A question for Syntax.....
Do you think that your ability to decide on the one turntable, arm. cartridge and phono-stage perfect for you.....had anything to do with having several turntables and many arms and cartridges in your own system to compare?
Yes and No
At the beginning I had the typical review winner System, I was proud being a modern Audiophile. But short after that I met a record collector who demoed me his system and I was totally confused. His was different from hardware and was sounding light years better. So we started talking and he taught me what is responsible for what....
The next big step was in the following 10 years when I travelled a lot to listen to Audiophiles privately, here I learned the most, what I would like to have or to try, and what not. Later it was narrowed with Audiophiles who also had 2 turntables, 2 identical Arms, carts....and we made the comparisons and when you do it right, you have to be honest to you, there is a big difference between "I like it" and "That Design is better"...
But no matter what I made, there always was that question mark of "Is that Arm/cart I don't have better than that I have?"
Well, I always try to understand what a unit can do. There are no wonders from outer space. It is brain. Nothing else. And some Designers are better than others. Marketing can hide that very successfully but my own comparisons showed me that week for week. And when a 8k cartridge is absolutely inferior in comparison to a 2k cartridge, then there are only 2 ways: To deny that, or to think about that.
(Sorry, there is a 3. way: I spend so much money and that one has to be better and honestly, I don't care anyway)
After all those years I asked me at the end of each month "With what units did you listen the most time? AND WHY?"
I found the answers.
And the final question was "Why should I spend my time listening to something which is not as good as the other stuff I have?"
My time of doing nothing, sitting in a sofa, looking into the nothing between 2 speakers is the most valuable time I can waste.
I want to do the best with it.