Hey what happened? I hope I didn't say something to spoil the party. When I got into this hobby I had a modest system that I thought sounded pretty good until I befriended some audiophiles. That lead me to purchase an ARC SP-6b pre-amp in the late 80's. That pre-amp sounded wonderful but had coloration. It had a nice sound but was a bit too warm and veiled until my buddy upgraded the capacitors, resistors, rca jacks and wiring for me. I enjoyed that pre-amp for many years. And that lead me to upgrading components inside my speakers, amplifiers and turntable.
Breaking out the soldering iron is a satisfying side of this hobby but I finally began to step up into the higher cost, high end pieces. And I must say that while a lot of snake oil is out there, in general, you do get what you pay for in audio. I enjoyed maximizing my sound per dollar in the past and I still do tweaks here and there, but most of the expensive equipment out there sounds really good.
Someone said in an earlier post that we must remain objective in this hobby. I agree. It is good and healthy to hear other systems and realize someone may have something better than what we have. That helps give us direction to making improvements. Only once have I come home from a listening session and was ready to throw out my whole system. A friend at work had the most amazing stereo at the time that I had ever heard. I didn't know where to even start. But many years and $$$ later I think I am close. It wasn't jealousy, I just wanted to enjoy music like I did with his system.
I also wanted to say it is good to hear live music of various types to calibrate ourselves. Even listening to musicians on a street corner can provide insight into areas for improvement.
Lastly, recordings are all over the place. I have a few special recordings that are definitely key to hear on other systems for reference.
Breaking out the soldering iron is a satisfying side of this hobby but I finally began to step up into the higher cost, high end pieces. And I must say that while a lot of snake oil is out there, in general, you do get what you pay for in audio. I enjoyed maximizing my sound per dollar in the past and I still do tweaks here and there, but most of the expensive equipment out there sounds really good.
Someone said in an earlier post that we must remain objective in this hobby. I agree. It is good and healthy to hear other systems and realize someone may have something better than what we have. That helps give us direction to making improvements. Only once have I come home from a listening session and was ready to throw out my whole system. A friend at work had the most amazing stereo at the time that I had ever heard. I didn't know where to even start. But many years and $$$ later I think I am close. It wasn't jealousy, I just wanted to enjoy music like I did with his system.
I also wanted to say it is good to hear live music of various types to calibrate ourselves. Even listening to musicians on a street corner can provide insight into areas for improvement.
Lastly, recordings are all over the place. I have a few special recordings that are definitely key to hear on other systems for reference.