The road to audio perfection, if there even is such a thing, is a dangerous one. It's a path full of twists and turns that make it all too easy to lose your way (and empty your bank account) without ever getting close to your final destination.
And even if you do manage to get to the end, for many hi-fi fanatics, as Joseph M. Marshall III famously said, "Life is a circle. The end of one journey is the beginning of the next."
Which is why, for this month’s Ask The Reader, we asked: when is it time to stop and be happy with what you’ve got?
And as always with audiophiles, there isn't a simple answer.
Hi-fi and gardening
For many, hi-fi is a passion that requires constant maintenance, meaning it never really ends. This sentiment was neatly explained by regular commentator “binki”, who told us: “It's like a garden; it’s never finished.”
He went on to add that, if anything, even if you finish your own system, the urge to tinker doesn’t go away as enthusiasts will try to share their passion with the next generation, telling us:
“[I] now channel all my ill-gotten gains (just kidding) into introducing my adult daughter to this wallet-draining world. I look at my componentry and realise I am exponentially spending at least four times the amount on my princess.”
But you all agree there is a point you should stop
Despite numerous readers sharing binki’s sentiment, most of you agree there is a sensible end point – even if most of us won’t ever get there.
Some, including commentator “sbrain111”, argued people should stop “when it stops being fun”.
But many of you disagreed, revealing a slightly masochistic streak, arguing you should work through the pain and only stop when you can’t improve the system’s audio quality any further, even with newer or more expensive parts.
Reader “HiFiDoc” summed this up, telling us: “My motto for upgrades: If you can’t hear the improvement over your existing kit, then there is no point in buying it!”
Continuing this trend, regular reader “jimskinner582” was one of the few to report managing this, though he admits it took him over 40 years to do so.
“I started my hi-fi journey in 1980 with my first system, an Aiwa and speakers with a Pioneer PL514X turntable. The bug had bitten! [...] Fast forward to 2024: the upgrade bug bit again. I made a call to do a full upgrade as the kit was getting old and fragile. The mission was about achieving a well-balanced sound across the full dynamic range,” he wrote.
“Enter my local hi-fi expert dealer. After a long journey, we found the right balance; Audiolab 9000A, Audiolab 9000CDT, BlueSound Node streamer mated to the excellent Dali Oberon 9 speakers. It was sit back time!! Then the itch started again, and I tried out a few different amps and CDT. The end game was that none of the upgrade paths provided a significant difference in sound quality across the range. So, in simple terms, mission accomplished and the bug is buried!”
“Andrewwnbanks” was another reader to report coming to the end of his hi-fi journey. But, unlike others, he took a more philosophical view, pondering whether it was due to his age as much as the system itself (which features some very premium parts, including a Cary DMS700, two Pass Labs XA60s, a Music First Baby Ref v2 preamp and B&W 802d speakers).
“It sounds wonderful, but I wonder at the age of 62 whether I can hear everything the system can do? [...] When I had our house built in Thailand, I planned for the hi-fi, with particular power supply and room size requirements. And triple glazing for the one neighbour, a Thai doctor next door to us. Thinking of others! I don’t envisage any additions to this going forward… as good as it can get, really and probably better than my hearing,” he wrote.
Our hot take
Hi-fi is a passion that can easily become an obsession. We understand that at a personal level, as fellow enthusiasts who have devoted significant portions of our professional and personal lives to hunting for the best hi-fi.
We’ve said before: hi-fi is getting better, so to some degree, it is possible to make it a lifelong journey; there's always the potential to improve on what you already have if you have the budget to stretch a little further. But that doesn't mean you have to upgrade, just for the sake of it, or feel pressured into it.
We’d urge readers to listen to some of the more moderate voices in our ranks and remember: it should be fun!
Ultimately, we chase sonic perfection because we love music and want to make it shine on the best system possible. But we don’t want to break ourselves or go bankrupt doing so.
As our technical editor, Ketan Bharadia, constantly says: “If you can’t hear the difference, congratulations – you probably just saved yourself a lot of money.”
Words to live by, if ever there were any.
MORE:
The best hi-fi systems we've reviewed
We rank the best stereo amps
Our picks of the best speakers
