Philosophical question for the day: Does this HIFI hobby make you happy?

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I'm addicted, obsessed and always striving, albeit with an awful lot of enjoyment listening...and dealing.

Just put my QED SA XT on fleabay and it sold in 2 hours. Now I don't have any cable for my kitchen speakers.
 
I'm in the fortunate position of hearing more equipment than most people, but usually the reaction is 'Oh, that's interesting' rather than 'Musthavemusthave'. Haven't changed much in the system for ages - too busy enjoying the music, and the occasional movie.
 
Andrew Everard:I'm in the fortunate position of hearing more equipment than most people, but usually the reaction is 'Oh, that's interesting' rather than 'Musthavemusthave'. Haven't changed much in the system for ages - too busy enjoying the music, and the occasional movie.

You are a lucky basket Andrew.

Mind you I'm hearing quite a lot of equipment these days, don't have anything for very long.
 
Thinking about upgrade? let say downgrade, side grade or any grade I am up for it
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I love music so it doesn't matter too much which gears I will be using next (as long as they are good
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) I just enjoy living with different equipments every few months, having said that the current set up will be very very hard to move away from but never say never
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Thaiman, I've struck a deal to buy a 10m pair of Chord Epic, factory terminated for £350, 9 months old. What do you reckon? I only need a 7m pair and they are for my ProAcs.

I can't decide whether to buy or to wait for something cheaper to present itself.
 
I think you will be wasting 6 metre of cables! (@£££)

Which set you are using at the moment?
 
Not necessarily as I can cut them down and use a bit to connect my speaker switch box. Have been using QED SA XT for the last month or two but just sold it because it's too HF biased. Use Odyssey on my Kudos, which I like.

Other options are Kimber 4tc or Nordost Super Flatline
 
I had Nordost Flatline before, un-balance sound I thought. Kimber 4TC is not really better than many cheaper pair so I would try them first. Mate, cables is the hardest thing to recomend and like i mentioned before, the one that make enough different are normally cost an earth (Kondo, Vertex, Transparent, Virtual Dynamics)
 
What would you recommend, I only want to spend £250, preferably 2nd hand for a 7m pair?

What about Gutwire Basic or MIT EXP or Audience Conductor?
 
Audience has some good ink but I never heard the speakers cables. The best value for money cables I ever come across is the old Naim cable (heavy duty, very thick type, can't remember the model) They sound superb for such a little outlay, in fact I was quite happy using them with many of my highend gears until I discover Vertex. As for the rest, sorry mate I am out of cables swapping for a while and not sure which to recommend....may be basic range of JPS Laps which can punch above it's price weight but they are rare as people normally do keep them.
 
Whilst I don't want to necessarily get into a philosophical debate, is it worth spending £350 on speaker cables (or indeed thousands on CDP and Amp) that are going to go through a speaker switching box?
 
matthewpiano:Thaiman, do you mean Naim NAC-A5?

It doesn't say anything on the cable, they are black and heavy made with thick coppers twist (almost impossible to bend!). I got them as part of the deal (freebies throw-in) when I bought Hifi few years ago.
 
JohnDuncan:Whilst I don't want to necessarily get into a philosophical debate, is it worth spending £350 on speaker cables (or indeed thousands on CDP and Amp) that are going to go through a speaker switching box?

Speaker switch box is audiophile grade.

You are right that £350 is madness for my 2nd speakers. I'm just being silly.
 
A couple of years ago i ditched an anti-social hobby (playing world of warcraft all hours i could find) and moved my pc into the cellar then dusted off my old nad hifi with mission speakers stuck on shelves and made a proper listening area. That was the start.

Since then i have thoroughly enjoyed hifi as a hobby - reading reviews / forums / thinking about what may work and gradually building a new system. All very enjoyable with some e-bay buying and selling to help fund it and try out things.

I think i am at the point where i am pretty sure no small tweaks will improve anything much now. Yes i get tempted by new speakers but have to bear in mind the space limitations so really it is now about listening and finding new music.

I dont get too much chance to actually hear new equipment though - doesnt feel right to set up a demo unless i am pretty sure i am keen to buy.

What would be good is a WHF club where you can arrange to meet up with other local forum members and listen to their systems. I would be keen to hear Joel's set up for instance as it contains an item or two on my 'one day' shortlist such as Unison and Kudos (i fancy their standmount as an upgrade to my Neats).
 
Extremely happy yes!

I knew that I wanted to find something high-end that really affected me when listening and after MUCH searching I have found it. I spent a couple of afternoons in the shop with my final decision, before ordering, and cannot wait until it actually arrives now.

The extra level of involvement and emotion it carries is quite something. I now 'get' what certain reviewers mean when they talk about true high-end stuff being 'ethereal' in it's effect. Even my wife 'got it' whilst listening and she couldn't care less about the kit itself, so long as it looks nice!
 
It makes me happy. If I see a technically impressive system I get upgradeitis for a while. However, I get over this by sticking on some CDs and having a good listen. My system isn;t the most expensive out there but it IS miles better than any integrated system i've ever had before. There's no reason to changeanything until I have a substantial amount of cash to move to fully StreamingFromANetworkDevice music and an AMP / DAC upgrade. Thatday will be a fun day but, until then. I'm happily enjoying what I have.

OUtside of plugging everything in, music is the fun part of HI-FI so I make sure I enjoy it!
 
graciously I can say Im at a place where Im happy and think of nothing else but what song am I going to play next. It took a long time to achieve that "what I have it really good now enjoy"
 
matt gurney:
For me, I manage to upgrade my system every Friday night by combining my real hobbie with Hi-fi...... which is brewing and drinking beer !

Problem solved!
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" the music sounds better with you"

I love home brew ....

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