I have a big problem. My stereo is too good, too accurate. I can't stand it sometimes.

That's a good idea, but keep it simple. If Steve's current pre-amp has a tape monitor loop, all he needs is a tube buffer stage.

 

I've only got 200 or so CDs. My system is pretty low-end for this crowd, but since I've been hanging around here and going further down the quality / audiophile mastering rabbit hole, I find a lot of the discs I used to listen to simply fatigue or annoy me. Those discs get ripped in loSeeking out quality recordings has really thinned the herd and made me appreciate the good ones that much more.

I tried that, but nothing sounds better than a flat six once it hits 5000 rpm.

 

Steve, I think several others have nailed it by suggesting your work is infringing on your pleasure. With all due respect, I think you've lost sight of the forest for the trees. Music isn't about the brain, it's about the heart. It isn't analytical, it's emotional. It sounds to me like your head is getting in the way of your heart. Perhaps a break from work is in order.

Another thought - do you remember the first system you had that made you think, "This. THIS is what music should sound like", the system that made you fall in love with this hobby and set you on the path that led you to this point? Perhaps you should recreate that system and listen to some of first albums that you played on it and reconnect with that younger, wide-eyed Steve Hoffman who had discovered something new and wonderful.

 

I don't know about a break from work, but I think ditch all the crappy, trebly high end stuff and crank up those Tannoys. My new grand master plan is to get a pair of the 15" Tannoys.

 

Never heard of ejaculating on the speakers. nice

 

Family forum - careful.

 

It's your speakers for sure. I think you should hook a pair of vintage studio monitors up to your power amp and use the A/B speaker set function to switch between them and your main speakers. You'd be doing yourself a disservice by purposely downgrading anything else in the signal chain. At least with this solution, you'll have peace of mind knowing that you're getting the best out of any speakers you hook up to it.

 

I understand and agree completely. Which is the reason for the big toothy winky grin.
The SR009 is a technically awesome headphone. But one that would discourage listening to lesser recordings. You'd end up in the same boat Steve is in. Being able to enjoy them only with the good recordings and not being able to enjoy the lesser recordings, to the detriment of being able to enjoy music you want to listen to.

It's a strange predicament in hi-fi audio. Some of the "best" gear is not the most musical with the recordings we have.
When I first started reading hi-fi reviews in magazines I'd think that of course I'd want the most accurate and revealing sound. Till I actually got a chance to hear what accurate and revealing at that level actually is. Then I changed my mind. I want musically revealing and enjoyment. But that ends up putting you in a whole different boat where the inaccuracies that make the headphone musical also make them less suitable for some styles of music. It seems to be impossible to have a "musical" headphone that is suitable for all music. So you end up owning multiple headphones. Each one suitable for certain strengths. It's a mad world.

 

Exactly my thoughts. Although not just any old CJ. Perhaps something like a PV2AR, or a PV6. Or Perhaps an ARC Sp-8 or SP-6.

Steve, seriously, you should give this a try. Lower you resolution just slightly, and get just a smidgen of romance, without going into the hopelessly romantic territory of your MX110, or Fisher 300. Just stay away from any 6DJ8 based preamps.

 

my suggestion would be to do something else while listening, like read a book or magazine or surf the internet, so you are not listening "critically"

 

Room treatments - more diffusion, less absorption.

 

Weed out all the crap
Just listen to the very good stuff on the very revealing system
The vintage set up will play most anything with musicality but not accuracy.

 

I was about to post that, and you beat me to it. Good call. Make it four glasses of wine and just mellow out.

 

I looked at Steve's profile. He's got the big Tannoys, some killer tube amps across the spectrum, a wide variety of tube preamps that are old school as well as a concert fidelity line stage, which allows tube rolling and he runs tape (and I gather he might have access to a few master tapes). None of this suggests hyper-analytical, bright or 'mechanical' sounding gear- but pretty much the opposite, if I had to guess (having not heard his system). So, where's the issue? Digital or vinyl front end issues playing back commercial releases?

 

I'm not sure the gear is the issue. It's probably some bad psychological mojo getting in the way.

 

you are right but I think we would if we paid more attention and or experienced some deprivation. After being secluded in the wilderness for 3 weeks, coming back to the city was eye and ear opening. I could hear the wires in the walls!

 

Where is KT to tell you it all sounds the same, anyways, and all you are doing is convincing yourself that it is too revealing?

Too Freud to Rock N' Roll, Too Jung to Die

 

KT here saying:

"Without having heard his system first hand in his listening area, any comments are just guessing".

If that part I bolded is meant as humor, cool, if not.................

 

Good point. I tend to see modern life as the deprivation and the time outside as a sensory flood. After three or four nights outside, I gain all sorts of coordination and sensory skill I lack in the day-to-day. Take away the walls and our brains have more to figure out.

 

When I go through the gauntlet of listening and choosing a component I am very careful to choose gear that sounds good with poor recordings , since there are so many of them . If done right it doesn't always mean losing detail and resolution . Sometimes when listening to good recordings two components would be very close , but there was often a big difference with not so good recordings . Guess which one I would choose ?

It's taken me decades but I'm finally satisfied with the outcome .

 

yes, I think in a way it is, paradoxically both statements can be true

 

I agree and made the same observation earlier. But SH's complaint is that the system reveals the shortcomings of some or perhaps most recordings- implying that some stuff sounds great. I think we wind up- after sorting the system, room, etc -being limited by the source (material). That is why I asked whether he has this issue with tapes which are presumably as close as it gets.
As to hi if being "more" (spectacular; splashy; exaggerated whatever) than real and still not sounding lifelike, I think it is a way of compensating for the shortcomings inherent in the whole reproduction and playback process.

 

I think it's just what you choose to focus on. for years instruments being out of tune etc used to drive me batty! now I just learn to live with it all and enjoy it as part of lifes rich pageant.

 

The rub for me is alway heavy music that is dynamically flat as a pancake.