[DivaFonda]

If you do end up spending $10K, hopefully you would get a long time out of all your upgrades. Sometimes it's worth it if the value is there, IMO. For $10K, I would be looking at components I could get years of use out of. I agree that upgrading just for the sake of upgrading can be useless sometimes but if you upgrade to quality, I don't think you'd regret it.

Though in my case, I'm also unfortunately a "try whatever I can afford, within reason" person because I like to see what else is out there. When promising new headphones come out, I'm all over them if I can get them. But I do choose carefully and look at my situation. I did go crazy one year but since then, I'm only looking for true long term usage. My short wishlist consists of items I know are well built as well as sound good. I've changed my wishlist several times.

Should I be satisfied with what I have? Probably. But if there's a chance I'm missing out on something better, I don't want to let it pass by. I still haven't found my 100% sweet spot headphone yet, although some are coming very close. But I'm eyeing a new set right now from a manufacturer I've never tried, because they supposedly have the sound signature I love. You never know what you're passing on if you settle for what you have. Though it's a good idea to audition first if you can because that can help save you some money.

Also, in my case, I'm unsure if I can do anything about electrical grids because I've lived in apartments all my life and am not sure I'm ever going to live in a house where I can look into things like that.

 

[richard51]

I you live in an apartment, it is very rewarding to clean the electrical panel or if not accessible, the wall wart, or the power strip or the power conditioner, the power supply etc....

By the way I am not against quality upgrading like you say, I only said that some cleaning precautions and damping methods, and isolation methods are low cost and can get us in a better preparation mood for a higher upgrade, and often can replace any upgrade,because of an endgame impression... This is my experience now...

 

[Audioholic123]

I didn't realize it at the time but it seems I reached my endgame setup with my very first purchase in this hobby 10 years ago when I bought a Denon AH-D5000. I then bought a AKG K702 and by the end of 2008 I had spent almost $2,000 building my first separates system.
It seems I got it right the first time lol.
I eventually had to replace my AH-D5000 as it had started to fall apart due to being used so much almost every day for 6 years but i've ultimately yet to find a headphone that I like as much as that one. I have came close a couple of times (A&K Beyerdynamic T5P, Beyerdynamic T70, Fostex TH-X00) though.

 

[Deftone]

it is very rewarding to clean the electrical panel or if not accessible, the wall wart, or the power strip or the power conditioner, the power supply etc....

Im sure it was very rewarding for you Richard when you did this to your home but I think I speak for many people here that having all those bags of river pebbles around the home and separate stones lying everywhere would look messy.

One of the factors I take in to consideration when I buy equipment is how does it look is almost as important as much as how good it sounds.

 

[richard51]

Im sure it was very rewarding for you Richard when you did this to your home but I think I speak for many people here that having all those bags of river pebbles around the home and separate stones lying everywhere would look messy.

One of the factors I take in to consideration when I buy equipment is how does it look is almost as much as how good it sounds.

I can understand that..... Not all people will like that but it is not necessary to experiment at the extent I experiment that myself..... Few stones on the central electrical panel will do very good .... Thanks for your interest.... My best to you....

 

[iFi audio]

Now that's one cool thread! For us the end of the audio road is where there's no urge to swap things in order to get sound better/different. It's about being satisfied with what has been achieved already, to a point where we can finally sit down, have a listen and focus on music, not sound. That itch at some point has to be scratched again, but luckily it doesn't happen too often.

I can understand that..... Not all people will like that but it is not necessary to experiment at the extent I experiment that myself..... Few stones on the central electrical panel will do very good .... Thanks for your interest.... My best to you....

If that measure gets you satisfied, there's nothing wrong with it.

 

[SeaWo|f]

For me I think end game is nowish, no clearly better performing headphone and to get a clear upgrade to my amp, dac or music server would pretty much mean spending as much on that individual component as my whole stats chain costs.

I also don't count tube rolling into this being end game. That's something to play around with indefinitely. I will also accumulate headphones because why not.

Innuos Zen mkii std -> Schiit Yggdrasil -> Mjolnir BHSE -> Stax SR007mk2.5

 

[ceeloChamp]

Out of curiosity, does anyone in this thread think they have reached their end-game?

'Reaching your end-game' seems kind of like an oxymoron in this hobby. I think the fun, personally, of the audiophile hobby is that you never attain 'audio nirvana', but the hunt for it is the fun. My taste in music and tone has changed SOOOO much. I kind of think of the hobby as somthing similar to wine-tasting, lot of good flavors out there, but there is not 1-single set of headphones that I would be happy with forever.

Just keep chasing the headphone dragon.

 

[sheldaze]

If you are in the area in early April, @ceeloChamp should consider coming to listen to a few things at the event on the 7th.
Many of us in that group feel pretty content. Not everything will be there, but it will give listeners some ideas.

 

[canthearyou]

When I ran out of cash..

 

[iFi audio]

Out of curiosity, does anyone in this thread think they have reached their end-game?

To be perfectly honest, it's much easier for people in audio on a professional level to stop searching. In our case, we have lots of toys to play with and sice it's our job, it became somewhat easier to appreciate setups we already have. Once in a while there's this itch that needs to be scratched, i.e. a pair of new headphones. But other than that we're good.

 

[ceeloChamp]

To be perfectly honest, it's much easier for people in audio on a professional level to stop searching. In our case, we have lots of toys to play with and sice it's our job, it became somewhat easier to appreciate setups we already have. Once in a while there's this itch that needs to be scratched, i.e. a pair of new headphones. But other than that we're good.

That honestly makes a lot of sense. Audio is more of a tool for you guys in the audio industry.

 

[ceeloChamp]

@sheldaze That would be great! Do you guys have any details ironed out for it yet?

 

[iFi audio]

That honestly makes a lot of sense. Audio is more of a tool for you guys in the audio industry.

Yes, it's a tool but we enjoy it thoroughly. Audio is a brilliant industry to be in in general, it's exceptionally enjoyable. And it's actually very nice to be able to use music as an evaluation tool. There are no downsides to it.

 

[ceeloChamp]

Yes, it's a tool but we enjoy it thoroughly. Audio is a brilliant industry to be in in general, it's exceptionally enjoyable. And it's actually very nice to be able to use music as an evaluation tool. There are no downsides to it.

As long as you realize how lucky you are to be in that industry . If I could do it all over again I'd be Bob Boilen.