How many times have you said, “thats it, I am there. This is the best sound I can get?”

[Shadders]

Hi,
I have never had the view that i am not 100% happy with the current system at the time. I always moved forward with better performing equipment or similar, and accepted the sound for what it is.

I have tried the foo, but heard no difference.

On another forum, a designer has conned approx £100k in total from investors who were looking for the next best thing.

Nothing is perfect, so accepting the sound for what it is, is all that is required to enjoy listening to music.

Mood has a lot to do with it. Sometimes i am not engaged with the music, and most of the time i am.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[MVJ]

Hi,
I have never had the view that i am not 100% happy with the current system at the time. I always moved forward with better performing equipment or similar, and accepted the sound for what it is.

I have tried the foo, but heard no difference.

On another forum, a designer has conned approx £100k in total from investors who were looking for the next best thing.

Nothing is perfect, so accepting the sound for what it is, is all that is required to enjoy listening to music.

Mood has a lot to do with it. Sometimes i am not engaged with the music, and most of the time i am.

Regards,
Shadders.

I think most music lovers want to hear their music at it's best & thats what drives the search. I am blissfully happy with how my music sounds so much so I can't stop playing it most of the time....

 

[uzzy]

Perhaps my journey is different. I have never sought the best I can get but have sought what pleased my ears with what I can afford.

Could my system sound better? The answer is most probably. Do I hanker over making it better? Well to be honest my ethos is, unless I hear something else that results in my ears disliking my system when I get back home then nowt gets changed.

I had years of faffing around working in the trade and at home, trying this and that, trying to eek out more and then it struck me .. are my ears happy .. and not to worry about the could they be even happier.

I now sit down and listen to the music and do not hear the hifi .. a smile on my face and my feet tapping and getting lost in the music .. magic

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

Every time I say to my wife: “this is it. I’m done”, there’s a voice (I think it’s WAM) saying “you know you’re not”

Seriously though, in my room the possibilities aren’t limitless. So I’m quite as happy as I could be sound-wise.
But there’s one complication. Some music calls for sound characteristic A (for example jazzy) and other music for characteristic B (for example EDM). Getting those two right in one system seems impossible, so the search continues forever

Solution: keep 2 systems

 

[JAD]

A great post & very sensible unlike many wammers/box swoppers on here

Thanks but Sensible? My work colleagues would politely disagree. Asked what I was up to at the weekend I let slip I dried 8 kg of sand in the oven for my speaker stands. Even working remotely I could feel the quizzical WTF vibes spewing forth from the ether

 

[MVJ]

Perhaps my journey is different. I have never sought the best I can get but have sought what pleased my ears with what I can afford.

Could my system sound better? The answer is most probably. Do I hanker over making it better? Well to be honest my ethos is, unless I hear something else that results in my ears disliking my system when I get back home then nowt gets changed.

I had years of faffing around working in the trade and at home, trying this and that, trying to eek out more and then it struck me .. are my ears happy .. and not to worry about the could they be even happier.

I now sit down and listen to the music and do not hear the hifi .. a smile on my face and my feet tapping and getting lost in the music .. magic

Same here

 

[Lurch]

I'm guessing I've had 3 or 4 false moments in the last 6 years. As far as boxes are concerned now, I've arrived. Ever since I got the ML Summits in October last year (only changed as Quad 989s went down one time too many) my system has given me wow moments everytime I switch it on. Yes I did get into replacing the IC Loom and SCs but that was only because I finally decided to use the Nords full time and wanted some decent 1m XLRs so chose matching RCAs and SCs.
Whilst I guess I could take things further I know even buying used I'd be looking at 5k+ to make a significant improvement, a sum that is frankly ridiculous. I occasionally spend a few days listening to my 2nd system (most of which I bought new in the mid 80s that sounds great and I could live with is things went bad) which allows me to reset my brain and realise how far I've come over the last 6 years.
My ears is very very happy.

