Fantasies and Appreciating What You Have
 

I'm in one of my reflective moods again. This may mean I'm slipping further toward being a full-blown audiophile. I was sitting across from my system in silence, regarding all the gear from the oldest (Pioneer Elite LD player, 1999) to the newest (65" Sony A9G OLED, Oct/Nov 2020), and thoughts came to mind which I'll put here in case anyone can relate.

I realized that, despite believing I have a pretty good system, there are things I'd probably replace if finances agreed (they don't). I began thinking of what my "ultimate" fantasy system would be, and it's listed below, along with what would be replaced in parentheses. Notable to me is the inclusion of my turntable, since the SOTA was delivered less than a year ago:

Legacy Focus SE (Mirage M-3si)
Pro-Ject Xtension 12 (SOTA Sapphire)
Magnum Dynalab 107T or 108T SE (Magnum Dynalab 102)
Transparent Super IC (Transparent Plus)
Transparent Premium, Shunyata Venom NR10/12 PCs (Transparent HPPC)
Kimber 12TC
McIntosh MC501
Marantz SA-10, McIntosh MCD600 provided it doesn't use ESS chips (McIntosh MCD500)
McIntosh C2600, C2700, C52, C53, or VTL TL6.5 (McIntosh C2300)
Sony A9G OLED
Furman SPR20.1
Furman IT-Reference 15i
Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD
Pioneer Elite UDP-LX500 (Pioneer Elite 88FD)
Pioneer Elite DVL-91
Salamander Synergy (Sanus Euro)

Despite the above, over New Year's weekend a friend came over and I played Aquaman on BD for her, as she hadn't seen it. She had fun, and I enjoyed sharing it with her, re-engaging the system after another lull of interest. And last night I put on the BD of Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell. It sounded really good, rich, full, all the good stuff. This is played on an almost 12 year-old Pioneer Elite BD player, mind you. I was lost in the performance, not paying attention to the sound. I thought, "Why am I not spending more time with my system?" I wonder if the pandemic or the general stresses of my life as it is currently have led to this serious neglect. Did my getting COVID-19 last year start this downward trend to where I've paid little attention to what was supposed to provide entertainment and diversion, some refuge from the craziness? After I came home from the hospital last March, it was a month before I engaged the system in any way, and have not done so consistently since (I haven't played an album since July, for example).

It is time to put aside fantasies and ideas of what I'd replace or think I'd like to have and re-engage what I have, and learn (or re-learn) to appreciate it. Who knows, the fantasies and "what ifs" of new equipment may subside, or go away.

Time for you to Learn How To Listen again.

I have my ups and downs with my system too but I don't have any significant changes planned other than trying some tubes in my system. I've learned not to become overly critical or "anal"ytical about my system nor do I worry about what could be because I have not forgotten how good it can sound.

There are those times where my mind is open, unfettered by urgent matters or dealing with distractions, when my system continues to amaze me, please me and keeps me engaged for hours. I relish those times.

I hope you can re-engage with your system and enjoy it once more.

It will take some intentional moves, to be sure. My schedule, as is, doesn't lend itself easily to sitting down and having a real listening session due to the short window between getting home and going to bed (even shorter if I make a trip to the gym). I've also been trying to watch my bedtime, even go to bed a bit earlier, which means my quiet time of at least 30 minutes before bed starts earlier. I also find lack of energy translates to lack of will. I think my best bet for quality time with the system may be weekends.

Just to change things up and out of sheer boredom I put a Yaqin tube integrated in my all ss main rig for the past few days. This is a different presentation than what I'm used to and has given me an appreciation for what I have. Today I'm very much looking forward to removing the Yaqin (I've had enough) and going back to the way things were. Perhaps you could swap some gear and find that a substitution is just what the doctor ordered to be happy with what you have.
Of course there's always a chance that it could backfire and you'll need to give Ivan a call:D

It has happened to me as well, but from a different situation. Last year I was able to
get a great pair of well cared Audeze LCD-4s. After spending more time with them,
I have been enjoying a lot my music. Even so-so recordings come decent and for sure,
great ones are just unbelievable sounding.

