How Good is Good Enough?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Mike from NYC, Jan 11, 2018.

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  1. pdxway

    pdxway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    One day I might get a room that is good enough....
     
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  2. JerolW

    JerolW Senior Member

    If it sounds good to me, it's good enough.

    jerol
     
  3. Spinmeout

    Spinmeout Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    I have a modest system but i went through a period of listening to my system instead of the music (really hard to break out of and really annoying) now im happily listening to music again not my system.

    It's far from "good enough" i could do with a few upgrades and i will but i think it gets to a point that if you don't or can't build a listening room with room treatments then you get to "good enough" pretty quickly.
    I don't see the point in spending big $ unless you've got a good room.
     
  4. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I'm not on that merry go round, long ago I decided I was intelligent enough to decide what was good to my ears, I did not need a reviewer, magazine, web site, forum, some "expert" or vendor to tell me.

    Long ago I canceled all my subscriptions to all the audio mags pushing stuff and making all their silly claims.

    I'm too intelligent to fall down their rabbit hole of milking consumers for their money.

    In the end that's what it's all about, bleeding the consumer dry and them getting rich, so no thanks, I'll pass.
     
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  5. weavzy

    weavzy Needle Dropper

    Happy. Content. Done. Bliss...
     
  6. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    My belief, and remember its only my opinion, is that with a lot of solid state
    There is always TID ( transient intermodulation. Distortion ) which is absent on tube stuff.
    Many who constantly upgrade, are looking for audio nirvana . Instead they are sideways stepping as they swop one form of distortion for another .
     
    Hubert jan likes this.
  7. Diamond Dog

    Diamond Dog Cautionary Example

    [​IMG]

    "... and havin' a butt-kickin' rig doesn't hurt, either," Conan then added. " I live, I love, my stereo slays...and I am content."

    D.D.
     
  8. harby

    harby Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    A made-in-Mexico Standard Stratocaster is good enough.
     
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  9. BayouTiger

    BayouTiger Forum Resident

    My dilemma kicks in trying to balance "good enough" with my never ending lust for playing with new gear. My den setup is probably the best I will ever own, but I still look for ways to replace it with something more space friendly. I've looked at integrated replacements several times, but I haven't been able to bring myself to part with the Ref75SE.

    My office system gets swapped in and out fairly often, but it's been hard to find any fault in the little Peachtree Nova 150 so I have pretty much settled in for the past year or so.
     
  10. WillytheWoofer

    WillytheWoofer Forum Resident

    Location:
    velddriel
    There wil always be better. Once I am satisfied and only listening to the music it is okee for me. I hate listening to equipment if you understand what I mean. Once I get the impression the musicians are standing in front of me, I get the kick I am looking for. Please don’t tell me I am crazy :D. That is what my wife is already doing :unhunh:.
    Finally I hear often very big differences in records. Once I have a good setup I keep it for years. Including my wife:pineapple:.
     
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  11. manxman

    manxman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Isle of Man
    Within the confines I have set myself (no dedicated listening room; no ugly room treatments; no spaghetti junction of cables snaking across the floor on risers) my system is about as good as it's going to get. Further, I live on a fairly remote island and if I buy anything hugely complex and esoteric, I'm going to struggle to get technical support for it (though that hasn't stopped someone elsewhere on the island from an acquiring a pair of Kef Muons, which could almost certainly hold their own against my BeoLab 90s).
     
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  12. Hipper

    Hipper Forum Resident

    Location:
    Herts., England
    I'm not trying to be rude but why are you still here then?

    I make no claims to be intelligent enough not to have bought expensive equipment that, even though it does something, that something is not really justified by the price. I include in this cables, power regenerating and isolation devices. Where I can justify the price I paid, to some extent, is the basic play back equipment (CD transport, DAC, amp, speakers) and also room treatment, some books on sound reproduction and an equaliser.

    Anyway, I like what I'm hearing these days and am pleased with the gear and set up I have.

    I still visit a few forums because I'm still interested not so much in equipment but ideas.
     
  13. Whoopycat

    Whoopycat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines
    I've been thinking abut this topic a lot lately. For me, it's not about "good enough". Good enough was achieved a long time ago. On one hand I hate having audiophilia nervosa. On the other, there is so much cool gear out there that I want to hear. And it's so fun to experience your music in a new way. And when the new way turns out to be a better way, it feels like money well spent. Unfortunately where I live that means actually buying and bringing into my home.

    I'm starting to realize that I could probably save a lot of money by budgeting a trip to Denver or LA for an audio show every year rather than auditioning gear in my house...
     
  14. dougotte

    dougotte Petty, Annoying Dilettante

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    One of my New Year's resolutions is to calm down w/ upgrades and even software purchases. For the last two years, I became somewhat manic and updated nearly every piece of hardware in my 2-channel system - speakers, turntable, phono preamp, headphones, and headphone preamp. The only things I haven't upgraded lately are my universal player, preamp, and amp.

