The Music or the Money?

[MJB1959]

What is it? I love reading some of the threads here, and man, some people have some excellent audio equipment, and excellent homes to go with it. Like a lot of audio enthusiasts, I want good gear, but with a budget in mind. A good friend of mine is a fully addicted audiophile, years ago, he invited me over, he wanted me to hear his latest build. It consisted of higher end Snell speakers, twin Bryston amps, Bryston preamp, California sound cd player, and a classy Thorens turntable, he also made a point to feature the cables he had recently invested in.

Well, suffice it to say, I thought it all looked impressive, and then he puts on some Creedence Clearwater Revival:thumbsdn:
I mean how are you going to make that sound any better was my thought, and well, it really didn't. Not to bash CCR, they did their thing, but he kept putting a lot of crusty older music on, and the same result. I asked him if he had any audiophile grade recordings, or some jazz/fusion and he didn't even know what that genre was.

I brought some records over on a different day, albums that sounded great on my humble ADS L810/Yamaha cr-2040. And you know what, I could tell he really didn't care much for the music, his system sounded much better to me, but selling him on it was not happening. I turns out he had over 25,000.00 into that rig(which he has since replaced). I had about 2200.00 into mine. And for the money, I was really satisfied, he on the other hand goes through new gear all the time.

So for me, it's always the music, and equipment wise, I am finding that getting hold of nice vintage gear at a reasonable price satisfies my itch to upgrade. And I even still have that Yamaha receiver on a second system.
But I will never understand why some folks go all out on the ultra highend, and listen to music that is not really audibly pristine?

 

[Jeffery]

That's why we're here, vintage over modern :thmbsp:

 

[Naptown Rob]

For me, the gear is a fun part of "the journey is the destination". In other words, I really like "the stuff", but all in the furtherance of getting to the music. And I get there through a combination of 55 year old equipment and the very latest technology.

Now, I enjoy a very wide variety of musical genres, but I probably wouldn't have cared about your Jazz/Fusion records either. These days I think of most of that stuff they way I think of the works of Ayn Rand. A brief misguided period in my youth that I thankfully moved through quickly and left far behind.:thmbsp:

 

[JarredCrowe]

I would likely be considered in the same group as your friend(if I had the money).
Sometimes we just want to hear what we like in the best possible way.
To me that jazz fusion is nearly torture on any rig. Not all audiophile recordings are for everyone like not all recording are audiophile quality.

 

[RamblinE]

Crap in, crap out so to say. But what do you do when some of your favorite music is not mastered that well or has a lot of dynamic compression? I experienced this once on a $45k system at a dealer. I put Mezzanine by Massive Attack on and it sounded terrible. Dynamically compressed, disjointed, almost sandy. Yet some of the contemporary material and jazz selections that the dealer had sounded great.

I don't know what I'm going to do sometime in the future when have more disposable income however I'm going to have to be real wary about upgrading beyond the music I like. Now not everything I like is awfully mastered. Some of it is really sound stuff and will continue to benefit from future upgrades however I cannot shake that experience.


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[moejr]

I do not have the money to invest in a mega buck system so I am used to my modest system. That said, I feel it sounds wonderful with great detail and clarity. I went vintage so I could get the best for my meager budget. Everything in my main system is well over 20 years old except the CD Player. It all works great still. I cannot see myself going haywire if for some luck I came into a huge chunk of money. I would just be chasing that last 5% of sound quality and not be just enjoying the music.

 

[kirk57]

Maybe I'm missing the point, but it sounds as if the OP is saying 'why have a high end system if you don't listen to audiophile recordings' which is counter to the music-lover vs equipment-lover argument that is waged on this forum on a weekly basis it seems.

Personally I'd much rather listen to CCR than jazz fusion, but of course that is just one person's opinion. A good system should allow you to enjoy whatever you're listening to. If it doesn't, then it's failed to achieve its purpose.

 

[tomlinmgt]

A brief misguided period in my youth that I thankfully moved through quickly and left far behind.:thmbsp:

That sums up Phish quite nicely for me.

 

[davidro]

So what if you can actually achieve some amazingly better SQ by spending a fortune on ultra high-end stuff? You still veto that?

I don't understand this thing about 'it's all about music'. No it's all about sound, and maybe gear too. Music's not some sacred religion. Having a crush on gear is not some sacrilege. And most of you obviously do have such crush.

Otherwise, why waste time on this audio site?

 

[tomlinmgt]

A good system should allow you to enjoy whatever you're listening to. If it doesn't, then it's failed to achieve its purpose.

I agree. If it's not pushing your buttons then I simply can't see the point in bothering with it. And if it can push your buttons with stuff you normally wouldn't care much for then you've got something. I sometimes purposely pull up tunes I don't really like/am sick of hearing just to see if a particular rig can make it entertaining. And it does happen....some Justin Timberlake tune here recently.

 

[Condorsat]

We'll if it's your dime ... you can spend it on whatever you want.

As far a music ... everybody has different tastes. I never got Joni Mitchell ... one song sounds like the other to me. However many people just love her singing.

 

[carcrazy]

Sometimes a more expensive system has more revealing equipment that reveals more details in the recording. For lesser quality recordings this can sound worse than on a more modest system that masks the errors (like too bright or compressed sound). Some of my cd's and records from the 80's sound better on my more modest bedroom system than on my more expensive main system. Others sound fantastic on the main system imho.

I have spent a lot on audio but not all at once. It has been a journey for the past 30 years that I still love to pursue. I love the gear and trying new things but I also love to listen to music. It isn't about how much I have spent.

