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Spending big bucks on HiFi Audio

Many people spend $/€150,000 on smoking in their lifetime.

Many people spend $/€80,000 to $160,000 on drinking in their lifetime.

Many women spend over $/€120,000 on cosmetics, hairdressers, nail salons and beauty salons in their lifetime.

Many women and some men spend $/€more than $240,000 a month on clothing and shoes.

Many people spend over $/€100,000 on sweets and sweetened drinks in their lifetime.

Many people spend over $/€90,000 on decoration and kitsch in their lifetime.

Many people spend at least $/€250,000 on cars in their lifetime.

Many people spend $/€120,000 - $180,000 on coffee to go in their lifetime.

Many people spend over $/€ 40,000 - 100,000 on gambling in their lifetime.

The list is much longer, but which of these do you really need to live? And I'm only talking about people with normal salaries, nothing five-figure or anything like that.
None of these are essential to life and some of them even shorten your life.
So why shouldn't you spend your money on a nice hi-fi system and music? A very large proportion of people waste it on things that are not essential to life.

And I'll tell you the biggest secret at the end:
The last shirt has no pockets...
 
For me the smoking, drinking and gambling probably adds up to a fair bit, although I very rarely do the last two anymore.

But on the plus side I cut my own hair and don't own any type of motor vehicle.
 
Reminds of the joke about the old prospector who hit the mother load and went through his fortune in two weeks. When asked how he spent it he said I spent one third on women, one third on drinking and wasted the other third
 
I don't drive an SUV, I actually strongly dislike those massive cumbersome beasts even as they have improved their fuel economy, power, and handling. That said, my car does have 16 speakers and a self opening trunk... I didn't buy the car for either feature, but the sound is quite good and when my hands are full, waving my foot under the rear bumper to open the trunk is pretty darned convenient.
And don't get me wrong, those things are great and if someone wants and can afford them then, enjoy.
What gets me is I've read several 'news' articles talking about how cars are getting so expensive that people can't afford them anymore where they quote someone that complains that they had to take out such a long loan to be able to buy the $58,000 the car they wanted.
 
What gets me is I've read several 'news' articles talking about how cars are getting so expensive that people can't afford them anymore where they quote someone that complains that they had to take out such a long loan to be able to buy the $58,000 the car they wanted.

Those are the compensating people I was talking about!

Around here compensators are usually:
  • Guys driving jacked up pickup trucks (Ram, Silverado, F-150), that have never seen even a few feet of dirt, mud, or gravel!
  • trophy wives or stay at home moms with massive suvs (Wagoneer, Navigator, Tahoe, Escalade, Yukon, Suburban) they can barely drive.
 
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What gets me is I've read several 'news' articles talking about how cars are getting so expensive that people can't afford them anymore where they quote someone that complains that they had to take out such a long loan to be able to buy the $58,000 the car they wanted.
The real problem, in my opinion, is today's need for instant gratification. I've had a functional car ever since I turned 16, but I never bought the car that I wanted until I could pay cash. I don't count this as a virtue so much as good sense. Why pay usurers if you don't have to? Enjoy the anticipation of deferred pleasure. I don't think I've ever made a hi-fi purchase that I didn't first obsess over for a year or more. Again not a virtue. I enjoyed learning about what was possible and discovering what I really wanted - far better than bankrupting myself buying the first really shiny object... over and over and over...
 


I don't drive an SUV, I actually strongly dislike those massive cumbersome beasts even as they have improved their fuel economy, power, and handling. That said, my car does have 16 speakers and a self opening trunk... I didn't buy the car for either feature, but the sound is quite good and when my hands are full, waving my foot under the rear bumper to open the trunk is pretty darned convenient.

If you inadvertently run some over, will the trunk open when their foot passes by the sensor?
 
If you inadvertently run some over, will the trunk open when their foot passes by the sensor?
:D:eek:

No, you have to stop the car and have the key fob in your pocket. Even if I am standing near by and someone else tries to use the kick feature it will not open.

It is the sort of thing I have always laughed at... now I have a car with the feature and it is surprisingly handy.
 
This topic came up few time on other threads.

Why is it not acceptable by our society (and wives) to spend big bucks on HiFi audio (or any other lesser practiced hobbies) when it is acceptable to spend $75k on a new car or have second car as a hobby car?

Is it because HiFi is an obscure luxury? Is it because societal standards brained washed us? Is it because the hobby has been tainted with snake oil?

How much have you spent on this HiFi hobby over your life time? How much do you spend on average an year? Will you ever reach your end game and stop upgrading? How do you deal with your wife/gf/partner when it comes to HiFi spending?

It is perfectly acceptable. But even when it comes to hobbies, it's kind of a waste to spend much money on stuff that hasn't been engineered right, is poor quality etc etc. Note I am in no way stating *all* expensive gear is poorly engineered at all.

Then again, no one needs my approval there. :)
 
If you inadvertently run some over, will the trunk open when their foot passes by the sensor?
:D:eek:

No, you have to stop the car and have the key fob in your pocket. Even if I am standing near by and someone else tries to use the kick feature it will not open.

