Too Soon Alt, Too Late Schmardt (OT)

The title above was the apophthegm on a needlepoint panel on a wicker handbag I saw, from the sidewalk, in a shop window in Harbor Springs, Michigan, in the 1980s. I was young then, but now that I'm alt (the German word for "old"), I can testify.

Anyway, someone asked if I am going to be writing about audio and stereo in the future. Here's the lowdown: a couple of years ago I took a sort of mental survey of a lot of the stereo gear I bought over the years, and came (finally, at long long last) to a sensible conclusion: stop. Just stop. Never buy another piece of hi-fi gear ever again.

I love music, and I listen every day, or close enough, and it's true that I can put my finger on some standout values among all the audio gear I've spent money on over the years, and there have been a few items I've bought that I actually liked. But for the most part, audiophilia for me has been like opening a vein in my meager bank accounts and just letting it bleed and bleed. Mostly, it has served the overriding purpose of turning money into nothing (apologies to Dire Straits).

I'm quite happy with my current desktop speakers (I prefer to refer to them as "nearfield monitors"), which I got for free and had been listening to for a dozen years. That doesn't mean I didn't have to tie myself to the mast reading about the Tannoy Gold 7, but I didn't say my resolve was perfect.

I have a very bulldoggish tendency to stick with things that aren't working. I keep trying even when failure is tested and true. Persistence gets good press, but I suspect it's just as important to "cast a cold eye" and, when things are not working, move on. (Others may reach different conclusions, for themselves. To each their own fate.)

Mike

Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Michael: "In my 77 years, my grandmother was the only other person I have ever heard use the German phrase (auf Deutsch) that you chose to title this article. She and my grandfather were both of strong German heritage. Last name...Aufrecht. Both born in late 1800s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, of German immigrants; moved to Chicago in the early 1900s, met, married, and the rest is family history. They definitely genetically contributed to what would become a scholastic major throughout my high school and college days. Ja, ich kann Deutsch sprechen und lesen. 'Wir werden zu fruh alt und zu spat klug.' I now use the phrase you used in the title, in English, in appropriate situations.  :-)  . Auf Wiedersehen, MK."

Comments

[Albert Smith]

Since you brought up Dire Straits, a recommendation for fans that still buy physical media, a recently released box set collection of the band's live work, all remastered and very nicely packaged, linked below. I have all the studio albums and all of Knopfler's solo work, but I still was so impressed with this compilation. Its 8 discs covering 1979-1992.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CLCWKQGT?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I suggest that "never, ever, again" is too strong a commitment. Things do break! Or you might need to add sound to another room due to some future changes in your life (I'm guessing you don't have good listening sound in every room).

[David Dyer-Bennet]

A friend told me a couple of weeks ago that she's now pretty sure that the only reason any wedding ever happens is the Sunk Cost Fallacy. (The one she was planning did take place.)

[Kye Wood]

I was determined. I'm the most persistent determined person. I have inexhaustible patience. And that usually creates immediate results (I know, go figure?).

My point? I stayed in a god awful job for 12 months longer than I should have, because of the aforementioned qualities I have.

But I learned a truly valuable lesson. Fail fast. Don't stay the course just because you can. Be ruthless with your time. Like sociopath ruthless.

Though some days drag on for months. On the whole, life is a blink. Don't waste a second. That's not a cliche.

[Thomas Mc Cann]

Showing off ? What was wrong wth plain aphorism or is your alternative in common usage in the USA. Its a new one to me.

[Just playin'. Words are fun. --Mike]

[Dave]

Mike, some years ago on the blog you recommended (or at least mentioned you had bought) the NHT M00 desktop powered monitor speakers. Based on that I bought a pair and am still listening to them, no real wish to "upgrade" and they have cost me less than one dollar (tiny little Canadian $ at that...) a week now.
I spend more time/money on the music instead, either recorded or live.
Audiophilia really is a pathology!
Dave.

[Charlie]

Audio, wines, photography – after a point, with every doubling of expenditure, quality goes up 5 percent. But your ability to discern the difference improves, too, and so the chase for the endpoint begins.

[Bear.]

As I've grown older, I've naturally, slowly lost the upper register of my hearing- and I finally realised that there's no point my spending money on fancy audio gear when I can't hear the difference anyway. All of a sudden, my late father's 1960s system (Thorens turntable, Macintosh amps - sadly, solid state - and original Bose 901 speakers), which I've inherited makes a lot more sense. I don't need pounding bass or hyper-real reproduction and staging - just a realistic reproduction of the midrange, and the music is all very enjoyable, thank you very much. Indeed, I 'pre-inherited' the system when my father began relying on hearing aids on the quite correct basis that he didn't need an audio system that out-performed his hearing aids, although that didn't affect his enjoyment of music at all.