CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Main Deck => Discussion for Registered Members Only => Topic started by: Valentin Hogea on January 31, 2013, 05:07:42 AM
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I do a lot of thinking, ergo I am human. Not necessarily saying it's all deep and such, but one question that keeps popping up is why.
Why do you take part in this quite expensive hobby and how.
I hope that the fundamental part is loving music. I know that's it for me, although the "tech part" is quite intriguing too. Learning more about something that I unfortunately did not have the privilege to make a living out of. To sit in my Barcelounger and suddenly forget I'm wearing headphones, dazzled by the music, tapping my toes, conducting the music and having a big fat grin on my face.
That experience can be cheap, but let's face it. A lot of us have spent a lot of cash to even approach this experience.
So how and to some extent why?
I'm not trying to emulate that guy on head-fi posting strange vids of my spouse singing along with music, but some degree of the personal side would be fun.
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I for one had the privilege to get a quite hefty scholarship for conducting medical research which made t possible to spend about 7000 USD the last year. Funny enough is that about 50% of my income last year went into this. I wouldn't say that I've had to give up any "important" parts of my life because of choosing to invest in that way. Neither would I ever let it.
However, how do the rest of you balance this out. Do you have high waged jobs? Cut down on the rest (trips, clothes, eating out etc.)? Or simly scavenge the FS-listing on various forums?
It would be fun with a discussion about this, shoot!
/V
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Scavenge the FS listings is a start.
Cutting down on the clothes is normal
Eating out reduction is also done often.
High waged job .. not really....
Most 'audiophiles' are average earners at best. Their passions just shine through :P
Owh we drive really badass 15year old cars
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The truth is that it doesn't really have to be expensive. Like with nearly everything else you can find a happy median if you're willing to settle a little bit. If I had enough disposable income to get what I really want, I would. I don't have enough so I try to make sure every purchase will give me the most "bang for the buck" as they say. Will my setup be the best possible? No, but if I get enough enjoyment out of it, it doesn't matter.
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Honestly an LCD-2 with a Bifrost and Lyr tallies about $1800 and gets you almost the entire way to the best sound possible. This is still a lot all at once for most people, but it is a setup that will continue to be high end for many years without changes. There may be other examples that are cheaper, but at this point I think that is about as low as I could stand to go if I could never spend another cent on audio gear and had to get rid of what I had currently.
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Have tried to keep things within certain "budgets". :)p8 Oh well.
As I listened and my portable rig created an "audio arms race" with my home rig plus I heard the "uber-rigs" multiple times...I've now got to have a rig that affects me like purrin's Balancing Act system. Pretty much haunts me.
Music, pure sound experience, community, the tech, the MMORPG aspect (I think there's sociological truth here) keeps us going.
Also- some of us want to delve strongly into something that is NOT like our day job or using the same senses/faculties. (If I was an audio pro, my hobby would be visual or something OTHER than using my ears.)
Transitioning from even more expensive, dangerous hobbies (motorbikes, cars, extreme travel) makes this a better bet. Many tubes are still cheaper than wines/scotches that are long gone...
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Currently all I'm doing in this hobby is learning and discovery less so than buying (I have been loaning out from some generous people in the community), I think that is one way one can spend less on the hobby, by knowing what they want after a lot of research.
Of course other ways I have managed this hobby,
Selling stuff I make for other hobbies
I don't really go out too often
Buying old stuff(those darn old receivers are cheap and great for the money!)
Trading gear around
unfortunately my expenditure on music strips my wallet way more than gear.....
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Hell, what's a cheap hobby? Headphones seem cheaper to me than cars, boats, guns, biking, photography, aquariums, and even potentially baseball cards, coins and stamps. I guess pinning dead moths and butterflies to a board is probably cheap so there's always that.
Regardless, you can do pretty well for under $500 in a complete portable or desktop rig. The rest is about pursuing perfection which obviously is neverending so there's your answer. Frankly, it's a noble human pursuit as long it's not out of balance or adversely negative.
Edit - Thx CT, forgot about the Habanos and Spirits. Geez...$$$ for consumable/non-durables.
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^Oh yeah, any review on the Miyosakae Tenmi?
