When Is Good Enough, Enough?

[Rik_Rankin]

When my competing hobbies, audio and woodworking, have sucked up all of my cash!

THAT'S A PROBLEM

 

[Rik_Rankin]

When you're wallet cries for mercy?

OR YOUR CREDIT CARD

 

[Dominick22]

Enough is never enough.

The most unfortunate and lacking area of all of our systems is probably the recordings themselves. You get your system all set and perfect on your favorite test cd, and 2 weeks later when you pop something in a different genre in, the whole thing needs re-tuning.

So frustrating! And I love every minute of it!

Dominick

 

[theWB]

For me, I find I upgrade my system every 10-15 years, I then find a lot has changed in the hifi world, (I may have new preferences as well), and end up getting a more or less complete new system. I rather spend the time and money buying new music to listen to.
Svein

Same here put it together and enjoy it.had my last system 18 years before i replaced it with my current system.

 

[MiTT]

This Mortal Coil

MiTT,

Amazing, simply amazing... There is really a band called the "This Mortal Coil"? I am assuming this band plays Rock correct?

BOY IS THERE! Not many people have heard of them, they are actually something of a collective of different 4AD artists from bands like Field of the Nephlim, Clan of Xymox, CindyTalk, Wolfgang Press, Cocteau Twins, and Dead Can Dance. Dead Can Dance is probably the most well known of the group and genre.

It's sort of like spacy, tribal, primal folk music. My favorite of their albums is "It'll End in Tears". Very cool music to listen to on a rainy day.

 

[risabet]

Hyperbole, maybe!

THAT'S A PROBLEM

Not really, by cash I mean discretionary income. The price of lumber, cherry, wenge, Australian Lacewood etc. is ever increasing. As both hobbies bring me great joy and happiness, cause no financial suffering for self or family, all is well.

 

[MiTT]

Not really, by cash I mean discretionary income. The price of lumber, cherry, wenge, Australian Lacewood etc. is ever increasing. As both hobbies bring me great joy and happiness, cause no financial suffering for self or family, all is well.

Yep, that's where I'm at too. I'm never late paying my bills, we have a great home, never miss a meal (although I could stand to do so every now and again), and want for nothing really.

Life is for living. I live listening to my music (via my stereo system that I enjoy tweaking), having a wonderful meal and bottle of wine with my wife, visiting new places on this earth and riding my mountain bike whenever I can. I strive to do no harm and bring joy where I can - including to myself. I just happen to occasionally find joy in a new piece of gear here or there.

 

[MiTT]

Makes sense. I however have learned that new equipment does not make me happy unless I was really dissatisfied to begin with. We are also at the mercy of poor quality recordings.

Rik, with all due respect I don't share your postulation that we aren't happy with new eqipment unless we were dissatisfied to begin with, and here is why.

As with many things in life, expertise in any area is a learned experience. The more we read, the better our vocabulary becomes. The more we run, ride, swim, play tennis etc. the better we become at it - until things that were once combersome become second nature. A few years ago I couldn't tell the difference between Pino Gris and Chardonnay - now I can because my pallet is more refined. So it is with audio equipment I believe. It's not that we are basically unhappy with with what we have - because who here on this forum can be truly dissatisfied with the sound they are getting out of their systems. Rather, I believe, over time we become more discerning, more attuned to what our systems are doing right, and areas in which they may lack in one aspect or another. We may be perfectly content in enjoying our systems in their current state, but because we are fully aware of those areas where improvement can be wrought, we tend to make those improvements as time and circumstance allow. I say it is not because we must, but because we can.

Another factor is one of resolution. As all here can attest, our wonderful Martin Logans are mercilessly revealing of everything upstream in the chain of reproduction. As those upstream components themselves are upgraded it is easy to notice their effect and contribution. With continued attention to details both large and small detail and refinement in the system is improved. It may be as large a change as new piece of equipment, or as small as elevating your speaker cables off the floor with paper cups to see if there is a noticible change in sound. My experience in all things audio is that EVERYTHING matters.

