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I need help with my Equipment addiction

I can't leave well enough alone. My most disappointing days are days like today where I sit down to listen to my system, drink some wine, and unwind and... the system sounds great. I hate that. Nothing to tweak, everything is intergrating well: Clear highs, check. Fast, deep bass, check. Digital sound good with weight and impact, Check. Vinyl sound deep and well rounded with extended highs and excellent speed, check.

That's when the trouble starts. I start thinking, "What if changed cartridges?" "Well then I need a step up transformer, or a seperate MC phono stage", "Maybe I should just look at new preamps, even thbough I love mine now", "Then I need a separate phono preamp, I've always wanted an ARC preamp", then "Hey then I could buy an ARC tube amp for the high end of the Maggies and get bi-amp them"

Does it ever stop? How can I stop the cycle? I think I'm going to drink some more wine.
macdadtexas
kevinzoe
167 posts
 
Equipment addiction you say??? Ever try your hand at room treatments? How good is any equipment if you don't have a room that allows equipment to show its stuff, warts and all? You may find that turning your attention / addiction to treating your room very satisfactory. It'll surely eat up much time trying the endless combinations and permutations of treatment categories (i.e. diffusion, absorption, reflection), various brands, and placement options. Keep good notes, measure, move one thing only and measure again. Have fun!
macdadtexas OP
1,794 posts
 
thx for the suggestion, but it's in our main great room area, and aesthics (the wife) won't allow any room treatments. I am just happy she lets me have the gear in here.
kevinzoe
167 posts
 
Bummer, your WAF is a serious limiting factor to contend with. Just a thought buy my DIY Skyline diffusors have been called 'art' by many visitors and they work very well acoustically too. Would appealing to her artistic side work? If you want info then ping me and I'll send you a write up I did for them.

There are also some firms that make "pictures" with absorption behind them (I think GIK and ASC offer them) so she can be admiring pictures of the little kiddies whilst you're enjoying the sonic and visual benefits.
jt3
33 posts
 
Great thread, I'm in the same boat. I know way more about high end audio (and vintage audio ) then I do about mortgages. That should be an issue, right?
chayro
3,001 posts
 
Trouble is - you haven't yet spent enough money. If you buy a cartridge for say $4000 and you know the next step up is out of the question, you'll be cured, as anything else you buy will be a downgrade, or at lease a sideways move.

For example - you have that Bryston DAC, so you may be thinking: Hey for a little more I could get an XYZ, which might be better... BUT - If you sprang for ten grand on a Playback Designs or something like that, you'll be thinking: "This is nuts - no way am I going to move up to the next step". Because the next step is like 20K. Believe me, it will help you gain clarity.

Plus- you get a real nice system in the process. I know a lot of people like to say it, but I personally have not found the cheaper stuff to be better than the more expensive stuff. For the most part, anyway. Good luck.
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