Struggle. It's not High End audio if it doesn't take some work. Contrary to what audio store mavens would tell you, you can't simply buy musical enjoyment. It's not "all about the music." It's about getting the sound that makes it sing, understanding how to get there, and traveling at least some small part on your own feet. As Euclid said about Geometry, there is no royal road to being an Audiophile. Not only is it not possible to get their without your own work (which could be just...actually serious listening...if you have totally obsequious dealer you trust and tireless elves to help daily) it's not the same thing. To be an audiophile is to be endlessly deciding how to do audio, but hopefully not obsessing too much over these decisions, but hopefully making better ones as time goes on, that lead to more rather than less enjoyment overall.
To be an audiophile is to at least nearly always be on the edge of Audiophilia Nervosa. That is the dark side, which we must stay as far away from as possible, I believe. Some guidelines for avoiding that:
1) There is no one right way to do things, starting from the fact there is no one right set of goals to be aspiring to, including the nature and extent of one's unpaid personal labor and buying in audio, and when and what to listen to and how.
1a) The enjoyment people seem to be getting from their audio systems often seems inversely proportional to how good they are by various objective standards. Why can't we who take audio seriously have it both ways? Have high standards when we're tightening connections, and then, just enjoy?
1b) I believe 1a also includes that...it doesn't take much audio capability to make audio enjoyable. The main thing is in fact...the frame of mind about it all. To be able to accept things as they are now.
1c) Once one has banished unquestionably horrid sound, most audio systems are capable of communicating sufficient information for a fully expansive experience each time. In fact, this doesn't take much. The truly great systems have even more information to choose from, but both are sufficient.
So, avoiding obsession includes accepting the fact that the present will never meet the highest standard, or even sometimes ones that were recently being met, but still the envelope of expending experiences must continue.
To be an audiophile is to at least nearly always be on the edge of Audiophilia Nervosa. That is the dark side, which we must stay as far away from as possible, I believe. Some guidelines for avoiding that:
1) There is no one right way to do things, starting from the fact there is no one right set of goals to be aspiring to, including the nature and extent of one's unpaid personal labor and buying in audio, and when and what to listen to and how.
1a) The enjoyment people seem to be getting from their audio systems often seems inversely proportional to how good they are by various objective standards. Why can't we who take audio seriously have it both ways? Have high standards when we're tightening connections, and then, just enjoy?
1b) I believe 1a also includes that...it doesn't take much audio capability to make audio enjoyable. The main thing is in fact...the frame of mind about it all. To be able to accept things as they are now.
1c) Once one has banished unquestionably horrid sound, most audio systems are capable of communicating sufficient information for a fully expansive experience each time. In fact, this doesn't take much. The truly great systems have even more information to choose from, but both are sufficient.
So, avoiding obsession includes accepting the fact that the present will never meet the highest standard, or even sometimes ones that were recently being met, but still the envelope of expending experiences must continue.
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