Thanks Jon, I appreciate that.
He's right, it's a never ending pursuit, and 30 minutes after listening to something new you've added into your system, and being wowed by it, you end up fixating about what's not quite right about it and trying to fix that.
I get the notion that people draw a line after a certain point and try to stay happy with that, but once that amount of music has opened itself up to you, the ability to isolate each instrument, to feel the space between the players and to to hear the music somewhere close to how it was done in the studio (and remember the recording and the production are two different things), it's like a drug, seriously.
But you're fucked from the get-go if you haven't got the perfect room, and here's why... Bass frequencies are omni-directional and they come out of your speakers, not in a straight line, like 'treble' sounds, but they wrap around the cabinet like a big doughnut. If your speakers are rear ported, then you are adding something else into the mix... room reflections. This means that the bass sounds hitting the rear wall could hit your ears, before the non-reflected bass note does, and that brings colouration. Your speakers should be around a minimum of 85cm from the side wall and 85cm from the back wall too, and then the speaker placement you settle on, needs you to attempt to form an equilateral triangle, where the distance between the speakers is the same distance as the speakers are to you, as you sit in a central spot between those speakers. Even with a slight toe-in to help the stereo image.
Who lives in a room like that? Not me. My speakers are 10cm from the side walls, and 12cm from the rear walls.
He's also right about headphones too. headphones don't give you stereo sound, they give you direct sound - left channel into left ear and right channel into right ear. Stereo is a left channel and a bit of right channel into left ear, and right channel and a bit of left channel into right ear - just like it is when you stand in front of the band.
So much to say, so much to spend on and once I get my turntable fitted onto a wall shelf this weekend, I'm going to stop spending and start listening to songs. For when you get a new hi-fi, you collect a series of audiophile tracks which highlight how good your set-up is, but they are sounds, not songs.
I'm also going to listen with my eyes closed, like I was taught to back in Idle and Crossgates. It's levels man and what you choose to spend your money on. I don't drink that much and I don't buy any clothes. The caravan came from a pension pot I didn't know I had, so I spend money each month on music and kit to make music sound as good as I can get it to.
And when you hear it, it's amazing.
