Thank you guys for your kind words. I almost completely disappeared from the audio scene a number of years ago for several reasons, the main reason among others being highly satisfied with my audio system, which has been stable for nearly a decade now. Being satisfied in audio is an oxymoron notion. On the one hand, if you are not satisfied (not matter how much you claim you are -- and you may be lying not just to others but yourself), there is some fun in it as its keeps looking for improvements with exciting products and of course making you empty pockets if you have spare cash for pleasure. Then, you have a thirst to quench, and you are hungry for more. On the other hand, when you are actually satisfied (honestly), you enjoy your system and yet you lose the excitement of reading magazines and reviews and trying new components. You just listen and enjoy music but what do you do with your audio itch?
So the problem is that I reached a sound level that gave me ultimate satisfaction nearly 8-10 years ago which led to some boredom even though every time I listened it was a thrill. But as I said satisfaction is an oxymoron term in audio -- I know one guy who (as a matter of fact it’s not one guy but may) has been so satisfied that he keeps trying new components and every new component brings another level of improvement and hence making it more satisfactory than before which means the previous level was unsatisfactory relatively speaking and honestly speaking! But the man does not know that because he is in a different state of mind! And even more ironic is the fact that at that rate the sound quality of his system must have reached beyond any earthly standards and must have reached astronomical levels according to some alien species. But does it even matter to other if *he* is happy with what he is doing? It is not other people’s business as it is purely his choice but if he asks me I will tell him which of his past system sounded better
But at the end what matters is how happy he is.
So t is my problem with satisfaction? In my becoming quite satisfied with the sound level, I became bored and I lost interest in audio. I also found myself interacting less with friends in audio although I gained more friends through other common interests and priorities in life. Most importantly I missed sharing the audio hobby and giving out ideas gained through lessons learned. And then there is some audio itch which motivates you to "do something" in the system. Sometimes I also thought sharing of ideas could come out as bragging -- in fact some people do post just to brag, but then we have a few role models like Mike Levine and Steve Williams who share their great systems without giving the impression that they are bragging. Thank you guys. A major spirit of this hobby is sharing ideas and listening.
So, to keep the itch going and to make improvements in audio beyond the stereo system components, I decided to build a new house and a new media room, from scratch. I started conceiving the idea of the new house about four years ago. The construction started about a year and half ago, all under a tight budget of course. The house and the new audio room completed about 4 months ago. It is all DIY which means I even literally participated in the construction, and it goes without saying that I conceived and designed, right or wrong, the whole design (of the house not just the audio room) myself. It is all done now and the stereo is up and running for the past 3 months. Details to follow. Friends are welcome for listening.
Coming back to the satisfaction, maybe I should itemize my level of satisfaction with respect to each component after having tried 100s of speakers, amps, preamps and CD players (100% means I will not consider changing it even if I win a lottery).
Speaker: Apogee fullrange (satisfaction 100% meaning it will go with me in the grave)
with DIY reconstructed speaker level crossover
Amps: TRL GT-800, GT-400 driving the Apogee speakers (100% satisfaction)
Jeff Rowland Model 7 monoblocks: spare
TRL Dude preamp with DIY built in line level crossover for the big Apogee speaker (100% satisfaction)
DIY X-2 Charlie’s preamp based on video op-amp: Spare
TRL moded Marantz CD player (100% satisfied)
TRL moded Sony CD player 98% satisfied
Computer server audio: None (0% satisfied and have liked none that I have heard so far)
Microseiki RX-1500fvg Turntable, with Reed tonearm, and Ortofon A90 cartridge (70% satisfaction
Pass lab Xono phono stage (70% satisfaction)
Cables: DIY (100% satisfied)
New room: (100% satisfied)
DIY diffusors: 80% satisfied (I plan to make 2-3 DIY 2’x8’ wooden skyline diffusers)
Spare speakers: Apogee Fullrange, Apogee stage, Apogee Centaur Majors, Apogee Slant 8
I also have Integra receiver for home theatre and surround speakers with REL stadium for video only (70% satisfied)