AUDIOPHILES: Are We Buying "THINGS" or "EXPERIENCES?"

[MattHooper]

A bit of a philosophical question I guess.

There has been a burgeoning industry researching "happiness" and some of the findings have seeped in to the public sphere. Probably most recognizable is the finding that people tend to be most fulfilled by 'experiences' vs 'material possessions.' ('things').

E.g an old article:

Buy Experiences, Not Things

Live in anticipation, gathering stories and memories. New research builds on the vogue mantra of behavioral economics.

www.theatlantic.com

So in a nutshell, money spent on, say, trips where you have an experience to remember tends to be more fulfilling than a new watch or whatever.

Which gets me to wondering: Which of these are we buying when we put together our audio system, material things or experiences?

It would seem obvious that audio gear would fit right in to the "material possessions" category. And yet it seems to me we are buying this gear to "provide experiences" - all the variety of experiences that come up listening to our favorite musicians. While amps and speakers are material things, they are also in that sense "experience machines."

If that's the case it's interesting to ponder how audio gear figures in to our happiness or quality of life.

I think it's obvious there are tons of variables at play here, but just to relate this to my own experience:

Around 2009 I decided to completely re-do my front living room in to a home theater/high end music listening room. It was a long, complicated arduous project because I "wanted it all, as best I could get, exactly how I wanted it." Somehow I got that rubik's cube finished so I have a room that is super comfy for me to read in, or to fire up the 2 channel system for music listening, or hit a remote and the projector fires up an image on a big projection screen w. surround sound.

These are all a bunch of "material things" and yet it has proved a hugely satisfying project and an on-going source of happiness and satisfaction. 12 years later and I swear I'm as giddy as the first day whenever I listen to music or see that big projected image hit the screen. It just never gets old. I surmise that this is perhaps that the room is a sort of transporter of sorts, providing me with all sorts of different experiences in terms of movies and music. It's not something passive and unchanging like a painting, jewellery, or something like that. It's constantly connecting me to the creative output of other people.

So I guess my answer to the question would be that it's both: material goods, but which provide experiences, which is why it seems to be an ongoing source of satisfaction.

What is your view on this subject?



*(BTW, I've always been a big believer in experiences over anything else. As much as I love my home theater, for instance, for me actually going out to the movies is MORE of an experience - getting out in to the world, mingling with others etc. and that for me is the best way to experience movies, and often music).

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

I might buy a thing that gives me an experience over time - so, I have a nice bicycle that I enjoy each time I ride it.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Hard to say. I've seen this same pondering before. Seen it quite often by car collectors.

So, nearby is a large famous racetrack. You can pay for a couple days to go and drive (after some training) at nearly 200 mph on that track. It even is billed as an experience they are selling. Certainly it is. One you likely will never get to do again or maybe a few times if you pay for the experience some more. I think it is clear you have paid for a notable experience.

Is buying an enjoyable or exciting car to keep and use for experiences in the same category? Maybe, maybe not. I think mostly not. And of course there is no completely binary classification as purely experience or purely materialism. There have to be some gray areas that are a bit of both. Having a priceless car that is put on display and not driven is materialism mostly. Much more so than buying it and using it regularly.

I think some of the difference is it being a shared experience usually, and being almost unique at least to you personally. Having a once in a lifetime experience of extreme speed on a track is not the same as experiencing your car whenever you want. Experiencing your own sound system when you want isn't going to stand out for satisfaction the same way as maybe seeing an artist perform in some once in a lifetime situation. Something unique to your personal experience even if not a unique experience. Maybe it is almost like a personal supply and demand situation for personal experiences. Those you can access at any time don't have the same peak value and satisfaction as something you only get to do once or a few times in life.

I also think the ratio of money spent vs satisfaction is better with limited or unique experiences because with something like your personal sound system there are on going costs, maintenance issues and various little things beyond just hearing it like you want one time.

EDIT to add after bikes being mentioned: I put together a bike more expensive than I normally would to get it just how I wanted it. And it is an experience of enjoyment and satisfaction each time I've ridden it. So I get that.

 

[Timcognito]

Collector Car Clubs maximize many types of experiences restoration, advice, events, comradery, as well as material ownership. My skills in woodworking often keep me busy, building skills and produce useful and decorative things. Most trips are satisfying but like my first girlfriend only a fading memory.

 

[MattHooper]

Hard to say. I've seen this same pondering before. Seen it quite often by car collectors.

So, nearby is a large famous racetrack. You can pay for a couple days to go and drive (after some training) at nearly 200 mph on that track. It even is billed as an experience they are selling. Certainly it is. One you likely will never get to do again or maybe a few times if you pay for the experience some more. I think it is clear you have paid for a notable experience.

Is buying an enjoyable or exciting car to keep and use for experiences in the same category? Maybe, maybe not. I think mostly not. And of course there is no completely binary classification as purely experience or purely materialism. There have to be some gray areas that are a bit of both. Having a priceless car that is put on display and not driven is materialism mostly. Much more so than buying it and using it regularly.

I think some of the difference is it being a shared experience usually, and being almost unique at least to you personally. Having a once in a lifetime experience of extreme speed on a track is not the same as experiencing your car whenever you want. Experiencing your own sound system when you want isn't going to stand out for satisfaction the same way as maybe seeing an artist perform in some once in a lifetime situation. Something unique to your personal experience even if not a unique experience. Maybe it is almost like a personal supply and demand situation for personal experiences. Those you can access at any time don't have the same peak value and satisfaction as something you only get to do once or a few times in life.

I also think the ratio of money spent vs satisfaction is better with limited or unique experiences because with something like your personal sound system there are on going costs, maintenance issues and various little things beyond just hearing it like you want one time.

