The Psychology of Constant (Equipment) Change


Anybody have an answer?

I have a decent selection of preamps, amps, integrateds and speakers to choose from and I find myself swapping out gear constantly.  And it's not because anything sounds bad.  Quite contrary, really.

After most swapping sessions, I'm generally really satisfied and quite enjoy the sound quality.  But within a few weeks I'm swapping stuff out again.

What would be the diagnosis for my condition?

 

128x128audiodwebe

I strongly suspect how we come to our hobby somewhat dictates our goals and pleasures. I have a close friend whose system is constantly in flux. His passion may surpass mine. When he lived close by, he had three system in the mix and enjoyed them all, seeking synergy and fun. Recently, here, there seems to be more lecturing and scolding around how one should approach our hobby...with the zeal of their definitions. Really?

 

You are certainly right...

But the hobby to rotate pieces of gear is very different than my own hobby: which is learning how to optimize any system for the sake of music listening.

I will not scold anyone if we distinguish the fun of rotating gear for the fun of it and learning how to reach the best with what we have, nevermind the price.It takes a lot of time to optimise a chosen system in a room. If you learn how to do it alone. It takes so much time that rotating gear is not an option. Why ?

Because we are able to optimize a system room once the gear synergy choices are done once for all ...The acoustic-psychoacoustics process of experiments begin after that.

i want to listen Bach or jazz in the best acoustic condition... Rotating gear is not my hobby... Anyway i dont have this budget... And basic knowledge made this useless for most people because a relatively good system well installed , mechanically, electrically and acoustically give us a relative ectasy...

And also give me with what i learned 100,000 bucks and i will create one of the great system easily but with one or two years work and experiment in a dedicated room . Being there at the end, why would i rotate pieces of gear ?😁

Unsatisfaction comes from frustration with an evident acoustic defect or gear synergy defect easy to spot and correct..

Unsatisfaction can come with boring sound room/system when the acoustic balance and the synergy is very wrong and the acoustic defect not evident to identify because there is no dedicated acoustic control anyway ..

Part of the solution can be changing the gear synergy if it is not there, but certainly not rotating gear in a race toward a "perfection" which we thank God for his inexistence as an hamster in a wheel happy to go nowhere for the fun of it and thanking God that no end location exist ....

Acoustics rule my hobby and fun ...music is the end station for me...

Very simple: just reflects unhealed trauma where buying more “stuff” is an attempt to distract from the discomfort of the underlying issues.  How many audiophiles doesn’t take to change a lightbulb? Just one, but the lightbulb has to really WANT to change…

I think we are over analyzing the whole thing. It’s pretty simple really, there are too many toys to play with! Few sound truly bad, most sound very good to amazing. Price point is somewhat irrelevant, play in the sand that suits you. There are plenty of toys at every budget. I’ve gotten to the point I’m slowing down, if not closing the revolving door. I’ve played with the toys I want to play with and have narrowed down the field to where I am both sonically and budgetary wise. Still, the door isn’t nailed shut!

i’m with @geof3

toys are fun... we have worked all our lives to be able to have what we want, to spend our time doing what we wish... so have fun!!!

the armchair amateur psycho-babble is lame and tired

You don’t have a problem. You just like to hear how the sounds of recordings vary on different equipment. 
 

I prefer to figure it out once until all my recordings sound as great to my ears, and then sit back and listen.