Every year I teach a course at UC Berkeley, for the fall semester. This year was my seventeenth, in fact. One little rule I’ve had over the years is that I would never depend on the money from that class, but use it for “fun” things — don’t save it, don’t count on it, treat it entirely like gravy. I love teaching the class, despite the commute being a bit rough (I have to hit afternoon rush-hour traffic on the way home).
So this year I spent it all with quick abandon, actually a little more than the take-home value of the class, but what the hell. First came a new Clavinova, a beautiful top of the line CLP 280 with wooden keys and a remarkably good sound and action. Delightful.
Then I thought about the rest and came to the conclusion that a spiffy stereo for the living room was in order. I have a nice unit in my home office — British Rogers speakers, with a Yamaha amp, all controlled mostly from my Macintosh via optical cables. But not quite on the audiophile level.
So: purchased, to be delivered in about 10 days or so — Arcam amplifier, Rotel CD player, and a lovely pair of new B&W speakers. Cables of reasonable quality, of course. I spent quite a bit of time this afternoon auditioning the system, and it’s beautiful. Spacious sound, great depth and clarity, wonderful sense of control and precision to the sound. No extraneous coloring that I could discern; the recordings came through the way they were made.
How nice to be 100% musical about my “silly” purchases for this year. Last year it was a new laptop, a big fancy 30” Apple Cinema Display, and a few other assorted goodies. I don’t really need a new computer this year, so music got the edge.