EDIT to add after bikes being mentioned: I put together a bike more expensive than I normally would to get it just how I wanted it. And it is an experience of enjoyment and satisfaction each time I've ridden it. So I get that.

Excellent post!

I'm a self-admitted "foodie" and seek out food experiences and love fine dining. Some people I know see it as a bit nuts to pay for hoity-toity little dishes
when you can get "much more at a cheaper place" or make it at home. For me every such meal is truly about the whole experience and worth paying for.

 

[mhardy6647]

I prefer having experiences with things I found at the dump.

 

[Chester]

I prefer having experiences with things I found at the dump.

While maybe not intentional, I think @mhardy6647 makes an important point about this topic. What classifies as a rewarding experience is so personal to the individual.

For example, someone I know is hyper anxious so would value the experience of listening to their favourite music on a good system in the comfort of their own home as a far superior experience to going to a live concert. While the majority would likely feel the exact opposite, does that make this any a less experience, in the context of that individual?

An interesting topic, thanks for starting this thread.

 

[Timcognito]

I prefer having experiences with things I found at the dump.

A trip to the dump now that's an experience that I too, have enjoyed. I prefer it to dumpster diving. Its like movie theater vs TV. Others may feel differently.

 

[kemmler3D]

I think audio gear is definitely in the bucket of "things that can provide (valuable) experiences".

Maybe ironically you see this most of all in the "audiophool" camp where people are constantly buying and swapping out different gear, and then experiencing things! Fortunately or unfortunately, the things they experience might only be in their own minds, but they definitely experience something every time they swap a cable or isolate a bit of electronics.

When you stop listening to it, or stop paying attention to what you're hearing, then I think audio equipment becomes a mere thing.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Having a priceless car that is put on display and not driven is materialism mostly. Much more so than buying it and using it regularly.

Is it? Or is it a different experience, more like buying a sculpture?

 

[Mr. Widget]

Around 2009 I decided to completely re-do my front living room in to a home theater/high end music listening room. It was a long, complicated arduous project...

I would submit that your creating your "dream" room was a very important experience. It is so satisfying to complete a project like that... while the journey is so much of the joy, getting to experience movies and music in that room is a reminder everyday of the journey. Of course we enjoy the music and films too and that is yet another experience.

I too have created a couple of rooms like that for myself... and built numerous DIY speaker projects. Creating things in many ways is so much more rewarding than simply writing a check... but then on the other side of that coin, I also have a few pieces of vintage audio gear that bring me joy to simply admire them on the shelf. They are not particularly valuable, but for different reasons I just like them.

 

[khensu]

I’ve found over the years that in some cases, the process of obtaining something material and “examining” it (the novelty period) IS the experience. The problem with those cases is the experience itself is fleeting. then, you‘re just left with this thing. Of course, that’s not always the case. Maybe wisdom is gaining the insight to know whether what you are acquiring will provide more than just the experience of the novelty.

 

[Chrispy]

Interesting question, somewhat both. My gear is to enable me to enjoy a variety of recordings at home....I suppose they do become experiences, altho not quite the same as an actual attendance of a live performance otoh.

 

[ZolaIII]

Couple days ago, I went to an old neighbor, that whose moving away to pick up some old books, that were burden for him. While digging, I picked some that I red long ago and remembered how it whose, and discussed it with him. He also picked some from his study days, and it feald nice to remember how and on which different things we wasted our time. Of course there ware a few I didn't read but wanted to or better say I am reading them now.
Hire is one:

 

[MaxBuck]

Are We Buying "THINGS" or "EXPERIENCES?"

Yes.

 

[pseudoid]

A good but a corny/thorny topic none-the-less.
I am forced to call it poppycock like being forced to put a bull's eye in my forehead!

The left-leaning Atlantic sez "Buy Experiences, Not Things" maybe to eschew materialism. Much has also been written about the topic of insatiable consumerism.
Buying an experience (whether a 7-11 Slurpee or an Alaskan Cruise) is never as visceral as experiencing an experience oops w/o the straw or the cruise ship.

This week, NPR radio had a segment about 'fashion' and how some clever Chinese garment maker has become #1 online retailer (world) and most fashion apparel they sell are man-made materials (not much cotton) but selling them like hotcakes. NPR found that fashionable younger generations are as much to blame … who know well that such clothing is good for one season and they continue their materialism/consumerism/capitalism, every season.

I wanted to retire without a bucket list, so I took every opportunity to experience those bucket-list moments while my body/mind/wallet were all willing and able.

So -if I may ignore the materialism angle- I can only say that I am now a declared and habitual user of music as experience.

 

[TonyJZX]

i think it comes down to that old maxim:

"some people buy nice hifi to listen to their favorite music... some of you guys use music to listen to their hifi" (this sounds like alan parsons or walter becker/donald fagen to me)

i think many of us are 'equipment fans'... we love the build, aesthetics, analytical purity, the level of 'professional confidence' behind the machines.

But at the same time, if the unit performs then you can often just stick it in a black box with the 'milspec' spec buttons and switches.

I mean many of us like fripperies like VU meters but there is that amazement when the music comes on and you realise... 'this comes well up to standard"... whatever your standard may be.

 

[Palladium]

I prefer having experiences with things I found at the dump.

I also don't buy first hand stuff anymore unless there are good reasons to.

 

[Robin L]

The fact that streaming has easily surpassed physical formats for the consumption of audio points to experiences over objects in the audio realm.

 

[pseudoid]

MTBF seems to be one of my most important ownership criteria.
The dumpster divers get the residuals when I am finished with my hardware.
You will know I am the OP, if the stuff you got from that dumpster ALSO included all the cables, user manuals and accessories.
You're welcome!