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Thread Title: Correlation between spending money and upgrades...
Category: Listening Room
If you don't enjoy listening to it, there is no point. There's no value in something that sits and collects dust. No value in the sense we're discussing anyway.
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
- Oscar Wilde
IMO if something sits around and collects dust, it has no value. I'm not talking about something that's collectable and/or bought to be stored for a period of time before its sold. My father's '71 Mercedes 280SL convertible that gets driven once or twice a year at most has a ton of monetary value. Sitting in his garage between drives, it has no enjoyment value, as he doesn't stare at it like a piece of art.
If a stereo doesn't sound enjoyable, it's worthless to me (again, a stereo bought to be heard, not a stereo bought as a financial investment). I'd much rather own a $20 boombox that I listen to everyday than a $20k system that never gets turned on.
It's safe to say more money will get you better performance. It's not that easy to say more money will get you a better stereo that you'll enjoy more. I've heard a $100k-ish system that sounded far better than mine. If that system was within my financial means, I'd keep what I've currently got over it, as my system reproduces music and not just super-accurate sounds. That system was an MBL system. Great craftsmanship, some would consider it great looking too (I don't), and great hifi characteristics. What I heard was a slightly bleached, soulless recording. On the flip-side, I heard a somewhat equally priced Linn system and a Naim system. Both of those presented music exactly as I thought it should be presented. Even if I had Bill Gates type money I'm not sure I'd spend that much on a stereo, but I don't, so it's a moot point.
I've had my Bryston B60 for about 6 years now. Never once have I seriously thought about replacing it. There's no point. I found something that's going to take a ton of money to better it. Far more money than I can afford, and if I could afford what I think is the next truly worthwhile step up, I doubt I could honestly justify buying it. Same for my speakers and DAC. To my ears, my system is perfect. The only thing I'd toy around with upgrading is my turntable. In order to make that move worthwhile, my vinyl collection needs to grow and I'd need more time to listen to vinyl. I guess I could try out some new speaker cables - maybe some Kimber stuff to match my interconnects, but I'm not sold on spending that kind of money on speaker cables either.
So in a nutshell, my system's staying put for quite a while. Unless something breaks or some new format comes out and changes everything we know about recorded music, I have no need, and more importantly no desire to make any changes. I've got the highest value system I can get. Well, once I get it set up again! Hopefully within the next 2 weeks. Till then my iPod is good enough.
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