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I find myself "tuning out" anymore.....is the magic fading?

I think I might have hit a plateau in my audiophile/hi-fi journey.

I'm not saying that I don't enjoy listening to my system and music, I certainly do.

However, (and not trying to turn this into a b*tch session), I am REALLY tired of a lot of things that go along with this hobby.

It dawned on me when I received (unsolicited, mind you) a copy of Stereophile and a MusicDirect catalog the other day in the mail.

I can't find a single thing in either magazine that I actually want. Nothing. Even the pretty ad pictures just don't do it for me.

I used to subscribe to several YouTube audio influencer channels. I can't hardly sit through any of them anymore without grimacing. Everything is the "latest/greatest/gotta have it" product. Not only do I just not really trust you any more, but I find myself simply not interested in what you are peddling. 

How many different speakers are you going to audition? Jeez.....buy a set and enjoy them. They can't ALL be the speakers you've ever heard.

Even on here, I find discussions of whether or not some tweak works or doesn't work (cables/fuses/magic rocks, whatever....) to be boring and not worth the time to respond. They might work for you, might not work, I don't care.

Any discussions using the term "Snake Oil" will be summarily dismissed from any future consideration of thought.

Which DAC is the best? How come I still listen to CDs when you can rip all your music to a HD? You NEED a turntable! Your amp is old and sucks. Buy some new speaker cables. Double blind test your interconnects and you'll see.... The Pink Panther brigade says if I measure it, it must be true. (Your ears be d*mned!) You NEED to do this/that or the other thing....because I said so.

Maybe some day I'll get the "upgrade-itis" bug again, but at this point, I'm just not interested. Jaded might be a good word, I don't know....burnt out? Overload?

Anyway, rant over. Was just wondering if anyone else ever got to this point.

 

 

 

 

128x128coralkong
kennyc
1,624 posts
 

@coralkong this is simply a hobby, but a non-standardize highly subjective one with many opinions.  It takes much effort to sift through to find one’s ideal fear within budget.  One should get enjoyment from their hobbies, it’s not unusual for interest to fade.  Wishing you the best

bassbuyer
243 posts
 

I understand what you’re saying.  All the new equipment coming out and FOMO can be too much.  I enjoy reading about new gear even though I’ll never own it.  When it gets to be too much, unplug from the noise and play the music you love.  As Hans says, enjoy the music.  

jimmyblues1959
160 posts
 

After 50 years in this hobby I have experienced this jaded aspect of chasing audio gear many times. However, I think that you can apply this to anything in life. People eventually get bored of repetition. With audio the chase for the Holy Grail of audio systems begins in earnest, however, once we realize that there is no such thing, we tend to become jaded towards what is otherwise a very enjoyable hobby.

The same can be true of listening to music daily. Sometimes it’s nice to step away for a bit, which tends to rejuvenate your senses and allow you to start fresh.

The older I get as my hearing ages, the more I focus on simply enjoying the music itself, rather than attempting to intensly listen to the sounds that my hifi system makes.

Of course this is just my personal opinion and should be taken with a grain of sand.

 

 

 

 

 

emergingsoul
1,216 posts
 

There’s a great album by Timothy Leary titled - turn on, tune in, drop out. It's carried by qobuz.

Maybe this would be helpful.

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