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

OP

I was there up until about 4 years ago. My old system was not even hooked up in my house any longer, and I'd been "out" of audiophile for about 10 years. For hoots and giggles, I decided to check out Axpona audio show since I live about 30 minutes away.....heard an ad on the radio.

I spent 2 days there, and the fire was back. I got to look, touch, hear, discuss, and learn about so much gear; instead of reading reviews or advertisements. I go every year now, and have hit a couple of other shows across the US.

It sounds like a lot of you guys are into the process and not the destination. Nothing wrong with that, everyone has hobbies. I have always been into the destination. 

 TiListening to equipment is likely impossible for an audiophile.

 

The question I'll always ask is, how much more resolution/transparency remains to extract from all sources? Most amazing discovery in audio has long been how much available from  'lowly' 16/44 digital. This format was denigrated for so long with good reason, now we find out the problem was ADC and DAC converters.

 

Time never stands still with audio technology, while we may choose to get off hamster wheel, the wheels of technology continue to roll and evolve. You're missing out if off the wheel for a sustained amount of time.