Emotional rollercoaster

Maybe Xanax is the answer. 

barts:" My car is still as fast, still is a blast, still blows my dress up, makes me smile and never stops impressing me! I am completely satisfied with its performance, couldn't care less about the newest bestest thing on the block."

Hello barts,

     Apparently, things tend to blow your dress up fairly regularly.  Have you ever considered wearing pants? 
    It would be a simple solution for a complexly simple guy.

Tim 

I don't believe high end audio is a sham but it is very complex. The first question is, what is better sound? I'm guessing it means something different to each and everyone of us. If you can imagine your perfect audio system in your mind, what would it sound like? If you don't know, how will you know when you have a system that has achieved it? Figure out what good sound is to you. Be honest with yourself about your abilities and trust what you hear. Understand how important room acoustics are to what you are trying to achieve and how issues can be dealt with. Try to figure out who the other people are that share your audio philosophies and seek out their advice.

A great audio system can be very fulfilling and rewarding or it can be a huge pita. Good luck in your journey.

barts,

Good for you. As Clint Eastwood used to say, "A man’s got to know his limitations."

Maybe it’s the same for audiophiles - knowing when enough is enough.


audiorusty,

'If you can imagine your perfect audio system in your mind, what would it sound like? If you don’t know, how will you know when you have a system that has achieved it?’

I can’t speak for anyone else but in my main system, which does so many other right things, the speakers are just a little obvious. Large 1970s chipboard cabinets probably leave a little to be desired when it comes to self effacement and neutrality.

The final frontier (or crossing the Rubicon as someone wittily said earlier), would be precisely that kind of loudspeaker that Siegfried Linkwitz talked about.

One that does most things right and somehow seemingly disappears just leaving behind a phantom musical image.

Just like a reasonable facsimile of performance in front of you.

In the meantime perhaps it’s better to take a leaf out of barts book.

Lots of good information here. I agree that a properly treated room is very important, in fact it's a prerequisite. After that, I'm with mill in regard to everything being important. Obviously speakers will bring a dramatic change to the sound, but if they are transparent, they are only as good as the equipment (including cables, power cords, etc.) upstream. High end audio isn't a sham. The sound I have now is something I could only dream about 20 or 30 years ago. The stage is wall to wall, deep, with ambiance accurate to the recording. I don't regret any of it & typically listen to music 4 or more hours a day.