 

[DomT]

Once you get to certain level of sound quality(which is subjective) you have to spend 3 to 4x more to hear real improvement. The limit is how much disposable income is available really.

And this is where secondhand is your best friend. My new amp would have cost c£8k new but only £2100 secondhand.

 

[chris]

Stop listening for what it does'nt do & listen to the music & what it does do

One thing it does is hi-light how bad many recordings are. I found that I was not listening to a lot of music that I like and got to the point where I didn’t turn on my hifi for about 4 years. Instead I just listened on sonos speakers streaming Spotify which makes any recording sound ok. At least I enjoyed listening to music again and discovered lots of new artists.
I then switched on my hifi again and am trying to see if I can achieve the best sound that I can get

 

[m7rso]

I can say with reasonable certainty that I am done: Heaven forbid it should happen to anyone but I lost my hearing 100% in my right ear in a relatively short space of time. My audio nerve has degraded, kaput, due to a Schwannoma. So I can appreciate tone and timing and that´s about it. HiFi needs 2 working lugs so I´ll just have to listen to the music instead of the guy behind the glass moving those sliders.
LOOK AFTER YOUR TABS

Mono hearing. Super shame mate. Sad to hear as we are all uber music lovers

 

[m7rso]

2 times the first was when I got my B&W 802d speakers that had been my dream speakers. After a couple of years & much money spent trying to get them to work in my room + much box swopping for the right amplification I had to admit defeat. I then spent several years swopping & changing everything adding in valves in the process I slowly gathered some kit that were so good they became keepers.

With a Marantz Ki Pearl/ Esoteric Co-3 pre/ EE Minimax Phono/ and some refurbed Tannoy Cheviots I sat back for a while very happy but still with a niggling bass issue.

One day while perusing the wam up popped a pair of Event Opal studio monitors which I had never heard but had read great things about during my 802d days but could'nt afford at the time. The plunge was taken & they duly arrived and I put my chevvies in the hall to sulk and set the Opals up then sat down for a listen too be completely blown away by what I heard.

My system was now complete with the best bass ever in my room and music reproduction I have never ever ever ever ever heard in my music room Before. Since then I have sold everything passive I've also added an Esoteric SACD player another small improvement swopped my Michell TT for a Technics + added a streamer so my set up is complete.

The second time is NIRVANA it has been reached with one small caveat the Opals are no longer made & also a bit suspect reliability wise but I'm confident there are other brands of studio monitors that will drop into my room & achieve the same result.

So speakers may change in the future but only if the Opals fail.

Two years & counting...........

So does anyone know of any speakers that measure up to the Opal Events?

 

[m7rso]

I think @uzzy has hit the nail on the head

Perhaps my journey is different. I have never sought the best I can get but have sought what pleased my ears with what I can afford.

Could my system sound better? The answer is most probably. Do I hanker over making it better? Well to be honest my ethos is, unless I hear something else that results in my ears disliking my system when I get back home then nowt gets changed.

I had years of faffing around working in the trade and at home, trying this and that, trying to eek out more and then it struck me .. are my ears happy .. and not to worry about the could they be even happier.

I now sit down and listen to the music and do not hear the hifi .. a smile on my face and my feet tapping and getting lost in the music .. magic

 

[Bazzer]

I've said "that's it " but never "this is the best sound I can get' , I never even tried I'm not in it for that I just like listening to my music on nice gear .
I wandered in here many years ago and have never been able to find the out door

 

[MotherSky]

One thing it does is hi-light how bad many recordings are. I found that I was not listening to a lot of music that I like and got to the point where I didn’t turn on my hifi for about 4 years. Instead I just listened on sonos speakers streaming Spotify which makes any recording sound ok. At least I enjoyed listening to music again and discovered lots of new artists.
I then switched on my hifi again and am trying to see if I can achieve the best sound that I can get

