The defense rests, your honor!

[Oldfogey]

A fairly long period, (for me), of rediscovering and just enjoying my music again has made me realize a few things. Nothing profound, mind you.

I do enjoy listening for the emotion it stirs in me; wonder, regret, joy, guilt, anger, silliness, pain, the whole gamut of memories that come back when a song is played.

Then again, when my friends are in my music room, we inevitably gravitate outside, to talk, drink, and end up not listening. And most are music-loving friends (you know who you are!)

My acquisitive, obsessive-compulsive days are over. To wit, I probably have enough tubes to last my lifetime, maybe more. I don't want any more audiophile-grade cords or tweaks.

I can quite happily live with my eleven year old preamp, eight year old speakers, and the rest of my gear till I am deaf.

Less can be more. When I stopped obsessing over the "next great" improvement possible, I felt so liberated. Aaaaaaah, now to enjoy that glass of wine!

Change could be a constant in our hobby. But after a few spins on the giant ferris wheel of audio, I've decided to get off, let others enjoy the ride, and just enjoy an ice cream cone.

"It's been a long time since the book of love,
I can't count the tears of a life with no love"

[sinar]

hi jovy. same case with me. i'm done with with equipment upgrade. very happy with i have. sa yoyo na lang tayo gumastos.

[dante]

I told myself this a year or so ago. Until the itch started again, and I went on a minor acquisition binge that has since died down and has not flared up again the past few months. So far so good... and I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my checkbook locked!

[arnoldc]

Audio equipment upgrade? Ano yun?

[BingoDelMar]

Yay... Are you sure fellows?

[arnoldc]

Listen to the music! Not the gear!

Damn, I didn't know even Ken Rockwell will figure it out

[keith]

Nice one Jovs.

I agree with you on that. I've stayed with my current system for two years now. The only itch I have is to do small tweaks. The occasional change a cable, or upgrade a cap or tube may happen. But the speaker and electronics will likely stay for good.

They say it's the journey, and I believe them. My further tweaking has been with the 45 SET amp, which gives me a change of flavor. My primary power amp will likely remain the ML2.1.


... unless I come across enough money that will encourage me to upgrade to the newer ML2.2.

[BingoDelMar]

There you go! and I'll be damn...

[O.D. Yeo]

I probably have enough tubes to last my lifetime, maybe more. I don't want anymore audiophile-grade cords or tweaks.

I can quite happily live with my eleven year old preamp, eight year old speakers, and the rest of my gear till I am deaf.

+1
. . . but then, do you have any 6550s in your stash? Mine just died and I could use a spare set.

[muypogi]

I do hope my coming speaker upgrade (c/o fld) will rid me of the upgraditis for a long time on the speaker front. . .

Again, as always, once you change something major in your system, it's either swak or back to the drawing board for matching components. . .

[rtsyrtsy]

Jovy,

I share your sentiments.

I've not done anything with my system since going analog. At this point, the weakest link in my chain is the room and I'm simply not in a position to address that right now. So any upgrade to the rest of the chain is mostly an exercise in fiscal imprudence.

I still go on the occasional music shopping spree. That also changed a bit as I now buy from iTunes and have not had a delivery of vinyl for a long time.

A vast majority of my listening is done on an MP3 player and an in-ear monitor.

Regrets, I have none! Though last time I was in Manila and I heard your system as well as the Naims and Magicos at AA, I still found listening quite a bit of fun.

I recently suffered what's called a Jones fracture that caused me to crawl the last kilometer of the 10km race at the Dubai Marathon. I'm in a cast for at least 4 weeks and if I end up needing a screw in my metatarsal (25% of the cases of this fracture require an operation), another 4-6 weeks. Maybe I'd listen more seriously. Maybe not. This said, last night, my wife and I caught up on the TV series Parenthood. I have a feeling you and Lisa would enjoy it.

