The absence of desire doesn’t mean the absence of enjoyment and pleasure . It means it’s possible to not catch things with our ego .
In all cases it can’t be achieved voluntary.
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Built a wall to keep the Picts up North. Made nice amphitheatres that are still standing, albeit a bit tatty these days. Invented underfloor heating. Given Grammar school children a hard time…
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Je suis désolé mais… je ne comprend pas cette phrase. Quelle est la phrase en français?
Curious to know your age.
Back to soundstage – I’ve jumped over 30 or so posts about something.
Anyway - soundstage. I appreciate the holographic soundstage. But if good sound were to REQUIRE me to sit in the magic spot, it’s not for me. We live in the room and good off-axis sound is essential.
My Magico A3s happen to be very nice off-axis. That’s important to me. More listening happens off-axis then when in that one spot right between the speakers.
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I use Roon procedural EQ to compensate for listening position. Unfortunately (fortunately?) my family generally have no interest in listening with me so generally always have the sweet spot available. During market hours, my location is slightly outside the zone but minor changes gets vey close to the real deal. At one point my intention was to calculate precise adjustment levels but currently not a pressing concern. Though it might be interesting to see how far soundstage can be rotated.
In my experience, not entirely true. Although level of expectations vary with individuals, the level of enjoyment will be dependent on the sound quality of the assembled gear and speakers. One can stay content if the sound quality of the system ticks most boxes. In other words, it sounds pleasant and does very little wrong. On the other hand, if the system sounds off contributed by a mismatch in component and speaker, then one will not stay content with the system UNLESS the listener has low expectations and accepts the poor sounding system to be somewhat enjoyable.
Case in point, when I first tried the Harbeth SHL5 speakers I swapped 6 or 7 amp combinations in the first year of ownership in an attempt to salvage the speakers as they sounded dull with all those amps. I finally settled with the Naim NAC202/NAP200 where my level of expectation was met, and I stayed content for about 7 years before the upgrade bug hit. Now, this is the point where I agree the enjoyment level will be the same soon after the purchase. To expand on this, although there is an improvement in sound quality with the new purchase which elevated the system to a higher level of performance, the difference will be soon forgotten after a while and the level of enjoyment will stay the same as before. I believe this was the message that you conveyed.
I would agree that the level of enjoyment derived from the new gear (in this thread the Rossini) will soon be forgotten. Nevertheless, this does not negate the fact that the Bartok sounds different from the Rossini. The reality is the listener enjoys listening to the Bartok and now derives higher level of enjoyment listening to the Rossini as shown on this thread. In my case, it is different as I did not enjoy listening to the Harbeth driven by a myriad of amps (which include the Nait XS) and was somehow forced to try different amps to attain the emotional connection that was missing.
There were many other instances where I was forced to upgrade to seek the connection. Another one of those experiences was with the Musical Fidelity M1 DAC. I bought it used after reading the rave reviews on the internet but it turned out to be a disappointment. I kept it for about 2 to 3 years, thinking that digital was a lost cause and could not drastically sound any better. I was actually listening to CDs although the sound quality from the CD player wasn’t really that impressive. Everything changed when I got a Chord DAC into the system. Now I can safely say that I am content at where I am and no longer have the urge to upgrade the Chord QBD76 although there is the DAVE which is sonically superior.
I am fortunate to have reached a place where I stay content with all my current amps and speakers. Pardon the ramble.
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Yes i agree. I suppose my post was meant with the assumption that there is already a level of balance and satisfaction with the system and that the upgrade is just an advancement of that. The op has a thread describing eargasms from the Bartok and then soon after another thread detailing how the Rossini is way better. I am sure it is. I just suppose i don’t understand why it was swapped out so soon. If i were to invest in a source like that id intend on living with it for 10 years at least. I should probably just keep out of it as i don’t really know what it’s like to have that much money to throw around on these things. One thing i do know is that the price does not necessarily correlate with enjoyment or long term satisfaction. I suppose if you can afford it then why not.
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It’s is perplexing to upgrade from the bestest thing to a potentially betterbestest thing in such a short period. Not my typical behavior. The decision was made as a result of FOMO from significant price increase on August 1, dealer gave me 100% trade on the Bartok, he also took in two additional dacs, the headphone amp in the Bartok was fairly expensive and not convenient to use, dealer offered 100% trade in against the Vivaldi replacement when released, Bartok was more enjoyable with headphones than speakers, thought Rossini might give Bartok headphone level experience with speakers, and the typical audiophile brain syndrome.
In the end the deal was quite “reasonable“. Still need a headphone amp though… Oh… another reason is the fact I’m not getting any younger. Probably only have 4-5 years of decent hearing assuming I live that long. That was a factor.
My personal experience is that after getting a NDX in 2014, I never felt a need to upgrade. I did buy a few dacs but that was more from curiosity vs dissatisfaction. Would still have the NDX + SN2 if my nd5 hadn’t died and the green screen on the NDX hadn’t failed. Weird how that works.
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Well that’s a pretty good deal on the trade in. Sorry, I don’t mean to have you explain your reasons. Maybe if I were older and I could afford it I’d also do the same if the opportunity presented itself. I hope you enjoy many hours of listening bliss and that you get your headphone performance from your speakers. 
Are you finished with the Atom HE Bartok comparison?
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Still working on that. Hope to have it written by Monday. Turns out making objectively meaningful subjective comparisons is difficult.
Subjectively meaningful objective comparisons are even harder… 
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“ not catch things with our ego” means in french “ ne pas appréhender les choses à travers notre ego “
I can be in another room from my system playing - sorting out the dishwasher, and still get the effect of that dog barking behind my right shoulder
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Same… although it’s actually the dog.
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And let’s face it, could even the Romans keep order in a forum like this?
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By unleashing the lions…
Oh hey… this post made me remember Magico exists. Now I’m getting a pair of S5s. Thanks.
I thought I was an atypical Naim-ee in striving for a system that images well and was able to portray depth well. I’ve been told by various dealers that PRAT is what defines a Naim system and that imaging and depth are pointless “audiophile” concepts that are artificially generated and that should not be the goal of a Naim system. In any case, it’s good to find that so many Naim devotees highly value the portrayal of imaging and depth in an audio system!
I’m not sure why a dealer would talk to you like that. I certainly disagree with the “pointless” part!
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