I think this is actually the biggest issue with "hifi" - many of the setups I've owned over the years have been capable of breathtaking fidelity given the right recording, but left me hiding behind the sofa when fed anything else - having been stuck in the past with the majority of my (fairly eclectic) music collection rendered unlistenable, my sole aim since has been to put together a system that allows me to appreciate (and indeed actively enjoy) the musical message of even the direst recording - I have made a few (occasionally quite expensive) mistakes over the years, but I do genuinely feel that I have achieved my goal with my current system - it may not be the last word in any given area, but it is bloody good at pretty much everything, and allows me to enjoy everything right down to the ropiest demo recording. Could I do better? no doubt, but unless I get hold of the millions that I was promised by that Nigerian Prince, I'm inclined to stick rather than twist - it sometimes helps to remember that most of the population manage to enjoy music through equipment that cost substantially less than my speaker stands... MH

 

[newlash09]

I have a decent system at home, but iam hardly ever there. Most of my listening is on a cheap Chinese Bluetooth speaker. And I love it, because I love music. The main system at home is just to keep me occupied tinkering when iam on vacations. To me, the tunes matter, not the system.

 

[chris]

I think this is actually the biggest issue with "hifi" - many of the setups I've owned over the years have been capable of breathtaking fidelity given the right recording, but left me hiding behind the sofa when fed anything else - having been stuck in the past with the majority of my (fairly eclectic) music collection rendered unlistenable, my sole aim since has been to put together a system that allows me to appreciate (and indeed actively enjoy) the musical message of even the direst recording - I have made a few (occasionally quite expensive) mistakes over the years, but I do genuinely feel that I have achieved my goal with my current system - it may not be the last word in any given area, but it is bloody good at pretty much everything, and allows me to enjoy everything right down to the ropiest demo recording. Could I do better? no doubt, but unless I get hold of the millions that I was promised by that Nigerian Prince, I'm inclined to stick rather than twist - it sometimes helps to remember that most of the population manage to enjoy music through equipment that cost substantially less than my speaker stands... MH

What was your strategy to make bad recordings sound good and good recordings sound great? I would be interested to know

With a big budget my first step would be to create a large dedicated listening room as all of the best sounding systems that I have heard were in large rooms. In order of importance I think it’s recording then room and lastly setup and equipment

 

[DomT]

I have a decent system at home, but iam hardly ever there. Most of my listening is on a cheap Chinese Bluetooth speaker. And I love it, because I love music. The main system at home is just to keep me occupied tinkering when iam on vacations. To me, the tunes matter, not the system.

This. Which is why I talk about my Roberts radio on here so much!

 

[luckysim0n]

I've said "that's it " but never "this is the best sound I can get' , I never even tried I'm not in it for that I just like listening to my music on nice gear .
I wandered in here many years ago and have never been able to find the out door

there is not one foolish mortal

 

[MotherSky]

What was your strategy to make bad recordings sound good and good recordings sound great? I would be interested to know

With a big budget my first step would be to create a large dedicated listening room as all of the best sounding systems that I have heard were in large rooms. In order of importance I think it’s recording then room and lastly setup and equipment

"Strategy" is a rather grand term.... To be clear, I am not suggesting that my system magically improves perceived recording quality, merely that it doesn't forensically expose the shortcomings of badly mastered/recorded material to the extent that it overwhelms the underlying musical message. My first system was purchased back in the 80's, and I have owned and demoed a great deal of equipment since then, ample scope for trial and (plenty of) error - a lot of that time I was renting, and had to adapt to whatever space I had: I believe that a room can certainly hold back the performance of a system, but it can't fundamentally change its character - one just has to use a bit of common sense when it comes to the size/design of speakers - I am still in the process of fine tuning my room treatment, but everything else I am very happy with: I'm not sure how to view people's kit on the latest iteration of the forum, but if you look at what I have listed, it may give you some idea of where I am coming from - MH

 

[steve 57]

In order of importance I think it’s recording then room and lastly setup and equipment

Thats probably a view many have, but it's not my experence with my gear