Stressing about hifi....

PBirkett

PBirkett

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I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I have come to the conclusion that I think some people will never, ever be happy with what they have. I know I may appear to be a fine person to preach on the subject, given the amount of times I've upgraded, but thats my point really, I've done it so much, I genuinely believe I have had enough of it.

I am finding I am really, REALLY enjoying my kit, and I dont feel the need to improve it, or stress about whether this or that could be better. I know it can be bettered. Everything can, and since I've come to this realisation, I have never enjoyed listening to music so much. After all, its just a means to an end, and it surely is not worth fighting, bickering or arguing over? Nobody is right, nobody is wrong, we can guide newbies, help them along the path, but my ultimate advice would be, get something you like, and STICK WITH IT, until it dies. I can understand those who go through in hifi and then end up selling the lot and getting a basic system, and getting back to the music. However, I think a lot of that is to do with the psychological pressure from forums like these. Worrying about this cable, that amp or whatever else. Why not forget it all, and enjoy it, you have worked hard for it, you deserve to be happy with it, regardless of what it cost.

We can go like this with all hobbies, we can worry and obsess over it, treat it like a competition. Hifi, cars, you name it. Sometimes you just have to take heed and be happy with what you have got. How many people are really happy? I think its cool if people get enjoyment out of upgrading or whatever, but it slightly irks me to see people getting fed up with it and bailing out.

I will say for sure that my hifi will stay like it is until it dies. I am sure I will get comments about how they've heard it all before, whatever, take it or leave it, but I am in a philisophical mood tonight, and felt like sharing my thoughts with you all.... I guess you could say this is a pretty meaningless post, but what the hell, theres nothing better to do on a Wednesday night ;)
 
not knocking captialism, as I enjoy the goodies in the shops and woudln't want to queue for loaves of bread, but the capitalist society, well maybe not, maybe the exploiters, marketing men and advertises prey on the poor human condition to be:

better than the jones...I have better hifi than you na na!

envious of others....yours is better than mine...

inadequate...you are sexier than me...

I have to have the latest best thing

the propaganda machine is the freedom of speech of the magazines( the mouthpiece of evil) where the stuff is luridly displayed with rapturous orgasms of approval.

they make preteen girls become anorexic, make men feel inadequate and women, too, make you think you have no cash, everyone is beautiful, richer than you.

(Maybe I should buy this new financial service, as it is advertised with a busty young babe...I mean what the F*** does a nice looking person have to do with buying a product...I buy for the performance something will give me....)

add to this an inherent pissed off dissatisfaction,
a good and proper desire to improve to the max for the benefit of mankind,
the pure technological hell of it,

a desire for perfection, the best there can be,

the reality that nothing is perfect, there are always progress to be made, discoveries, new spin on old methods,

and you have a recipe for hifi upgrading ad infinitum...if you are always upgrading, you are never satisfied with the present, if you are satisfied, you are a capitalists nightmare, and free from desire, you go to nirvana when you die, which doen'st happen cos the humans are never free from desire.

tis the problems of the monkey...

upgrade and never be satisfied
stay where you are and lack of desire indicates lack of willingness to be truly human..

oh dear....
 
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Originally posted by PBirkett
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I have come to the conclusion that I think some people will never, ever be happy with what they have.
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Isn't this basic human nature Paul?
 
Originally posted by Lt Cdr Data

upgrade and never be satisfied
stay where you are and lack of desire indicates lack of willingness to be truly human..

oh dear....
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Very nice! :D

Everyone says I'm lazy anyhoo, so it makes no difference to anyone but myself if I am happy with what I have.

..and I am pretty much! I have all the kit I want and the only things (in terms of Hi-Fi) that I desire are a few cables and maybe a better set of valves.

Since I got the kit to a stage where I am happy with it I have started to buy a lot more CDs, which is great!

Here's to hoping I don't get obsessed with CDs instead! :beer:
 
Originally posted by Lt Cdr Data
upgrade and never be satisfied
stay where you are and lack of desire indicates lack of willingness to be truly human..

oh dear....
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As the Zen master said to his audiophile student:

When upgrading, upgrade.
When listening, listen.
Above all, don't wobble.
 
and I have come to the conclusion that I think some people will never, ever be happy with what they have. ..........................I am finding I am really, REALLY enjoying my kit,
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sorry to sound opionated on this,but the 2 quotes above would certainly suggest you are suffering from "equipment desease",sufferers cannot hear the music,they are just constantly admiring theit system and how great it sounds.The worst sympton of this is the patient stops listening to their fave 70s rock because the recordings are so poor it annoys the patient to the point of madness.

the only known cure is 2 hours forced listening of the Sex Pistols on vinyl,only when the patient has quit his self-equipment- adulation for at least 3 weeks will he be left alone again to attempt to hear music,and not engineering.

failing that A.N.A.L (Assoiciation of Nasty Audio Listeners) strongly suggest knitting:p
 
Originally posted by PBirkett
Nobody is right, nobody is wrong, we can guide newbies, help them along the path, but my ultimate advice would be, get something you like, and STICK WITH IT, until it dies.
Click to expand...

This has always been my philosophy, Paul, with regard to my main system. I occupied the listening room of Lyric Hi-Fi in Belfast (curiously, just up the road from my old stamping grounds of the Queen's University Chemistry Department) for an entire afternoon, until I had decided that Linn was for me. I bought my first three components there and built on that, and I'm very happy with No.1 system.

