Fantasies and Appreciating What You Have

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Originally Posted by George Prentice

Interesting thread. I think the question of appreciation of your system is a really important one. Lack of draw to a system may point not to your mind set or point of view, but a system problem. Overall we are an analytical group that have developed and used highly specialized skills to evaluate and put together systems… I’m guessing many of us over many decades. I now think we may have been our own worst enemies. That skill of carefully identifying little nuances of sound that deviates from “perfect” in itself. Carefully tuning each facet one by one may in fact have driven the music out of the system. I remember coming home from work most nights an trying to squeeze in an hour of listening. I would close my eyes and take great satisfaction as the venue was painted in unbelievable detail. It seemed I really enjoyed my system. But when I retired and had more time to listen… I would sometimes listen for an hour… that’s all. My system wasn’t a magnet like it was when I was stressed out from work or craving time to appreciation my creation. It was not drawing me to it.

Let me cut to the chase. I figured out there was something missing… it was the musicality. I changed nearly my entire system to a warmer less analytical sound… I got the music back. It is still detailed, but it is not in my face… it has tremendous rhythm and pace. I now spend two or three hours a day… and never have enough time, never. The moment I have a minute I run down to listen… and it isn’t to listen to my system, it is to listen to the music.

That's a good place to be at. I confess that the majority of the time spent with my system recently is with blu-ray discs rather than music, but I have fun with that and it's a treat. Some of that could be carryover from the TV bought last fall and the more recent power cord upgrade, and the excitement to see/hear what the BDs sound/look like with the recent additions. BDs and well-mastered DVDs are great. Who knows how long that sense of discovery will continue?

I think what has been important for me is getting to a "stopping point;" that is, to have a piece of gear good enough so that it doesn't make me restless or curious to try something else or upgrade. The Transparent Premiums are a stopping point, so are my MC501 monos. NO interest in upgrading or changing those. The itch to explore new options comes with dissatisfaction or curiosity in my experience, and that is fueled further by what I'm exposed to (this site, audio magazines, etc.). It sounds like you hit a stopping point and now just listen and enjoy; I'm there in part, and it would behoove me to go all the way.