Mark Ruszat
Auditioning
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2001
- Messages
- 7
Hello, my name is Mark and it's been 4 days since my last upgrade.
The problem began just a few short months ago...
It had been over 15 years since my last upgrade and my former addiction was just a distant memory. I had kicked my habit cold turkey. My subscriptions to TAS and Stereophile had long since lapsed and I now spent my free time in worthwhile pursuits such as working on my errant long irons and inconsistent putting.
Although it had been over 15 years since my last upgrade I still possessed the products of my former addiction. The R2D2 look-a-like speaker, the dual mono preamp with separate power supply, the turntable with a mat that sucked (vacuum suction) and a tone-arm that blew (tangential air bearing) were all testimonials to how far out of control my behavior had really gotten. But that was all in the past. The bottles of Last and Nitty Gritty fluid had now been gathering dust for over 10 years.
I still listened to CDs and I even tried hooking up my TV/VCR to the stereo, but the 60Hz drone of a ground loop accompanied by the constant barrage of white noise was too much for me to bear, even in my new and more tolerant state. I felt I needed to finally let go of the past and sell the objects of my former obsession. I needed to simplify my life.
A friend at work suggested that maybe the answer to my dilemma was to sell the old stuff and purchase an A/V receiver and a relatively inexpensive pair of bookshelf speakers. He told me about the Home Theater Forum and how I could get up to speed on all of the latest equipment by just reading a few posts.
That's how it started all over again.
My first step into the downward spiral began at my local Paradigm dealer (the similarities between drug dealers and Hi-Fi dealers is all too clear to me now). I listened to the Monitor 3s and a freshly unpacked pair of Studio 20s. I was pleasantly surprised with the sound of the Monitor 3s but was reluctant to part with my robot-like friends of over 20 years (B&W 802s). I should have bought the Monitor 3s and have been done with it. That after all would have been the right thing for me to do. But Jim, the owner of the store, sensed I needed a bit of a nudge and asked that I come back after he had a chance to break in the 20s. A few days later after hearing the broken-in, bi-wired 20s in conjunction with a Servo 15 I was pulling out my checkbook.
I put my old system on consignment and purchased the 20s. That should have been my first clue how serious my problem was to become. I now was the proud owner of a pair of speakers without even an amp/preamp to drive them! This glaring omission was soon rectified by the purchase of a Rotel A/V receiver. But now I had a receiver with 6 channels and only two speakers. It would be foolish, even wasteful not to use the other four channels. The Servo 15 and Active CC were added shortly, and not long afterwards those (originally too expensive) 20s were being relegated to the rear channels to be replaced by a pair of Active 40s. It then occurred to me that having all active speakers was probably an even better idea, and I could dump the receiver and buy a Pre/Pro. In the space of less than 6 months I had come full circle. I was already contemplating the disposition of what was supposed to have been my entire original setup. It was at this point I realized that I had a problem. As for the purchase of my new TV, I’ll leave the gory details of that for another time.
But I’m OK now. Confession is the first step to back to recovery.
The problem began just a few short months ago...
It had been over 15 years since my last upgrade and my former addiction was just a distant memory. I had kicked my habit cold turkey. My subscriptions to TAS and Stereophile had long since lapsed and I now spent my free time in worthwhile pursuits such as working on my errant long irons and inconsistent putting.
Although it had been over 15 years since my last upgrade I still possessed the products of my former addiction. The R2D2 look-a-like speaker, the dual mono preamp with separate power supply, the turntable with a mat that sucked (vacuum suction) and a tone-arm that blew (tangential air bearing) were all testimonials to how far out of control my behavior had really gotten. But that was all in the past. The bottles of Last and Nitty Gritty fluid had now been gathering dust for over 10 years.
I still listened to CDs and I even tried hooking up my TV/VCR to the stereo, but the 60Hz drone of a ground loop accompanied by the constant barrage of white noise was too much for me to bear, even in my new and more tolerant state. I felt I needed to finally let go of the past and sell the objects of my former obsession. I needed to simplify my life.
A friend at work suggested that maybe the answer to my dilemma was to sell the old stuff and purchase an A/V receiver and a relatively inexpensive pair of bookshelf speakers. He told me about the Home Theater Forum and how I could get up to speed on all of the latest equipment by just reading a few posts.
That's how it started all over again.
My first step into the downward spiral began at my local Paradigm dealer (the similarities between drug dealers and Hi-Fi dealers is all too clear to me now). I listened to the Monitor 3s and a freshly unpacked pair of Studio 20s. I was pleasantly surprised with the sound of the Monitor 3s but was reluctant to part with my robot-like friends of over 20 years (B&W 802s). I should have bought the Monitor 3s and have been done with it. That after all would have been the right thing for me to do. But Jim, the owner of the store, sensed I needed a bit of a nudge and asked that I come back after he had a chance to break in the 20s. A few days later after hearing the broken-in, bi-wired 20s in conjunction with a Servo 15 I was pulling out my checkbook.
I put my old system on consignment and purchased the 20s. That should have been my first clue how serious my problem was to become. I now was the proud owner of a pair of speakers without even an amp/preamp to drive them! This glaring omission was soon rectified by the purchase of a Rotel A/V receiver. But now I had a receiver with 6 channels and only two speakers. It would be foolish, even wasteful not to use the other four channels. The Servo 15 and Active CC were added shortly, and not long afterwards those (originally too expensive) 20s were being relegated to the rear channels to be replaced by a pair of Active 40s. It then occurred to me that having all active speakers was probably an even better idea, and I could dump the receiver and buy a Pre/Pro. In the space of less than 6 months I had come full circle. I was already contemplating the disposition of what was supposed to have been my entire original setup. It was at this point I realized that I had a problem. As for the purchase of my new TV, I’ll leave the gory details of that for another time.
But I’m OK now. Confession is the first step to back to recovery.
