Admit when you could have quit hi-fi

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by iDesign, Mar 2, 2019.

  1. iDesign

    iDesign Almost "Made"

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    Just like the title of the thread says, admit what setup you probably could have quit hi-fi with. For me, I probably could have happily ended my journey almost 20 years ago with the Sennheiser HD600 and PS Audio GCHA-- but shortly after purchasing them I learned about Eddie Current and the rest is history.

    Interested to hear what setups you could have lived happily with before you kept going.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2019
  2. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Eitr>Gungnir Multibit>Freya>Vidar>HE-6.

    Hardly a cheap setup but that whole system costs less than my current amp plus tubes. It’s hard to go back once you’re exposed to better gear, you get spoiled and you have higher expectations.

    Bifrost Multibit>Valhalla 2>HD650 is a great combo for a $1000 system albeit buying used components.

    Andromeda out of my phone with IEMatch is also a great setup that’s portable. If I could only keep one thing it would be Andromeda.
     
  3. Overkill Red

    Overkill Red Friend

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    Awhile back, I was super invested into portable gear; I traveled and took public transport a lot, and it made sense for me to get a good portable setup. I also got started when the portable IEM boom started, and it was all I knew. Eventually I reached a point where I had spent, over more than half a decade, a dumb amount of money and had reached a point where I couldn't call anything an upgrade. Right there, at the point where I told myself "I don't need to buy anything else", was the closest I came to quitting hi-fi/audio,etc.

    Unfortunately, I found out about how good desktop gear could be, and here I am. I'm just trying to hit that point again so I can stop spending... Quite confident that the Aficionado arriving next week will help me hit that point, or get me so close that I don't feel upgraditis.
     
  4. EeePee

    EeePee Acquaintance

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    VPI HW19, Rega Brio integrated, B&W 302. So, 1997.
     
  5. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I quit. Hearing got to bad to spend money on.

    But that does not mean that I won't not never ever again buy anything audio. Like a new headphone amp very soon!

    :sail:
     
  6. sheldaze

    sheldaze Friend

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    Gungnir Multibit (OG) > BW2

    Paired with most reasonable headphones, this was good enough to stop searching for better. My problem was and remains today, the Utopia. It requires a combination of speed, dynamics, and balance that BW2 and BA do not provide. So I, too, continued the pursuit via EC and tubes. Still, the idea of a solid-state solution lingers (ECP).
     
  7. pavi

    pavi Almost "Made"

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    yggdrasil a2 -> ec aficionado (300b) -> zmf vérité

    this suits me perfectly, and i haven't really listened to much else since - nor wanted to.
     
  8. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    Gungnir Multibit>Kenzie>hd800 (w/EQ). I had many many wonderful hours with this setup.
     
  9. Baten

    Baten Friend

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    holo spring 2 > thx aaa > either ad2000 or hd650. might replace the ad2000 with a higher end hifiman some day.
     
  10. allegro

    allegro Friend

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    I get more enjoyment that I ever thought I could using my current system. I don't feel the need to upgrade though there are other amps I would like to compare to my tweaked Kenzie. The Yggdrasil is the one component I don't think I would ever change, I waited a long time for DACs to come this far.
     
  11. StanT

    StanT Acquaintance

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    End game is relative, for me.

    Back in the dark ages, I bought a HK Citation 16 & 21 and paired them with some no name professional disco speakers w/15" woofers. Kept me out of trouble for 30 years or so. Turntables and cd players came and went, a pair of Sennheiser 424s were my headphone of choice for decades.

    Fast forward to the great living room debacle of 2012, when I had to get "those butt ugly speakers and amps" out of her living room. These days we have two systems, a "pretty" Marantz with adequate surround sound speakers that pass the wife test and a 2 channel system in the mancave/office.

    I'm very happy with my Yggdrasil and Ragnarok, though I'll consider a Ragnarok 2 if it runs cool enough for my rack. I'd like my desk space back; but Rag1 runs too hot in my rack. A pair of Ascend Acoustics Horizon will probably be my last speaker purchase. I have a Woo WA2 when I feel tubey.

    I use a pair of LCD-3 on the Ragnarok when I crave the planar sound, a pair of Beyer T1s for the Woo (preamp tubes can mellow the treble), and an older pair of HD650s for my crappy old recordings that I still listen to.

    I'll probably add another pair of headphones when something appeals to me. I have moving boxes of vinyl in the basement that haven't seen light in a decade, and I'd buy a streamer if it could pass the "wife ease of use" test.
     
  12. Jinxy245

    Jinxy245 Vegan Puss

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    I think End Game is relative for everyone. It's wherever you decide to stop, not the ultimate system. That's different for everyone.

    I haven't discovered my point yet...next step is to upgrade to Gungnir M/B. If that's what I'm looking for, then find a tube amp that floats my boat.
     
  13. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    I ain't no f'ing quitter!
     
  14. mkozlows

    mkozlows Friend

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    2006. Squeezebox serving FLAC rips, into a HeadRoom Micro DAC + Amp driving HD-650 headphones.

    And I actually did quit for a decently long time. That was my system until 2015, and for most of that time, I didn't even bother reading Head-Fi, because nobody was coming out with better headphones than those, and I wasn't going to spend more $$$ on the electronics.
     
  15. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    I mean, people can quit anytime they want. Are you asking when they could quit after having an ideal setup that checks most boxes? For me that would probably have been Modi multibit / Jotunheim or Val2 / Beyer T90. All quite resolving. Everything after that was chasing fairy dust.

    But humans are weird in that we're never satisfied.
     
  16. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    The T90 is a guilty pleasure of mine. I ran it out of a Bifrost Uber/Crack combo to great satisfaction for about a year. Definitely a love it or hate it headphone.
     
  17. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    I still haven’t found a reason to quit. I like this hobby.
     
  18. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    This is the ultimate sbaf homer setup, but I had so much f'ing fun with a hd650 and bottlehead crack + speedball. I blissfully ignorant to sources, actually had a blast with entry level Project turntable. But I felt like a king with that amp I built and headphones I modded.

    Now im grinding up Analog Productions records and shooting them straight into my arteries, giving handies under a bridge for NOS tubes.
     
  19. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    If I was only ever on the road I'd be happy with my Sony NW-WM1Z and CFA Solaris combo. In fact I am not even looking to change my portable setup.

    Only place I'm futzing with now is my desktop system. Have the Dangerous Music Convert-2 in the system right now (part of the loaner tour) and dang-it if it's tempting me to move on from the Holo Spring L3 I've had for years. Just added the Freya into the chain to add some "tubiness" to the extreme transparency of the DM C2 and it's quite nice.

    Great thread concept BTW!
     
  20. pavi

    pavi Almost "Made"

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    i agree, completely. the wm1z and the solaris are a sweet combination.
     

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