Nothing Left To Gripe About? To upgrade or not?*

I absolutely love my system the way it is, but on paper I’m not done yet. Given the fact that I’ve become a bit of an Audio Note poster child, the path to satisfaction is at least somewhat less exploratory and chaotic at a macro scale. For me that’s a Level 3 system by AN standards, and I’m well on the way toward that. Next I’ll get an AN DAC and CD transport, then I’ll trade-up from my M2 preamp to the M3, and that should be about it for equipment. From there I’ll putter about with tube rolling and that should be enough to feed the beast. Whether I sell my LP12 and go for an AN turntable is still yet to be determined...

That’s the plan anyway. I’m 35 (as of today ) and I’d like to get things settled away while my ears are still young-ish. We’ll see how it goes, but the nice thing is jumping up to a Level 4 or higher system is A LOT more money. I think this is a convenient and comfortable barrier as I can’t imagine I’ll ever be able to justify dropping that kind of cash.

 

happy birthday

 

I respectfully disagree. The definition of hobby is "an activity done in one's leisure time for pleasure." It doesn't mean you have to keep throwing money at it continuously. Some people are able to reach a level of satisfaction and don't require anything else.

 

correct, and there are two different hobbies here: buying and dinkering with gear, and listening to music. I was buying a lot of gear at one point-- but eventually that got tiring. I found some stuff that I liked and have mostly stuck with it. tend to like older high end (not what people call "vintage" here, but still not new. Well maybe SS amps from the 80s are vintage now). But anyway, when I hear newer stuff it tends to disappoint me. Some of this might be due to the fact that as you age, your hearing gets worse. There is no way to avoid that. But, if it doesn't sound better, why change?

 

Agree. In my case the system exists so I can enjoy music which is my hobby. A mean not an end if I can put it this way. Don't need the system to be perfect, good enough is OK. I understand though people who want the system to sound perfect and the music is the needed for the system to play. The aim is to enjoy gear. It's fun too. Some people want a car good enough so they can enjoy traveling, others want roads good enough so they can ride. Fun too.

 

you are right, and I wasn't being judgemental (even if it sounded a little). You can be into both hobbies, or one or the other. Whatever gets you going. As far as gear, I like it too, but it can be frustrating. So over time that became less attractive to me. Of course, poorly pressed LPs and compressed/loud CDs can also be frustrating...

 

That's true too. One or both.

 

I'm done upgrading for now. That said, I look at my Pass XP15 phono pre, and cant help but wonder how well it would synergize with a full Pass system rather than my Parasound integrated. : )

 

I’m off the merry go round for the foreseeable future. Once college is over, and things have settled down, I’m guessing I’ll add a tube phono pre, because you gotta have a tube option somewhere in the line!

But my Yamaha AS1100 is just a fanatastic amp, tube like but can be run all day without worrying about wearing output tubes. I do Install/listen to many systems ranging from $-$$$$, and though my system can’t quite do real life scale or bass extension, I don’t really care, because the fundamentals are so good. People tend to forget about the basics!

 

I'm perfectly happy with what I got. If it only could outlast me.............

 

I still need a DAC and a headphone amp. I've been using both functions in the HINT.

 

You go to live shows, that's how.

 

Just hooked up the second MC275-- major improvement in sound, especially given that my speakers are both great but also inefficient! I dig it. And yes, I'm done... hoping for nothing but stylus and tube changes from here on out...