What did we regret in our audio life.

[Snarfie]

When i was 23 (1982) i was more ore less introduced in to Jazz. Till that time Beatles, Steely Dan, CSNY, 10cc an so on where my music of choice en lots of soul, funk & disco. So in 1982 i could get hold of some jazz records mostly fusion crossover music from a friend who was on holiday so i borrowed his around 150 jazz records to tape some of them on my Nakamichi BX125. It consisted of artist like David Sanborn, Brecker brothers, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis an so on. At that time i was working in the center of Amsterdam that lasted about 20 years + an Chet Baker was vaguely known by me at the time (in the media more as a drugs addict than a musician) an living in Amsterdam. It is his music that i listen the last 5 years almost daily too an the feeling grabs me still that i had the opportunity to listen live to him at the time which i didn't. An opportunity missed fortunately i can listen to all his melancholic Cool-jazz music still.

 

[Vini darko]

Throwing away a 1964 dynatron intergrated amp. Giving up weed. Buying a topping L30???
Musically, treating my cds and tapes so badly back when I was a druggy. So much loved music destoyed.

 

[Snarfie]

Throwing away a 1964 dynatron intergrated amp. Giving up weed. Buying a topping L30???
Musically, treating my cds and tapes so badly back when I was a druggy. So much loved music destoyed.

But you are doing well these day's

 

[Vini darko]

But you are ding well these day's

Yeah captin sensible these days.

 

[Snarfie]

Yeah captin sensible these days.

I'm reliëfd keep on rocking

 

[LTig]

Fortunately not that much.

• Very long ago: Buying a plasticy Philips N-4422 R2R in my youth. It was the component with the highest price back then and the shortest life. Also the Sony tapes I bought for it developed a nasty screeching tone in playback after a few years so almost all recordings were lost (I borrowed a Uher from a friend but the problem remained).
• Same time: Buying a Thorens TD115. Lots of plastic and problems with the lift. Any older model would have been a much better choice.
• Long ago: Trading a CD for the vinyl.
• Dumping an inherited Revox B77 after it emitted lots of smoke and shut down permanently within 5 minutes runtime and no signal from the right channel. I think I was just done with R2R. I sold the 5 tapes that came with it though.
• Dumping a Technics 1310 TT with a broken lift after finding out that it's almost impossible to fix. I kept the Shure V15.
• Sometimes I regret giving a great looking and sounding Sansui DD TT which I got for 5€ (!) to a friend. I have a very good TT and no place for another one but in case this one breaks down beyond repair I could have used the Sansui...

The list got longer than I thought while I wrote it but at least it wasn't that costly...

 

[Harmonie]

Having sold my Thorens 165MKII in the eighties.

 

[AdamG]

Standing on Deck observing a Gunex off of Guantanamo on the USS IOWA without hearing protection. Actually on a forward observation deck that was pretty much just above Main Gun Mount #2. Spending uncounted hours on Flight-deck’s of multiple Carriers. Spending uncounted hours in Main Machiery/Engineering Spaces for uncounted years.

What I am able to hear now is truly gods gift. Moral of the story. Protect what you have. Wear hearing protection for everything. Lawn mower, leaf blower, vacuum cleaner, blender, coffee grinder, hair dryer, power tools....

 

[TomekNet]

I regret not finding out this forum earlier.

 

[fun]

Not reading Toole's "Sound Reproduction" book sooner. Bought it for Xmas, and has been enjoyed reading it a lot. It's the best investment I made in this hobby.

 

[BillG]

Not attending a Prince concert when he was performing in Aotearoa-New Zealand on February 2016 - he dead by April.

 

[Wes]

tape cassettes - maybe

 

[Boris Badinov]

Standing on Deck observing a Gunex off of Guantanamo on the USS IOWA without hearing protection. Actually on a forward observation deck that was pretty much just above Main Gun Mount #2. Spending uncounted hours on Flight-deck’s of multiple Carriers. Spending uncounted hours in Main Machiery/Engineering Spaces for uncounted years.

What I am able to hear now is truly gods gift. Moral of the story. Protect what you have. Wear hearing protection for everything. Lawn mower, leaf blower, vacuum cleaner, blender, coffee grinder, hair dryer, power tools....

Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, USS America CVA 66, ATO

 

[Robin L]

What did we regret in our audio life.

Spending so much time and energy on audio gear and LPs, so little on guitars.

 

[StevenEleven]

I saw recordable digital technology coming from a million miles away. I was all in. I was an early adopter. I was fascinated. I archived everything I had on tape, on CD, on LP, to recordable digital archives. I was all set, or so I thought. But streaming like we have today, I did not see that coming. If I had it would have saved me so much of time and trouble.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I have a beaut. I had a pair of Rogers LS3/5as which I purchased in 1978 for around $475. I had them for around 10 years, and could not successfully mate them with a subwoofer. (I had a DQLP1 and a pair of BassMint 10/24s). So when I saw an ad by Mod
Squad which promised to magically improve this classic speaker's mid bass frequency response and smooth out the upper midrange "colorations" I bit on it. The kit required surgery on the birch plywood cabinet (cutting off the cabinet lip) and rebuilding the crossover board. Yeah, I butchered an absolute classic. Would up giving them away, because they were absolutely ruined. Worst audio mistake of my life, and turned me off to irreversible "mods" for life.

 

[Chrispy]

Regret? Circumstance dictated so many choices, sure I'd rather have had something else a coupla times in hindsight.....but that goes for some of my stock picks, too

 

[andreasmaaan]

Not protecting my hearing better when I was younger.

 

[li’l ‘lectric]

Too much worrying about equipment. I should’ve studied math, physics, electrical engineering, and hardware programming to understand the problems. Now, I only know a little, but I know how to define priorities, evaluate options, make choices, and not dwell on magical thinking.

Too little listening, really listening but just listening. It took me too long to give myself permission to experience music as a meditation. It took me too long to learn the value of experiencing music (and other art) that I don’t immediately, intuitively connect with. Somehow spending hours at a museum needed no justification and spending hours tapping away at a computer was self-justifying, but sitting by myself still and isolated for a single hour was unjustifiable. That’s crazy, but it was how people around me responded so I took it to be true.

Of course, it helps that we, as audio gear buyers, have lots more quantified data to work with and more lay explanations of technical topics than ever before (largely due to folks like amirm). And that sitting quietly by yourself is considered socially responsible conduct these days.

And, yeah, tinnitus and hearing loss are real.

 

[Phorize]

I have a beaut. I had a pair of Rogers LS3/5as which I purchased in 1978 for around $475. I had them for around 10 years, and could not successfully mate them with a subwoofer. (I had a DQLP1 and a pair of BassMint 10/24s). So when I saw an ad by Mod
Squad which promised to magically improve this classic speaker's mid bass frequency response and smooth out the upper midrange "colorations" I bit on it. The kit required surgery on the birch plywood cabinet (cutting off the cabinet lip) and rebuilding the crossover board. Yeah, I butchered an absolute classic. Would up giving them away, because they were absolutely ruined. Worst audio mistake of my life, and turned me off to irreversible "mods" for life.

That’s a tough one, I feel for you man.