I need help with my Equipment addiction

Great response, Phaelon. Just reading these neurotic mea culpas makes you an immediate member, by the way. And me, too. Just venting and free counselling provided - part of the club rules. By the way are there more than 1% women who are this crazy? I very much doubt it. Anybody know % of women who are A'goners? They are far less obsessive about their hobbies. Clothes, perfume, shoes dont count. They are bottom-line creatures; we are the crazies. OP's post proves it.

By the way are there more than 1% women who are this crazy? I very much doubt it.

You have to be joking. How about every woman from teens into their 40's once a month? I'll take a fairly rational man obsessed with a couple hobbies then try to make sense of an entire gender who are generally ruled more by emotion then logic.

Audio is very much a guy's thing -- it's mechanical and gadget driven. Women aren't drawn to shiny lights and buttons like guys are.

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System synergy is the key. I've looked over your system components very closely and have done a very thorough analysis. All of your cables and electronics are well matched. The glaring problem you have is that you drink wine when you listen to your system. You should be drinking top-shelf cognac instead....it will consistently get you to audio nirvana if you drink it while listening to your system.
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Mac,

>>Man, I need help. What would I do if I get a new preamp and don't like it (I won't of course) then try another, and another, and another, until I find one I like.<<

Happiness is an inside job. Always.

It’s possible too. Happiness that is, regardless what you have on hand now. Regardless how expensive or inexpensive the system may be, it is not usually the system. It’s the nut behind the wheel.

When the grass seems greener on the other side, it’s time to water your own lawn. That does not mean to get more grass.

Perception. Changing one’s perspective is the most cost effective way to attain true happiness.

Being restless, irritable and discontent, with whatever, are signs the insides aren’t quite on the beam. Sort of like having an itch you can’t scratch, or one you should not.

It’s not the bling on the ring or the ear on the gear, it’s the ride on the inside. When the insides are at peace, tranquil, not tranquillized everything will fall into place pretty readily.

Seeking out another “who’s it what’s it” is merely treating the symptom, not treating the true problem.

Peace of mind for me is a very high priority. If in my mind I perceive a thing, regardless what it is, as a need, or a ‘must’ rather than a casual desire, many times it can take on the persona of a task, or a chore, or simply put, work.

When a hobby becomes an effort. Utterly involving. Takes higher priorities than it deserves, I am then controlled by it and not it being controlled by me. Consequently, I’m out of control. As much as I feel control is just another illusion, it can be quite an empowering or conversely, a very debilitating thing. Thus consuming more energy than is deserved.. Thereafter the moving of things in my life from a position of balance to one of being out of balance occurs, and the itching, then begins.

Look within, not without. That’s where all our real answers lay.

Of course, if the above insights do not appeal to you, I’ll give you a better deal than Swamp offered up.

In fact I think we should establish a foreign exchange program…. You send me all of your gear, and in exchange, I’ll send you all of my gear. In six months or less we’ll return things to one another. Then repeat that process with some other member. Perhaps living with some foreign gear for a time will help us appreciate our own situation. We’ll call it comparison shopping for happiness. But it will be far less expensive, and may or may not provide happiness after all, as results will vary and are entirely dependant upon the ‘nuts behind the wheel’ perception .

Macdadtexas,
I seem to have spaced out on your question about what phono to go with your Ref3. Here is my response from another tread about phono preamps I have tried with my Ref3.

I purchased the VPS. I had the Pass AlphaOno. I listened to the Steelhead & the AR7 also. The stealhead was very good but sounded better by it self than it did going into my AR Ref3, sound best with rock music. The AR7 was too on the lean side for me, not enough bottom end, sounded best with classical music. The VPS had what I wanted, very neutral and has slam when it was needed. Very open and full sound stage with lots of depth. Also it sounds great with all music types I play.
Since then I also listened to the Nagra BPS it sounds very good and more analytical than the VPS and the cost is about half.