Nowadays, the system is just used while watching movies which is alright, but the
two channel listening has taken a step back. Another little annoyance is that my
preamp is developing a 1db discrepancy between the right and the left channels
which affect the balance more than I didn't want to accept. It is noticeable and
at times distracting. I need to look into that at some point.

The last reason that I can attribute is the pandemia; while I enjoy that the whole
family is together, with my daughters large set of online regular and extra classes,
it restricts my chances of "awaking" the system, so I end up gladly with my newly cans.

Good thing you have headphones, seems like. You can immerse yourself in your own space.

I still haven't played a record in ages or listened to more than one CD all the way through in a while; I haven't even played the system for background music whilst in the kitchen but once in the last several weeks. Here and there I've watched a piece of a blu-ray. Time issues, lack of energy, both are culprits in my case. The interest is still there, but the desire has faded. Maybe I need to buy something to get it back? But then I consider the turntable's plight and dismiss that idea. The only replacement on my "fantasy" list that has a real chance of happening is the power cords, and only if I'm willing to spend the money; right this minute, I'm not.

I actually sat down and watched something start to finish, no small feat these days. I have several discs of various kinds bought previously but never watched.

A couple of evenings ago I watched Bluebird, a film about the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and clocking in at 83 minutes. Although from Nashville and knowing of the place, I've never been there. The movie was interesting, and I came away with a greater appreciation for the craft of songwriting. I would recommend the film to any who are interested. Nice to see Taylor Swift perform something other than the pop stuff she does these days.

I was watching and listening. The sound was nice, the performances real, and I even knew a few of the songwriters interviewed by name. To hear them talk about the Bluebird and its place in music history brought home how special a place it is for singer-songwriters, and the music is the whole point of the place. People like Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, and so many others got their start there.

It gets better. Tuesday I listened to two whole CDs (breakthrough!), When You Listen by the Lynn Arriale Trio and Hot Rocks by the Rolling Stones. I even snuck in "Poem 58" off Chicago Transit Authority. It was background music while cooking, to be frank, but the system was on. Maybe some mojo is returning.

Fantasies and Appreciating What You Have
 

I have spent many wonderful evenings in the Bluebird. I did not know they’d done a film about it. I saw Lyle Lovett open for Steve Earle there (or was it Steve Earle opening for Lyle Lovett).

The film was a 2019 Official Selection of the Nashville Film Festival, the Woods Hole Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival and some others. The copyright on the DVD is 2020, so it's quite recent. Looks and sounds that way, as well.

A bunch of other people have interview segments in the film but don't perform, such as Trisha Yearwood, Kacey Musgraves, Steve Earle, and Kathy Mattea. I hope the development and gentrification surges in Nashville don't swallow the Bluebird up.

Speaking of fantasies, I have, as reported in my power cord thread, ordered three Transparent Premium power cords to replace the Transparent HPPCs on my SACD, Blu-ray, and tuner pieces. I'm utilizing Transparent's upgrade program to do this and to save some money over buying something else straight up (Shunyata NR10s or NR12s) and having the extraneous PCs lying around, adding to my clutter. The Premiums were ordered Friday from a local dealer I've dealt with before. My LD player has a C7P Jewel AC from PS Audio; not sure if I'll do anything about that one yet.

Since the Premiums do represent a stopping point (for power cords they do, anyway), I should be able to sit back and just listen. I need to do more listening, I think. If I go for the LD player's PC, my best option is a Venom V14 Digital cord, more for consistency than anything else; then all my aftermarket cords would be either Transparent or Shunyata.

I also notice I forgot equipment racks in my initial post, so I will go back and update. Racks are part of the system, too.

Apart from catching it, my work has been totally normal through the lock downs etc. It's just that I look like Neil Armstrong going about. Had I been on furlough perhaps being at home for months may have sparked some hi end interest in my portable units but I have only needed to bump up my can's. If I don't have the time to enjoy them, why do I need to get a new Dap and dac/amp, a new laptop with a cd drive etc, what I have now is just fine. Just the ability to socialize is a tremendous blessing, and more than enough.

