At the end of the audio hunt, what's next?

[JLM]

Don't know if others have thought about this, but I want some semblance of balance in my life, so I have a total price tag in mind for my audio and HT systems.  This balance issue could make for a whole new thread.  I consider myself very fortunate to be living at a time with all these marvelous technologies, including the internet for finding so many valuable resources (you all included) and to have money to put into this pastime. 

Today I shipped my babies (Fostex F200A drivers) off to be EnABL'd by the man himself (Bud Purvine).  The F200A drivers, for those who aren't familiar, are one of very few drivers rated 30 - 20,000 Hz, have a cast frame with huge AlNiCo magnet, and currently retail for about $400 each.  I've been using them for 5 years in mass loaded transmission line cabinets that I commissioned Bob Brines to design/build (what he calls FTA-2000) based on the seminal Martin King MathCad application for designing transmission line cabinets.  Bud was instrumental in development of the EnABL treatment for improving pistonic action of extended range drivers but is perhaps better known as the owner of O-Netics that builds electrical transformers.  According to Bud, EnABL works especially well with the F200A, transforming them from also rans in the universe of respected extended range drivers to world beaters.  I'm a speaker guy, so it was hard pulling the F200A's from their nest, bolting them to plywood, and sticking them in a box for shipment across the continent to a stranger.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share.  Once the F200As safely return, and with a couple of upgrades from earlier this year, my plans for upgrading the audio system will be complete.  My listening room is nearly ideal (short of extreme measures).  The monoblocks are known to synergize well with single driver designs.  I've got a nice new transport.  The modded Behringer DEQ2496 does all the EQ functions and serves as my DAC.  All cabling is new and supposedly top of the line.  Being a KISS kind of guy this single source system uses stepped attenuators, so no pre-amp.  So what's next?  To keep some balance in life I don't want to spend more (well maybe a bit more on room treatments).  Collect more music?  Wait for the next great improvement in audio?  Find a new hobby (rather than the audio hunt)?

[bmr3hc]

Sounds to me like you have arrived at the point of simply enjoying your music. That is what this is all about. If you stay on that road, the enjoyment of music itself will always be fun and exciting. My suggestion is to explore the world of acoustic treatment for your room. Too many of us spend  too much money on equipment and much of nothing on acoustic, which is just as important as the good equipment. You will hear an improvement there which can be bigger than some equipment upgrade. Finally, spend some time listening to live music. That is always money well spent. You will likely have a much better appreciation of your good equipment and the money you spent on it, trying to duplicate live music.

Henry

[Bigfish8]

At the end of the audio hunt, what's next?

This is a very interesting question and I think the answer for me, personally, is to first address this question.  Is the goal to complete a musical system or is it a real thrill to experiment with the impact of new gear?  I think when one becomes an audiophile you may be reasonably happy with your system but there is always something new you want to add/try.  This hobby really has similarities to golf - really!  In Golf you typically play with others but you are always trying to improve on your previous best score.  In Audio you are trying to make yourself happy by building the best sounding system, to your ears.  Hell, 95% of your friends will think all of our systems sound great because most have never heard a quality audio system!  Therefore, in the end, we build our systems to satisfy ourselves!

Ken

[JLM]

Henry,

I agree with the treatments.  We built a house 4 years ago and I got an audio mancave.  The room was proportioned and setup ala Cardas.  Staggered stud walls, insulated duct, sealed/insulated exterior door, dedicated electrical audio circuits, and already have 6 GIK 244 panels.  My speakers are minimally reactive to the room (transmission line bass roll-off and 8 inch whizzerless drivers that "beam" high frequencies).  Then I added a DEQ.

Ken,

Yes the equipment hunt is a big part of the pastime. 


Do others have a system budget in mind?

[mdconnelly]

Ken, nice analogy.   To me, there really are two primary motivating factors.

1) The music - well, duh, right?   Music has always been a passion for me, whether it's listening in the dark of night to a system that is sounding awesome, or going to a live event or attempting to play an instrument.  All about music, yet all using different parts of the brain and heart.

2) The pursuit of knowledge and experience for and about audio equipment and musical playback... This is where online forums like AN and AC, the local G2Gs, the trade rags, and the hours spent 'trying' new and different equipment and tweaks come into play.   We rationalize that this is what's needed to achieve #1, but I suspect it's really a different internal motivation that we choose to focus our passion for music.  I have a brother who is very musically gifted, yet his audio equipment is decidedly mid-fi.  But... his investment in musical instruments and recording equipment makes our hobby look cheap.  The nervosa is strong in that one, yet his love and enjoyment of music is well over the top.

So, for me, there is no end to the hunt.  Sure, there are frequent forced sabbaticals (due to lack of funds, time and/or spousal support , and there are times when I just need to set aside the nervosa and enjoy the music.  But I always seem to return to the hunt from one direction or another.

