My default audiophile state: dissatisfaction

[Diapason]

In the Vivid G1 thread, Al M. said:

I am actually quite happy with what I have at present.

At the time I glibly responded that I couldn't say the same, but on reflection I'm not sure that I've *ever* been truly happy with a system. Okay, there are fleeting moments of satisfaction but they're always short-lived, and invariably I find myself demented by some aspect: room, speakers, amps, tubes, sound treatments, positioning, sources, channel imbalances, frequency anomalies, general tonality, whatever. Over the years I've cobbled together a pretty good system, not a patch on some others here obviously, but a good system nonetheless. However I hardly ever listen to it, mainly because it seems to cause as much angst as enjoyment these days (having a 3 year-old reduces available time as well, but that's just an excuse). I sometimes wish I'd stuck with my very first, very basic system and never upgraded.

I had some audiophile friends over last week, and to be honest I had tempered their expectation so much that by the time they arrived they were expecting something horrible. In reality they thought the sonics were great, and when I listened to everything through "their" ears, it sounded pretty good to me too. Still, I think I need new speakers...

Is there any hope for me? Will I always be that one upgrade away from nirvana?

 

[Steve Williams]

In the Vivid G1 thread, Al M. said:



At the time I glibly responded that I couldn't say the same, but on reflection I'm not sure that I've *ever* been truly happy with a system. Okay, there are fleeting moments of satisfaction but they're always short-lived, and invariably I find myself demented by some aspect: room, speakers, amps, tubes, sound treatments, positioning, sources, channel imbalances, frequency anomalies, general tonality, whatever. Over the years I've cobbled together a pretty good system, not a patch on some others here obviously, but a good system nonetheless. However I hardly ever listen to it, mainly because it seems to cause as much angst as enjoyment these days (having a 3 year-old reduces available time as well, but that's just an excuse). I sometimes wish I'd stuck with my very first, very basic system and never upgraded.

I had some audiophile friends over last week, and to be honest I had tempered their expectation so much that by the time they arrived they were expecting something horrible. In reality they thought the sonics were great, and when I listened to everything through "their" ears, it sounded pretty good to me too. Still, I think I need new speakers...

Is there any hope for me? Will I always be that one upgrade away from nirvana?

the reality is that all of us are probably one upgrade from audio nirvana but at some point one has to wake up and smell the roses and just enjoy the music

 

[dallasjustice]

Speakers are no doubt the biggest upgrade one could make. But I wouldn't go there unless you knew exactly why you think your speakers are deficient and how a different pair could be better. When it comes to speakers, I personally believe measurements matter more than anything else.

Whenever I feel as though there's something lacking, I measure and make small adjustments in my speaker position, seated position and even room treatments; Then remeasure. These types of upgrades are free and usually yield MUCH bigger improvements than anything else notwithstanding price.

Michael.

 

[Sharp 1080]

Chasing your tail is the analogy I use. I have been through the "children" phase and it sounds like you just have different priorities right now as we all did. There is good news as the "feeling" does return as your child gets older and becomes less dependent on you. Just speaking from personal experience having experienced this with two kids. Hopefully you have a supportive spouse that is okay with your system. Mine wasn't at all, that's why she's my ex wife! Okay rant over.

 

[caesar]

Very honest thread post! Kind of like asking will I ever be happy in life.

Moods have a lot to do with it - High end audio is a human experience. Is the timing right when you listen to the type of music you are in the mood for, or is your kid screaming his head off? Are you in the mood for heavy metal or soul music?

Can your system realistically reproduce the music you like or do all the recordings you listen to suck, and you are expecting the impossible?

Key advice is: Stop comparing to better systems and to live music. Accept it for what it is. Just turn it on and enjoy! (But if you want to feel better, compare to your old system or to guys who have sucky systems, and you will feel better!)

 

[Atmasphere]

Issere something wrong with me?

I like my speakers, amps and preamp a lot. Tubes are rarely a concern even though I have a lot of them in the system. Really like the tone arm and cartridge- and I'm quite happy with the whole setup. I go to shows and never come home thinking I am missing something. I go to audiophile's homes and never some home thinking I am missing something. Its been this way for years- so most of my audio budget is spent chasing down recordings.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I'm almost inclined to say as a general statement that the less one's system is worth, the greater the enjoyment. I say that after having read thousands and thousands of posts on various fora from owners who have invested very little. They love their LP's, CD's, DD's on $100 turntables, $300 speakers and a $200 amp. They never complain they never say anything is lacking. They rave about the sound and truly enjoy the musical experience. It could be said they don't know any better, but maybe they do. And one thing is for sure...they enjoy the music. The more you progress the more critical you become, and I've noticed that in those fora as well. They were once happy...no more.

