IMO, it has become obvious that there are many a'philes in the hobby that jump from gear to gear and are never really satisfied with what they have. IMHO, this is due to the distinct possibility that these same a'philes are
NOT using their ears prior to their purchase. Which brings up my assumption that instead of hearing the gear in question in their system prior to their purchase, these people bought on either a) recommendation by a friend/reviewer or b) due to the latest has to be greatest hype or c) pricing d) specs or e) something else.
Who here buys or has bought gear without first hearing it in their system....and why?
Results?
people buy things for many different reasons. and many owners of nice gear are not serious audiophiles. a serious audiophile is not an issue of expense of gear, but of level of passion. of my friends who are serious about the hobby, all purchase most all their gear based on how it sounds to them.
personally, i have purchased a couple pieces of gear before i listened to it.
(1) Kharma Exquisite 1D speakers back in 2001. i'd never heard a Kharma Speaker, i'd only read reviews and got quite a bit of first hand impressions from listeners i trusted. i was able to buy them direct from the importer at a great price when that importer first acquired the line. i figured my risk was low since i could re-sell them without a loss. 3 years later, when they could not produce enough bass for my new room i did sell them at a small profit. they had turned out to be a great speaker and exactly what i was looking for when i moved away from my Wilson WP6's and Mark Levinson electronics to Tenor amps.
(2)Rockport Sirius III turntable. i had owned a Sirius II, but bought the III sight un-seen....and un-heard. when one came up for sale in 2002 i had to jump on it as that was a rare occurance.
i've bought some gear to investigate that type of gear.....some of which i had not heard first.
--Garrard 301 TT and Technics SP-10 Mk2 with Dobbins plinths. i had not heard either tt prior to purchase but wanted to try them in my system for an extended time to see how close to the Rockport they could come.
--Ampex ATR-102, Studer A820. back in 2007 nobody had tape decks or software to play on them. you could not go anywhere and hear them. and if you did they were in crap condition. i had to pay to have these fully reconditioned and hope i would like them. these days most metro areas have a number of people with nice tape decks and software to play on them.
--expensive headphones--i got the high end headphone itch a year or so ago. i did investigate it and purchased a couple of sets of used headphones and used amps to investigate how good they could be. i know i can sell them for a small profit.
otherwise i have heard pretty close to 100% of the gear i have purchased, and most of it in my room, prior to purchase.
i've purchased gear that has had high levels of 'audio jewelry factor' and others that are pretty kludgy looking. i admit i like pretty gear, but never at the expense of performance.
i'm trying to think of any gear i purchased for just the thrill of it.