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The truth is... We are all sick individuals LOL
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Music, pure sound experience, community, the tech, the MMORPG aspect (I think there's sociological truth here) keeps us going.
Also- some of us want to delve strongly into something that is NOT like our day job or using the same senses/faculties. (If I was an audio pro, my hobby would be visual or something OTHER than using my ears.)
These two points are true for me, especially the later. I get annoyed when people assume I'm going to be a musician because I like audio equipment or start asking me for advice on producing their shitty dubstep with a similar assumption in mind. It's not unlike how people thought I was moving to Japan because I took some Japanese in high school and college. I'm just a nerd, alright?
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I recall there was some kind of beetle that sold for $89K some time ago.
I guess pinning dead moths and butterflies to a board is probably cheap so there's always that.
I recall there was a beetle that sold for $89K a while ago.
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To answer the OP's question on making a living, I just sell YH-1000s on ebay.
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Used gear! Careful shopping can lead to finding great gear at good prices. I've only purchased a few items new along the way.
Not to beat the dead horse, but it's a great part of the hobby because you can "buy and try" without much risk of major loss because you can turn the gear over relatively easily.
Unless you start to hoard like some of us... then you have this mountain of gear you have to sell off... :-S
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Headphones aren't the most expensive hobby of mine, as traveling takes that title by a mile and a half.
I feel like it's been a worthwhile journey. Money is made to be spent on things that bring enjoyment to your life IMO. I feel like the money I've used for audio-related purchased has been well worth it in return for the thousands of hours of enjoyable music listening I've done.
Buying used and waiting for good deals to come up have allowed me to try a lot of stuff with decent resale value. Listening to gear before purchasing it limits buyer's remorse.
It helps that I'm not a particuarly impulsive buyer. I'm always curious about new equipment that come out, but I generally don't buy into the hype enough to make a purchase in blind faith.
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However, how do the rest of you balance this out. Do you have high waged jobs?
IMO (and sorry if it's controversial) most people in this hifi thing either:
1) have jobs that pay well
2) naturally well off, ie inheritance, trust fund, etc
3) have a personality with a propensity to spend money they don't have
I really don't believe there is a significant number of people into hifi with real tin can budgets are out there saving quarters and singles to get that next fix in an upgrade. Just what I've come to glean from knowing people into it since around 2000.
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There's a big difference between audio aficionados that spend $2-20K on their setups vs. those that spend hundreds of thousands on big Wilsons and DarTZeels and what not. I'd wager that those of us in the former category are probably more devoted music fans than the latter group, as much of the equipment in the six-figure class seems tailor made to people that just have a ton of money and a ton of shit. Garage full of Ferraris? Would sir like these $200K speakers? They need to be brought in via crane and require a minimum of 500 watts, by the way we just happen to have 500 watt amplifiers, also $200K. Right this way...
I know I'm painting with a broad brush and I'm sure there are some people out there with hyper expensive systems that are genuine music lovers and care about sound as opposed to just having a thousand pounds worth of ceramic drivers and carbon fiber that they can impress the neighbors with. These things though, I mean come on, these are $160K toys for rich kids, end of story.
(http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z446/sthull/CES13/Part2/CT6A6409.jpg)
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Reminds me of
(http://vividgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Pikmin_2_Pikmin_chr01-1024x747.jpg)
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However, how do the rest of you balance this out. Do you have high waged jobs? Cut down on the rest (trips, clothes, eating out etc.)? Or simly scavenge the FS-listing on various forums?
It would be fun with a discussion about this, shoot!
/V
i sell my body on the streets. i am clearly an irresistible guy. everything and everyone wants to hit this. but it's all thanks to Anax,LFF,rythmdevil, and kirosia. they trained me well and prepped me with utmost extravagant and unparalleled position to do my duty. i'm basically the gigolo of gigolos.
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^Rex is totally lying in an attempt to name-drop and find more clients.
In point-of-fact, Rex owns every cool sleeper vintage receiver.
He can plug anything in and find the best output impedance match to suit any White Snake album.
(This only partially explains his hair.)
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White Snake....gigalo.....heh heh...heh...
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Valentine, I appreciated your post. It was thoughtful and sensitive.
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^Rex is totally lying in an attempt to name-drop and find more clients.
In point-of-fact, Rex owns every cool sleeper vintage receiver.
