We'll never kick you out of the club. Tubes are like meth -- there
is remission, but there is no cure (at least that's what
@Ripper2860 tells me).
Seriously, I hope your journey along whatever path you take continues to bring you enjoyment.
Apologies in advance for straying off the thread topic, but around 15 years ago I had built a 2-channel system that was well on up there with the high and mighty of the audiophile world. It had started out quite humbly, but over the years I had continued to upgrade and tweak and tune in that seemingly endless quest to remove every coloration and retrieve every possible piece of information contained in the pits and grooves. And as that system climbed the ladder of "high-endedness" a couple curious things happened. I had a pretty sizable collection of LP's and CD's, and as the resolution of the system increased, there were larger and larger chunks of that collection that ceased being enjoyable to listen to. Sure, awesome recordings sounded even more awesome, but less than awesome recordings became no joys. Why is it that so many awesome recordings are of such suck-a$$ music -- and vice versa? The other thing that happened? I began to enjoy sitting down and listening to music less and less. At the end, this mucho-dinero system that had scaled lofty heights of transparency and accuracy would sit for weeks without ever being turned on. It no longer beckoned me. And it finally dawned on me that I truly was an idiot and had traveled down a path of intellectual correctness at the expense of musical correctness. My brain was impressed, but my emotional side that wanted so much to be immersed and connected with the music had been left out in the cold. So am I suggesting that colorations and distortions are good things? Of course not. All I'm saying is that
*for me* the path down the road of accuracy and technical truth
above all else turned out to be a dead end. An "upgrade" for me now is something that causes my foot to tap a little harder, or the goose bumps to pop a little higher, or the listening session to last a little longer than I had time to give it. If my brain is offended but my foot is tapping harder, the foot wins. What brings about that emotional connection is obviously different for each of us, and of course there is no right or wrong. Just be sure that your involvement and enjoyment goes forward with each step and never takes a step back. Or in other words, don't be Bill.
