Are there other people like me ? Amazed by their low cost system :)


Are there other people so much amazed by a relatively low cost system , they consider that is not a stopgap but instead a minimally satisfying ectasy... Each day i am amazed by my speakers and headphone... Am i deaf? Am i ignorant of high end ? Be assured that i know better system with higher acoustic experience and more refined exist ...

My point is an experienced and felt minimal threshold of acoustic qualities and well done and well realized and well manifested acoustic factors exist for me and are at play, for the price invested; so much so , i consider any upgrade way less tempting and if possible would be more, way more , costlier to appear as a real upgrade in quality... For sure an upgrade of part at low cost unbeknowst to me is possible but i must live with what i have for now but i feel no frustration at all. šŸ˜Š

Am i the only one deluded in this way or enlightened in this way ? Pick your choice of word.... šŸ˜Ž

128x128mahgister

Now Steven Guttenberg is a seller as all reviewers but all of what he said is not to throw in the thrashbin either...

Perhaps audiophile experience is possible at a relatively low cost :

Ā 

But Guttenberg as most audiophiles will insist on the gear choice and synergy...

We must start with good synergetical pieces of gear then it is Ok...

But my main argument concerning the reason why a relatively low cost system can gave an audiophile very good if not magical experience is based on the electrical,mechanical and acoustical factors and controls as much as important as synergy and gear choices to reach the potential peak of any system at any price in a room ...

šŸ˜Š

currently running a $62 Fosi integrated, $149 WiiM streamer, pair of Avalon Ascendants - quite surprised at how good it sounds...and no attention given to placement, acoustics etc ...

As i said relatively low cost can vary a lot in function of each one of us different needs and budget limit...

My main point is about the way and the meansĀ  to enjoy a "relatively low cost system" not so much about a fixed amount of money...

The back tought behind this question is that mechanical and electrical and acoustical knowlwedge define audiophile experience more than mere price tags...

the other point is then that acoustic satisfaction is possible at relatively low cost...

I dont define a "cost" because when you know what to do to improve an audio system, his cost matter way lessĀ  for a musical and sound quality experience...

Even Bill gates then can come and participate and ex-plain to us how he had as much pleasure with his "low cost" system of 80,000 bucks than the other one he own of one millon dolars becauseĀ  he learned how to install and embed each pieces in the right electrical, mechanical and acoustical working dimensions...

then here relatively low costĀ  is defined by the specfic history os each one and his needs and budget...

My thread and question are not dogmatic opinion about pricing but inviation about thinking how to improve what we have or how to experiment for improvement BEFORE a costlier upgrades which can become useless or less useful when we learn more ...

@mahgisterĀ how do you define a relatively low cost system? I didnā€™t go thru the entire discussion and possibly missed it but is there a cap on a total to consider a system low cost?Ā 
Compared to some other systems Iā€™ve seen, mine is relatively low cost.

I lived through the same obsession as yourself...

And you are right about synergy... It is really the starting point and can become a problem when we buy a new piece as so called upgrade...

It is why i recommend experiments with what we have before upgrading if the synergy is good to begin with for sure...

Ā 

Ā Thanks for your interesting observations bro...

With that said, I usually enjoy my main system a lot until I ā€œupgradeā€ something and disrupt the synergy between components/cables/room/ears in the process. Then it becomes an obsession and a source of frustration until the synergy is restored. Iā€™ve done it too many times too.
But whatā€™s interesting is when I listen to music on my lower cost system we use to watch movies and play background music on, (Marantz AVR, Focal Aria 906, Apple TV streaming Tidal), I can honestly say that I enjoy music just as much as I do when listening to my main rig. I just enjoy the sound of my main rig more.