Where we are now in the hobby is a good place. Either net worth goes up or the cash flows to another hobby like Sinar's new toys. We can devote time to other important things--like good hummus!

[JackD201]

I'm very happy too but not resting

For now my twin addictions to software and hardware continues albeit I am much, much more focused

[bonghiskan]

Currently, I am very happy with this hobby and there is no signs of slowing down. It turned out into a family affair, spending quality time with my kids while I teach them how to adjust bias, adjust mixer on the fly (for school performance), terminate and test interconnects and sometimes having a brainstorming session trying to come up with solution to their friends (possible next generation techie or performers) audio/video integration problems. Foraging (or scrounging, ha ha) garage sales, thriftshops and craigslist for cheap/free softwares or useable audio mediums, besides listening to music is the wifes forte.
So satisfied that I finally am enjoying the music of my labor.

And my man, oldfogey, master, I know that you want to slow down and enjoy life, but dont you quit on us now. Me, grasshopper, dependent on your kind of experience and guidance to keep us riding the wheel.

[ihatejazz]

A fairly long period, (for me), of rediscovering and just enjoying my music again has made me realize a few things. Nothing profound, mind you.

I do enjoy listening for the emotion it stirs in me; wonder, regret, joy, guilt, anger, silliness, pain, the whole gamut of memories that come back when a song is played.

Then again, when my friends are in my music room, we inevitably gravitate outside, to talk, drink, and end up not listening. And most are music-loving friends (you know who you are!)

My acquisitive, obsessive-compulsive days are over. To wit, I probably have enough tubes to last my lifetime, maybe more. I don't want anymore audiophile-grade cords or tweaks.

I can quite happily live with my eleven year old preamp, eight year old speakers, and the rest of my gear till I am deaf.

Less can be more. When I stopped obsessing over the "next great" improvement possible, I felt so liberated. Aaaaaaah, now to enjoy that glass of wine!

Change could be a constant in our hobby. But after a few spins on the giant ferris wheel of audio, I've decided to get off, let others enjoy the ride, and just enjoy an ice cream cone.

"It's been a long time since the book of love,
I can't count the tears of a life with no love"

aye, Mr. 50 aka RM..............what's next?

[Oldfogey]

Thanks, all, for your wonderful posts.

Sinar, mahal rin ang mga yoyo, and I only have two wrists!

Russ, come back soon for more hummus and wine!

Arnold, I'm staying where I am. Any upgrade will be in Naim only, hehehe

Keith, bravo! Let's see each other soon at my place. Drag Jack along.

Dante, yes, it's like quitting smoking, I've done it a few times. But this time feels like it's for good. Just want to sit back and not think about soundstage, bass, mids, highs. Oh, highs are ok

IHJ, what's next? Hopefully a wine tour by barge in Burgundy, soaking in the sun, eating fresh croissants with artisanal cheese, smelling the flowers, sipping some good Pinot Noir.

[kabubi]

what's next? Hopefully a wine tour by barge in Burgundy, soaking in the sun, eating fresh croissants with artisanal cheese, smelling the flowers, sipping some good Pinot Noir.

great thread. i certainly can relate to it

classy guy this "Oldfogey". i even think he should change his handle to "OlePogi"

[O.D. Yeo]

what's next? Hopefully a wine tour by barge in Burgundy, soaking in the sun, eating fresh croissants with artisanal cheese, smelling the flowers, sipping some good Pinot Noir.

great thread. i certainly can relate to it

classy guy this "Oldfogey". i even think he should change his handle to "OlePogi"

Don't forget the beer tour in Belgium! Or have you also gotten off this 'ferris wheel'?

[dante]

IHJ, what's next? Hopefully a wine tour by barge in Burgundy, soaking in the sun, eating fresh croissants with artisanal cheese, smelling the flowers, sipping some good Pinot Noir.

I'm giving my liver a rest for the next year or so, but I'm game for the barge tour sans the alcohol! Group buy for the tour?