I think the ability to socialize will give exactly the perspective you mention. When that's happening, one doesn't necessarily think too much about upgrades. On the Thursday before last I spent a couple of hours on a phone call with a friend from church which moved to Zoom at her suggestion. She sent me the client, which I installed, and we continued the conversation that way. It ended up being a jam session of sorts, as we listened to tracks from her streaming service and my iTunes. She's a musical omnivore, and I was a bit amazed that she's a metalhead! (I'm not, but I may try to listen to some metal now).

But my new Transparent Premium power cords are here, as of yesterday. While I wasn't excited exactly, I did have a sense of anticipation. I connected the Premiums, and putting on my Hans Zimmer: Live in Prague Bu-ray, I noted the occasional bit of detail I hadn't heard before, such as attack and decay of a piano note, crisper-sounding transients on marimbas, and a perception of greater dynamics on the bottom, especially during the "Man of Steel" track. These are not earth-shaking differences, but I noticed them; and enough to make me wonder if moving from my Transparent Plus ICs to Super would yield any further benefits. Just as I know the Premiums are a stopping point, so would the Supers be. What yesterday's experience has done is revived the IC upgrade notion, though the Plus ICs are fine; Transparent rates the Premiums as compatible with either IC.

I need to live with what I have for a bit before going any further; spending more money isn't ideal at the moment. Perhaps I'll learn to appreciate this new combo of Plus/Premium; even more so if I can have company, which will take my mind off upgrades for a while.

due to the pandemic I spend a lot of time home. work then home, mostly because my wife is a nurse and has to deal with it everyday. she believes by staying home and avoiding people that aren't smart enough to stay home when they are sick is the way to go, i agree. in doing so i have a chance to listen to either one of my rigs daily. both 2 channel setups and both setups have been completely changed from the days i started to put them together. i think in this hobby there is always something bigger, better, faster, so to speak. but at some point you just have to sit back and smell the roses, i guess that's the point I'm at in the journey. if something fell into my lap i couldn't resist, i guess i'd pull the trigger. but at this point its just listening and enjoying. at this point its more about discovering new music than chasing better equipment.

I do the same job, and espouse the same philosophy. Two days off soon, and then I shall play dear old radio 3 and it's world music and jazz podcasts. I can hear the little blighter now. Mid fi for the wake up call only now, it lies bereft.

A minor milestone this week: I paid off my turntable. Now, can I show it some respect and appreciation by playing it more? We'll see.

It's sad how those of us with so many great audio devices cannot truly appreciate how fortunate we are to have what we have. 1/2 of the 8.2 Billion on the planet live on less than $3.00/day
https://i.imgur.com/PwIbbjO.jpg

As I get older and life moves forward, perspective changes. I'd like to think it will be ok to retire in 2 or 3 years, and have begun to think about what I'll do with that. Probably not obsessing over some of the things I do now.

Having squeezed in a couple more hours with my system recently, I realized I was, again, engaged with what I was watching (another blu-ray). And I wasn't paying particular attention to the sound, but to the music. That tells me what I have is good. I was experiencing the music, not just listening to it. Fortunately, I can't afford to go off and spend tons of money on things that might be an improvement, but even if I could, there's an underlying sense that what I have is good and should be enjoyed. If I just couldn't help myself, I might revisit the Super ICs and the Salamander racks. But because of my first paragraph, I'm in no hurry to go there. These are first-world considerations, surely, and I have more important things to attend to, life things. I'm hoping to place the focus on what is necessary, and let everything else fall into place behind that.

Your Mirage M3si speakers are hidden gems in todays audio world.

Interesting thread. I think the question of appreciation of your system is a really important one. Lack of draw to a system may point not to your mind set or point of view, but a system problem. Overall we are an analytical group that have developed and used highly specialized skills to evaluate and put together systems… I’m guessing many of us over many decades. I now think we may have been our own worst enemies. That skill of carefully identifying little nuances of sound that deviates from “perfect” in itself. Carefully tuning each facet one by one may in fact have driven the music out of the system. I remember coming home from work most nights an trying to squeeze in an hour of listening. I would close my eyes and take great satisfaction as the venue was painted in unbelievable detail. It seemed I really enjoyed my system. But when I retired and had more time to listen… I would sometimes listen for an hour… that’s all. My system wasn’t a magnet like it was when I was stressed out from work or craving time to appreciation my creation. It was not drawing me to it.

