An emotional response

[anon96879789]

Hi Kipstryker,

what kind of musician are you?
Best
M.

[Kipstryker]

Not a very good one…
I am a competent guitarist. Rock and metal. I get paid, but its not my career. I gave up trying that over 30 years ago

[anon96879789]

Funnily, I might say more or less the same for myself, but I didn’t get paid.
My career was in music, anyway, although the guitar is still my secret lover - or I wish it was, and it’s my neglected wife instead…

[anon33182107]

@Blackmorec

With almost 50 years of listening to music and making upgrades I have defined 2 basic types of improvement. Cosmetic, where sound improvements can clearly be heard but are soon assimilated and enjoyment levels over the long term remain the same and; Fundamental, where upgrades change the level of appreciation of the music and continue to impact and fundamentally uplift the level of enjoyment at every listen.

I completely agree with this and my experience has been exactly the same.

If I had to pinpoint one defining moment in all my 50 years of hi-fi ownership it would have to be when I first got a Linn LP12. It completely and fundamentally changed the way I listened to music. I felt a strong emotional connection that I simply hadn’t experienced before. All the cosmetic stuff that I believed up until then to be the only thing that mattered suddenly became irrelevant. With this level of emotional involvement who cared if the treble was a bit rough or if the midrange had a little forwardness or whatever.

I now look for that kind of improvement when I upgrade or add anything to my set-up. If something fails to move me closer to the music then to me it’s not a real upgrade, however nice it might be.