Vinyl Dysphoria

There's something inside all of us that always wants more in the areas that make us happy. I think all of us battle this one.

 

Yay, another SuperZero fan! I got mine for free, and now both mid/woofs have blown, but I have simply unplugged the wire inside, and screw the driver back in so as not to disrupt the near perfect airtight box, and voila! The best sounding dome tweeter I have found, which matches quite nicely to whatever woofers I have used them with (Tannoys, ADCs, Goodmans, Velodyne sub).

But even if you don't find a pair of these under-the-radar gems, take what timind has said to mind: enjoy moving your speakers around (even try toe out). And if you can, where you listen.

Another free-to-cheap thing for vinyl nuts: take your least favourite, worst-shape 10 LPs, and practice washing them in the sink, scrubbing gently with a soft microfibre cloth and dish soap, rinsing well (ideally with distilled water, but start with tap), and vacuum drying with a wet/dry shop vac (experiment with tying a soft microfibre cloth over a crevice tool attachment so you don't scratch the grooves).

This might totally change your experience. Or make you REALLY want that $3500 turntable, $5000 cartridge and $10,000 phonostage!

 

Keep in mind: The difference between $50 speakers and $500 speakers is huge; the difference between $500 speakers and $10,000 speakers exists but is much much smaller.

 

It's a journey, you gotta think of the long haul. I'd bet the people buying $10k speakers aren't starting out, it's a long process of upgrades over the years.
And we have to be realistic in life; whether it's audio gear, houses, cars, whatever; we all have a budget of some sort.
Gotta learn to be happy with what we can have, not suffer everyday about what we want. And like someone mentioned above, the guy with the $10k speakers is probably lusting after the $15k ones.
The gear is a means to give us what we really care about: the music. Don't get lost in chasing the audio nirvana, you will frustrate yourself right out of the hobby altogether, trust me, I did just that many years ago.
Make informed buying decisions within your budget, sit down and enjoy it. Along the way, save some money, upgrade a piece.

 

Why? There is no reason for anyone to feel like that because of material stuff, otherwise we would all have to be on antidepressants!

Value and enjoy what you have.

Also, there are lots of cheap vintage equipment that sound very reasonable and people struggle to sell, the latest will become old as soon as you are out of the shop.

 

I think I also hit the celling of the affordability. Any significant and meaningful upgrade from here would set me back around 30k (amp and speakers). I just don't have that kind of money lying around. But I'm ok with that. What I realized is that collecting and listening to records is more meaningful and fulfilling. It's a journey. Just think about it. If I lost my system I could replace it with the same or lesser, but if I lost my record collection, no way I'd ever be able to replace it. There would be no time and money for that.
Enjoy your record collection.

Regards

Edited: Grammar

 

Probably, but not necessarily. I remember years back, when CD was still the newest thing, hearing a system that cost some astronomical amount for the day courtesy of an acquaintance who had just bought a CD player and invited me to compare CD and LP playback. He was justly proud of the level of gear he'd assembled--but he had assembled it for a house in which he no longer lived, with a room far, far larger than what he now had available to him. His speakers were Quad electrostatics, but he had them in a space not a lot larger than a big walk-in closet (OK, I exaggerate, but not by much), and frankly I thought they sounded bad; in that little room, they were strangled, with no chance for the sound to bloom. I think a pair of decent but inexpensive, small bookshelf speakers in that space would have sounded far better.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. Beyond a certain basic point, the amount you spent, and the brands you bought, are not as important as how your equipment fits with your listening space. Choose gear of good quality, with components well matched to each other and to the listening room, and you can rest easy about whether you might do "better" with something more expensive.

 

There are times when I become discouraged and then I remember something my Dad once told me: there's always going to be someone with a better _____, a bigger ______, more ______, and that's okay. Contentment is a state of mind that is not contingent on what I own. We are all on a journey not just in our audio hobby but in life, and learning to be content makes most if not all things more enjoyable.

I have a list of equipment I call my "grail" pieces which I hope to own and enjoy one day but I have reached a point where I don't allow it to affect how much I enjoy my current system.