    I also spent a lot on vinyl.

    I also wasted some money on frivolous things that didn't help anything, such as new discs to support the speakers, foam blocks to help with bass bloat, and a support pad under the turntable. I ended up tossing all of them.

    For now, I've decided to relax and enjoy what I have. The question is: how long will this attitude last?;)
     
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  15. rednedtugent

    rednedtugent Forum Resident

    Location:
    Funk, Ohio
    How Good is Good Enough?



    not yet. :unhunh:
     
  16. frimleygreener

    frimleygreener "It 'a'int why...it just is"

    Location:
    united kingdom
    When folk who have no interest in "audiophilia",but enjoy music,ask me where I got all the different versions of their favourite songs from:).
     
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  17. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    Just curious, what do you think you have expended all together in your system?
     
  18. H8SLKC

    H8SLKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Good enough for me is mid-fi. I could easily afford tube gear, separates, large floor standers, etc. However, almost immediately after buying my first inexpensive record player almost on a lark, I found myself getting sucked in and could see that not only might this hobby cost a LOT of money, but that (1) the chase might never end and (2) so much of the higher end world looked and seemed slippery/questionable to me. So, I decided to halt the progression once I bought a turntable that was unquestionably good but not esoteric. Mid-fi sounds really, really good, and besides many of us here are listening with mid-fi ears (at best) that are 50 years old or more.

    I have pretty good mid-fi floorstanders, a pretty good AVR, a pretty good turntable that I listen to for hours every day. I still follow forums a lot, mess around with cartridges and have considered a new phono stage at some point, but have become much more hobby-focused on value than anything else. At this point and beyond, if/when I change gear it's to test value components, or to make a lateral move to DD rather than belt drive, that sort of change that should cost very little. I also buy a few records every month or two, many of them used from a local shop.
     
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  19. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    I gave up on the Better/different thing years ago.
    There is always something interesting that may be seen as better or usually just different.

    Instead I have collection of vintage speakers, that all have traits I like and none are perfect.
     
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  20. Aftermath

    Aftermath Senior Member

    I'm almost where I want to be with my equipment. Plan to do a speaker upgrade and get a Jico neo-SAS stylus for my cart.
     
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  21. bhazen

    bhazen ANNOYING BEATLES FAN

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    Good Zen question ...

    I've a functioning Naim stack, feeding Graham "Chartwell" LS3/5s ... I'm enjoying music, thankfully. The system seems to differentiate quite clearly between recordings, and their associated virtues and flaws; the trick is in recognizing the flaws as what they are, and not as a shortcoming of the rig.

    I'm at "good enough"; which, it must be said, may be due more to an attitudinal shift in myself more than the competence of my system. I'm tired of component-swapping, and I'm moving into budget-adjustment mode prior to retirement.

    I sometimes miss hanging out at my favoured hifi shop though. :)

    Q: What is a hifi?
    A: An appliance for listening to music.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2018
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  22. Dave Mac

    Dave Mac Retired Sophisticated Gentleman Of Leisure

    I'm retired, on Social Security, and have 60-some year-old ears that aren't going to get younger or better. The latest and greatest just doesn't figure into my "adjusted" lifestyle.

    I recently prepped for my continuing Golden Years by blowing a good chunk of my Soc Sec on completing my two "classic '70s" Mac/Klipsch systems -- "new" MX113, my old MC2100, Onkyo 7030, Heresy I for the living room -- and "new" MX115, my old MC2205 and Cornwalls, Rega/Shelter, Onkyo 7030 + Arcam 73 for the "big" system downstairs. I am loving both and have no incentive or desire to improve on either. (Well, there's the other set of Corns waiting in the wings to someday replace the Heresys. Dear Old Ma won't have it for now.) The only other upgrades I can anticipate are some years off when I can reconfigure the rec room into my Music Room, and maybe a new cartridge if/when the Shelter wears out. I could have spent that money on the newest gear with all the bells and whistles but I've tried to build my system(s) with both quality and longevity in mind and really, really enjoy what I'm hearing.

    Long gone are the days of having a bunch over to "party" and "listen to some tunes" and show off the gear. (Man, I was so proud of my Mac receiver and Bose 501s back in the day!) Music listening has always been a somewhat solitary pursuit for me and more than ever my setup is tailored for me and my enjoyment.

    So, yeah, good enough is great. And if down the road I need to goose the treble a bit . . . .

    Dave Mac
     
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  23. Seancito

    Seancito Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    Get the Jico, but keep the stock stylus for worn scratched up beat up records. Love the Jico.
     
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  24. PooreBoy

    PooreBoy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lake City, TN
    I went through a 4 year period of buying/selling different turntables, cartridges, receivers etc. And now I'm extremely happy and thankful for the modest setup I have. My albums sound great...full of life. So now I spend my spare money on records, and just enjoy the music. :)
     
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  25. Aftermath

    Aftermath Senior Member

    Sounds like great advice. Thanks!
     
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