yang well enough to finally 'go with the flow', but give it a directive 'tap' to keep from getting drowned or beached....*L*   The Lockdown Lowdown luckily hasn't effected us as a
couple or as a business entity to any great degree...other than making us look like the rest of the masked hoard.  Part of the daily details....life 'n strife continue....

My 'audioexodus' has been a sorid and assorted mortal coil all it's own.  No 350 r/t's (but I'll bet it was worth it , wasn't it? *G*) involved, but from 'meh' to 'medium rare, warm center' with artichoke and a Real Caesar salad with a good red took some time. ;)

I/we had our 'quiet time', when audio had to 'go on mute' for awhile; I think that can occur for many reasons, and we had ours....

It's returned with a vaguely reduced roar....;)  Currently, SAF is happy that I'm engaged in my 'preoccupation' with things dipole and omni.  As long as the SMGa Maggies' exist in the pending living room....no concern over being trapped in anything approaching a padded anything. *L*

Turntable mods....*L*  Tangetal truant, I confess.  Looking to 'mod' an SL8 Rabco that used to be a daily driver.  Actually Own an ST4!  Noisy critter, bought for 25$ new, in box, from a dealer that couldn't move it....
(Bought just because it was there and needed a home where it may be laughed at, but loved just for what it is...weird. *L*)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC6YLH02jeg

This says it all better than I could ever....;)

Cheers, Jerry

I so rarely change equipment (1989 to 2005, DAC this year), that most high end companies would go broke.  So, I am more of a tweaker for the past four years.  

Mind-matter interaction. Honest injun. It’s a whole enterprise/hobby unto itself. I would say it’s an undertaking, but, well, you know...Kind of like Feng Shui for audiophiles. The study of the influence of the local physical surroundings on the sound. You could say the lower the entropy the better the sound. Check it out, dudes and dudettes!

The acoustician know much more about Hi-Fi S.Q. than the electronical engineer....This is my motto.....

Your ears then know much more than a measuring device....

But only a fool will put aside the experience of the electronic engineer…. But in life there exist priorities....That is my point....

I live "just across the Hudson" in Jersey City and until recently, I lived in CT and have commuted into Manhattan for a long stretch.  This area is spoiled in terms of the # of high end dealers but even then, there is a lot of equipment I have wanted to demo and can't.  

One of the things I have learned through the years is that I demo'd as many things as I could, especially things that were reviewed.  I would read the review, listen and then read the review again to see if I could understand what the reviewer was saying.  This helped me understand the relative sound profiles of different equipment.  

Once I got my head around that, i was able to read reviews and understand what I was reading and what to expect.  This helped me be able to purchase things blindly without being disappointed.  In fact, my biggest disappointment was one i listed to extensively at a NYC retailer that did a very poor job of explaining what the room requirements were for the speakers I bought.  

Ultimately, I have started my own company.  Designed my own speakers and import products I like.  I also resell products I like.  It has been fun but the business basically was born from unhappiness with high end retailers.