How does one get off the merry-go-round?

Another interesting, VERY long term conversation. My own experiences match the OP, in that I did jump ship (mixing metaphors!) for about 15 years (phew!!).

But, I have learnt, and the big learning is, "everything matters". So trite, so obvious, but unfortunately, so true!

My own experience is, no matter what gear you have, if you persist in taking care of smaller, and smaller details of everything that is interfering with the quality of sound, then there is a barrier that you break through. On the other side, the sound is "magic", "real", convincing, all the adjectives. The BIG problem is that you have be fussy, fussy, fussy, over and over again -- that is, there are no magic bullets. It's hard work, very frustating, some gear (but not necessarily more expensive gear!) will make it easier then others.

So, my (OTT!!?) suggestion is that virtually every system out there, as they stand, can be made to sound "real". Believe it or not ... ;-)

Frank

Frank, can you say more about those "smaller and smaller details of everything?" Can you recommend a strategy for tackling them?

Drubin, this is where it gets tricky ...

Things that are part of the mix:

* Everything I have tried or fiddled with has already been mentioned by someone already, and usually many others have to some degree taken them up. The hints are there already in websites, in forums, in lists of tweaking tips.
* A lot it has to do with the mental approach. Mine is that the system, as is, is fully capable of achieving that quality of sound that I mentioned before -- the reason that it is not, is because there are weaknesses in the components and setup; there may be only a few or there may be myriads, but the technique is that you have to find each one, and knock it over, that is, eliminate the weakness.
To quote a very old cliche, a chain is only as strong as the weakest link, and that is very, very relevant in audio systems. If you have eliminated every single weakness but one; that is, there is still one problem area remaining, then the system will still not sound right, in fact at this point it may sound considerably worse than when you started the whole exercise! Why, because at each step up to this point you have improved, shall we call it, the "transparency" of the system, so that now this one last defect is brilliantly highlighted by the rest of the system working correctly!
* You're going to have to get your hand dirty, that is, dive inside the system components. Unless you are very lucky, weakness are there under the covers and you are going to have to sort them out, or get someone else to do it for you. A classic is speakers; people obsess about the cables to them and the connectors at each end; now look on the other side of the binding post inside the box, say, and you may find a miserable, loose, push on connector -- a tempered steel link of that chain mentioned above goes to one made out of elastic!
* I don't replace parts with expensive, "designer" ones, only good quality conventional ones where it makes good engineering sense, e.g. Panasonic FC caps. It's fine if you want to use fancy stuff, but I haven't found them to be necessary.
* What I focus on is getting the treble right, if that's right everything else falls into place. A good test, amongst many, is a typical, studio mixed rock recording where the drummer is giving the cymbals a good workout. I'm sure a lot of you will have a good laugh at this, but a perfect test CD is Status Quo's greatest hits. In my early days I took this around to dealers, etc, and every system made a complete dog's breakfast of it. When a sytem IS working decently the (ride?) cymbals being struck virtually constantly through some songs should shimmer out with perfect clarity, delicacy and sweetness, just like a real one, no matter how loud the system goes. Frequently, if things are not good, you can barely make out that the cymbals are being struck at all!

Anyway, that's enough for now; depending upon the feedback and reactions, I will add more if it makes sense to ...

Frank

WOW!

Frank, you've got my attention - keep talking.

Drubin - Unfortunately, no. My dilemma is this: I often pine for listening to my system, but cannot due to restraints or conditions (not home, at work, at home but occupied on line with business, etc.) It is at these times I'll seek out audio related discussions on the internet in my attempt to fill the void of missing music played on my system (as there is where it sounds best for me). It never satisfies as a substitute, but its all I have so I keep lurking. Sad case.