After fifty years… amazing. What high end audio can be.

@gpetrof 

Bozak, now that is a word I have not heard in decades. Yes, I have memories like that. It is really cool that a pursuit like this that can last a lifetime and never cease to be fresh and rewarding. 
 

My father past away a long time ago, but I remember listening to Glen Miller from these two large vinyl compilations when around 10 years old. I found these used a couple decades ago and are in my collection.

@havocman

You must be one of those young whipper snappers… square wire! What will they think of next? Dag nab it, I am going to use wire as God intended it, round… like the Earth.

@ghdprentice  As usual, you provide an insightfull prespective and a positive view of all things Audio... for that, I Thank You.

(Still impressionable at 4 years younger than you) 

@ghdprentice I am there with you just not as nice a room but I have time only 60. No more chasing audio unicorns. I am right where I need to be with either system.

Thanks for all your insight Geoff. Your friend @ Timken.   

@bluorion

Great story about your fun vs reference system.

About ten years ago I had assembled what I considered to be my retirement system. I called it my reference system… because it was so good… but also because it revealed so much. I really enjoyed it.

I always wanted to own a 300b amp. So, decided to upgrade my heardphone system, which I did, big time. It became detailed but warm, natural, and musical.

Then I would listen to my main system and it just wasn’t inviting like my headphone system. I loved listening for about 45 minutes and then get bored. This was not a crappy system. Audio Research Ref 5 preamp. Pass x350 amp, Sonus Faber Olympica 3 speakers. Far less analytical than earlier versions of my system. But it was missing the warmth and musicality of my headphone system.
 

So, I did a bunch of upgrades (basically getting me to the system you see now) to all tube stuff. Reference system gone… seductive natural, musical and detailed system that I no longer get tired of listening to. If I listen to it for three hours, I am always thinking… just one more tune. 

The interesting thing is, I did not loose detail… it just isn’t stuck out in my face. In my reference system the venue stuck out… it was hard not to instantly think about the mastering or the recording quality. With the new system the details are all there, but you have to listen for them if you wanted to hear them. Then I would go to the symphony and realized, that was exactly how they were presented in real acoustical space. What would lead is the music… warm, rich, and inviting from a black background. From the symphony and from my systems now.

This may have nothing to do with your systems. Or maybe it does.

For me, I am very analytical and let my analytical side pull me a bit too much towards greater detail and the more obvious and easily identifiable parameters of sound and overlook rhythm and pace and mid-range bloom that give the sound musicality.