Let me cut to the chase. I figured out there was something missing… it was the musicality. I changed nearly my entire system to a warmer less analytical sound… I got the music back. It is still detailed, but it is not in my face… it has tremendous rhythm and pace. I now spend two or three hours a day… and never have enough time, never. The moment I have a minute I run down to listen… and it isn’t to listen to my system, it is to listen to the music.

Yes, and I know I'm not getting everything they're capable of because of the room they're in and the system setup that necessitates. They're the second-oldest part of my system (the first is the SME 309 tonearm on the turntable). The soundstaging isn't as deep and 3-D as I heard at the original audition; that could frustrate me if I let it, but I try to not focus on that. Other than Definitive Technology, I don't know of anyone who's making bipolar speakers. I like the concept. I hope the Mirages last quite a while longer.

That's a good place to be at. I confess that the majority of the time spent with my system recently is with blu-ray discs rather than music, but I have fun with that and it's a treat. Some of that could be carryover from the TV bought last fall and the more recent power cord upgrade, and the excitement to see/hear what the BDs sound/look like with the recent additions. BDs and well-mastered DVDs are great. Who knows how long that sense of discovery will continue?

I think what has been important for me is getting to a "stopping point;" that is, to have a piece of gear good enough so that it doesn't make me restless or curious to try something else or upgrade. The Transparent Premiums are a stopping point, so are my MC501 monos. NO interest in upgrading or changing those. The itch to explore new options comes with dissatisfaction or curiosity in my experience, and that is fueled further by what I'm exposed to (this site, audio magazines, etc.). It sounds like you hit a stopping point and now just listen and enjoy; I'm there in part, and it would behoove me to go all the way.

For the first time in my audio journey, I am supremely happy and have no desire to do anything else. Of course, I just did a lot :roflmao:

Learning to listen to MUSIC and not the SYSTEM is really key here. I am working on that right now, exploring new genres and buying more music than gear now.

Marc,

Well, you know that means, right? You finally found the secret combination. It’s out there and you know it when you hear it! Congrats!

I had 3 pair of the big Def Tech BP2000 speakers, I think they're the best set of speakers I've owned. with the Mirage M series being 35 years old, most all the ones I've seen have rotten foam surrounds on the 5" midrange drivers. Have you installed new ones on yours?
Both pairs of mine needed them replaced, this is one photo of one of the sets:
https://i.imgur.com/6S44osh.jpg

I still have the original drivers. The speakers were purchased in February 1993 and haven't shown any signs of issues. I have had to tighten the binding post screws on occasion, but that's been it so far. And they're the perfect size and height for my setup. The flagship Def Tech is only 40" tall, so I'm not sure about the image; my M-3sis are 53" tall and the front tweeters and midrange sit at a level halfway up the TV screen, which is perfect. They do give a nice, high image anyway, but matching the TV size and height makes for an even better experience with video.

The design of the Mirages makes it difficult to get at the drivers, so I admit I've never even inspected them. I'd figured I'd ride them until something goes wrong, then if fixing them is too much of a hassle or not an option, replace them with whatever I can afford that comes closest to what they give me.

Another hopeful sign. I bought the Zach Snyder Justice League movie on blu-ray. I finished it yesterday. It is much better than the 2017 version. It sounded great, and my attention wasn't diverted to the sound; it remained focused on the story and what happened on the screen, with the sound being part of the whole. That is a good sign.

What's not so good is the idea of that upgrade to Transparent Super crept back into my head as well. Even though I appreciated what I heard with Justice League, curiosity still creeps in, it seems. Also, it's been a while since I played anything other than blu-rays; that might be something to consider. I have been re-discovering old song favorites recently, not by playing them on my system, but through watching reaction videos on YouTube. While it's nice to get a (usually) younger person's perspective on the songs, that should drive me to the CD or LP I own and listen that way. So far it hasn't. I think convenience plays a factor there. Much easier to pull up the videos on YouTube (even with the annoying way ads are inserted now) and watch. I'm getting lazy.