I confess to experimenting with No.2 system (the former No. 1 system), when I can get stuff second-hand. I've taken advantage of Sideshowbob's garage sales and his excellent taste in equipment to get some things that I otherwise would have been too mean to buy new, but now that also sounds good. One more experiment, and that brings us back to Linn. The local Linn dealer, just down the road, has a demo Sizmik 10.25 subwoofer he wants to shift, so I'm borrowing it tonight to try out in No.2 system. It's a lot cheaper than new, but it's still quite expensive, so if it wants bought, it had better be good...
 
Originally posted by PBirkett
I am finding I am really, REALLY enjoying my kit, and I dont feel the need to improve it, or stress about whether this or that could be better. I know it can be bettered.
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Paul, well done! You have reached the first plateau. You have achieved a hifi which can now give you satisfaction for the next three years or so. By then, you will find that your system doesn't seem to sound as good as it does now. You will want more of this and less of that. A bit smoother perhaps. Or more thwack. Or whatever. Also by then, you will likely have a better job and a bit more cash to spend and you can reach for the next plateau and another three years of hifi bliss. I'm on my third plateau now with at least two more years to go :)
 
Originally posted by Saab
....sufferers cannot hear the music,they are just constantly admiring theit system and how great it sounds.The worst sympton of this is the patient stops listening to their fave 70s rock because the recordings are so poor it annoys the patient to the point of madness the only known cure is 2 hours forced listening of the Sex Pistols on vinyl
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Nah, I just krank up the processing on my Peavey Kosmos:

http://www.peavey.com/news/ledzeppelin.cfm

[about the price of a cable]
 
Sounds like we may be witnessing the birth of the ZG retreat, a place to go and contemplate the modern diseaseââ'¬Â¦..anyone know if straw matting is good for a listening room? My lotus sutra reading sounds too bassy on my current system. Can I get speakers in a Saffron finish to match my robes?:D
 
Originally posted by Heavymental
..anyone know if straw matting is good for a listening room?
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All depends really. We have rush matting, naturally. I don't think you'd want to put your equipment on top of it :p
 
Paul, having read your posts for the past year i must say you post something similar to this thread every 3-4 months!Have u been smoking weed again:D its totally cool when u have these feelings but we all know its an on going cycle, there are times when u r very satisfied with your system and think"no upgrading for me anymore" Ive been stuck in this stage for a while thanx to my girlfriend as she's always telling me to save my money and be happy with what ive got. But i can assure you that i will DEFINATELY be upgrading within 6months coz its all part of the upgraditis cycle! You've done a couple of years worth of headphone upgrading in the las 6months!Im not surprised you've reached a short moment of satisfaction. You're lucky the headphone market doesnt churn out new gear every month like they do in the world of home cinema.Enjoy your moment of bliss while you can, am looking forward to your next headphone review;)

Ultra:D
 
Blimey we're all getting a bit philosophical today aren't we ;) .

Mr Data, has it closest in my view ;) .

The epicureans might suggest that upgraditus results from being unhappy with life in general, but failing to understand what it is that would make us truly happy, we go for a temporary substitute - in our cases a new bit of kit. Unfortunately because it wasn't the state of our hifi that was making us unhappy in the first place, it only works temporarily and so the cycle starts again. Advertisers collude in this by trying to convince us that we could only be truly happy if we owned their kit or by slyly implying that however good we think we have it, it could be better, if only ....

Drugs, drink, shopping, CDs, videos, gadgets, magazines, new cars, exotic holidays etc etc. all have intrinsic value in themselves, but are all often used as happiness substitutes. Epicurus' view was that to be happy we need to be independent (possibly even self sufficient), friendship and time to contemplate. Without these things he felt you could never be truly happy. I don't think he meant that was all you need, just that without these things you wouldn't be, and if you thought yu were, you'ld just be fooling yourself - quite possibly by means of a new equipment support.

Of course that could all be b****x. :MILD:

PPS. No I'm not suggesting we are all deeply unhappy saddoes who are addicted to buying expensive shiny boxes .... but in some cases ... Hmmm
 
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Originally posted by joel
All depends really. We have rush matting, naturally. I don't think you'd want to put your equipment on top of it :p
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I'd recommend superballs on Tatami mats.



Upgradeitus can remain dormant for years but, once you're contracted it, there's no real cure.

Originally posted by Uncle Ants
Epicurus' view was that to be happy we need to be independent (possibly even self sufficient), friendship and time to contemplate. Without these things he felt you could never be truly happy.
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The Buddha said that the way to end suffering is through acceptance of our systems.

... I think I'll go for suffering.
 
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My last words for a while........

Seeking happiness through upgrading is like trying to quench your thirst with sea water.
 
Originally posted by 7_V
I'd recommend superballs on Tatami mats
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Even more effective is to remove said tatami and place equipment directly on reinforced concrete below.
I already put my superballs on the tatami every evening.
 
Like Ultrasonic says, this isn't the first time you've said this paul ;)

Good luck to you paul mate, and it's great you're at a point where you feel happy to stay :)

I think that the "threat" is when you hear something new and that gets your interest up again. My advice, don't leave the house! keep your cans stuck to your head and never open your eyes :)

Enjoy the music mate :)

And I look forward to a similar post in a few MOnths time :p
 

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