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Uncharted territory

oddball72

oddball72

Active Member
I have recently, after 32 years of gradual revisions, arrived at a setup that I cannot find fault with.

As the title says this is uncharted territory for me as there's always been a niggle, something that was never quite right. Bass wasn't tight enough, instrument separation wasn't great etc etc... To to be fair, as an engineer, I like tinkering and modifying and seeing the effects. But I can't think of anything specifically wrong, or where to even begin to make any greater gains. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that it can't be improved upon, but I have no idea which component i would start with if I did want to change.

So I suppose I'm wondering, have any on you arrived at the same place, and what was the system that hit the spot, and what did you do to stop the itch to change things, and simply enjoy the music.
 
oddball72 said:
So I suppose I'm wondering, have any on you arrived at the same place, and what was the system that hit the spot, and what did you do to stop the itch to change things, and simply enjoy the music.
Click to expand...

Isn't it possible to continually tweak your system and still enjoy music just as much?

I don't see a problem here. The one doesn't contradict the other. You can get thrills from music and thrills from making even small improvements to the sound.
 
Congrats on getting off the merry-go-round

I'm 10 years into it and still figuring out what I do / don't like.

I've had a couple of setups including my current one I could happily live with, if I was sensible. I'm not sensible.

I'm enjoying exploring new components and seeing how much more I can wring out of my music, how many more goosebumps, how much more foot tapping etc.

Don't know if I'll ever go "yeah I'm done" or if the itch is a compulsion / mental disorder 😂. Don't really mind. All good fun, for me. If it ever stops being fun then I'll prob just stick.
 
I'm not much of a tinkerer, nor am I into cables.
Most of the time I listen purely for enjoyment but as time develops I will start looking for causes of audible issues and for potential improvements. I set strict timelines and budgets for my upgrades and have a secret weapon: for every purchase I will have give away to charity an identical or at least a sizeable amount before I will consider a new investment. It moderates the spending, and helping makes me feel good.
 
I suppose in the past I knew what I wanted the tweak to fix, so id research and find a component(s) that offer that characteristic. But atm it would be a case of change an item, see if its better, if so keep it, if not sell it.
 
tuga said:
I'm not much of a tinkerer, nor am I into cables.
Most of the time I listen purely for enjoyment but as time develops I will start looking for causes of audible issues and for potential improvements. I set strict timelines and budgets for my upgrades and have a secret weapon: for every purchase I will have give away to charity an identical or at least a sizeable amount before I will consider a new investment. It moderates the spending, and helping makes me feel good
Click to expand...
Nice approach, wish this was the norm
 
There is nothing better than new gear on the test bench. Just so many different designs and beautiful hifi to try. No, I think I am stuck with this hifi mental disorder. Some brands stay in my setup and I keep returning to them. Some years ago I loved the expensive amps and speakers. Now i really enjoy putting a well balanced system that does not cost the same as a Bentley. Right now I am stuck with Rega. An almost full blown Rega system.
 
There are almost as many approaches as there are punters. Brand loyalists, box swappers, 'obscurists', who wouldn't dream of owning any brand that anyone else has heard of...etc.,etc.
Like many, I started out with a 'dealer system' ...at a price point...Rega, Ion, Royd.. I did the LP12 'rite of passage', the valve thing, etc..blah..
And it gradually dawned that it was rare to hear anything significantly better than what I had..especially at shows. I began to realise I'd reached some sort of limit. My room, my budget,..something...
So..I'm now happy with my system....Michell Orbe SE, Audiomods, Dynavector, EAR, or Innuos Zen Mini, into LFD Zero, Rogers Studio 3/ AB3. Any one of those components could undoubtedly be improved upon, but I'd sooner spend time listening. I still have at least 100 albums unplayed and hundreds more which haven't seen the light of day for years. Priorities shift..
And even my modest system comes in at about £14/15k at current retail.. 'Normal' people would be astounded...
That's how I did it...
 
I do find that once I come across a brand that floats my boat I tend to stick to that. Atm it's ProAc, Chord (for DAC), and recently Sonneteer (for amp), although im not sure Sonneteers plans for new models. Maybe you get stuck in a rut, but otherwise the sheer level of choice available means you have to have deep pockets, and the time to buy and sell components in the event you don't get on with a new acquisition.
 
