Audio Sucks - I have two great systems in two locations and I can't enjoy them .. *

I'd go with option No. 3 and try to re-find your love for just the music, which is the reason we became audiophiles in the first place. Scale back and re-connect. As my system has evolved and gotten more expensive over the decades, I find myself getting nostalgic sometimes about the simpler and less expensive but great-sounding system of my youth. It makes you wonder what we're chasing sometimes.

 

Obviously missing a component

 

There's more to having an enjoyable good sounding system than having good equipment. Seems to me if you want to be a happy listener over the long hall you'll need to go back to square one and start over. Find some speakers that you can't get enough of then an amp that has great synergy and so on. You'll know when things are right when the anguish that you seem to be experiencing disappears.

 

There is something to be said for just enjoying music and not looking at it as a hobby or a constant battle to be won, just taking it as it is, if it sounds bad so be it. The other day I was spinning records on a portable player with a friend over beers. I had more fun listening to those old records for hours and talking about music then I had in a long time. sometimes having all this fancy equip means very little if you don't have someone to enjoy it with and discover things about the music with. Part of music is being able to share the feelings and emotions it creates with other human beings in a profound way. That's something you can't buy or get through equip alone.

 

The curse of the unhappy audiophile.
I would say that the issue is something is totally wrong with how the op is choosing equipment.
I have no idea what exactly. But clearly the op is shooting himself in the foot with his choices.

Now I have made terrible mistakes in purchasing stuff and thought 'this is the END... I can't stand this crap'. But, it was basically just one item was totally wrong. When I fixed that, it was all good again.

 

It means you need to be working on your head, not the gear.

I don't know how much you like to walk. I know that the up and down curve of mood and perception is determined by such things as exercise and sleep. The rhythmic regularity of walking, along with the known health benefits, seems to activate one's musical consciousness. Beethoven experienced the bulk of his musical composition in the process of long walks in the Vienna Woods. I've found that long walks tend to make music sound better. In fact, the combo of portable gear and walking can connect one to the music in ways that seated listening can't. I suppose this is all related to dancing, music almost always sounds better while dancing. But walking is also [like dancing] a means of producing endogenous mood enhancers like dopamine and cannabinoids.

I don't know if you play music but I find that also helps me to reconnect to music. I'm semi-retired now, have plenty of time to play music, find myself playing my guitar more than my LPs. There's probably a lot less "ear burn" when softly playing guitar than when attempting to listen around the limitations of recordings.

 

At the risk of me being shot at dawn, how is everything connected; ie, interconnects, mains cables/conditioners/racks, speaker stands?.

 

Your enjoyment that day likely had more to do with the beers than the system. LOL

 

haha, no in all seriousness that's not true. If there was no beer I would have been just as happy in fact it ran out too quick! We discovered some new stuff, talked about stuff, broke out guitars and played along. It's about making a connection to the music but also people. that's the fun part to me. Imo I think a lot of people here might be better off talking to a shrink, doing some yoga or meditation, painting, tai chi etc to work out their issues vs buying that new set of fancy speakers.

 

Without a doubt.

We belong to an audio club and visit other members quite often. Some have tiny apartments and tiny systems others have cost no object systems and homes to match, we enjoy

visiting them all equally. There's something to be said for connecting with other folks, talking about and listening to music and audio and just having a great time, oh, and a few beers.

 

Have your hearing checked. Really. I mean it.

 

My main system had some problems over the last couple of years. First, I partially blew a tweeter, which means the tweeter still worked but was off by about 3 decibals. It took all kinds of trouble shooting to for me to zero in on the right driver to get fixed. Then, this year I had a couple of tube issues. The last time, it blew a resistor. Again, it took all kinds of trouble shooting to figure out it wasn't the speaker but was an amplifier. Now, I find myself analyzing the sound hoping everything is working as it should, instead of enjoying the music. It's been a couple of weeks since I had the amp repaired and I'm just getting to the point of relaxing and enjoying the music, rather than looking for equipment problems.

For me, if everything is working in the system I can relax. I know what you are saying about not being able to enjoy the music. You need to forget about the equipment, have a beer and relax.

 

Honestly, it sounds like the challenges you face are psychological, not audio-system based (and, of course, are "first-world problems" of the highest order).

