My first proper hi-fi system was humble. It was a proper budget separates set-up of the 1980s, and consisted of an Acoustic Research EB101/Nagaoka MP11 Boron record player feeding an original plastic-cased Mission Cyrus One (Cyrus was still a Mission sub-brand back then) and a pair of Wharfedale Diamond Mk1 speakers.
I loved it.
For a few years, it was enough. I bought plenty of music and enjoyed what I heard. Then the feeling that things could be even better started to grow. At first, it was just an itch; then it blossomed into an obsession.
I blame that on the stack of hi-fi magazines I used to read at the time. There were so many on sale: What Hi-Fi? was there, of course, but I also remember the likes of Hi-Fi Answers, New Hi-Fi Sound and Hi-Fi Review fondly.
Between those magazines, numerous dealer visits and day trips to hi-fi shows across the country, an enthusiasm for audio products flourished. And it’s one that hasn’t faded to this day.
I was still studying, but various part-time jobs funded my hi-fi habit. Much of the equipment I craved was well out of my reach when bought new – but there was a buoyant second-hand market. The likes of Exchange & Mart and Loot proved exceptionally useful.
I spent the following years chopping and changing my system to the point where it was significantly more capable and ambitious than ever before. All those product changes – and there were many – taught me important lessons regarding system matching and the difference between changing a system and improving it.
As I write, the urge to improve my current system’s sound hasn’t gone away, even though I love the way it performs. Does that feeling ever go away? I’m not sure it does.
Recently, I have spent a good deal of time listening to Naim’s NAC 552/ NAP 500 DR pre/power amplifier (£53,998 / $69,998 / AU$106,000). Long story short, it is really good – just as that hefty price demands.
That price also puts it in dreamland for most people. If you are lucky enough to have a serious listen in a well-matched system, I am pretty sure you would leave deeply impressed and wonder if the sound could be any better.
The problem is that at the top of Naim’s range there is the Statement pre/power (£234,997 / $299,997 / AU$440,000), which, let me tell you, sounds even better. And after that, there will be something else. There always is.
With that in mind, where is the right place to stop building your system? We've written advice on how to curb the need to upgrade if it's not strictly necessary, but my advice is simpler.
I would say that point is when nothing about your system bothers you. You can acknowledge that better is available, but what you have satisfies. It should give you the energy and buzz from the music without detracting in any way.
For some people, the lucky ones, that point comes early on, where a good budget system ticks all the boxes. That could be the brilliant Denon D-M41DAB microsystem, the excellent Rega System One, or even the 80s-era Cyrus One/Mission 70 MkII duo that my colleague, Kashfia Kabir, refuses to part with.
Others, like me, find they need to move up the performance (and price ladder) to a sometimes uncomfortable degree to get what we want.
Wherever you sit on the matter, remember that hi-fi is a means to an end. The music always comes first.
MORE:
When should you upgrade your hi-fi? 5 tips for controlling ‘upgradeitis’
