It's All About Increments

I have been changing and upgrading for 8 years now. It is an interesting and sometimes exciting process. The exciting part is when I make a change or upgrade that results in more than I expected. But, in most cases, what I have done to improve SQ has produced simply incremental improvements. I discussed this years ago with Paul Kaplan, and it has always stuck with me.

Because it's true. When you look at your own system, and all the changes and upgrades you've made over years, how many of them resulted in more than an incremental improvement in SQ? And for each non-incremental improvement, how many increments did it take to get there? Let's be honest with ourselves. We don't like to admit that the $5000 we just spent on a power conditioner or amplifier has not brought us $5000 worth of improvement in SQ. But, most of the time that's the reality, no matter how we rationalize that the $5000 was well spent.

What often happens is that we are really happy with the change -- but then revise our opinions once we get to the next level. It is all a matter of perspective and cumulative experience. This is equally true when it comes to the murky world of cables. Maybe more than equally true. And, as regards room treatments, in my opinion it takes more than many folks think it may take to "get there". No single room treatment covers all the bases. Each addresses one facet of the puzzle. Maybe two if you are really lucky.

Thankfully, there have been a few instances where improvements to my system have actually turned into breakthroughs, invariably when I got lucky after a series of "incremental purchases". The breakthroughs in my system were the Atma-Sphere S-30 power amplifier, Audio Horizons TP2.3 preamp, Raidho C1.1 monitor speakers, PS Audio PerfectWave transport, NAD M51 DAC, Monarchy power regenerator, medical grade isolation transformer and David Elrod cables. Most of these breakthroughs were preceded by many less-than-stellar antecedents that were inevitably put up on the auction block to make way for the next entrant. One increment after another -- one step at a time.

This process of increments and breakthroughs has finally culminated in a beautiful sounding system. Since I am an inveterate tinkerer and tweaker and do a lot of special DIY things with my system, this has been a painstaking process -- but also a labor of love. I continue to make changes to my system. A new component, some new cables and some room treatments are in the works between now and next year. But I am winding down after all these years, having come to the point where I am more than happy with the sound my system produces.

How about your system? How has it evolved over the years?