Same result but the opposite route.

I was delighted with my first system fresh from Comet bought in parts and allied with a hand me down. I can still remember playing my first few "adult" records. The sound was fantastic to me; Amstrad, Goldring and Solavox. I got this over 30 years ago.

I have always been happy with my systems, I am amazed that people end up spending money going up/down the wrong path. Only because I have been happy with my upgrades and happy with my dealer. Why did you end up taking the wrong path and where was your dealer in your hour of need??? (do I sound like a Martial arts instructor?)

My concern is finding music and the recording is as it is. I wouldnt turn down music because of the recording quality. I am beyond being too fussy on releases. I will put up with a new pressing of an older recording with a barcode on the sleeve etc. I like a band to have a certain something but buying a lot of unknowns I have to not worry about that some much!!

Over the years I have come to suspect that enjoying your system has more to with particular moods than the objective performance of your equipment..most of which is probably quite good (because the people on this forum are likely to chose with care.)
So now I just accept that some days my system/records sound 'better' than on other days. I don't suspect bad mains or whatever, just what mood I am in.
So why do we still worry about buying or making the best equipment?...because continueing to strive is part of the point. It really is a journey, not a destination.

better at night yes, but with a £175K cd player the sound has been rather good of late

even with noisier mains..........

MartinC

Show off

immensely, especially vinyl...

enjoy
ken

" I could tell you but then I would have to kill you"; old spy movie line.

I won't try try to answer Peter's many points, and they need answering sometime

but will note the ongoing reviewing experience which is littered with experiences with better product, and having the will to return to your own stuff and get on with it and listen to the music.

The monster CD payer has left the premises and I am settling down afresh. And yes , its good , but not as good !

MartinC

I read a lot of Ian Rankin but in the mystery line; same guy or just same name? Sorry that he retired Rebus without resolving the question of whether he and his female partner would ever get together. Right now the main thing standing between myself and full enjoyment is that I have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. I expect I will always feel the urge occasionally to see what that other speaker/amp/etc sounds like but just way too much on hand. For instance I have been attempting to get a pair of Nelson-Reed 1204 subs up to speed for better than 2 years now. Aha you say, that guy is so slow he watches turtle races for excitement. Its this way; I was a dealer for them at the time they went out of business around 1990; these were in storage during my 12 year sabbatical from the hobby. When I set them up they still sounded impressive for the very short time they played before surround rot revealed itself. A long hiatus for new surrounds followed, aggravated by non audio delays. When I got around to them recently I found I had considerable noise on one channel of the active crossover; my tech friend diagnosed a bad IC. I have another active crossover but Darrel offered to let me try his custom tube design one. The one positive result so far is that I have confirmed to my own satisfaction that I still can hear the insertion of a crossover in the signal chain [ non peer reviewed conclusion] despite it being of high quality. So far I have been totally unable to get the kind of bass from the 8 12" Volt [supposedly] woofers that I get from my 2 REL Stadium [Stadui ?] subs. Circumstances led me to use a different speaker wire this time; one allegedly by siltech I bought on ebay. Could there be anything to the rumors that wire does make a difference? Is this a counterfeit wire [not unknown over here]? Do tubes just not produce the bass of SS? All will be resolved in time, God willing and the creek don't rise as we say in the colonies. So all of you out there who wish you had a room [literally 2 rooms in my case] of extra gear rejoice. The more junk you have the more time you spend not listening. This is a necessary burden for reviewers but not for music lovers. Why do I do it? I just like finding out what different things sound like. I actually became a dealer just for this purpose; with the costs as they are now it is much easier to buy and sell used gear. Fooling around with a lot of gear has its moments but it is a hell of a lot of work; problems will come up that logically cannot exist but THERE THEY ARE!.

Edited by user 18 May 2012 18:57:39(UTC)  | Reason: typo

When did women ever go for the guys who were good for them? Men for the women either? This is usually double blind testing at its best.

"If any of you are readers of Terry Pratchett" Yes; everything but some of the more obscure children's books. Has anyone else read THE NAME OF THE WIND and WISE MAN'S FEAR? I am not going to attempt to spell the authors last name. A whole different take on magic school from Hogwarts; a well thought out alternate universe both like and unlike ours. Reminds me faintly of Fletcher Pratt and L. S. DeCamp's [misspelled] work if anyone else is old enough to remember them. But greatly expanded and far more complex and gritty. Worth a look if you read any kind of fantasy and possibly even if you haven't yet.

Generally speaking, I always enjoy my music, or I wouldn't play it :) Likewise I have always enjoyed the hifi equipment I've owned, even if I've always wanted bigger and better and more stuff. The only obvious disapointment that I bought was a cheap Paradigm PDR-10 subwoofer which plainly was not as good as I had hoped (it was part of a complete system I bought cheaply off eBay though, so no complaints, especially after I sold it all on for a profit :) )

I must confess that I don't really buy into the 'hifi as a journey' thing. it generally takes me as long to enjoy my hifi as it does to cross the room and switch it on, or dig up a particular CD I want to listen to.


Hifi reviewers do more than just 'express their opinions' - as if HFN etc were just gossip rags or something. Reviewers know very well that what they write will affect how people spend their money, there are real-world consequences therefore. It's not just 'opinion' - it's meant to be informed and verifiable opinion. Certainly that is how it has always been marketed and is what we should reasonably expect.


Really only true if you think reviewer's opinions are not worth anything in the first place. There is a strong, and heavily marketed, element of trust involved in review publishing and with good reason. I don't think you can transfer responsibility wholly onto the shoulders of the consumer in that regard. But if it should lie squarely with consumers, what then is the value of publishing reviews anyway?