5 Stages of (Audiophile) Grief- Where are you?

geowak · « **on:** 2 Jan 2009, 01:29 am »

In which stage do you find yourself in....

Denial and Isolation.
I do not have an addiction to audio equipment in any way. Those speakers were a gift from Uncle Wilbur

Anger.
Look honey...I'm getting mad, this amp is for the whole family not just me!

Bargaining.
You can get the Ultimate thigh master and the Ab roller and I'll get the ABC tube preamp.

Depression.
I really can't afford the Dali megaline speakers this year, maybe next...

Acceptance.
I have too many CD players (5), I've got to sell one. I have an audio problem. My wife said she is going to put a ring around my eye if I don't unload some audio stuff.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 01:38 am »

Quote from: geowak on 2 Jan 2009, 01:29 am

In which stage do you find yourself in....

Denial and Isolation.
I do not have an addiction to audio equipment in any way. Those speakers were a gift from Uncle Wilbur

Anger.
Look honey...I'm getting mad, this amp is for the whole family not just me!

Bargaining.
You can get the Ultimate thigh master and the Ab roller and I'll get the ABC tube preamp.

Depression.
I really can't afford the Dali megaline speakers this year, maybe next...

Acceptance.
I have too many CD players (5), I've got to sell one. I have an audio problem. My wife said she is going to put a ring around my eye if I don't unload some audio stuff.

None of the above...

geowak....Are you grieving about something ?

Bigfish · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 01:39 am »

I claim to be in "Depression,"

Ken

JohnR · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 01:41 am »

Heh heh - Acceptance

geowak · « **Reply #4 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 01:44 am »

lonewolfny

I let some Odyssey equipment go. A Candela preamp and Stratos amp. I actually wanted the amp for a long time. Now I have in the process of picking out a new amp.....

does it ever end???

JLM · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 01:45 am »

Why would I deny decent sound in the living room (2nd audio system)?

Of course my main audio rig is in an isolated room (dedicated man cave).

I'm past the bargaining stage, that happened when she wanted to move away from my job, kids, family (so I got the man cave).

But I continue in depression in that I have a Behringer DEQ 2496 waiting for mods and drivers I'd like to have modded too, but wifey was out of work for 6 months last year and took a big cut in pay to get back into a job.

No anger, but the HT system is for the family.

I've accepted that the HT system is a great way to use all those old IC's and speaker cables.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #6 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 01:47 am »

Quote from: geowak on 2 Jan 2009, 01:44 am

lonewolfny

I let some Odyssey equipment go. A Candela preamp and Stratos amp. I actually wanted the amp for a long time. Now I have in the process of picking out a new amp.....

does it ever end???

It ends when you want it to....remember...audio its not a race....take your time...enjoy....other opportunities always arise.

geowak · « **Reply #7 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 02:00 am »

Oh yeah...I almost forgot... I am in denial. I really do not want that Clayton amp, but I might want that Bose Wave radio.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #8 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 02:02 am »

Quote from: geowak on 2 Jan 2009, 02:00 am

Oh yeah...I almost forgot... I am in denial. I really do not want that Clayton amp, but I might want that Bose Wave radio.

Clayton makes some great amps...heard a few....nice stuff.

pardales · « **Reply #9 on:** 2 Jan 2009, 02:17 am »

I'm not in any of those stages but I am in, what I call, "TRY" mode. I just want to hear different gear.....this happens to me every couple of years or so. Eventually I arrive at a combination that leaves me without this desire to try, try, try and I keep it for a while. Last time that happened was the Altmann gear a little over two years ago.

Niteshade · « **Reply #10 on:** 5 Jan 2009, 01:24 am »

An insatiable thirst to try new things all the time...no matter how good something is.

Audio to me is a quest for knowledge and of course the quest never ends. I would like to listen to amps made in the 20's up to present and always admire well thought out circuits and well planned real-estate (component placement).

The new frontier for me is transistor amplification, believe it or not!

No grief to speak of, really. Audio gear creates asemtopes that are logarithmically impossible to attain.

woodsyi · « **Reply #11 on:** 5 Jan 2009, 01:14 pm »

Quote from: geowak on 2 Jan 2009, 01:29 am

Bargaining.
You can get the Ultimate thigh master and the Ab roller and I'll get the ABC tube preamp.

