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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
chayro
3,003 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.
macdadtexas OP
1,794 posts
 
Chayro, I feel like an alcholic who just got a presentation from the Seagrams rep on all of their great new beverages. You my friend are what we call in the addiction business, an "Enabler".

Now, to more important things; what's for sale on here tonight??
artmaltman
769 posts
 
I find that the best solution is to remind my self by asking - what percentage of the music that I love is actually recorded so well that a great audiophile system complements it?

Answer: not much.

So my "current playlist" tends to twindle and become stagnant as my system gets better and better.

The only exception has been the introduction of the Squeezebox Touch, which provides such convenient access to my entire collection, that I'm experimenting with long forgotten music. While I am rediscovering some great and well recorded music, alas, much of it is unlistenable on a fine audio system ...

Art
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 
The first step to solving a problem, is to realize that you have one. One of the things you must realize; is that even if you have a limitless budget, you do not have a limitless amount of time. One of these days the clock is going to stop.
Although I don't have your budget, I had your problem. When I looked at my clock and realized that there was a last minute on it somewhere, I decided it was time to enjoy my abundant music collection.
artmaltman
769 posts
 
ALSO, make sure that your system is not overly lean or overly revealing or hot in the treble. These are things that will cause you to miss the joy of a lot of the music - or at least that's how I react - and then I end up thinking about the gear.
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