So... My car costs around $8K and the monitors I want cost around $8K so Its definitely out of my league at the moment especially because I don't work because of Covid-19 and would need to use my savings.
I could live with cheaper monitors ( let's say Genelec 8050) but on the other I can't let go of my dream! (8351B)
How do you set a budget for your audio hobby?
Audio has always been a hobby of mine, however I never spend that much money on it. I got into watches (don't do this) so that seriously raised the price I was paying for nice to have things over time. Some day I realized I spend so much time on audio, but comparatively little money, so then vinyl and a Benchmark AHB2 happened.
That said. Most expensive speakers I ever bought were KEF LS50, but I've built several DIY and even more subwoofers. I also listen in the nearfield and don't need huge volume.
From my experiences at dealers, dimishing returns for speakers start around 2k. You can get wonderful speakers between 1-1.5k. I mean I want 8351B. For sure. But is worth it?
You could buy 8050B for a lot less.
Speakers are one of the weakest links in the chain, and it makes sense to spend money here, however, once you climbed the inital hill, any additional performance comes with a high price and then there's also all the audiophile companies that sell bad speakers for a lot of money.
So how do you set a budget. I think on the lower scale, there is a certain quality that is required. I would put this at KEF LS50 or KH120 level, so above 1k for a pair new. And then you haven't solved the bass problem, or in the case of LS50 gotten an amplifier. But that is only my POV and I don't want to shit on people who don't want to or can't spend that. I started out with bad equipment, but the love for music makes it good right. That said. Try to go into a dealer and buy a good pair for 600. You might get lucky on a sale, but most of the time, it won't work. IMHO.
On the upper scale. One one hand I see hifi as a requirement like energy and water. On the other hand, how good does it need to be.
I sit in my car 2hrs a day on a bad day. I listen to hifi longer than that if I can. I think a good hifi will last longer and require less maintenance than a car. However a basic car is much more expensive than a basic hifi.
I don't know. If you buy 8351B will that itch be scratched? I went through a couple of watches until I got my current one, and now I don't care anymore. I'm done. I bought the AHB2, amplifier problem = solved.
It's not a good idea to go 0 to
100 60 on these things either. You need to collect experience along the way. I'm rambling, but I hope it helps
