Upgrade fever, and the six-month test

Before I moved from my integrated to separates, I did not trust my own ears. The Wilsons were pushing my MA9500 harder than anything before them, and I asked myself the question I would ask any friend: is this real, or is this another upgrade fever?

There is a name for half of what I was afraid of: recency bias, one of the stops in the bias tunnel every audiophile has to pass through. The equipment you just acquired always sounds better than what you had. It is new, it is exciting, and your attention is heightened.

The cure is boring. Give it six months and suddenly it's just your system. Whatever still stands out after that, when the excitement has gone and your attention has gone back to the music, is the part that was real.

That is the test I trust more than any first night. The separates passed it, and after months with them I still hear what I heard in the first week. But I only believe that because I made myself wait, and because I admitted the fever before I admitted the improvement.

The first night tells you what you wanted. Month six tells you what you bought.