 

Only one question matters -- with your setup, are you enjoying the music? ...

 

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who responded with their advice and perspectives. I really needed to hear it.

 

Could not put it any better.

 

You can dream of owning a Ferrari, but still love the Ford that gets you to work every day.

 

If you want to get rid of that upgrade addiction, you need to set hard deadlines and plans.
Think of what you want to upgrade and plan how long the lifespan should be at least, before even considering something new.
Write that down somewhere, maybe even on your calendar, just like an official deadline.

No considering something different anymore, no upgrading after that one, no drooling at high-end equipment in reviews.
You have made an agreement with yourself and you have to stick with it.
It’s annoying at first, but a relief after some time.

Self discipline.

 

Are your LPs indistinguishable from CDs in arena of distortion? Mine are, and thus, no more consideration of tweaks or upgrades and BTW I get this indistinguishable condition from a 45 year old Sony manual direct drive turntable/Shure M97xE cartridge/Schitt Mani phono preamp.

 

If you want that, work on your speaker placement! It will cost you nothing but time and patience, even half an inch can make all the difference !!! Look up the 'sumiko master set up for speakers' on the internet. Learn the skill of perfect speaker placement, this includes positioning of all your gear/furniture in between and around your speakers.

2nd advise which is still a relative small investment, considering the results you get from it : buy a good subwoofer ! A good, musical subwoofer (Rel Ti7 to name one) will turn any $1000 pair of decent speakers into a $10.000 pair with proper positioning and adjustments ! And NOT because it adds bass BUT because it adds space and ambient information from the recording which will help you to create that 'in your room playing' feeling. I know, because I have been searching for that feeling for more than a year now and I am getting pretty close !

 

Yep, the sub is boss!

 

There is another alternative. For a fraction of the cost of a high end room system, you can get into a end-game headphone system and hear things etched into that audiophile vinyl you would never have heard. I am referring to <10K for a Stax ear speaker and fine amplifiers from high end providers such as Headamp (BHSE tube amp).

 

I agree with almost everything said ... I only want to add that the better results are investing in the extremes: source and speakers / room treatment.

I have the same tt as you ... and let me say it's fantastic, in the level of a rega p3 (don't forget 200 usd in 1979 are 750 usd today). I also have the same cartridge ... and let me say it's fantastic too. You need to invest 2x, 3x to get something really better.
If I was you, only try to change the phono preamp (i have a Graham Slee), that makes a good improvement.

And speakers ... the best you can afford. That's spending money the right way. And enjoy music, close your eyes and feel the soundstage, the chorus, the arrangements ... search good used records and everyday you buy a new record it's an enjoyment.

Use the hobby to be happy ... you have all the other stuff in your life to bring you down. Listen to music to escape to a warm place, where you feel good and get good energy.

 

This points to a poor CD playback chain.

 

Maybe YOU have a poor analog playback chain . One of the great aspects of the m97xE is the tracking capability, with a .2 x .7 elliptical stylus (very difficult to find today, the actual better ellipticals begins in .3) and the famous shure dynamic stabilizer.

And also if you use a jico SAS stylus (nude advanced fine line stylus), this cartridge goes to really higher levels.

I'm more careful to say closed opinions.

 

No, it points to a lot of time/effort spend on turntable setup and cleaning records.
And the right equipment of course, but that’s often not the reason that people only get immaculate sound from CD; it’s because they’re too lazy to invest time and effort into their audio setup.

 

Pedal operated is still available?

 

YES YES YES

A pair of $1000 speakers positioned well will beat the **** out of poorly placed $10k speakers

 

Absolutely ... that's why dsp room correction are much more valuable that investing thousands more on speakers that naturally "fits" right in the room. I'm not saying expensive speakers aren't better ... i mean they're better in the right context and not as a "frequency corrector".

 

You can have 90% of the fun for little money in pretty much any hobby. Once you start chasing that last 10%, you’re taking the fun out of it. Unfortunately, one of the first signs you’re chasing that last 10% is registering on a forum...