Why if you had a headphone only system would that cause you to stop thinking to yourself, "it's good but it could be better if I did this, or bought that"? I mean if the systems do sound wildly disparate from day to day, there might be an audio problem with power or room acoustics or whatever. But two completely different systems located in completely different rooms on completely different land masses having the same sonic issues of sounding different from day to day? Unlikely. The only constant in that equation is you.

Barring any problems with your hearing -- which is not impossible -- the problems sound like the result of the psychological baggage you're bringing to your listening. You need to retrain your mind to enjoy the experience of the music in the moment regardless of the sound quality, and to live with the reality that nothing's ever perfect, the audio system, like everything else in life, can always be better, or at least different, but that's okay because there's joy in this music at this moment.

Is there a REBT therapist who treats audio nervosa? I would think in California there must be

 

You really need to relax and listen to the music. A problem with your system in Hawaii must be overwhelming for you considering what most people are going through these days.

 

Absolutely.

 

Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream...........

 

Sounds to me like it's in your head. If you can't be happy and relax in paradise, you need to either work on that or accept it and move on. Hard to be sympathetic to your dilemna.

We vacationed on Kauai a couple years ago. I needed nothing more than my ipod to satisfy me there.

 

I agree with you completely. Some nights I just can't get into it and have learned to turn the system off, go to the den and read or watch TV...or even go out for a beer. Other nights hours go by without my realizing it and every thing seems magical. Sometimes it may be power related, but it's more likely my frame of mind that distracts me when I can't get into it.

 

Look at it this way - What do YOU enjoy? Not me, not people on this forum, not your friends or family, what do *YOU* enjoy doing with your free time? I doubt you would have gone through all this trouble and money if you didn't absolutely love music and feel like you get a lot of joy from the hobby. If they answer is that you truly enjoy this stuff, why would you stop? I think some of us love the fiddling with stuff and tests underneath it all.

Another thing to consider is what would change? If you get rid of all your great stuff, downsize and just decide that you are going to listen to some average Joe blow gear what is that going to change or fix? Is your personality all the sudden going to change from caring to not caring about sound? Are you suddenly going to enjoy music less?

Upgrades are fun...believe me I am in the midst of a huge upgrade right now that is costing what in my mind is a lot of money. But you know what? I love it...I enjoy it. Some people spend lots of dough on new cars, or home improvement or restoring classic cars, or home theater or computers or whatever...we all have our vices. At some point though, you also need to sit back, relax, enjoy the music and be happy with what you have in the price range you can afford.

The point is do what makes you happy...if music and hifi makes you happy then keep doing it. Part of the fun is getting closer to that dream system right?

 

Maybe it's time for a new hobby. I learned to fly years ago. Very rewarding.

 

I would suggest that you think about whether you take the same approach to other hobbies and interests. That is, do you typically focus on "perfecting" the equipment or mastering an activity and have trouble enjoying it at all if it's only OK or pretty good or mostly nice? Or do you have a pattern of pouring yourself into a given interest singlemindedly with all your energy to the point where you just burn out or get frustrated when it doesn't fall into place -- and then move on to something new and do the same all-or-nothing approach? If so, that may just be how you're wired and a part of your identity you need to accept.

The reality is that you can have the best, most perfectly "synergistic" (gag) stereo in the freakin' world, and there will still be days when you don't feel like listening to it or it sounds "meh" because of your mood or the weather or various other forces. You can either find ways to cope with that and adjust your expectations, or not.

 

I sense a bit of the "thrill of the hunt" going on here. I know I am one that just needs something new from time to time and as such I resist the temptation to go all in right out. I also will go awhile building up a set of components, then decide I want simple more than supreme. Kinda like taking my ARC Amp and Preamp out of service and going back to my little Peachtree Decco65 (which does everything brilliantly on a small scale). then buying my Cronos.

 

I'm with those who say just sit back and enjoy the music.

 

The lasting joy is never in the destination, but in the journey. The music is what it's about. Sell your old systems, take half of it and donate it to a charity, and keep the other half. Use it to buy something simpler, more euphonic and less expensive. Buy something that isn't more revealing, but that makes you forget you were listening in the first place. Rely on the software to provide new thrills, not the hardware. Learn to meditate. Trust it will all work out.

 

Get a tube preamp for the HI system and new, 2-way or 3-way speakers for the CA system. Then sit back and relax. Listen to the music, not the system.
-Bill