I also think finance (lack of) in the first decades of my hifi journey undoubtedly played a part in moulding my approach to hifi spending, Like some others when I first left the parental home music play was a fundamental part of my life, and furnishing of my first home comprised my hifi and a bed, plus a family donated sofa and rickety table and chairs. Mortgage and costs of living limited progressing the hifi towards its ultimate goal, and the limited disposable income for many years made it important for anything spent on hifi to have to count, and even buying music was limited to only thing I really liked, not just music that was ok.
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Very much so, in my view. The metadata might not have the flexibility of say dBPoweramp but ripping a CD and editing is a doddle, equally installing a download from a USB stick is straightforward, although in that case essential to edit the meta before transfer. But the overriding factor sonically in my opinion itâs a considerably more rewarding listen.
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⌠but then, spiritual enlightenment notwithstanding, youâll just want to upgrade your rosary, brewery or meadery.
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Superficially this question presupposes that the thrill is only apparent at the point of acquisition, and that further acquisitions are necessary to maintain said thrill. However, it is perfectly possible to continue to be thrilled by what has been acquired. It depends if you believe in Nirvana.
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@Jaybar you could always experiment with the XLR-XLR balanced connection between 333 & 332. A pair of decent Mogami interconnects can be had for about $70. You might be surprised. I know I was.
G
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This is an excellent discussion, with someone very insightful comments on need and want.
Just like to add my thoughts on the subject I personally have never had any interest in Hi Fi for Hi Fi sake. Itâs always the music that has driven me to upgrade.
I have collected first Vinyl then called LPs from a very early age, CDs in the 80s /90s then back to vinyl.
The gear was always a means to an end.
As some once said itâs all about the music 
I just want to hear whats on the record.
So no the thrill of my upgrade path has always been hearing whatâs been hiding in the grooves
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Not even a soupçon of excitement when connecting the next upgrade in anticipation of what more could be elicited from the groove; olives notwithstanding?
Completely agree
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The question there is how to make the switch if someone is stuck in active acquisition mode. It should be easy if what has been purchased meshes well to give a great and satisfying sound, and if not perhaps that is the issue.
I feel that if people crave more virtually immediately then either they have chosen the wrong gear/combination or there is something fundamentally wrong with their room/setup, or they have something mentally limiting âŚor they are listening to the wrong music. (On that latter point, it might be significant that many people in this s position seem to be jazz listeners - so maybe lack of satisfaction hardly surprising )
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What has brought me a sense of peace and happiness after a lifetime of box swapping ,is having two good systems at ( for me) different ends of spectrum , both simply lovely ( go max!!).
My Ikemi Nait50 Evo system is a marvelous non intense listening experience , but when i move to the main rig ,all the better characteristics just slap you in the face and im blown away each time . Moving back to Ikemi Nait50 Evo is just like coming off the high âŚ.gently
Yes, final answer
Q: âHoney, why do we seem to have spent the house deposit on hifi again?â
A: âItâs a jazz thing.â
Great conversation regarding a subject that the older you get with greater financial commitments and maturity seems less important than the pleasure you get from exploring new music. A typical example is the Mary Chapin Carpenter collaborative album Looking For The Thread.
On my system the album touches the emotions and the soul but has led me to investigate the other female artists on this album and I now have increased my music collection with Gaelic and traditional music that I wouldnât have normally purchased.
I think itâs great to get to a place and point in time that you enter the music room sit down with a nice glass of red and realize you are so lost in the music that you donât sit worrying about how old your cables are or would a change of support being this or that improvements. Buy more music!
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Youâll know youâre done when you can listen to the music and not be thinking about tweaks and upgrades. Iâve only had two Naim set ups in 26 years where I was happy and not wanting to upgrade or tweak.
Given that I got a nice break on my amp it will end up about the same as for two HRS EXR racks (not counting the isolation bases).
Are you at the point where you no longer want to upgrade? @ElMarko
I donât suppose it ever really does. I have arrived at a system which sounds great and with which I am entirely happy. But it doesnât stop me wondering âwhat if?â And, in my mind, I map out potential upgrades if I should suddenly find myself with large amounts of money I donât know what to do with!
I scratch the itch by helping other people upgrade their systems - probably to their annoyance. I recently bought my daughter a new system!
Yes, Iâm happy with my system. Spending my $ on Qobuz downloads now.
Iâm delighted to say I find myself in that position.
Iâve heard loads of expensive systems at various shows.
Some are better than my modest set up but in all honesty not that much better that makes me hanker after them.
My speakers are probably the weak spot in my system and for 2 years I have been inclined to replace with a budget of up to ÂŁ10 k and whilst I havenât been actively demoing every month Iâve genuinely not heard anything in that range that is such a noticeable improvement that would make me part with my hard earned
That said Iâm due a home demo of the Dynaudio Contour Legacy and have high hopes for them having heard them 12 months ago at the Acoustica show and they sounded fab.
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