I know I really love music but do we also just love messing about ?

hiesteem

peacebro
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Well it takes me half an hour to work out which cables go where, and my system is not of this century. But that's ok because I have money to spend on the latest Betty Cantnor 2 track remastering of the Deads latest live recordrd release, which is also not of this century 🤣.
 

uzzy

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The hobby is in fact multiple hobbies depending on the person.

I had my fill of trying everything selling the stuff for a number of years and I got to appreciate my hobby is all about the music and my ears being happy (if they are happy so am I). Unless I hear a system that makes me disatisied with the sound of my own when I get home, it is unlikely that any item in my system will get changed.

I dislike streaming or even working from downloads I prefer to run my eyes over my collection to choose what to play, perhaps this a habit or ritual but I find it very satisfying. I hate having to search for something on a screen.

Others it is a bit about the music but they love to box swap and it is all about the kit.

Then there are those who are on the mission to find the Holy Grail .. never satisfied with what they have, always tinkering and fettling and can also fall into the above category where they box swap a lot etc.

Lastly there are the technical amongst us with the electrical skills to restore vintage amps and build their own, where they are allowed to fall into the Holy Grail category as it is that kind of research and development that will make a difference to the future.
 

pmcuk

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You can't do too much "messing about" when building tube equipment! That's one thing that requires thought and concentration. It's a challenge, but an enjoyable one!
 
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DomT

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The hobby is in fact multiple hobbies depending on the person.

I had my fill of trying everything selling the stuff for a number of years and I got to appreciate my hobby is all about the music and my ears being happy (if they are happy so am I). Unless I hear a system that makes me disatisied with the sound of my own when I get home, it is unlikely that any item in my system will get changed.

I dislike streaming or even working from downloads I prefer to run my eyes over my collection to choose what to play, perhaps this a habit or ritual but I find it very satisfying. I hate having to search for something on a screen.

Others it is a bit about the music but they love to box swap and it is all about the kit.

Then there are those who are on the mission to find the Holy Grail .. never satisfied with what they have, always tinkering and fettling and can also fall into the above category where they box swap a lot etc.

Lastly there are the technical amongst us with the electrical skills to restore vintage amps and build their own, where they are allowed to fall into the Holy Grail category as it is that kind of research and development that will make a difference to the future.
These days with streamers you can also cast your eyes over your collection in a similar way to vinyl by scrolling through album covers although without bending over or head titling or having to do much physic effort and no squinting at LP spines that may or may not be worn or torn. (Don’t worry am an LP fan just pointing out that you don’t just have to search these days) 725E03B3-E2C2-4644-94A0-0330C003B5F3.jpeg
 

toms wait

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I love the faffing about as my family call it.
From dressing cables to veneering speakers, rearranging speaker feet or dusting it all.
Disappointingly I think I am faffed out, unless I try yet another pair of speakers to kick out my HHH Scanspeaks.
 
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Strider

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I love messing about with kit at home and in my job, at home I have a very limited budget but I'm willing to throw a few squids at a device I'd like to experiment with, I regularly move the equipment around on the equipment shelving to make room for other kit/cables or just because it looks better in its new location.
I've got so many PSU's, switchers, volume controllers, amplifiers, CD players etc just gathering dust but I did enjoy swapping kit often purchasing hifi I really didn't need but I fancied something new to fart about with.
I've got hundreds and hundreds of cables, I reckon if the pikeys broke into my garage and shed and took the lot there would be a tidy profit in the weight of copper.
I make a lot of cables at home and for the studio, there is also a need to make custom made cables for my day job and I love soldering and shiny connectors.

I simply do not buy foo, once upon a time I was convinced that these little 'tweaks' made a difference but working in pro audio and pro A/V you soon come back to reality that the hardware makes a difference and not a £200 USB cable or anything that makes farcical claims about a pod.

I am mad about music, its an essential facet of my being. At home I can sit for hours spinning choons and searching for new music thus increasing my gamut of music styles/genres. Yep I am critical of sound quality and presentation but at home I become immersed in music rather than evaluating and measuring rather than enjoying what I'm hearing.
 

MartinC

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I dislike streaming or even working from downloads I prefer to run my eyes over my collection to choose what to play

I do occasionally look at my shelves of CDs still sitting upstairs as inspiration for something to play, and then find it in qobuz to actually do so!
 

MartinC

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On the wider question my ongoing experimentation with DSP and acoustic room treatments is very much the sort of 'targeted faffing' that most hobbies have a significant element of I think :) . There is absolutely enjoyment to be had from the process as well as the end result, for me anyway!
 

Phil Bishop

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I simply do not buy foo, once upon a time I was convinced that these little 'tweaks' made a difference but working in pro audio and pro A/V you soon come back to reality that the hardware makes a difference and not a £200 USB cable or anything that makes farcical claims about a pod.
I'm 100% with you there. At one point I painted my CDs green and had weird little sorbothane sandwich feet under everything. It's funny how everything was sold to you as "improving the soundstage"....what a load of ********. Do expensive USB cables make your printer print clearer or photos upload better? Of course they don't so why should they make any difference to the zeros and ones that make up a digital audio file?

