Pledge for 2020

I need to change my entire purchasing methodology.

I really want Focal Elex/CFA Cascades and and am pretty interested in the Cavalli Liquid Platinum. Each one of those units is well over 1K$ landed in Canada. I tell myself I can’t afford to spend that much on a single product.

So, over the last 13 months, I have spent several thousand $'s buying DAC’s, amps and headphones that sell for $100.00 to up $650.00 in Canuck bucks. Something like 8 amps and probably 12 pairs of headphones. Many sold on at a loss. My system sounds better than it did 13 months ago. But I still want the above items and have been disappointed/underwhelmed with many of my purchases.

My pledge for 2020: Shop less! Adopt my usual (as I do with everything else) “go big or go home” mantra. I have spent more than enough money finding out what I like in the audio world. Finish 2020 with what I Really want and calm the hell down! My wife can’t believe how casual I am about taking so many losses, on reselling gear. I kept calling it a learning experience, but I think I have learned enough.:smiley:

Anybody else?

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When it comes to headphones/IEMs I think I’ve about figured out what I like (warm, clear, and at least we’ll extended bass with no muddy/bloated bass or shouty 3k Harman mountain) so I won’t be getting any lower end headphones from now on unless it does something special. I’m done with Chi-fi for now since the Tinhifi P1 is all I need in an IEM and no Chi-fi headphone has really caught my attention. Other than maybe a planar (like the sendy aiva or aeon x) I probably won’t get any more headphones unless it’s like a ZMF, TH-900/909, Klipsch HP-3, etc.

I still need to try some amps/dacs since I’ve only tried two portable dac/amp combos (XD-05 and nx4) and the little bear tube (also portable). I have the topping D10 on the way as a desktop dac and a way to output spdif if ever needed. I plan on getting the Asgard 3 some time in the next few months. If that doesn’t really impress me I probably won’t bother with anything more than that.

All in all I’m in a similar place as you. For headphones it’s go big or go home and for amps I don’t really feel much of a need beyond getting a good desktop setup. Although who knows, maybe the Asgard 3 will open my eyes and 6 months from now I’ll have spent enough to make M0N’s eyes water (if that’s even possible).

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Good choices, I’m sure you will be satisfied :+1:

I will be eagerly waiting lol

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How did you find this so fast? I didn’t @ you.

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I see all, everything that happens on this forum is seen by me

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That’s a great pledge. Been making those for quite some time now lol. Hope it goes better for you than it did me.

*Ps - I hope your “go big or go home” doesn’t turn into shopping more of “big” stuffs instead. Lol

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That’s a sound pledge :ok_hand: for me maybe next year as I plan to explore quite a bit this year… I like it though… looks like some pretty sweet gear you’re after

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To me, those will be end game headphones (if they do what I hope). I would Never pay more than $2K for ANY component ever.

The word for 2020 is FOCUS!:grin:

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Yeah man I’ve been thinking about that too and honestly 2k seems reasonable and I’m sure gear there sounds pretty stellar

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One lesson that I was fortunate enough to learn early is that nothing quite replaces auditioning in your own room. That also means to find a seller with a good return policy, especially if you don’t live near any shops. I would say any purchases that I almost regretted were because they didn’t sound the same at my home or didn’t leave up to the hype of reviews.

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My pledge is to become a male gigolo so I can afford all the nice tings. :smile:

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That is what kills me: reselling at a loss. Over and over and over…

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Agreed, you are somewhere where you know what you like no need to downscale your purchases. I’m doing the same, all I’m buying this year is a carbon Nighthawk, dac and MAYBE JUST MAYBE a tube amp. But that is it, I know what sound signature I like and what I want

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Will you buy a tube amp or a hybrid tube amp? I guess that will depend on the headphones you own.

Drinking the koolaid eh ? Lol

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We actually let people bring their own drinks, and they can drink whatever they want.

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One of us one of us one of us

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Have you heard the Nighthawk? I bought the NightOwls and after a couple of weeks I absolutely Hated them.

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So i haven’t, but from what i’ve heard from people that KNOW my music style and KNOW what i like in a headphone it’s been hyped to me. I figure they are probably right. what did you dislike about the nightowls? and just out of curiousity what type of headphones do u like?

I fell in love in the shop after about 30 minutes. And they were Half Price as they had just been discontinued. I paid about $300.00 in US $'s.
The sound started to wear on me and then started to grate. I have NEVER had a headphone turn on me that quickly/hard.

My current headphones are HD600’s, HD58X’s, Grado GH2’s (my favourite headphones), Beyer T5p.2’s, Meze 99 Classic’s, Fostex TH-610’s and Koss ESP/E95X’s (AMAZING w/EQ).

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