He can plug anything in and find the best output impedance match to suit any White Snake album.
(This only partially explains his hair.)
you know me too well.
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Valentine, I appreciated your post. It was thoughtful and sensitive.
Thx, just felt expressing and discussing the non-music non-gear part of all of this.
Used gear! Careful shopping can lead to finding great gear at good prices. I've only purchased a few items new along the way.
Not to beat the dead horse, but it's a great part of the hobby because you can "buy and try" without much risk of major loss because you can turn the gear over relatively easily.
Unless you start to hoard like some of us... then you have this mountain of gear you have to sell off... :-S
I love the buy-and-try and the great second hand market. Regular hi-fi in Sweden usually sells for 50% just 1-2 years after purchase. And packing up 80 kg's speakers back and forth. Now that's a quick recipe for a hernia.
Ahh! Hoarding = "Too" much cash.
I need to sell of old gear (and save) otherwise the missus kills me.
i sell my body on the streets. i am clearly an irresistible guy. everything and everyone wants to hit this. but it's all thanks to Anax,LFF,rythmdevil, and kirosia. they trained me well and prepped me with utmost extravagant and unparalleled position to do my duty. i'm basically the gigolo of gigolos.
Ok, so pulling tricks just moved up a notch on my to do-list.
Does the Einsteinic hair doo help?
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Does the Einsteinic hair doo help?
dude what kind of question is that? duh! hair makes everything gosh! you need to watch more jersey shore. don't worry though, everyone is a noob once in their life.
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Oh, now I understand the gigolo suggestion from Anax. Obviously a trade secret as to how you guys are able to afford all that great gear I heard. :)p13
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Does the Einsteinic hair doo help?
dude what kind of question is that? duh! hair makes everything gosh! you need to watch more jersey shore. don't worry though, everyone is a noob once in their life.
but Snooki make Babyjesus cries?
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What about bald à la Bruce Willis?
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Oh, now I understand the gigolo suggestion from Anax. Obviously a trade secret as to how you guys are able to afford all that great gear I heard. :)p13
Rex has Call Me from Blondie on his source at 24/192.... :)p13
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I think we're all techies to some point. The whole "it's all about the music" line is partially an excuse to justify our tech obsession. I see the same thing in cameras - photographers all talk about how you can get excellent results in a point and shoot, how it's all about the image and not the gear, and then go on about the virtues of the latest ultra-fast prime or that vintage piece of kit with the weird 3-blade aperture.
I see nothing wrong with this, as long as there is some honesty and self-awareness involved. The latter is lacking in a lot of people, and it's very easy to go off the deep-end, especially when you're new to this, have money to spend, and don't have a lot of experience or technical knowledge for a frame of reference. It's very easy to end up with something you don't like, and then try to justify to yourself - and indeed everybody else - why you bought it by defending it against perfectly valid criticism. This is when the self-awareness needs to step in, and you need frequent reality checks and comparisons to see where your stuff stands and if indeed you're enjoying your gear in the first place.
Personally, I'm a geek. I like geeking out over things, and I'm happiest when I have something to geek out about. The audio hobby is immediately rewarding, since changing setups yields immediate feedback, and the first few steps usually give you the maximum results, sucking you in. The technical angle is just adding depth to it. Plus, if you're lazy, this is a pretty good hobby too since it involves little more than getting gear and listening.
The only thing that irritates me is when this hobby is used as a status symbol, but going onto that tangent is going to involve a massive rant about mall-fi, and I think we've seen enough of those for now. I don't really do that other place anymore, and my blood pressure is all the lower for it (or it would be, if there was less drinking).
In terms of actually affording the damn things, it's not as hard as it seems when you avoid the FOTM and get stuff with a good resale value. Buy something small, trade it in, then invest a bit more and buy bigger, trade it in, and repeat. Over time, you find yourself accumulating a collection which on the surface appears unattainable, and certainly is that way should you try to buy it all at once. Of course, it's easy to stumble, get caught up in the hype for something and end up with a shiny doorstop (I've done that too) which will put a dent in your budget, but after a few times you usually learn to spot the bad deals. The expensive part of this hobby is being in a rush to get something - if you have patience, and some technical skill to boot, you can usually end up with something which you would have never thought you'd own.