Long Term and Short Term Satisfaction

When I bought this house back in 2001 I decided as somebody with complete music OCD that I would seek a reference level hi-fi but get there in stages - economic reality always bites!

In 2006 I bought my first Naim products with my Dyn Contour speakers and decided that the 282/250 would be my settling point.  Late last year the opportunity arose to acquire a CDS3 and sell on my excellent CDX2 and that was some wonderful icing on the cake.  Combined with my Roksan Xerxes 2.2 I'm still very content - in fact the music always just enthralls me - end of.  I've heard Statement and several full 500 Series (including the fantastic system of another forum member) and yeah it's breathtaking but I really don't hanker.  In fact last week I went to the Whittlebury show and frankly heard nothing I wanted - bought some records though.

One change though does beckon.  When I retire from work in about 3 years I will change the speakers - for what I haven't a clue!!!!!

The route to finding satisfaction is, I believe, two fold.

Firstly to spend some silent time working out what it is that you want from the replay ... For example lots of resolution for detail, or a bolder less precise effect.

Secondly to accept that replay can be an effective but never the less is an artificial notion that at best can allow for suspension of disbelief in its artificiality. The search for something that is a complete replacement for listening to live music-making from an audience perspective is an impossible thing.

Neither the home replay nor the recordings themselves [the more important factor?] have ever achieved what may be defined as perfection. In reality perfection in replay is as elusive as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

But if your replay immerses you in the music without distraction, then you can find satisfaction, and stop worrying about whether the next upgrade will achieve it. The point is to recognise satisfaction when it happens and stop fiddling with cables or upgrading speakers and electronics ...

ATB from George

George

I agree with you 100%

George,

I also agree with you but the point at which you stop on that increasingly insane upgrade path depends on your individual perception of the point at which you define as 'satisfied' and the degree to which you are susceptible to obsessive behaviour. These two things also change over time (increasing and decreasing).

Well, thank goodness we are all different - this difference also facilitates the ability for Naim and others to sell hifi at all price levels!

Looking for Nirvana....?

My own path has stuck with Naim separates based systems, since the early/mid 80's. Two of my present systems units are from that time - my 250 (not .2, not DR) and one of my HiCaps. The system did take a backwards or sideways dive when I mistakenly had a 102 (from 2001 to 2010). No matter what I did, it didn't really do what I wanted, expected or was used to. Getting a used 72 as a back up was a clue. I did get the 102 looked at, by Naim and they clearly found this not right, as it had a main board changeout, but there was still something.... 

So I looked for a used 82 - and even at TomTom it was a revelation. I bought it - and my system suddenly clicked back to more like it used to be, but better - different. 

I hoped the 82 might do the trick - perhaps even to be the final, long term fix, and so far, it proven to be so. I'm pretty happy with what it all does now. Adding a 2nd HiCap and an XPS have both contributed further. 

Is it Nirvana...? Maybe, maybe now - I am sure spending even more, would yield something. A Supercap perhaps...?  But its very musical and satisfying to listen to. I think I will stay here a while...... Just buying more music again......  Always a good sign, IMO.

IanM

Indeed. You can't reproduce something that hasn't been recorded and a bad recording (not talking about dynamics etc) will always be bad even from the best turntable, cd player or tuner.

The "source first" concept is debatable.

Yes, and it does beg the question if enough music you like is available in sufficiently high enough quality of recording/production to take advantage of the enhanced SQ the higher end Naim (or Hifi brand of choice) should deliver. I say this but I continue to surprised by the revelation recent upgrades have brought to what, I previously thought, were mediocre recordings - recently a ripped Tracey Chapman album springs to mind. 

An interesting debate and an issue that I often ponder. Like a few others on this forum I went through a decades long upgrade journey with Naim, ending up with an 8 box top of the range olive system. At the time of purchase every upgrade made a positive difference and helped me enjoy my music more. I'm still wondering how it happened that each improvement was somehow consumed after a relatively short period and I craved another fix of "rediscovering my music collection". However along came streaming and I traded the lot in for a Uniti and then Superuniti (and enough change to buy a motorbike).

As it stands I am still very happy with my Superuniti although there are a few who are moving from one box systems back to multi box , though 2 or 3 box rather than 8 or 9 (hello HH)! I still feel that the sound quality, reliability and music access improvements from streaming are the reason why I am enjoying my system more than ever. Of course I wonder what a 250DR would sound like and it's just as well a Hugo won't work with an SU.

I do have 10 motorbikes though...

C.

Vroom....vroom...

Thanks Pev, you have now given me a hankering after a motorbike again!

And I thought I was over that!

No, I mustn't the wife will kill me.

(Maybe I could hide a motorbike in the garage, she never goes in there....No, no, no.)

Please no more talk of Motorbikes - I can't afford a messy divorce.

The problem is, everytime I make a succesful upgrade I'm left wondering how much more I'm missing. It seems to be a constant chasing the dragon. I wonder though whether you eventually hit that point where the sense of buyers remorse outweighs the long term enjoyment of the upgrade... perhaps that is the point at which most people settle?

Building a system is a creative exercise, it engages a lot of energy, thoughts , research ,technical understanding and most enjoy it.   And when the system has been "finished" some can be left with POST SYSTEM TRAUMA - the sense of longing to continue with the creative process rather than put the feet up and listen to it.

being a Painter (although not a successful one) I enjoy looking at a blank canvas and going through the  process of deciding what I'm going to do with it, then completing it, then thinking what I could do next on another blank canvas what I didn't do before or something to be improved on it.  It's a communicative method that hopefully lets me know wether what has been done is any good or not.

You don't need to be an Artist to be creative of course.

I certainly recognise the creative exercise you describe in building and improving a hifi system. After all many of us describe it as our hobby. With the lack of any real rational explanation, I have used this one in desperation to 'justify' the occasional upgrade purchase to the wife. It goes something like this.

The Missus: 'But why to you need to buy (insert latest new Naim gizmo) and why is it so expensive?'

Me: 'But this is my hobby dear, be thankful that I don't gamble, don't smoke, have sold my beloved motorbike and wouldn't dream of cruising round the red light district'.

The Missus: - Well I would be censored if I quoted this bit.

Anyway, I too would certainly miss this creative process (I might try that one next on the wife) if I ever came to the end of the road. What is more likely to happen though is that it would be replaced (the process not the system) by a new hobby - the Long Term satisfaction referred to in my opening post. Painting maybe.

So maybe this continuous urge to upgrade is a combination of the real enjoyment better and better music reproduction brings to us together with the creative process you describe.

We maybe getting close to an explanation here.

Perhaps more POST TRAUMATIC SYSTEM DISORDER for those predisposed ..