It took many years of audiophilia to realize that I was a System Builder, a form of audiophile who exults in the gear as much as the media. As such I am almost never completely satisfied with any given rig. I have built hundeds of systems but can almost always find areas which could be improved.
Yet, there is what I would call the "Perfect System" experience, when one has put together or hears what is deemed a perfect sounding rig. I would liken it to a pitcher throwing a perfect game, and just as rare. A system builder may never have the Perfect System, even over the course of a lifetime, just as most pitchers never have a perfect game. The conditions must be absolutely ideal, the room, gear, etc. all optimized.
Some simply do not care and it is not their goal to hear the perfect experience; good enough is good enough. It has never been good enough for me, as I have always wanted to hear in my ears a sound matching the ideal representation of the music in my mind.
I have become a far better system builder over the years, and just now, this week I built a rig which I consider the equivalent of the Perfect System, meeting all my sonic objectives. I never would have thought this rig would be the one to achieve it, just as one might not think any particular baseball game would be the one where the pitcher throws the perfect game.
Yet, I have been doing this long enough that with the passage of time I will find even more progress, better sound. The ante certainly does get upped, however. I had to put a lot more money into rigs than I ever dreamed for this to happen.
This is also "A" Perfect System, as an expression of one technology speaker-wise. Others exist, but are just as elusive. The fun thing is that this is my Perfect System; I'm not trying to tell you it has to be yours.
I know full well with time familiarity can bring contempt and the great satisfaction now can wane. There is no such thing as an absolutely perfect system, but experientially to have built a rig that is as perfect as conceptualized is one of the greatest moments in the hobby for me.
The evidence was the way my fingers tapped, my head swayed, my eyes closed... my body felt the beauty. I set extreme standards for sound quality and almost always there is a slight to significant shortcoming as I analyze the sound to the Nth degree. This time not.. it is "perfect."
I also enjoy listing my systems from first power cord to speakers' and listening chair positioning. I can return to that rig if desired. But systems keep improving and I know that this will someday seem like a shadow of perfection. :)