[Carlman]

My advice:
At the end of the hunt, relax, sit back, and reflect on everything that has happened over the years to get to where you are.  After spending so much effort hunting, I find it difficult to learn how to relax and be satisfied with not hunting.  It's part of my nature to start something new and master it.  Once mastered, I tend to move on.  However, I am trying to learn how to appreciate what I've mastered rather than leave it.

One thing that revives satisfaction (temporarily)...
I've never tried to impress others but somehow that usually happens.. And it's nice to hear those compliments, mainly because I see them interested and excited because they're experiencing something new and maybe learning something.   They can only appreciate it at a 'macro' level generally... Our local members appreciate it much deeper.. so I tune into their comments more.

At the end of the day, it's your system.  Whatever state it's in, it's finished for now.  (if it plays music)  Since right now is all you really can control, just enjoy it.  If something new happens and you enjoy that too, you'll find time for all of it.  If you're a hunter, you'll fill your time hunting.  Just check in with yourself and make sure that's really what you want to do.

-C

[rollo]

    If one can truly say they are done great. Until we experience say SET sound, SS sound a mix of the two sound the hunt continues. Along the way of our journey we pause for a while with a sound we like. Then we hear another combo . The senses aroused we hunt.
   After a while when we are seasoned hunters we now know what game we desire for consumption. So we prepare our lairs for the feast. The dedicated room. OK lair done now lets hunt again. Why ? Why, because its in our blood. At least mine, my personality as a type "O" [ the hunters] goes a long way.
   So far the hunt has ended with SET and line arrays. Recently upgraded our TT with a better power supply. Its a thrill to rediscover your music collection. Hearing more info than before and with better tonality.
   So if you are truly done , my advice rediscover your music collection. Play everything you own, especially music you have NOT heard in a long time. The old favorites that have been with you will tell the tale. Its in our genetic makeup good luck.



charles 
 

[shep]

Hmm. This strikes at the very heart of the Nervosa! I like the hunter analogy Charles. It says something. So we love the chase, sometimes even more than when we got the game? I agree that we should be satisfied with a level of achievement (and the knowledge accumulated along the way) and just sit back, breath a sigh of relief and bask in the soundscape. BUT...how many of us do this before boredom and that infernal itch called curiosity set in and we go off into the bush looking for spore? There's a fine line between obsessive/compulsive behavior and the justified search for understanding and better sound. I have crossed that line too many times to pretend...and don't we love new toys??? I think this is an eminently male thing. I asked this once on AC. It appears there is one female audiophile for 1000 men, or something along those lines. That's another subject admittedly. I'm rambling...I've had this discussion, at various levels, many times over the years, and I always ending up feeling that I have to justify myself. What I don't like is putting the gear before the musical experience all too often. I am oddly grateful that my financial means are so far below my audio greed. I would be a basket case if I had the wherewithal to per-sue this to the insane lengths my compulsive side would like. Even though I exceeded the budget I set for myself this time out by a large margin, I still managed to arrive at what I would consider the beginning of a serious hi-end system for 2 grand, and with far more understanding of what and why and how I got here than in years past when I could indulge. I'm actually quite proud of this. Now if only I could send my Cdp to England for a level three upgrade... get a life kid! Oh yeah it's a serious pleasure when a total newbie or even someone with good ears and little experience says "wow. Makes one feel worthwhile!

[Ecramer]

Sit back and listen. Do an evaluation in six months and see if your still happy. Ive been to two RMAF and still came back and sat down and was happy with my system, not my room which i know needs major work but he over all sound i was very happy. the big change i made recently was the quicksilver ms-190 that I snagged, but that's one of those pieces you have to get when it is available. zI think its time i set up a second system to play with and leave the big rig alone foe a while. now if i could find some one who has a DeHavilland UltraVerve they wernt using ii'd be happy

ED

[bacobits]

At the end of the audio hunt, what's next?

DEATH!


D

[JLM]

After nearly 40 years into audio, I have strong biases.  It's been a very long time since I preferred another system to my own, but I'm open to the suggestions of others.  I know it could be better, but the costs and trade-offs wouldn't be worth it.  Most of us are well into the realm of subjectivity as much as objectivity.

For now I'm content to wait for music servers to become cheaper and much more user friendly.  The iTouch/Wadia 170i approach is intriguing, but the limited storage and battery life need to be improved.

[AcidJazz]

After the hunt, its hit the showers, kick back with a spliff the size of a giant thumb and enjoy the prize...with a bonfire crackling away to the right. 

[bmr3hc]

I used to enjoy the hunt. But now i'm just trying to get back to what I once lost during the hunt; The trophy prize of musical pleasure that moves the soul. I'm still searching or hunting as it goes. I just don't enjoy the hunt as much any more. But the music still moves me to keep searching uh hunting until I am satisfied. And, I will know when I get there because I have been there before.

Henry

[AcidJazz]

The question then becomes...are you the man you once were, when you were there in some distant time past?

[bmr3hc]

In the words of Toby Keith, " I ain't as good as I once was, I got a few years on me now, but I am as good once , as I ever was."
Thats my story and I am sticking to it...hehehe

Henry