...3 complete systems, multiple extensive mods to current gear, a (?small?) fortune spent (enough to buy a big house where I now live), the lottery win equivalent of a (near) perfect room, time spent away from my system, regular immersion into live classical and jazz, visits recently to audiophiles w unbelievably well sorted systems, and the icing on the cake of three simple and zero cost system tweaks - that have all got me to a place in the last 4 weeks I could not have dreamed of even 3 months ago.
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Finally the vinyl I used to always find excuses not to play are now the first lps I reach for each day.
Now I’m finally getting authentic timbre where I’m properly differentiating between violins and violas, cellos and bass.
Now I’m really hearing the difference between twin saxes in jazz groups.
Now I’m aware of air and imaging enabling me to take in the acoustic of well recorded classical.
Now I’m getting texture and flow as opposed to homogeneity.
And now I’m measuring my system against the best I’ve heard on classical not rock, and genuinely concluding that even though my system can’t quite reach the dynamic heights and wall of bass of well sorted Apogees based systems, or the widescreen scope, air and ease of well sorted horns based systems, or the slam and detail of the priciest multidriver box speakers, it gets so much closer while maintaining the core values I don’t hear in many (if any) other systems.
I returned recently from a system that’s as close to SOTA and purist as I’m ever likely to hear in the U.K., and despite it being overwhelmingly special and involving, I truly feel I own a piece of Heaven that is not entirely separate from that golden sound, and I can confidently say that makes me feel v good, and 100% justified that my hunches on gear leading to purchases in the last decade have all been good ones.
Sorry to sound as if I’m blowing my own trumpet (again), it’s just that I’m at a point in my life where ironically my scope for spending on gear has dried up, and it coinciding with the biggest upstick by far I’ve had in my audiophile career.
If the measure of being truly content is playing one lp or cd after another, genre agnostic, feeling no letdown when compared to live unamplified or other guys’ systems, and critically losing all compulsion to analyse and fret about one’s sound, just enjoying the music, well then I’m truly content.
—
Finally the vinyl I used to always find excuses not to play are now the first lps I reach for each day.
Now I’m finally getting authentic timbre where I’m properly differentiating between violins and violas, cellos and bass.
Now I’m really hearing the difference between twin saxes in jazz groups.
Now I’m aware of air and imaging enabling me to take in the acoustic of well recorded classical.
Now I’m getting texture and flow as opposed to homogeneity.
And now I’m measuring my system against the best I’ve heard on classical not rock, and genuinely concluding that even though my system can’t quite reach the dynamic heights and wall of bass of well sorted Apogees based systems, or the widescreen scope, air and ease of well sorted horns based systems, or the slam and detail of the priciest multidriver box speakers, it gets so much closer while maintaining the core values I don’t hear in many (if any) other systems.
I returned recently from a system that’s as close to SOTA and purist as I’m ever likely to hear in the U.K., and despite it being overwhelmingly special and involving, I truly feel I own a piece of Heaven that is not entirely separate from that golden sound, and I can confidently say that makes me feel v good, and 100% justified that my hunches on gear leading to purchases in the last decade have all been good ones.
Sorry to sound as if I’m blowing my own trumpet (again), it’s just that I’m at a point in my life where ironically my scope for spending on gear has dried up, and it coinciding with the biggest upstick by far I’ve had in my audiophile career.
If the measure of being truly content is playing one lp or cd after another, genre agnostic, feeling no letdown when compared to live unamplified or other guys’ systems, and critically losing all compulsion to analyse and fret about one’s sound, just enjoying the music, well then I’m truly content.