I say this a bit tongue-in-cheek, but there is a whole lot of truth to it IMO.

 

[jn229]

As I close in on retirement I promised the wife and myself a new kitchen, a new car, new flooring throughout the home and (yup) a new stereo for 'ME' before retirement. As I write this I am listening to a tradesmen skim coat the new kitchen's walls. Between the kitchen reno and the new car in the garage ( with the salt, snow and slush it looks like crap) I have little left over in the back pocket for upgrading the stereo this year (flooring is in the budget so I have been told). Off the upgrade 'Merry-go-Round' for this year and actually feeling better towards my kit.

I do have enough money to upgrade to an older scotch: another 'Merry-go-Round' ???

 

[Sauerball]

I often joke that I spend most of my time thinking about what I am going to buy next, not just HiFi but car, house, gadgets, bikes. I guess there's something I enjoy about the process of researching potential purchases, considering alternatives, trying things out, etc. If you don't enjoy it, find an enjoyable way to spend your free time. Like just listening!

 

[Diapason]

Enjoying the comments here, thanks everyone.

First things first, I am blessed with an incredibly understanding and encouraging spouse. In fact, she really hates the image of the audiophile wife who constantly needs to be mollified, and she refuses to be that person. As such, I can buy whatever I can properly afford and put it more or less wherever I like. She's a gem!

As to the matter at hand, part of the problem is the room. In fact, I've always been really unlucky with rooms everywhere I've lived, and my current listening room is probably the worst of all. On this score, we're not just dealing with my imagination here, as friends have brought over speakers they know and love and discovered that they sound awful in this space. Still, it's what I have so after a while the bitching has to stop, the fantasies of moving house purely for audio reasons must be left to one side, and I need to make the best with what I have. I am intent on measuring the response of the room as suggested above, and I'm going to do that before I upgrade another component. However, I'm not sure that we can make a silk purse out of a 21' x 9' x 8' concrete-shelled sow's ear, so deep down I often wonder if I'm fighting a losing battle.

Problem 2 is that the bulk of my system was built about 10 years ago when finances were significantly better. These days, I probably couldn't afford to even buy the components I have, so I feel like I've upgraded into a corner that's going to be difficult to move forward from. While I have some misgivings about the system as it stands, I'm concerned that it's actually going to take a large sum to improve on it, and that's going to be difficult to achieve.

So what's the problem? Basically it boils down lack of scale, weight and warmth. In the right room the Kharmas can deliver all of these things at a level that would probably just about satisfy me, but it's not really their thing, and I certainly can't get them to sound that way at home. I get a focussed and open sound that does a lot of things well, but it lacks in ease, and lower-mid/upper-bass seems to disappear on some material, which can lead to a feeling of harshness. It's not *really* harsh per se since I actually quite like the treble, but the tonal balance seems tilted up so that upright bass on jazz discs is much harder to discern than brushes, for example.

A friend with a similar system (in a better room) recently changed his Kharmas for SF Amati Futuras, and I think they sound amazing. I can't afford them, but I could possibly afford something further down the range, Olympica III for example. I won't be doing anything without hearing them, obviously, but I'm tempted to go down that road. However, I suspect that might also require a change of amp, since the GRAAFs don't do very well when impedance dips. So I'm concerned about the merry-go-round again.

One reason why I pine for the early days is that I built the entire system in one go, and I was very happy that it all matched together well. Piecemeal upgrades sometimes rob you of the bigger picture.

And Atmasphere, your gear is definitely part of my problem. Since I discovered OTL amps, I keep looking up the curve....

 

[Atmasphere]

^^ You might want to get a set of ZEROs (www.zeroimpedance.com) to go with those Graafs if their impedance is an issue. If they work, there will be no tradeoffs.

 

[Diapason]

Ta. I'd come across those before and forgotten about them, so this is a timely reminder!

 

[DSkip]

I'm almost inclined to say as a general statement that the less one's system is worth, the greater the enjoyment. I say that after having read thousands and thousands of posts on various fora from owners who have invested very little. They love their LP's, CD's, DD's on $100 turntables, $300 speakers and a $200 amp. They never complain they never say anything is lacking. They rave about the sound and truly enjoy the musical experience. It could be said they don't know any better, but maybe they do. And one thing is for sure...they enjoy the music. The more you progress the more critical you become, and I've noticed that in those fora as well. They were once happy...no more.

I say this a bit tongue-in-cheek, but there is a whole lot of truth to it IMO.

By removing my tube preamp/amps and using my Essence HDACC as a pre with a Mitsubishi amp, I can cobble together a system in my room that has a total investment of $800, which includes the Usher speakers, all components and cables, but leaves out the ipad/computer/networking costs for streaming. You'd be hard pressed to beat the sound for $3k, but I do admit I've had some good luck in my journey to get the investment that low. I don't get the same enjoyment out of it as I do with the tubes, but there is almost a greater satisfaction with that system for some reason.