If you run over people regularly, surely the feature can be hacked to work on the move? With luck/skill those oversize knobbly tyres will flip the aggrieved party up into the open tray/trunk ready for transport to the freezer/concrete pour.
 
If you run over people regularly, surely the feature can be hacked to work on the move? With luck/skill those oversize knobbly tyres will flip the aggrieved party up into the open tray/trunk ready for transport to the freezer/concrete pour.
Could that be part of the appeal of SUVs? :oops:

My car doesn't have the ground clearance and there is precious little tread on my summer rated tires.
 
Could that be part of the appeal of SUVs? :oops:

My car doesn't have the ground clearance and there is precious little tread on my summer rated tires.

By "you" I mean "they" of course. :)
 
I thought of this thread today when I was in my listening/hang-out room reading, and also peering appreciatively at my 2 channel speakers. I love the way they look!

So I was thinking about the issue of spending Big Bucks on audio. Some here I believe have a mostly utilitarian attitude towards audio gear: the cheaper the better, so long as it has the right specs, and looks aren't a big deal. Others do care about gear looks/quality, but still mostly I think like the idea of the gear just disappearing, in other words "I want a neutral system so I don't think about the gear when I use it."

I enjoy The Gear too, along with the music. I like also thinking about the gear sometimes in the sense of appreciating how it looks, and it's contribution to the sound I sought to achieve.

But another thing is: for me a bit of "unobtanium" factor is also kind of nice. And I mean "unobtanium" for me, my financial circumstances. For instance, I always liked MBL omni speakers, and since I enjoyed the design, and fit and finish, they were very luxurious in my mind, but were just way beyond my means. They were aspirational. When I actually had a chance to buy some MBL speakers it was sort of like catching my White Whale. I got a great price all things considered, but their new price was way beyond what I could have afforded. That factor always stuck with me. When I had them set up in my listening room I'd so often think "man, I can't believe I finally own these things!" Even when they were off-duty, stored against the wall in my work room I'd still look over at them, and think "holy cow! I own those friggin' things!" The effort and money...and the fact they looked like a million bucks...really did add satisfaction.

The same goes for my current 2 channel speakers, which I fell in love with at a store audition when I went in meaning to audition only a less expensive model. Once I heard them I had to have them, but it took me YEARS to afford them. They were my most expensive audio purchase ever by quite a bit. And that too plays in to some of the satisfaction. I keep pinching myself when I listen to them, or even just look at them sitting in my room, that I managed to get a pair, and, important to me, they don't look cheap, they look to me "worth the money" kind of thing. These speakers would be nothing to a rich person, but to me they were aspirational and mean quite a lot.

So, at least for me spending "big bucks" for something that feels worth the big bucks can be a satisfying factor. When you managed to get something that took time, effort, some level of a financial stretch, to obtain.

Does anyone else in this cold, dark forum vibe with this or am I on my own? :)
 
I spent almost 2 yrs looking at amps and speakers, I looked at probably 25 different preamps and amps and again another 10-15 speakers. In the end I bought Benchmark amps, preamp and dacs and KEF speakers. I could have spent less, but I bought what I wanted. There is not computer, no visual components, no EQ just an old school 2 channel stereo. The system runs probably 8-12 hours a day, I really enjoy my music. At almost 70, I want this to be the last system, I’d ever buy, I could have paid more, but I felt for the cost, I bought the best available to me, with the availability for factory service if needed.

Just today, in the shop system, I lost my third SMSL SU-1 DAC, after about 3 days of use. It started out as a faint crackle in the left speaker, then the volume dropped, then went dead. I bought 3 and they all died within less than of a week out of the box. Never purchase a product without a US based service network again.
 
Does anyone else in this cold, dark forum vibe with this or am I on my own? :)
I don't focus on the price of things... I can either afford something, or can't. I agree with your comment that for some folks, not just here, but in general for some folks the cheaper the better... to the point that some go by, "well, it kinda sucks, but heck it was cheap!" I am just not wired that way. I either like it or I don't and the price has little impact on whether I like it or not. Sure price may determine whether I can bring it home or not, but not my appreciation of it.

On aesthetics, heck yeah aesthetics matter to me. Unless you have an acoustically transparent sheer fabric wall to hide your speakers you are going to look at them as well as listen to them and you will probably spend more time looking at them than listening to them. For electronics the aesthetics are less important, though still a nice to have as is quality build and fit and finish. With a little luck and care much of it can be hidden. I have most of my gear tucked away in closets.
 
Here are a couple of expensive hobbies that exist in my neck of the woods, sprint car racing and coyote hunting. Coyote hunting is done at night which increases the cost of scopes and the like. I believe wild boar are also hunted at night, but that may be an archery thing, I don't know. After hearing and speculating on the expenses involved with these hobbies, $6k on a set of speakers and subwoofers sounds reasonable. Oh, BTW, I live near the Susquehanna and own neither a pontoon nor a bass boat. Audiophilia really isn't that bad in this light.
 
If a person spends all their expenses on purchasing HI-FI and they are not wealthy, which woman would be willing to spend her life with such a person?
 
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