OP
- Thread Starter
- #21
Silence can be just as uncomfortable as background noise under certain circumstances. In my youth I was an engineer at sea and there was always a constant background noise. HVAC, vibration from machinery and the propellers etc. You associated silence with blacking out which is a highly problematic condition. After several months of that I always found it was too quiet to sleep properly for the couple of nights off the boat.
In those days I used to take a Sony Discman away with me and a couple of wallets of CDs. Maybe two or three books because of the weight when flying out or flying home,meaning you relied on the ships library for reading material. I think nowadays we just take it for granted that you can carry around a lifetime of music in CD quality on a DAP or device and a library on an e-reader or device.
I have been thinking about what I would replace my system with lately. It owes me nothing and has given me not far short of 30 years of good service. I have no desire to change it (the tactile quality and build shame most modern gear) but nothing lasts forever. I am very interested in system speakers but two things put me off. One is a worry that if they go pop that they may not be supported particularly well (I am sure the KEFs I have are fix by replacement). That is a risk with anything but passive speakers have less to go wrong and good amplifiers and DACs don't cost much. The second thing is the hiss issue. I know this may sound irrational but even though it may be inaudible at normal volume and listening difference just knowing it was there would annoy me.
In those days I used to take a Sony Discman away with me and a couple of wallets of CDs. Maybe two or three books because of the weight when flying out or flying home,meaning you relied on the ships library for reading material. I think nowadays we just take it for granted that you can carry around a lifetime of music in CD quality on a DAP or device and a library on an e-reader or device.
I have been thinking about what I would replace my system with lately. It owes me nothing and has given me not far short of 30 years of good service. I have no desire to change it (the tactile quality and build shame most modern gear) but nothing lasts forever. I am very interested in system speakers but two things put me off. One is a worry that if they go pop that they may not be supported particularly well (I am sure the KEFs I have are fix by replacement). That is a risk with anything but passive speakers have less to go wrong and good amplifiers and DACs don't cost much. The second thing is the hiss issue. I know this may sound irrational but even though it may be inaudible at normal volume and listening difference just knowing it was there would annoy me.