Older and wiser there are just a few things that have made a serious difference to my enjoyment of recorded music but it's taken me a long time to get there. One is the micro linear (microline) stylus/cartridge - finally, no longer any audible distortion on vinyl! Most other chops and changes just make things sound different so it's a matter of deciding which variation you like the sound of best.
 
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popol_vuh

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I like upgrading my system with meaningful upgrades. By that I mean going for a substantially better TT, tonearm, cartridge, phono stage, line stage, power amp, speakers. But, I don't like to tinker. I don't even try to experiment with any cables in my system. I don't experiment with different feet or materials under my components. The only thing I like to spend time with experimenting on some things, improving setup etc. is with my turntable. It's absolutely not required, but this I like to experiment with.

Experimenting with streamers, or any technology associated with streaming sounds like absolute hell to me. And I say this as a 43-year old who actually likez computers But not near my hi-fi.

To sum things up, no, I absolutely don't like to mess about.

P.S. I've never really understood this statement that people make, that turntables and vinyl require faffing about and that they sold their setups because of that. Once you set up your TT, install your cart, set up your phono stage - that's it, you're done. A couple of hours and that's it. I've never had alignment, vtf, turntable being level or something like that go wrong and drift over time. And I have a Gyrodec, which is a TT that does require more in terms of setting up than stuff like Rega, Pro-Ject or Technics. Quite a strange statement IMO.
 
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MartinC

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Experimenting with streamers, or any technology associated with streaming sounds like absolute hell to me. And I say this as a 43-year old who actually likez computers But not near my hi-fi.

Bear in mind that the point of streamer is to be an alternative to having a computer connected to a HiFi :).
 
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popol_vuh

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For me, the only real alternative is - no remotes, no displays, no net connectivity.

If I had to choose between computer source with local streaming (or playing local files) and streamers, I'd always go computer source because I hate the complete ethics and politics of streaming
 
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StingRay

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For me, the only real alternative is - no remotes, no displays, no net connectivity.

If I had to choose between computer source with local streaming (or playing local files) and streamers, I'd always go computer source because I hate the complete ethics and politics of streaming
I don't understand your comment.

I was glad to get away from using a computer in the living room.
 
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Headcoat

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Interesting topic but how much of these perceived "improvements" are bias expectation?

I ask because music played on the same modest systems I own never sounds the same from one day to the next. I'll play a record one day and think "wow, that sounds great" and then play it the next day and think "meh". Nothing has changed.....apart from maybe the fridge switching on :ROFLMAO:

I think mood and possibly things like room acoustics due to air temperature changes, etc, probably affect things far more than minor tinkering with electronics.

....and, of course, expectation bias - you change something and expect it to sound better. The next time you play that fabulous sounding record you are disappointed because your expectation has been raised.

Let's turn to another thing I have been thinking about recently, enjoyment. Do I enjoy my music any more these days played on relatively expensive gear and via "perfect" sources (digital) than when I had my first modest Japanese separates system in the 1970's with the record deck often running slow because the belt was worn and cassettes hissing? I don't think I do, in fact I possibly got more enjoyment when things were less perfect. A bit like John Peel's quote about records:

“Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don’t have any surface noise. I said, ‘Listen, mate, *life* has surface noise”
This is so spot on. Especially re. sounding great one day and then not so the next.

Mood really does need considering. It's effect on our hearing is profound.

I've made so many changes, and bought far too many headphones/amps/speakers over the past few years and can say for sure all of these changes have sounded good, indifferent and bad. When objectively analysed the change in perception is often down to mood.

Of course, some kit does sound better.

Unpicking what is better, expectation bias, reverse expectation bias, mood, too few beers, too many beers, the fridge going on, worse, the same, the recording, the mastering etc is close to impossible.... at times, for me at least....

I think I'm getting there, ever so slowly. I've got into hypnosis recordings lately and my ability to reserve judgement on perceived differences (better or worse) has improved immeasurably. I'm finding differences/preferences I heard prior more often than not simply aren't there or not as I perceived on the second listen.

No, it doesn't all sound the same. That said, approach with a sceptical and open mind as there's many a rabbit hole in this this journey, of that there's no doubt whatsoever.

Edit: I'm going to add to this the possibility of preferring a over b on day one and b over a on day two.

Like food and drink, where what we've eaten or drunk impacts the other, can where our ears 'are at' affect how we hear. I think it can. A day of clattering noise and you'll want a laid back bath of a system. A day of silence and perhaps some dynamics and detail might suit. With all shades between too.

I think @uzzy is right, reach a place you're happy and stick. That seems like wisdom to me.

Edit 2: a lot, not all, is mostly about how receptive or not we are at any given time. And of course the recording and how that gels with a given system. I've enough headphones now that I can say for fact dependent on the recording they are all my favourite pair 😂
 
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Rayymondo

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Certainly enjoying the messing about, in fact after just reading the Russel K tweaks thread I just popped some spare isolation feet under my power block :)
 

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