The point is that because of our systems resolution we are able to determine for ourselves those things that work and those that don't, and are free to proceed as we wish. Whether the question is "should I get rid of those paper cups and buy some ceramic cable elevators" or "damn this High Falutin Mk. 11 gizmo sounds good! Should I buy it now and ask for forgiveness from the wife later?".

Again, I propose that our quest is not necessarily born out of dissatisfaction, but rather out of our deep love and interest in things musical and audio.

And yes, we are still at the mercy of poor quality recordings, but that is a whole 'nother quest.

 

[Robin]

Right-On!

Rik, with all due respect I don't share your postulation that we aren't happy with new eqipment unless we were dissatisfied to begin with, and here is why.

As with many things in life, expertise in any area is a learned experience. The more we read, the better our vocabulary becomes. The more we run, ride, swim, play tennis etc. the better we become at it - until things that were once combersome become second nature. A few years ago I couldn't tell the difference between Pino Gris and Chardonnay - now I can because my pallet is more refined. So it is with audio equipment I believe. It's not that we are basically unhappy with with what we have - because who here on this forum can be truly dissatisfied with the sound they are getting out of their systems. Rather, I believe, over time we become more discerning, more attuned to what our systems are doing right, and areas in which they may lack in one aspect or another. We may be perfectly content in enjoying our systems in their current state, but because we are fully aware of those areas where improvement can be wrought, we tend to make those improvements as time and circumstance allow. I say it is not because we must, but because we can.

Another factor is one of resolution. As all here can attest, our wonderful Martin Logans are mercilessly revealing of everything upstream in the chain of reproduction. As those upstream components themselves are upgraded it is easy to notice their effect and contribution. With continued attention to details both large and small detail and refinement in the system is improved. It may be as large a change as new piece of equipment, or as small as elevating your speaker cables off the floor with paper cups to see if there is a noticible change in sound. My experience in all things audio is that EVERYTHING matters.

The point is that because of our systems resolution we are able to determine for ourselves those things that work and those that don't, and are free to proceed as we wish. Whether the question is "should I get rid of those paper cups and buy some ceramic cable elevators" or "damn this High Falutin Mk. 11 gizmo sounds good! Should I buy it now and ask for forgiveness from the wife later?".

Again, I propose that our quest is not necessarily born out of dissatisfaction, but rather out of our deep love and interest in things musical and audio.

And yes, we are still at the mercy of poor quality recordings, but that is a whole 'nother quest.

MiTT,

You put it into words so wonderfully. I agree with everything you said with the exception of, 'asking forgiveness from the wife later'... I would also add, because we 'Can' ..., we can dream of improvements as well...

Mitt, you have a gifted insight, which I find wonderfully refreshing.

PS - Do you or your wife enjoy Napa valley wines? As you probably know, we have some wonderful Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot.

 

[Robin]

Speaker Cable Elevators...

MiTT,

This is another example of some innovative speaker cable elevators...

 

[MiTT]

MiTT,

You put it into words so wonderfully. I agree with everything you said with the exception of, 'asking forgiveness from the wife later'... I would also add, because we 'Can' ..., we can dream of improvements as well...

Mitt, you have a gifted insight, which I find wonderfully refreshing.

PS - Do you or your wife enjoy Napa valley wines? As you probably know, we have some wonderful Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot.

Robin, we enjoy wine period. Been a few years since we've been to Napa, but we were in Sonoma last fall - Russian River valley to be specific. We like Pinot Noir's and Zin's. Have you ever had a really hearty Zin with chocolate? Sounds weird I know, but man! You can't believe how well they pair.

Funny you should ask about wines. My wife is in Medford, OR this weekend visiting her family. She was born and raised there. Medford is in the Willamet Valley and, as you may already know, this region of Oregon is considered by many to be home to some of the finest Pinot Noir's available these days. Big contributor to the local economy is Harry and David, and my wife grew up, as many in the area did, tending to smudge pots when the frosts would hit the pear orchards. These days many of the pear orchards are being turned to vinyards - guess that grapes pay better than pears.