un-becoming an audiophile

@dayglow

You can critically listen and enjoy music simultaneously. I never knew this was an issue for some.

True. I have experienced myself becoming so critical in my listening at times that I’m impossible to please. I think I hear a problem and I become obsessed with trying to understand what I think I’m hearing and fix it asap. This can involve many hours of effort to no avail, only to find that the next day I’m happy again with the sound. If you can be critical, notice a problem, but not become obsessive about it to the point that you are no longer enjoying the music, then I think that’s a healthy perspective. Of course if there can be problems that are extreme, like loud and scary pops and crackles coming through the speakers, or smoke and bad smells coming from the amplifier. Those kinds of problems should be distracting.

On one of my better days I noticed something very off about the sound but just made a mental note of it and let the album I was listening to play through. I was in the musical magic zone and not going to interrupt it for a sound quality issue. Afterward I discovered it was a bad connection to one of the tweeters. 

Nitpick. But try not to get your knickers in a twist. Have fun with it.

I have come to the conclusion that I am never going to be an “audiophile” in the sense that many others on this forum are.  I set a budget of “good enough . . . certainly better than anything I’ve ever had before”.  I’m not going to keep auditioning or buying other equipment in search of something,  Unless I decide that a new purchase is “worth it” and fits in my budget, I’m standing pat and enjoying the music.  

One consideration is acknowledging that I’m 68 and only going to live so long.  No matter how much pleasure I get from my equipment, usually other people don’t care about that — they have other interests and consider my stuff an ordeal to have to get rid of.  They likely won’t appreciate the resale value of things like hifi equipment and will sell to the first buyer.  That will be a big enough loss with my current equipment, but to think what they might accept for an amplifier or loudspeakers that cost $20,000 each — they wouldn’t even know how to go about selling such items for anything reasonable. If I had a large record collection that I invested a lot of money in, that might even be hard to sell unless they know how to go about it.  I do plan to leave directions for my heirs regarding things like this, but mostly I just want to make settling my estate as easy for them as I can.  They will already be stressed, and I don’t want to make it more painful for them.

@asctim    I have always known the potential of my system(s) due to not frequently changing my components just making small tweaks. Recording quality and power issues are my pet peeves. Why? Very little(if anything) can be done with these issues. I want to be in control of the sound of my system not the power company or a poor recording engineer. If something is not right I want it to be MY error not placing blame on the gear/dealers ect. With time, research and knowledge I will find a way to correct any issues. When my system is in top form and playing a well recorded disc everything is right in my "Audiophile" world.

@bob540 

The problem of leaving an equipment mess behind for others has been on my mind too. I've built some huge speakers that are a pain to move around. I don't know if anybody will want them after I'm gone. Will they end up in a landfill? Heck, I'm almost done with them. I'm the kind of audiophile who  likes to tinker, do weird things that nobody else does to see what happens. No matter how good it sounds, I'll be interested in trying something else. I've got a new speaker project in mind, trying to resist starting on it too soon. More thinking it through, less cutting wood. It's probably going to be something nobody else in the world will ever want.