Good luck with that bargaining tactic.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #12 on:** 5 Jan 2009, 01:43 pm »

I am not sure if I fit cleanly into any of those categories, but I will attempt to describe where I am in the journey.

My 2 channel system is fine, it could use a lot of cosmetic improvement - raw mdf OB speakers, and a raw console pull amp. Both could use actual finishing, but are 100% functional.

My main floor 2.1 HT system is fine too, but I am about to embark on a DIY fireplace/mantle/bookshelf/wall unit project that will ultimately end with a new 42-46 inch flat panel display replacing the 7 year old 32 inch Sony Vega and associated giant TV rack. I may end up with a Yamaha soundbar type setup for that room, we will see.

For the living room, as my wife and I seek to return to a life of grown up living (my girls are still young at 3 and 5, but we really miss having at least ONE room in the house where it is toy free and capable of quiet reading or music listening) so I may have an opportunity to create a 3rd smal system in that room.

As the girls grow, I am sure they will want their own music systems for their rooms, and they may benefit (suffer?) from having a father who is a DIY nut, and loves music - I am sure we will build speakers together for them, even if they are simple.

So, it is clear that I have a sickness, but I am not missing mortgage payments to score the latest hot gear, I tend to wait it out, and buy up older, used top level kit a number of years after it goes out of vogue, but is still excellent equipment.

That, and having learned the pleasures of DIY (and for me that includes saving $, but also rewards in research, planning, and implementing a build <leftovers from the old building motorcycle days, when I used to spend days in the garage in the winter, stripping down motorcycles to the frame, and cleaning them and reassembling them to meet my twisted vision>), I find myself more interested in finding the right next audio project, as much as the next right audio piece of gear.

Good luck out there!

doug s. · « **Reply #13 on:** 5 Jan 2009, 05:07 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi on 5 Jan 2009, 01:14 pm

Quote from: geowak on 2 Jan 2009, 01:29 am
Bargaining.
You can get the Ultimate thigh master and the Ab roller and I'll get the ABC tube preamp.

Good luck with that bargaining tactic.

i agree this isn't the best tactic - not only is it subtly (or not?) insulting, but this is really a gift for you, not her, anyways!

doug s.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #14 on:** 5 Jan 2009, 07:09 pm »

Quote from: geowak on 2 Jan 2009, 01:29 am

In which stage do you find yourself in....

Wow, you've described my "audio life" perfectly. Well, my uncles name isn't Wilbur, but with the exception of that, it's "spot on".
I find myself at about a 4.5 on your scale from one to five. I recently made a deal with my wife that she and the kids can get themselves a cute cuddly (damn) cat, and I'll get a PS3 for the HT room (and the {damn} cat had never never never enter my room.)

I'm at the point I'm weeding out unused equipment and have found myself in all of the other 'stages'. A surprising feat for my relatively recent entry in this hobby.
So yea, between Depression and Acceptance. Firmly.

Bob

thunderbrick · « **Reply #15 on:** 5 Jan 2009, 07:34 pm »

Bob, you got a nice remote-controlled preamp that you'll be throwing out?

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #16 on:** 5 Jan 2009, 08:12 pm »

No Sir. Despite the dozen remotes I have, none are for pre-amps. Sorry Bob.

Bob

geowak · « **Reply #17 on:** 6 Jan 2009, 06:40 pm »

Just left Denial and briefly entered Anger when wife found an AMP on the front porch from UPS. She has convinced me I am stuck in denial and must enter Acceptance....

kyrill · « **Reply #18 on:** 31 Jan 2009, 10:04 am »

ah well

I really hoped to end my search as i found my ultimate setup wit DEQX, tubes and OB
but then this strange urge to "can it be modded better in order to sound better"?

SO i said to my wife, I am finished i have found my holy grail i only need another last 500 Euro, hehe for the mid speaker. And i lived 3 weeks in joy, My search is over
and then...

read how bad generally I/V opamp stages after the DAC are relatively, compared to discrete transistors or tube stages, and DEQX could really be in that league, that my amps don have yet silver internal hook up wire and carbon resistors and teflon tube feet, that my SB3 does not have yet a super clock with its own dedicated super stable pws,
that i have no ground on my power amps to avoid hum so i need to look into that
I dont have yet a Schumann resonator and so on

am i in acceptance?

KCI-JohnP · « **Reply #19 on:** 24 Mar 2009, 12:14 pm »

Depression, been waiting on my "new speakers" for a year and a half now.....