Dream, Aquire, Repeat...

[JSCC]

Originally Posted by Alberto

My dear audio friend, I hope you don't mind this comment, but from the list of items you mention, I am not sure I can see a trend, a specific goal/sound/look you are going after. You are a bit all over the map (pun for 80B - our map collector) .

You have had some amazing pieces going through your door - that Violon makes me drool every time I see it - and you know what I think about the MC501s. So what's not working? How would you describe the sound you are looking for? What's your favorite type of music? It really helped me to answer those questions. I also took into account my smallish dedicated listening room 11x14x9 - I knew that it would not work with SF's Stradivari, but that it would be great with a stand mount - hence the SF Guarneri.

I knew I wanted a warm and non-fatiguing system that would sound great with Led Zeppelin and not just with Chesky recordings. I was willing to sacrifice top frequency extension and resolution in exchange for warmth and forgiveness. I wanted tone controls. And so on.



Not really, otherwise I would have stopped a long time (and several $10Ks) ago. Did I really need to upgrade from the MC252 to the MC501s? As I tried to mention, it's not taking effort or discipline to have "stopped" - not one bit. I would still be chasing if I wasn't happy - I know that for sure.

One thing that really helped me was to go back in time to when I REALLY enjoyed music - even though I had a system 1/20th of what I have now (in terms of $, watts, specs, etc.) I realized that at the time I did not care, or even know, about most of the audio terms we use around here (e.g. soundstage, resolution) it was much more about the music ... and about TONE. I remember my teens rocking to Led Zep, Deep Purple and U2 and digging the somewhat enhanced mid-bass in my relatively small room. I remember how I could listen to my cloth/paper tweeter speakers for hours (and loud in those days) without fatigue. I noticed how much I enjoyed listening to music on my vintage system even though I also have a much fancier modern system. On the latter I would listen more to the sound than the music.

I have develop more refined tastes and knowledge, and I would not be happy with the system from my teens, but I tried to build a modern high-end system that captured the essence of the period when I enjoyed music the most. And you know what, I am enjoying music again as much as I did as a teen-ager - perhaps even more.

So, to go forward, it might help you to go back and to go deep "inside" and try to figure out what you want your system to be and look like.

I realize this sounds a bit preachy and know it all, but it's not meant in that way at all . As I said, I believe I was lucky to hit upon an approach that I thought would work for me, lucky to find the pieces of equipment that I craved, and lucky that my hypothesis worked out.

I should also mention that room treatment was an essential piece of the puzzle. It's very likely that without it, I'd still be trying to figure out what's not quite right.

Alberto

Hi Alberto,

I know I am a little (actually very) overboard and lost in my search. For sure, the speakers for my main system IS the Acapella's High Violon MkIV's. I have learnt during these 2 years that ROOM plays a big part in the overall end results - so much so I would term it as PART OF the main system! Yes siree!

I have bought myself another keeper - the PS Audio PPP to which I am going to power all my McGears from. I cant be having my toys all over the house, so right now, before I hit my new home, I will play with the following setup, MS750/MCD500/MVP871/MA6600+TM2 (TM3 when its available, an FOC replacement). I will sideline the MC501's. Somehow, the MCD500 sounded better thru the MA6600 than thru the MC501's. If this makes me happy, I AM HAPPY and music ever after! Thats it!

Like you mentioned, back in the late seventies and early eighties, the shoebox was all I could afford and I was blasting away the Led Zeps, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and none the worse for my ears. I never even knew what noise (or the high tech terms like jitter, listening fatigue, etc, ..) is all about. I enjoyed every bit of the music blasting thru until my dad had to tell me to tone down, or rather, in bad mood, shut the thing off!

I wanted that kind of enjoyment back into my life and NOT keep chasing the elusive dream or for all I know, if it even existed!

So, I will now just relax, sit down, pour myself a nice bottle of Perrier and enjoy the music every Friday and Saturday night! If there's anything I need right now, its a more up to date Bluray player as mine cant seem to play the latest "Rise Of The Lycans" even after having Samsung coming in to update the software!

Thanks for the nice notes and advise. I do learn and I will value them.

Cheers!