[koiloco]

  I mentioned earlier that the more you listen to high end equipment the more you learn to hear. As in astronomy, the more time you spend looking through a telescope, the more you are able to see. It's a learned skill & the same is true in audio. It's evident when you have one person listening to a stereo at a loud level & enjoying the immersion into the music & another comes by & just hears very loud music. The one enjoying the music doesn't think it is loud at all. People "listen" differently. Inexperienced or uninitiated listeners often don't perceive things like soundstage & imaging until these things are pointed out to them. Then they learn to listen with different ears & start to hear subtleties in the music that were beyond their ability to perceive previously. For the most part, we are not comparing equipment that sounds like "crap" to a wire with gain. Most of the moderately priced equipment available sounds decent at least & can be very entertaining within it's limited abilities. It's when you become accustomed to large doses of high quality music reproduction that you become hopelessly addicted to the pursuit of just-that-little-bit-more improvement. Learning to "hear" what a fine stereo has to offer is what it's all about & it's not just about the components that you choose. 
Cheers,
kev  

+1 and btw, kev  I was in complete agreement with you when it comes to driving, going to meet, stores(if available) to listen/check things out/talk to people who's been there and done that.  This saved me a lot of $ when I was heavily involved in pro-audio.  Sometimes, I even went to gigs to listen and audition speakers/amps...Making an effort is the key and it's very rewarding.  If one can't or has no access at all to all the things mentioned, then well, internet's forums and amazon I guess.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Let me see if I got this straight?
 
 

Guy visits Head-Fi and starts to increasingly spend money.
 

Goes on a really fun emotional ride.
 
 
 
Later......
 
 

Spends his money. Has to sell stuff to get more gear.
 

 
Forms self-help group to share his experiences.
 
 
Perfectly normal for this part of town. Welcome to the club.

 

[koiloco]

  Let me see if I got this straight?
 
 

Guy visits Head-Fi and starts to increasingly spend money.
 

Goes on a really fun emotional ride.
 
 
 
Later......
 
 

Spends his money. Has to sell stuff to get more gear.
 

 
Forms self-help group to share his experiences.
 
 
Perfectly normal for this part of town. Welcome to the club.

Thx for a good laugh before bed.  That was really funny.

 

[ACDOAN]

  To an extent..., I agree with you but if something sounds like "crap to one person", the chance it sounds like the best thing ever happened since sliced bread for someone else is very small.  Stop exaggerating to the extreme and yes, it's a subjective hobby but there is still right and wrong when it comes to certain things/aspects.  It's like saying "I only have $100 to buy a pair of HPs and to me it's the best thing...Your HD800 sounds like crap".  Finally, just like a..hole, everyone has one and entitled to it.

I stopped at the red light the other day and there was a nice car behind me, nice sedan four doors...I could hear the highly EQ distortion from the treble and the bass. The amp from that car was so powerful, I could hear it pounded and punched  thru the trunk BUZZZ, BUZZZ, BUZZZ...The guy spent good morning for an amp, an EQ, CD player and he was looking so proud...Too him it was heaven on earth but to me it was nothing but distortion ( crap).

 

[ACDOAN]

  Let me see if I got this straight?
 
 

Guy visits Head-Fi and starts to increasingly spend money.
 

Goes on a really fun emotional ride.
 
 
 
Later......
 
 

Spends his money. Has to sell stuff to get more gear.
 

 
Forms self-help group to share his experiences.
 
 
Perfectly normal for this part of town. Welcome to the club.

 
 
Good one. The key thing is to keep on making more money. Some people work hard for their money and some let the money work hard for him to get him more money. That's the beauty of Capitalism. Laissez-faire system works at its best if one knows how to think outside of the box.

 

[koiloco]

  I stopped at the red light the other day and there was a nice car behind me, nice sedan four doors...I could hear the highly EQ distortion from the treble and the bass. The amp from that car was so powerful, I could hear it pounded and punched  thru the trunk BUZZZ, BUZZZ, BUZZZ...The guy spent good morning for an amp, an EQ, CD player and he was looking so proud...Too him it was heaven on earth but to me it was nothing but distortion ( crap).

I do have quite a few of those driving around where I live. 