Fantasy has struck again. The idea has come to explore an upgrade to my Transparent Plus ICs on the main sources to Super. So I contacted Transparent, and utilizing the Upgrade program would get a decent trade-in. This would be for the Gen 6 Super (which I didn't know they had; I thought it was only the upper tier stuff that was Gen 6).

Transparent thinks a better upgrade would be to do the speaker cable, whether Plus or Super. The retail price for a bi-wire pair of Plus speaker cable would be less than the IC upgrade, but at 8 ft. is way too long, as speakers and amps are right next to each other. An old e-mail I found says 6 ft. is the shortest they can make. Bi-wire adds $175 to the price. But if bi-wire, won't that reduce the effective gauge for each lug? Plus is 10AWG; i don't know about Super. My Kimber 12TC is 8AWG, and I use two pair to keep the effective gauge high. Transparent, however, doesn't recommend that. I should ask why.

It gets worse. I contacted Magnum Dynalab about the MD107T and a possible trade-in of my 102. The tuner doesn't see much duty, so this makes no sense from a practical perspective. But the 107 has a McIntosh-esque look to it, which is cool. It uses JJ tubes, which I used in my 2300 before the Black Diamonds I use now.

I CANNOT afford all three of these moves; at best, I could do one. The cheapest would be the speaker cables. AARGH. Here's hoping it all blows over.

The MD107T wins based on looks alone. Curious, what is current retail on this?

The 107T is $4500 MSRP, I believe. The 105 comes in both tube and solid state, $3600 MSRP for the tube version and $3000 for the solid state.

Urges to upgrade/change something occur usually in the midst of a lull in playing my system; I recognize that I've fallen into one again here of late. That needs to change, especially as I'm off work for at least another 2.5 weeks recovering from shoulder surgery. Changing speaker cables didn't occur to me until Transparent suggested that would be a better upgrade than the ICs in terms of system impact.

I have more info now to help me navigate this latest episode. A 6 ft bi-wire run of either speaker cable (Plus or Super) would cost the same as the standard 8 ft version, so no savings there. Both are 10AWG. Even 6 ft is still too long, but I could live with that; my Kimber 12TC is 4 ft. I also learned that Transparent's tech allows them to maintain the gauge at the speaker terminals, which is cool. So would the Plus' network module offset the heavier gauge advantage of the 12TC (8AWG) in terms of performance? I don't know. I'd really need some sort of audition, which would be at home preferably; According to Transparent, Gen 6 cables are in very short supply for audition at the moment, maybe in a few months there'll be some; meantime, perhaps some Gen 5 is out there.

^ ^ ^ ^
Had the audition, believe it or not. Compared the Plus speaker cable to my Kimber 12TC at a local dealer. I ended up ordering the Plus. It was a bit smoother on top, but pretty much identical otherwise. The same dynamic emerged when I compared Plus IC to Kimber Hero IC. Will be interesting to see how it sounds in my setup. Speakers were Sonus fabers, which were a bit warm.

I also did a Plus vs. Super IC comparison with both speaker cables. Very little difference; there was a perception that the Super was a tad more dynamic, but the difference wasn't huge; neither I nor the dealer thought it was. I stay put with the Plus SC and maybe later I'll think about the ICs. Maybe.

So this is a fantasy (of sorts) fulfilled. Besides, the Super ICs and SCs are twice the money of the Plus.

I think I've hit a sweet spot with the addition of two Shunyata Venom V10 NR power cords, replacing two Venom HCs on my power conditioners. Further sound improvements. And it may well be time to kick the fantasies to the curb and appreciate what I have now. I'm listening to Eliane Elias as I type, noting that her piano sounds more realistic than before, and the Aaron Copland program by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra played before that featured extended decay of some notes that I hadn't noticed before. The gongs on Fanfare for the Common Man lingered nicely.

Also time, therefore, to return to the good old days when the music was most important, even though the system I had back in the day doesn't compare to the one I have now. Wondering what will happen when I get around to playing LPs again.