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Am I a burning out audiophile????

...or am i simply a music lover to begin with???

Disregarding the debate that could potentially be born from the statement above, I sit here in my 18x18x8 room listening to Diana Krall's 'When I look in your eyes' through a pair of Totem Winds powered by a Krell kav-400xi and Jolida JD100a source. It sounds great, it truly does! It does so many things right and so little wrong! Why then, do I have the question in the back of my mind - 'is this system as musically engaging as my past system was?'

Tonally, it's better. It goes deeper. It's more accurate, smooth, well balanced, etc. etc. etc.

The prior system the back of my mind questions is that of the Totem Arros powered by a PrimaLuna Prologue Two with Cairn Fog source in a 9x11x8 room. If memory serves me correct - pure magic! What I thought at the time (and am wondering now) was the epidomy of emotional involvement!

Q.1 - am I only remembering the 'good times' with the prior system? (like how we photograph only the good times of our life and wax nostalgic about how great things used to be)

The move to the upgraded system was initiated by my desire to listen to more music with my wife. Today, (and last night, and the night before...) I still find myself listening by myself. Regardless of the extra chairs in larger space!

I also wanted to simplify and combine my seperate systems (5.1HT and 2-channel) into one higher-end 2-channel dual purpose system. The result is great sound, but perhaps not the most musically enagaging two-channel nor the most enveloping, impactful HT either? As a dual purpose system it performs great, but it isn't send ingtingles down my spine or have me toe-tapping like the smaller Arro system did.

Q.2 - have I gone too far??? Have I treaded into water where I have to think about the music too much to enjoy it??? Am I asking too much of a single system???

The road from system #1 to system #2 has had a lot of in-between systems that have just led to frustration and/or musical dissatifaction, but too much too get into detail here...

Q.3 - which brings us back to where I started; am I a burning out audiophile??? Am I simply thinking about this too much???

I don't know what I expect in response to this babble? I don't know if these questions are even 'real' or simply part of a rhetorical rant? Anyway, thanks for listening and feel free to post and thoughts or comments....
jh2os
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
one way to appreciate what you have as opposed to what you don't have, is to take a break for a while--say a few months. don't touch that stereo system during that time.

at the end of that period listen again.

your head will be clearer and you can make intelligent decisions.
frogman
7,456 posts
 
You obviously like female vocals. Before you make any changes to your system, pick up Shirley Horn's "Here's To Life" cd. If that doesn't make you feel involved in the music, then there is something definitely wrong with your system. I guarantee that you and your wife will both want to listen to it in it's entirety. A revealing system doesn't just let us hear problems and attributes of components, it also let's us hear the problems with performers.
jh2os OP
244 posts
 
Well, this evening I played around with the placement of the speakers and it did make quite a difference - in the right direction!

Also, my wife and I listened to the following this evening:

Anna Nalick
Better than Ezra
O Brother Were Art Thou?
Tracy Chapman
Jeff Buckley
Jack Johnson
Carole King
Counting Crows
Incubus
Cold Mountain
Tori Amos
Jill Scott
Keb Mo
Jane Monheit
Marilyn Monroe

With the speakers closer to each other with less toe-in and the listening position moved closer as well, it has allowed the large Winds to 'dissapear' and to allow the music to become a bit more engaging. The system may still be missing some of that 'magic' of my prior system, but this evening I had a smile on my face and my toes a tapping.
sol322
426 posts
 
Jh2os:

Good for you!!!!!! Seems that you have found the way out.

I'm convinced that if you don't get really into "playing with your system around" i.e. tweaks here and there, positioning and room accoustics, you'll never know what your system can do.
Following a little what Electroid said I believe too many of us are trying to get a Ferrari or a Corvette (well in my case a compact)
up to speed on a wet grassy, muddy terrain that gets us only useless wheel spin !!!!!!!!!!!

The room / system, setup is many times not overlooked but forgotten as the field we are playing on, so many try to fix things changing equipment (which many know gets dissappointing / desperating and expensive) when a large part of the problem is elsewhere.

BTW nice listening mix you did.

Keep following the path to light...
Luis
mdhoover
695 posts
 
Jh2os,

Your most recent post is great news! It sounds like things may be coming around, but are perhaps not quite where you want them to be. I'm wondering, do you think that your system may be just a tad below your expectations in terms of warmth and/or musicality? Several questions come to mind:

1) How long has your current system had to break in?
--If it's anything less than at LEAST two weeks, then
i'd say all bets are off.
2) Have you tried Dakiom Feedback Stabilizers?
--Not cheap in absolute terms, but RELATIVELY so in high end audio terms.
3) Have you considered adding a killer DAC (like a Dodson)?
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