Mullardman said:
There are almost as many approaches as there are punters. Brand loyalists, box swappers, 'obscurists', who wouldn't dream of owning any brand that anyone else has heard of...etc.,etc.
Click to expand...

I must be an "obscurist" then. The valves in my SE amp, which I've been rebuilding almost monthly for 15 years, are so obscure that I dare not even tell people what they are because I'm still trying to find some more of them......

I'm even wondering about getting a second example of an uber rare valve of which there's only one on ebay, and it's in the USA. Then I could make a line stage with the pair which I'm sure would sound wonderful. I'd probably never be able to replace the pair. Bonkers really. But I really love where I've got to with my amp. It just keeps getting better. Some of the best valves ever made come from the 1930s and 1940s. Even one or two from the 1920s.
 
Little to argue with there... that's not really 'brand obscurism' of the sort I was thinking.. it's more like antiquarianism..
Brand obscurism is mostly dealers..of whom there are many ...whose entire product portfolio comprises brands which nobody has ever heard of...trading on some sort of notion of 'exclusivity', but actually flogging whatever dross they can lay hands on...

Cynical? Moi?
 
Congratulations on a job done! You can concentrate on the music now. 🎶 😀

Except for the single passtime of exploring styli for my current cartridge (which I admit I enjoy as it came), I've been entirely satisfied with my system for some time. ☺️
 
oddball72 said:
I have recently, after 32 years of gradual revisions, arrived at a setup that I cannot find fault with.

As the title says this is uncharted territory for me as there's always been a niggle, something that was never quite right. Bass wasn't tight enough, instrument separation wasn't great etc etc... To to be fair, as an engineer, I like tinkering and modifying and seeing the effects. But I can't think of anything specifically wrong, or where to even begin to make any greater gains. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that it can't be improved upon, but I have no idea which component i would start with if I did want to change.

So I suppose I'm wondering, have any on you arrived at the same place, and what was the system that hit the spot, and what did you do to stop the itch to change things, and simply enjoy the music.
Click to expand...
I find there are always niggles lurking under the water but I feel there always will be.The trick is to resist urges and live with gear as long as you can to make a proper assessment. I now have a condition that I can only change things with the money I make from selling my gear. This has been very refreshing.
 
Mullardman said:
There are almost as many approaches as there are punters. Brand loyalists, box swappers, 'obscurists', who wouldn't dream of owning any brand that anyone else has heard of...etc.,etc.
Like many, I started out with a 'dealer system' ...at a price point...Rega, Ion, Royd.. I did the LP12 'rite of passage', the valve thing, etc..blah..
And it gradually dawned that it was rare to hear anything significantly better than what I had..especially at shows. I began to realise I'd reached some sort of limit. My room, my budget,..something...
So..I'm now happy with my system....Michell Orbe SE, Audiomods, Dynavector, EAR, or Innuos Zen Mini, into LFD Zero, Rogers Studio 3/ AB3. Any one of those components could undoubtedly be improved upon, but I'd sooner spend time listening. I still have at least 100 albums unplayed and hundreds more which haven't seen the light of day for years. Priorities shift..
And even my modest system comes in at about £14/15k at current retail.. 'Normal' people would be astounded...
That's how I did it...
Click to expand...

I'm a certified box swapper.

I and try buy at prices that good are value used which makes this largely a break even exercise if/when I come to shift things on. It's a good way to try different gear and experience music in different ways, if you don't mind the bother of having to sell some stuff. (Though Neat have some new stand mounts coming out in a month or two, not sure I'll have the patience to wait for second hand there)

Normal folk probably think this entire forum is mental. Normies are weirdos 🙂
 
oddball72 said:
May be curious to try out LFD at some future point, but the Sonneteer hasn't put a foot wrong, so no immediate plans.
Click to expand...
If I can set the ball rolling, having had sonneteer and lfd amps at the same time here, and enjoyed them both, I felt the lfd brought some solidity and focus compared to the sonneteer.

Just sowing that seed ;)
 
Del monaco said:
I find there are always niggles lurking under the water but I feel there always will be.The trick is to resist urges and live with gear as long as you can to make a proper assessment. I now have a condition that I can only change things with the money I make from selling my gear. This has been very refreshing.
Click to expand...
I have the same approach, with the caveat that it can be within £300 of what I managed to sell the last component for. Makes building your system more time-consuming but ultimately satisfying you when you get a better component without much outlay.
 
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