The post in which Darko basically tells anyone who isn't a rich rube to ignore him and audiophilia in general

[teched58]

. . . That would be $20,000 in modern dollars. Jim Austin or Mikey would call something with that kind of price "comparatively good value for money" these days

Nope, they wouldn't write "value," because to them, high price is its own reward. (I don't even know what that means, but it sounds good!).

What Jim Austin and Mikey would actually say is that a $20,000 component is "affordable."

Which is weird, because neither of them make enough money as trade press editors to be able to afford $20,000 DACs. Of course, when you get to buy gear at the "accomodation price" offered to reviewers, it becomes more "affordable," albeit at the expense of ethics.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I'm pretty sure the current SL-1200GR is a better TT than what you could get for $400 in 1975.

I bought a Technics SP10 from the scrap man at Garrard for £12 in 1976, and it was only that expensive since it was direct drive
It had been bought in Japan for evaluation, measured, stripped and costed then put in the stores about a year previously.
I had to re-assemble it and convert from 100V to 240V and make a plinth.
I used it as my main TT for the next 4 or 5 years.

 

[Frank Dernie]

$10K USD in 2021 = ~$2K USD in 1975

It depends what analysis you consider reasonable for the loss in value of money with time. The normal calculators totally underestimate the real loss of value IMO.
My starting salary as a graduate engineer with 2 years post graduate training was £1100 per year in 1971. It was typically around £22,000 for the same level of qualification by the time I retired in 2009.
Fish and chips was around £0.06 a portion and beer about £0.10 a pint (in the grotty pubs I lived near in those days).
One could eat a starter and main at the little inexpensive restaurant I went to for special occasions as a student in London for £0.35.
For our family celebration dinner in Blackpool just before I left home in 1968 I had a prawn cocktail, Lobster Thermidor and an ice cream sundae. Total price £1.00
I reckon on a ratio of 20:1 between 1971 and 2009, not the 5:1 your inflation estimate from 1975 to 2021.
My view is the official inflation calculators are weighted to make us fail to realise how shite the whole management of money has been.
But that is me being unimpressed and grumpy about it.

 

[watchnerd]

It depends what analysis you consider reasonable for the loss in value of money with time. The normal calculators totally underestimate the real loss of value IMO.

"Personal inflation" is always different.

Calculators can't calculate that.

 

[watchnerd]

I5.
For our family celebration dinner in Blackpool just before I left home in 1968 I had a prawn cocktail, Lobster Thermidor and an ice cream sundae. Total price £1.00
I reckon on a ratio of 20:1 between 1971 and 2009, not the 5:1 your inflation estimate from 1975 to 2021.

1968 and (most of) 1971 were before the abandonment of the last remnants of gold standard.

Comparing costs before and after 1972 is fraught with normalization errors because it was a different currency regime entirely.

I picked 1975 for a reason.

 

[Frank Dernie]

1968 and (most of) 1971 were before the abandonment of the last remnants of gold standard.

Comparing costs before and after 1972 is fraught with normalization errors because it was a different currency regime entirely.

I picked 1975 for a reason.

Maybe.
That is why I compare salaries.
1971 to 2009 was 1:20
Sterling left the gold standard in 1931

The whole financial sector is incompetent and dishonest IMO.

 

[watchnerd]

Maybe.
That is why I compare salaries.
1971 to 2009 was 1:20
Sterling left the gold standard in 1931

The whole financial sector is incompetent and dishonest IMO.

Sterling partially left the full gold standard in 1931, as the US did in 1933.

It didn't completely abandon the partial reserve system remnants until 1973, as the US dollar did in August, 1971.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Sterling partially left the fully gold standard in 1931, as the US did in 1933.

It didn't completely abandon the partial reserve system remnants until 1973, as the US did in August, 1971.

OK.
The financial sector is still incompetent and dishonest in my opinion though.
And inflation calculators are one of the most worthless things it has come up with.
I am sure by coming up with a string of carefully chosen equivalents one could make it look like anything, as always.

 

[watchnerd]

OK.
The financial sector is still incompetent and dishonest in my opinion though.
And inflation calculators are one of the most worthless things it has come up with.
I am sure by coming up with a string of carefully chosen equivalents one could make it look like anything, as always.

Well, ASR is probably not the best place to debate the pros / cons of modern fiat monetary policy vs, say, Hayek and other Austrian school economists.

 

[mhardy6647]

Vampire Wire?

we already did that joke
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...iophilia-in-general.15387/page-30#post-493383

 

[Robin L]

Well, ASR is probably not the best place to debate the pros / cons of modern fiat monetary policy vs, say, Hayek and other Austrian school economists.

Though it is a proper place to ask questions about the inflation of the cost of audio gear over time and issues around value for money, particularly as regards "High-End", high-cost gear that doesn't clear minimum standards of audio quality.

 

[watchnerd]

Though it is a proper place to ask questions about the inflation of the cost of audio gear over time and issues around value for money, particularly as regards "High-End", high-cost gear that doesn't clear minimum standards of audio quality.

As long as we're talking post-1972/1973, I agree.

Inflation prior to 1972/1973 has a very different set of dynamics than after, due to currency regime changes.

A USD, in say, 1960 (partially gold backed), was a different currency than it was in 1975 (completely fiat).

Which is why this joke worked in the Austin Powers movie...

Without a normalized reference frame, it's just people telling stories from their youth.

Which, if people want to do, that's fine, but I have no basis for comparison, having grown up entirely on fiat.

 

[SMc]

Vampire Wire?

Good value!

 

[Robin L]

As long as we're talking post-1972/1973, I agree.

Inflation prior to 1972/1973 has a very different set of dynamics than after, due to currency regime changes.

A USD, in say, 1960 (partially gold backed), was a different currency than it was in 1975 (completely fiat).

Which is why this joke worked in the Austin Powers movie...

My first "real" stereo [AR-3s, AR integrated amp, AR XA turntable] set me back a little over $700, was pretty "high-end" for its time. That was 1973.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Well, ASR is probably not the best place to debate the pros / cons of modern fiat monetary policy vs, say, Hayek and other Austrian school economists.

No

 

[Thomas savage]

Well I'm touching myself and thats priceless in any currency regardless of established capitalist chronological norms.

 

[Inner Space]

It depends what analysis you consider reasonable for the loss in value of money with time. The normal calculators totally underestimate the real loss of value IMO.

I love the scene in the early 1970s movie "Day of the Jackal" - the assassin is approached and terms are discussed for the hit on De Gaulle. "Well ..." the Jackal says, "I'll never be able to work again. I'll want enough to retire and hide out the rest of my life. So I'll need ... half a million dollars."

 

[watchnerd]

I love the scene in the early 1970s movie "Day of the Jackal" - the assassin is approached and terms are discussed for the hit on De Gaulle. "Well ..." the Jackal says, "I'll never be able to work again. I'll want enough to retire and hide out the rest of my life. So I'll need ... half a million dollars."

Great movie.

The book takes place in 1962, FWIW.

 

[StefaanE]

No

Warren Mosler (whom you probably know from his cars) has some interesting theories on money.

 

[Yuhasz01]

YouTube audio reviewers are generally gear slutzs and product shills. I only watch audio , sound engineer people.... they do not give a crap for the gear beyond functionality and how music sounds.