Ken, Hey what happened to fishing?
It is highly contagious, because of the quest for the feeling of intimate live musical performance on demand is so tempting, and also in our case because so many nice guys working together to learn and discover makes it a social event too. The forums show us about so much new stuff that we just gotta try it and see. Deeper down the rabbit hole we gooooooooo. You seem to be very susceptible to the plague, having jumped in both feet fearless right from the start. I'm so sorry....
I can't wait to hear your rig. It must be awesome.
I have been thinking about this "anyone content" question a lot since I took a week vacation away from the stereo and forums. I remember back to when I was a kid listening to music 10 hours a day on a ceramic cartridge record player and boom box amp. It was just as good then as it is now from musical standpoint. I was discovering new music that later became very important to me, so it was even better than it is now. Sometimes I wonder if I am in the rabbit hole looking out at the clear sky thinking, "I must be crazy! All I need is Coltrane and headphones." Even the car stereo sounds pretty good from that perspective.
But then I have a night like last night listening to Leon Fleisher's "Two Hands" solo piano album, Shubert Piano Sonata, at midnight, dead quiet, lights out, everyone asleep except the dishwasher. I can hear him breathing, singing along, chair squeaking, the mighty rumble of the Steinway low octaves and delicate whispers of his right hand. I am falling asleep, but gotta hang on til the end, so beautiful. Makes me think it's not so bad being crazy. The car radio never made me feel like this.
So last night my neighbor calls me for some help connecting his HT rig. I thought to myself, this is how it starts. A guy just wants to hear some tunes now and then, or watch a movie with his wife at home. I decided then and there to prevent him from catching audionervosa from me. Let the guy enjoy his entertainment without thinking it could be better if only... He is happy and excited to get a big LCD and HD-DVD player. Sharing his joy and anticipation will be fun. I thought about giving him some back issues of Perfect Vision, or Sound & Vision, but that will make him aware of what can be, and tempt him to taste the fruit. He has twin high school daughters. He does not need an audio obsession right now. On second thought, he is a big boy and can handle it...
Some people are very resistant. Another neighbor, close friends, used to be a wannabe audiophile, learning from magazines but listening to receiver. He had a tough month at work with all nighter software rollouts, etc. So I brought the Cary and BG speakers over there and set them up in his office for a surprise. He loved it too much, staying up late digging it. He was afraid he would fall in and need it. He asked me to take it back after a week. Funny! He is my target for corruption. He hasn't heard the Legacys yet.
Rich