`There is a difference between being poor and not wanting to waste money. You're not the only one, and respectfully, I don't appreciate the insinuation. I could spend hundreds, maybe even thousands on audio gear if really I wanted, sure, but to me it doesn't make sense. I guess I'd rather spend more efficiently in this hobby and put the money I save towards other hobbies that I also enjoy. Variety is the spice of life as they say...
You are not out of touch. Welcome to the modern influencer/consumer culture of the present day.
1. What hobby are you partaking in?
The audiophile hobby is interesting because it means a lot of things. It can mean having a room/area of your home where the focus is listening to music (privately or with others) and the intent is to be as true to the source/recording or experience as possible. It can be that you enjoy the engineering that goes into audio equipment and like to collect notable historical products and products that reflect the creativity of a solution. If you think about “watch collecting” or “shoe collecting” or “handbag collecting” you want things to be functional, but it’s the art and heritage that matters.
Creating the environment where the focus is listening to music is one reason why vinyl LPs are popular in 2024 as are physical media like CDs are popular. Our world is such that many people find it hard to sit and listen through a full music album. If a new album is released on streaming, do you listen to it from start to finish? Or do you listen and skip tracks you don’t like?
“Variety is the spice of life”
This can be looked at in many ways. Even if you enjoy the precision of hi-fi, some audiophiles think of variety as trying to experience different type of speakers (omnidirectional, planar, etc.) or even more simply have a headphone and speaker setup to provide two different ways to experience the a particular track. You can season to taste by picking different speakers and the variety and experience of
difference itself is what brings joy. Even here, the way to be efficient is to buy second hand and make sure that the resale value of whatever you are trying is there.
2. Content creators need to generate FOMO.
Did you research a lot of schools when applying to college? Did you research different strollers or car seats when you became a parent? Read reviews of washers and dryers when buying a new home?
It’s natural to seek out reviews and expert opinions when you’re making a purchase decision or plan. However once you buy something, you’re done for a while. That’s horrible for companies — look at 23 and me.
So if you look at something like headphones, the absolute pinnacle of headphones 20 years ago was a certain price. The Sennheiser HD600 was one of those super crazy, if you have money to spend type of deals. Now, RELATIVE to other things that have been released, the HD600 is “more affordable” than a flagship HD800/HD820 or the Focal/Dan Clark/etc.
3. Part of the hobby for many is conspicuous consumption.
A new survey finds affluent Millennials are keen to purchase luxury goods for the status they confer, calling on luxury brands to embrace their customers' status needs.
www.forbes.com
4. You need to understand and determine what efficient means to you.
Would you rather buy a $100 day every 3 years? Or spend $1000 on a DAC that last you 10 years?
The first option is smarter financially. You amortized expenses and every 3 years, you gain from whatever technological benefits existed.
The first option is worse ecologically. You may not actually hear any considerable difference and have added to the e-waste.
What about time? If you make $50/hour and it takes you a few hours to troubleshoot/swap/deal with issues, maybe it makes sense to buy a product that is easier to use, has more reliable support (software + warranty support).
Do you care about country of manufacture and where tax revenue associated with your purchase is going?
I for one, spent a lot money seeking variety to understand what my end game was. Once I found my endgame, I went for it. The best way to save money in this hobby is to a) listen and play with a lot of gear; see what ergonomics make sense and don’t b) listen to a lot of different speakers to get a feel for what sort of trade offs you like. Full range, more coloration? Neutral, but bass shy? C) spend as much money as you can on the speakers and cut corners everywhere else.
When ASR and PS Audio see eye to eye, you know it’s something that you should consider carefully: the speakers make the biggest difference (and Paul says amp, which I will concede in terms of avoiding clipping)
at least in recent memory of this thread.
