Background: I have a Cambridge Audio CX stack (CXA81, transport, streamer) connected to a pair of Jamo C97II and a Jamo sub. Initially, the CXA81 and the Jamos were a bit bright compared to when I was using the AXR100. With time, the combination seemed to mellow out and sound pretty nice. The center imaging is amazing and the soundstage is solid. About a year ago, I did audition a pair of KEF R3 non-Meta and after some A/B testing, we both preferred the Jamo setup. But that didn’t quell the desire to upgrade, and after hearing the KEF R11 Meta in-store, I was blown away.
How do you fight the urge to upgrade? As I approach 50, I find myself looking at things with a certain finality aspect. I want to buy things that I’ll be happy with having for the rest of my life. The R11s are within my budget, but am I really going to experience that much of a huge difference? Or do you find that you give in more often than not?
Think about what you like about the hobby. Do you like music or do you like researching/tinkering with the gear? Those are two different things.
I used to be really into car audio and I would obsess about every detail of sound quality. I would listen to artists I didn’t even like just because they had good recording quality. I would spend hours messing with EQ settings, chasing down rattles, and getting everything to sound absolutely perfect… for that album and that time. Put in a different CD, now there’s too much mid-bass. I had to make adjustments. Now the weather changed and it’s hot & humid so it sounds different. I had to make adjustments. I discovered one day I wasn’t really enjoying the music any more because I was so focused on being hyper-critical of every little nuance. I decided I would rather just enjoy the music and that the 90% solution was good enough for me. Now I still like my music to sound good but I don’t obsess over every detail. I just accept the imperfections and move on. Don’t get me wrong, I still tinker a little bit but the difference is I only play around with things if I think it’s fun. If it’s causing me any stress or feels like a chore, I don’t do it.
So my advice basically just boils down to “do whatever is more fun.”