 

[musichal]

People who drive faster than I do are maniacs; slower, are a$$holes.

Those who spend more on audio than I are neurotic idiots; less, are tin-eared cheapskates.

Naah, I just like my grapes sweet, and assume others do also.

 

[plinius]

Sometimes a more expensive system has more revealing equipment that reveals more details in the recording. For lesser quality recordings this can sound worse than on a more modest system that masks the errors (like too bright or compressed sound). Some of my cd's and records from the 80's sound better on my more modest bedroom system than on my more expensive main system. Others sound fantastic on the main system imho.

I have spent a lot on audio but not all at once. It has been a journey for the past 30 years that I still love to pursue. I love the gear and trying new things but I also love to listen to music. It isn't about how much I have spent.

The best comment I've read in quite some time !

 

[jeremyjustic]

Hobbies are a luxury.

 

[Inscrutable]

Sometimes a more expensive system has more revealing equipment that reveals more details in the recording. For lesser quality recordings this can sound worse than on a more modest system that masks the errors (like too bright or compressed sound). Some of my cd's and records from the 80's sound better on my more modest bedroom system than on my more expensive main system. Others sound fantastic on the main system imho.

I have spent a lot on audio but not all at once. It has been a journey for the past 30 years that I still love to pursue. I love the gear and trying new things but I also love to listen to music. It isn't about how much I have spent.

Bingo, in my experience anyway.
I've had relatively revealing/"accurate" systems that enhanced my listening pleasure with some recordings and moods, and detracted from others. Same thing can be said for pedestrian systems/components.
Lennon was right ... "In my life, I've loved them all"

 

[superdog]

My train of thought is the higher you go up the ladder the narrower the scope is.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

I don't know... With the right speakers/upstream gear, CCR can sound awesome. I have the original LP version of "Cosmo's Factory" (released on Fantasy, a record company that prided itself on great sound-quality), and it sounds excellent, especially through my W90's, which really have a way with late '60's music.

What kind of tweeters do the "Schneills" have? (I always feel like Snell should be pronouned with a German accent... I don't know why... They aren't German, right?)

Budget has always been a huge concern for me. I have roughly $2250 into my complete main system (and that ain't much). But another important thing for me is SYNERGY. Not just between the gear, but also between the gear and the MUSIC. I chose my gear specifically for it's ability to handle '60's and '70's music well, CCR included. It's not the best with Soundgarden (The speed of the response isn't what I would consider optimum for '90's hard rock/metal, but it's just right for the old stuff). I just bought some standmount speakers to serve that purpose until I can accommodate some AR9's or something.

What is it? I love reading some of the threads here, and man, some people have some excellent audio equipment, and excellent homes to go with it. Like a lot of audio enthusiasts, I want good gear, but with a budget in mind. A good friend of mine is a fully addicted audiophile, years ago, he invited me over, he wanted me to hear his latest build. It consisted of higher end Snell speakers, twin Bryston amps, Bryston preamp, California sound cd player, and a classy Thorens turntable, he also made a point to feature the cables he had recently invested in.

Well, suffice it to say, I thought it all looked impressive, and then he puts on some Creedence Clearwater Revival:thumbsdn:
I mean how are you going to make that sound any better was my thought, and well, it really didn't. Not to bash CCR, they did their thing, but he kept putting a lot of crusty older music on, and the same result. I asked him if he had any audiophile grade recordings, or some jazz/fusion and he didn't even know what that genre was.

I brought some records over on a different day, albums that sounded great on my humble ADS L810/Yamaha cr-2040. And you know what, I could tell he really didn't care much for the music, his system sounded much better to me, but selling him on it was not happening. I turns out he had over 25,000.00 into that rig(which he has since replaced). I had about 2200.00 into mine. And for the money, I was really satisfied, he on the other hand goes through new gear all the time.

So for me, it's always the music, and equipment wise, I am finding that getting hold of nice vintage gear at a reasonable price satisfies my itch to upgrade. And I even still have that Yamaha receiver on a second system.
But I will never understand why some folks go all out on the ultra highend, and listen to music that is not really audibly pristine?

 

[4Play]

People who spend a ludicrous amount of money on their system is more about bragging rights, or trying to better others. Just because you can spend that amount is never a guarantee the sound quality will be better.

It is fair to say that the majority of the members of AK cannot afford high dollar audio gear. However, these same members are proud of the audio system they have put together. It's also fair say to say that some members enjoy the journey just as much as getting the best sound quality out of their system.

The way it has been and the way it should always be, it should be all about the music. Trying to get the best possible sound from the audio system you have put together should be the number one goal of all of us. Jealousy has no place in our hobby and our forum.

Regardless how much money is spent on audio gear, no one should ever be ashamed of their system. Everyone, regardless of income or how much money they spent on their audio system should always be treated the same. I would suspect that one time in our lives, we were in their shoes wishing we had better audio gear. You will never ever read a post from me where I badmouth someone's audio system.

Life is too short to be bothered with petty jealousy. We should always be ready, willing, and able to help our fellow member(s) to obtain the best sound quality regardless how much was spent on their audio system.

 

[Condorsat]

People who spend a ludicrous amount of money on their system is more about bragging rights, or trying to better others. Just because you can spend that amount is never a guarantee the sound quality will be better.

No it's not :yes: ... but if I was a betting man I'll side with the dude with deep pockets.

To me ... it's all about PRAT ....Price Relative to Actual usage Theory

If I spend this $$$ ... will I actually use it enough to justify the expense?