 

[randy98mtu]

Great thread and reminds me to pump the breaks and just enjoy the music and give things some time.  I went from HD 428's to HD 380 pro's about 3 months ago.  That got me a taste of another level of quality, and got me hooked on finding something more.  I was looking at the ATH-A900X, but ended up getting urbeats (horrid), returned those and got B&W C5's.  Those sounded great, but were not at all comfortable.  Yesterday I got the B&W P7.  Reading this forum has me getting very analytical and you have just reminded me to sit back and listen to these things for a bit and see what I really think of them.  I'm Elite Plus at Best Buy, so I have 45 days to try these out and I just need to take my time.  I need to put away the thoughts of going back to listen to the Momentums again, or going to the next Magnolia store that has the ATH-A900X in stock.  Or worse still ordering the Shure 1540's sight unseen without a local store to return them to...
 
The longer I just listen to the P7's, the more I like them.  And when I put on the 380's now, I question how I enjoyed them for the past 3 months.  Yet if I went back to only listening to them, I think I could enjoy my music just the same...  So I can certainly see how this place makes you a more critical listener.

 

[Sonido]

  Great thread and reminds me to pump the breaks and just enjoy the music and give things some time.  I went from HD 428's to HD 380 pro's about 3 months ago.  That got me a taste of another level of quality, and got me hooked on finding something more.  I was looking at the ATH-A900X, but ended up getting urbeats (horrid), returned those and got B&W C5's.  Those sounded great, but were not at all comfortable.  Yesterday I got the B&W P7.  Reading this forum has me getting very analytical and you have just reminded me to sit back and listen to these things for a bit and see what I really think of them.  I'm Elite Plus at Best Buy, so I have 45 days to try these out and I just need to take my time.  I need to put away the thoughts of going back to listen to the Momentums again, or going to the next Magnolia store that has the ATH-A900X in stock.  Or worse still ordering the Shure 1540's sight unseen without a local store to return them to...
 
The longer I just listen to the P7's, the more I like them.  And when I put on the 380's now, I question how I enjoyed them for the past 3 months.  Yet if I went back to only listening to them, I think I could enjoy my music just the same...  So I can certainly see how this place makes you a more critical listener.

I was looking for a pair of mobile headphones I could use on the go without the need for an amp. I tried the P7's out at Best Buy, and while they were good and very comfortable, I thought they had the sound of a $200 in-home use open headphone like HD598. Of course, it's not fair to compare closed back mobile headphones with home use ones, but still I couldn't justify spending $400 on something with a $200 sound, even if it served a different purpose. You could get the PS4 at that $400 price.
 
After trying out the P5 to see how on-ears worked for me, and it was satisfactory in comfort, I ended up ordering the KEF M500 at a special sale price that was close to half the cost of the P7. I've read the sound is comparable with the P7, so it was worth the price I paid. Another funny note to add was right after I ordered the M500, I started looking into portable DAC/amps like the Audioquest Dragonfly or HRT Microstreamer to use USB OTG with my phone, before I reminded myself of this thread, and that it would be overspending and the M500 did not need amping.
 
I have to mention the $400 price used to be a lot in my mind, and still is when associating with other things like the PS4, and hence I didn't preorder. But when it comes to audio gear, for some reason $400 doesn't seem that much. Recently I took a moment and looked at the O2+ODAC I had and it was $300 when I bought it, but that $300 could easily get you a new PS3 with some games, or $50 off the new Nexus 5 unlocked. It's 75% the value of the PS4 for crying out loud! And it was simply this compact, rustic form factor, intro level audio gear that I don't use anymore (and hence sold). But at the time, I think I spent about an hour researching, and then getting it. Maybe it's time for us to starting thinking about audio gear in a different way when we're looking to buy. Ask ourselves, how many filet mignons or lobster tails could we get with that?

 

[Hijodelbrx]

There's always something else you can spend your money on. It's simply a question of desire and priorities. Sounds like you want that PS4, so go for it!

 

[adiebear]

  I stopped at the red light the other day and there was a nice car behind me, nice sedan four doors...I could hear the highly EQ distortion from the treble and the bass. The amp from that car was so powerful, I could hear it pounded and punched  thru the trunk BUZZZ, BUZZZ, BUZZZ...The guy spent good morning for an amp, an EQ, CD player and he was looking so proud...Too him it was heaven on earth but to me it was nothing but distortion ( crap).

Durban, South Africa (where I live) is like no place I've ever been for this. Minibus taxis compete with each other for max dbs. It's pointless trying to listen to your own car system if you're at a red light in peak traffic. The spl from around can actually get your car moving. Fo' sure your rearview mirror will be shivering and shaking, loose change rattling.