A tough one I know, but a slightly alcohol fueled listening session has made me realise that I am very happy with my current setup.
Chain is as follows
ND5XS
Chord Qutest with stock PSU and no fancy digital interconnect
Witch Hat Morgana
SN1 with HiCap DR
Witch Hat Phantom
Dynaudio Audience 50 ( 20 + years old)
It sounds pretty damned spot on…
Most recent addition was the the Morgana which was a game changer. I have been toying with the idea of a speaker upgrade, but no see no need now.
Have I been cured of Upgraditus?
Anyone else reached this plane of contentment?
Pretty much the same level of contentment here too.
The kit seems somehow less important; it always does what you hope it would, allowing us to focus on the music.
It’s taken a while to get to this point though (!)
My compact retirement system has settled down now and I am very happy with it. Last I installed was a Puritan dc-blocker/mains filter (the non-destructive type) which gave a surprisingly audible improvement and it is their economy model!
Interesting how things happen…. Following setting up my hybrid speaker combination (PMC IB1i for bass, home brew satellite sitting on to with ATC’s wonderful 3” dome mid, and a Scanspeak tweeter, driven actively), the last mod four years ago having been a DIY upgrade of the active XO (improved clock and analog buffers), I’ve been so content with it that I have had no urge whatsoever to do anything with my system, not even try one or two simple setup variations that at that point I had intended to assess.
At the time of buying the EB1s, I did audition one speaker model that sounded better - the best speakers I had ever heard (PMC MB2): but my head ruled over my heart, considering both cost and physical manageability as I get older. Then 4 weeks ago by chance I saw an advert for a pair of MB2s at a price that immediately grabbed me - so at the time being only 100 miles away and with a van, I had them by the end of the day. Now my system has changed, which is great, but there are a few options I need to assess, and the process has triggered other thoughts … the question is will contentment suspend anything else happening, or do I need to go through a few things to reach contentment again?
That is very true, “source leap frogging” has been an issue. Upgrade the TT/arm/cart, then the streamer doesn’t sound so good. I must admit I haven’t listened to any vinyl since getting the Morgana’s …
With the NDX2 into nDAC/555PSDR we’re getting hints of what our new system can do. Detail retrieval and stereo imaging is unlike anything we’ve heard, even watching telly you really notice it.
I am supremely happy with my Nova, CX2, ClearAudio Emotion, Graham Slee Reflex Harbeth P3ESR , Witch Hat Phantom, and the speakers on dedicated HiFi Racks speaker stands .
I also have a NAT 03 for times of poor internet connection.
A Naim user for thirty years who’s gone from a Nait3 to a 5 box 200 system and PMC FB1 to this.
My big ambition has been to lower the box count , I am pretty sure that in the event of having to rebuild from scratch with the same (as new budget - or new for old ) I would go for very similar.
The question to me… Is whether the satisfaction I feel down to the individual parts of the system or getting a formula that I find suits my needs ? A formula built on good quality components like the Nova, CDX2 and good quality interconnects and power cables
Example, would the Nova (with Powerline), an FM extension to the Nova, say a ProJect CD transport and a ProJect phono box , couple with LS3/5A speakers give the same degree of musical enjoyment , but go from three shelves to two shelves and go from four boxes (five with power supply for Phono stage ) to three boxes ?
The bank manager (if you can find one) are now called relationship managers, this is probably a more appropriate name during a very expensive Naim purchase to keep everyone happy.
