This is simply a great thread--seldom is there much on the dark side of our hobby--obsessing to the point of preoccupation, spending vast amouts of money for small and ephemeral changes in sound quality, the neglected kids, ignored wife, etc, etc.
As a psychiatrist who treats both depression and addiction. I'd like to throw in my 2 cents worth. First of all this in no way meant to be judgmental or derisive of those who engage in what clearly can be defined as addictive audioholic behaviors. I have been there, and done that, my particular pinnacle having been reached in the late 80's when I owned a pair of IRS Betas, nice valve preamp. and a Koetsu rosewood cartridge. That system could sing, but considering it was worth twice my annual salary at the time as a post doc, was it rational to own?
Never bothered to ask myself that question as I was hell bent on buying some really good monoblocks and a dac that would make CD's enjoyable to listen to. Later changed to Thiele 3.6 then Dunlavy SC-IV, etc, etc, etc.
Makes me wonder how long the average high end component is even used. Or more to the point, are we all suffering from a shared delusion that significant differences exist among well designed electronics. Or why is that a component that grabs your attention and thins your wallet in the beginning sound hum drum just a few months later, requiring yet another fix?
Some interesting findings from the study of cocaine addiction may be applicable here, namely it has been demonstrated that simply the anticipation of using cocaine lights up pleasure centers in the brain of experienced users nearly to the same same extent, albeit briefly, as the actual use of the drug. Moreover this effect grows over time, even as the effects of the drug lose their initial potency--that is, when the chase is on, using ever larger amounts in the fruitless pursuit of producing the initial big bang.
So called process addictions like compulsive shopping, sex, gambling are more elusive to study but clearly have much in common with audioholism.
My guess is that these upgrades in sound quality we so rabidly insist are present after swapping component b for a, are a bit like those anticipatory cocaine effects and as mind altering agents produce the illusion of a big change in sound, even when are spouses are friends can't really hear the difference. Tin ears the lot of them?? More likely we are laboring under our own delusions as music, more than sight or smell is capable of producing powerful emotional responses believed to reside in the limbic part of the brain. The placebo effect has been used in this context, and probably in my business has received the most study of any branch of medicine as any pill will bring about a marked reduction of symptoms in roughly a 1/3 of the population.
Why is that these supposed vast differences in sound quality between 2 amps for instance, nigh impossible to demonstrate under blind and matched level conditions? There is a good thread over at AA under philosphers and wisemen if one is interested, but the upshot, somewhat disappointing to the subjectivist camp, is there is no documentation anywhere after 20 years of abx testing of identifiable differences between well designed components that are reasonably flat and of similar output impedance.
Anyway just a few notions--some excellent suggestions have been made as to integrating sound into your life and away from the solitary pursuit of audio nirvana in special rooms with obscenely expensive gear that is nearly as bad in resale value retention as the average car. Does the magical sound quality that was raved about by the audio press somehow get lost in use?
So buy good used gear and go DIY where your skills are up to the task, XM is great and I love the DVD-A audio system in my new acura TL. And f you're still depressed, see me or a colleague.
