Vintage Asylum

Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time.

Return to Vintage Asylum

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

So this is it - I think I'm really done?????

68.54.136.2
Posted on December 14, 2014 at 15:40:22
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 I can't believe that after 30 or so years, this may be the end of the audio merry-go-round. It's like a 30 year journey through trends, fads, obsessions, ebay (the yikes years), horse trading, hiding crap and hording stereos like a pack rat.

Passing through and starting with vintage tubes, solid state, tubes, back to solid state, New solid state and finally back to vintage tubes. I'll leave out the all the sorted and disturbing speaker and cable years.

But I finally feel that my current setup really IS as good as it's going to get. My only "beef" is I wish I had a sharp looking rig with matching components. But hey, it works, it's the best sound I've ever had, so shut up and enjoy!

I'm not saying my audio buying days are over. I have a few grand in my pocket to buy myself a new stereo toy if I want too. After browsing through new and vintage audio gear, I realize just how good my setup is. I'm not going to get any thing better!!!

Perhaps one day I'll look into a new tubed integrated amp. I think that's the only area I never dove into, New tubes. But that's for another day and another time in the far far distant future.

Enjoy the holidays
charles

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: So this is it - I think I'm really done?????, posted on December 14, 2014 at 17:17:18
AudioSoul
Audiophile

Posts: 4594
Location: north central AZ
Joined: July 9, 2005
So in the beginning of your thread you tell us how this is it you are done. By the end you are telling what you are going to buy next.....hum...

 

RE: So this is it - I think I'm really done?????, posted on December 15, 2014 at 03:46:06
rosendds@frontiernet.net
Audiophile

Posts: 599
Location: North East
Joined: November 13, 2010
 It would be nice to just listen to music.

 

RE: So this is it - I think I'm really done?????, posted on December 15, 2014 at 06:11:18
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 The only area I've never tried was NEW tube audio. Any purchase from this point on would purely be more for curiosity. Not actual upgrading or replacing any piece. But an interesting piece for a secondary system.

As far as my primary system - it's finished!

Like I said, I always wanted a really sharp looking matching system. Why not make that happen for my second line system.

charles

 

RE: So this is it - I think I'm really done?????, posted on December 15, 2014 at 09:04:39
tedk.
Audiophile

Posts: 401
Location: chicagoland
Joined: July 7, 2004

+1

 

+2, posted on December 15, 2014 at 09:25:10
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 That's really where I'm at. Sitting back and enjoying. Not obsessing over what I DON'T have.

charles

 

Congrats. That is harder than kicking a heroin addiction. (nt), posted on December 15, 2014 at 15:55:15
semuta
Audiophile

Posts: 2137
Location: northern california
Joined: December 4, 2002
 nt

 

RE: So this is it - I think I'm really done?????, posted on December 16, 2014 at 04:54:03
DavidLD
Audiophile

Posts: 4884
Joined: May 29, 2002
 Sometimes,in building audio systems, (and in lots of other things in life) you get so caught up in all the issues related to what yopu are doing at the moment. People are telling you this and that, and in particular how what you are doing right now is way wrong, or often dumb or stupid, and that you need to keep messing around over and over.

An awful lot of the stuff people fuss and complain about doesn't really matter at all, but some people can't resist the urge to think it is important, anyway. Examples include really expensive interconnect wires, expensive speaker wire that would be suitable for hooking up an arc welder, and expensive caps in loudspeakers.

Me? I'm a 16-gauge zip cord and electrolytic cap kind of guy.

I basically think that perhaps as much as 90 percent of the stuff audiophiles fret over are simply in the minds of the beholders, but then I don't crawl in with the guys on the speaker forum who say they are shopping for two small bookshelf speakers and have a $2,500 budget either. Then they get them home and say "these sound pretty good except that the low end seems a little light (surprise! Surprise!) and I must need a sub. Are there any good subs out there avilable for less than $1,500? My wife is already complaining about spending the $2,500 on the two dumb little speakers which are balancing on stands to get them in the air a bit"

I'm not quite sure of what to make regarding ll this fascination with 60s tube amplification here lately. I have various solid-state receivers dating from the early 70s to the 2000's and later and they all seem to work really well. They just run and I haven't ripped them apart. I will only say for now that I think some of you are fascinated by the orange glow of tubes, and this can "color" what you think you are hearing out of your loudspeakers. My memories of the tube era are not good, as in the 1956 Philco set my parents had that seemed to blow a 12AU7A or some other tube every three months or so and I really don't want to go back there. Meanwhile MY Sherwood S-7300 just runs and haven't ripped into it and tried to do things to it I don't understand.

