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.
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).
That’s a sound pledge 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
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.
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
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).