Adventures in Downgrading

Re: the steak, both the chefs and other critics are right, and the lone food critic is also right.

The chefs and other critics agree upon a standard of shared, cross cultural, culinary preferences, and a medium rare steak represents that.

The lone food critic has an individual preference for burned meat that doesn't align with that standard cultural culinary preference, and that's okay. But its not "good".

Sometimes I like eating Totino's frozen pepperoni pizza with a drizzle of yellow mustard, but I'd hardly try to convince anyone else to try it, or even suppose that it's "good".

 

Blue rare fo lyfe. Y'all can keep your medium rare, just walk mine through a warm room and call it good.

 

"I can't imagine why anyone would ruin good whiskey by putting ice in it" - Dr. Watson, Pursuit to Algiers, 1945

 

Thanks for this whole thread. I'm likewise looking for a chain that stays comfortable no matter what, and I was equally amazed at how satisfying it is to hear gear that achieves that smoothness. I'd rather be embraced by the sound than squeezed to death

 

My adventure in "downgrading" includes Holo Audio Cyan 2, Schiit Vali 3 with GE Jan5670W tubes and HD6x0 headphones. So far, so good. Another update pending.

 

According to Audiophilestyle the D2R can do DSD Direct for HQPlayer:

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...ss-digital-filtering/page/31/#comment-1280696

Thought I would add a source of nervosa back into your hi-fi life

 

It sounds like you’ve had quite the journey with different audio gear, and it’s interesting how your preferences have evolved. It’s not uncommon for people to have unique experiences with audio equipment, what sounds great to one person might not to another, and vice versa. Your exploration of various DACs and amps highlights how personal and subjective the listening experience can be.

 

An update from my perspective:
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...nergy-special-sound.11676/page-22#post-432857

 

This is a fascinating and insightful thread. I particularly resonate with the OP's sentiment, as I've also been exploring ways to downsize my audio setup.

While it's challenging to establish universal rules for downgrading, I agree that it often comes down to identifying what aspects of our listening experience we're unwilling to compromise.

Here are a few thoughts based on my own experience:

• Financial Considerations: Unless facing financial constraints, downsizing an audio rig may not yield significant monetary gains. Most of our setups likely represent an investment comparable to a few bottles of high-end wine. Assuming we've invested responsibly, the potential savings from downsizing are often relatively modest.
• The Elusive "Dominant" Downgrade: Finding a downgrade that offers significant cost savings without any perceived sacrifice in sound quality is incredibly difficult. Audio perception is subjective and influenced by numerous psychological factors.
• The Power of Blind Testing: Conducting blind A/B tests can be extremely helpful. It allows you to identify areas where you might be willing to compromise without a noticeable impact on your enjoyment.
• In my own journey, as a Susvara owner, I've been searching for a viable alternative that allows for downsizing. So far, the search appears to continues.. (the other parts of rigs were reasonably downsized btw)