As I step back from my work over the years, acquiring various equipment pieces, dreaming up ideas for an HT system largely built around home-brew speakers I accumulted over the years, I smile and say to myself that SOME of this stuff really sounds pretty good, and it works whenever I turn it on. I could fret some more, but its time to sit back and enjoy, instead, and quit fretting over stuff people are talking about that doesn't really matter in the larger scheme of things.

David

 

RE: So this is it - I think I'm really done?????, posted on December 16, 2014 at 06:30:02
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 I agree with most of what you are saying.

However my choice for "glowing" about tubes is simple and not the tube placebo effect. In my "quest" for the ultimate stereo in the universe I had no intention of ever ending up with a small, bland, generic looking 20 watt vintage tube stereo with dulled pitted generic looking knobs. It even has a cover on it so you can't enjoy looking at the glowing bottles. Bottom line is it really is just a good sounding stereo. That happens to have tubes instead of transistors.

I am going purely on sound and no longer on hype and obsessions.

I do agree with you that there is a cut off point when it comes to magic cables and wires. I'm willing to spend what ever it takes on cables and I'm using RadioShack's better cable. I can hear the cable forum collecting money right now to hire a hit man to silence me.

Enjoy the holidays
It's always a pleasure to hear from you
charles

 

RE: +2, posted on December 16, 2014 at 09:53:24
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 I really do enjoy listening to the equipment I have. The problem is "what I don't have" is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to get around to rebuilding it!

Dave

 

Been there, done the same., posted on December 16, 2014 at 10:13:20
M3 lover
Audiophile

Posts: 6604
Location: SW Mich
Joined: May 29, 2005
Contributor
  Since: July 4, 2007
 charles, well done.

Longer ago that you I got into the "audio hobby" because of a love of music and a growing collection of vinyl. I wanted to improve my system to increase my listening pleasure.

But over time the component merry-go-round took over. I was spending more time reading reviews/comments, auditioning components, and changing gear than I did simply listening to music. The tail was wagging the dog!

A few years ago with that realization in mind I began to focus on finding a musically satisfying system so I could forget about "what if I changed X?" and spend my time getting back into the music. With some discipline I've now done that and the musical pleasure has returned.

BTW, I started with tubes, went back and forth with SS over the years, and ended up with tubes again. Old dogs and old tricks possibly? ;^)

"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho

 

RE: So this is it - I think I'm really done?????, posted on December 16, 2014 at 12:53:51
DavidLD
Audiophile

Posts: 4884
Joined: May 29, 2002
 I'm looking for some low-power orange LED bulbs I can string around my early 70s solid-state receivers to create the proper ambience. Maybe if the cabinet where I store my equipment glowed orange they would let me into the club.



 

really?????, posted on December 16, 2014 at 18:17:54
hifitommy
Audiophile

Posts: 15387
Location: canyon country califiornia, orig from buffalo ny
Joined: June 9, 2000
 it isn't necessary to stay on the merry-go-round but incremental changes can be made anytime. that's my approach, nothing changes unless i detect a significant chink in the armor. and even that gets scrutiny to make sure i am not wasting money and "hearing things".


...regards...tr

 

RE: So this is it - I think I'm really done?????, posted on December 17, 2014 at 09:21:24
AudioSoul
Audiophile

Posts: 4594
Location: north central AZ
Joined: July 9, 2005
I was not criticizing. I was going by my own past experience, I have said this many times over the years. Then something piques my interest...

 

I wish the music was better..., posted on December 17, 2014 at 14:29:47
BigguyinATL
Manufacturer

Posts: 3475
Joined: April 10, 2002
 I'm hooked on Spotify and Pandora - it's taking forever to digitize my albums. Mainly because I like to listen and enjoy - not work at it. Let's spin some music :)
"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius

 

Nah . . ., posted on December 20, 2014 at 04:48:37
BillH
Audiophile

Posts: 3913
Location: Baton Rouge
Joined: December 23, 1999
 You're not really done 'til you're done for. Have you tried cryo?

 

Page processed in 0.031 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]