Forgive me father for I have sinned . . . .
When I began collecting records (for the music) I had a Steelman suitcase style portable with a 3" speaker, 4-speed BSR record player, "flip over" needle for LPs and 78s, AM radio, and some tiny tube amp with 2-3 watts if I was lucky. I didn't know any better.
Some years later in college a couple of friends put together "hi-fi" systems by buying each piece separately rather than something all-in-one. By that time too stereo recordings were common. I was blown away by how much better music sounded on their "systems".
Thus started a long and slippery path of selecting and upgrading individual components for my own system. I will admit that after many years I reached a point when I spent as much time "obsessing" over my system as I did listening to music. Then I came to my senses. As much as I enjoy the musical presentation of my system it is the music itself that provides the real pleasure.
When I began collecting records (for the music) I had a Steelman suitcase style portable with a 3" speaker, 4-speed BSR record player, "flip over" needle for LPs and 78s, AM radio, and some tiny tube amp with 2-3 watts if I was lucky. I didn't know any better.
Some years later in college a couple of friends put together "hi-fi" systems by buying each piece separately rather than something all-in-one. By that time too stereo recordings were common. I was blown away by how much better music sounded on their "systems".
Thus started a long and slippery path of selecting and upgrading individual components for my own system. I will admit that after many years I reached a point when I spent as much time "obsessing" over my system as I did listening to music. Then I came to my senses. As much as I enjoy the musical presentation of my system it is the music itself that provides the real pleasure.