 

[caesar]

.... I get a focussed and open sound that does a lot of things well, but it lacks in ease, and lower-mid/upper-bass seems to disappear on some material, which can lead to a feeling of harshness. It's not *really* harsh per se since I actually quite like the treble, but the tonal balance seems tilted up so that upright bass on jazz discs is much harder to discern than brushes, for example.....

A friend with a similar system (in a better room) recently changed his Kharmas for SF Amati Futuras, and I think they sound amazing. I can't afford them... So I'm concerned about the merry-go-round again...

Like I said above, if you want to achieve happiness in life and in audio, STOP COMPARING!

 

[Peter Breuninger]

For lack of scale weight and warmth... I would try a radical change such as a vintage loudspeaker as the starting point. A Bozak b4000 Symphony or if you have the space a Concert Grand comes first to mind, here's why: http://www.stereophile.com/historical/1005bozak/

 

[LL21]

Issere something wrong with me?

I like my speakers, amps and preamp a lot. Tubes are rarely a concern even though I have a lot of them in the system. Really like the tone arm and cartridge- and I'm quite happy with the whole setup. I go to shows and never come home thinking I am missing something. I go to audiophile's homes and never some home thinking I am missing something. Its been this way for years- so most of my audio budget is spent chasing down recordings.

+1. I consider myself blessed to feel the same way. I still enjoy driving the system forward with upgrades, but i enjoy listening to it just as it is. For me, its actually a bit addictive to listen to, and its on 7 days/40 hours a week...and its often hard to shut it off at nite after a late evening's work.

 

[Sauerball]

...and its often hard to shut it off at nite after a late evening's work.

Yep, I keep finding myself in the listening seat in the dark, realizing I couldn't stop listening and feel asleep in the chair. It's a good problem to have.

 

[Orb]

I think you should try to do some self analysis and see if you can identify what it is with regards to the music/sound that influences the urge to "switch off"/be dissatisfied from the music and results in behaviour of fidgeting/not wanting to listen/lack of enjoyment/etc, and also reverse that for what you identify aspects influencing positives for enjoyment/satisfaction.
You could have the upgrade hobby itch that is like the enjoyment with tinkering (such as those who direct it at cars and other objects), or it is highly possible that you feel a kind of cognitive dissonance due to some trait with the system; possibly sibilance/frequency-tonal/timbre/weight-depth/imaging-phase/too lean or warm/the system's noise/room interraction/etc.

As an example I have an issue causing my own kind of dissonance/long term satisfaction with a system's noise,phase, and also how well sibilance and fast loud energy from cymbals/drums/etc are handled.
For me this is more important to resolve than say finding a more "warm-organic" sound, so my priority was finding a system for this and then afterwards possibly look to tweak away from being lean if that is the case.
Many times it is a balance of finding aspects we really enjoy-satisfy against those that will cause that kind of long term listening dissonance and deciding how close one can get to their goal of long term listening and able to listen to their music intently/critically as often as they like.

Ironically it took me years to find the system I really loved because I kept avoiding it due to how poorly it measured in reviews; for me it is the Dartzeel 8550, for sibilance high energy drums/cymbals I am a fan of MBL CD players and DACs (with their latest filter implementation), and for me perfect tool is the Magico S speakers.

One aspect possibly worth considering is moving towards integrated amps (depending upon size of your room), this can make life a lot simpler and IMO these days modern integrated are incredible performers.
I would still go with external DAC as this provides the finesse-subtlety for that last bit to help with long term satisfaction/dissatisfaction.

Cheers
Orb

 

[LL21]

Yep, I keep finding myself in the listening seat in the dark, realizing I couldn't stop listening and feel asleep in the chair. It's a good problem to have.

Nice one...i often hesitate for several seconds with my finger over the OFF button of the Gryphon amp late at nite while eeking out those last few notes, and its often my wife who comes in with a knowing smile...and of course, its time to shut down for the evening. Some of us are just kids about this stuff...

 

[cjfrbw]

I have so many sonic riches that upgrading is less important than enjoying. I do like to listen at shows, but they generally just remind me how much I love my own toys from the big rig in Pleasanton to the headphone arrays. Nothing really stirs me enough to think it is worth the trouble or expense, and a lot of the expensivo stuff can leave me numb. I still have a prized cartridge that I haven't mounted, it has been in the box for a couple of years now.

I have a Sony TAN 8550 VFET that I hope will be restored sometime in the next year or so, but that is for nostalgia as much as sound, though the sound is wonderful.