Does your family know what your system's worth?

[ScottK]

Great post as I'm in a similar situation. My wife knows what my system cost but who knows what will happen to it. At that point I don't think it will matter to me at all!

 

[DetroitVinylRob]

I simply don’t worry about dying and then what would happen then, don’t hide nor deceive, and I have been single most of my life and find it completely unnecessary to “freak-out” my dear wife and best friend about the details. She has little interest in the gear (which I have personally entirely funded) nor the audiophile hobby, but simply loves the music and it’s excellent reproduction. And to her credit she fully supports and understands my passion. To this point, that when we bought a home together, she was fully on board about us getting a property that supported a dedicated, acoustically treated room for Audio. Music has always been such a rewarding pastime in both of our lives. I have been a part of an audio club in the city for over 16 years and she has several of the trusted members numbers so if and when a move needed to be made without me, she would have an enormous amount of kind support. And from my point of view… when I am done with it, what difference does it make, what happens to it? These are all temporal pleasures. I’m at peace with all of this. So, in the meantime… turn it up!

 

[spiritofmusic]

I don't know what's worse for them...knowing what I've paid...or how little they'll get/how hard it'll be to sell...in the used market.

 

[Gotland]

Nooo, not entirly. Partly yes. I do get the question, and I try to avoid answering, but in some cases I have to tell the truth. Its reallly, really crazy. But I NEVER, NEVER discuss prices with friends, it serves no point. I dont think its impressing, its more like something sad.
I think my partner thinks this is better than drug addition, gambling or crossdressing. It could be worse. And we enjoy it both even if we dont share the interest. It conveys beauty like few other things. Its a joint experience, and that is worth something.

 

[Lagonda]

Nooo, not entirly. Partly yes. I do get the question, and I try to avoid answering, but in some cases I have to tell the truth. Its reallly, really crazy. But I NEVER, NEVER discuss prices with friends, it serves no point. I dont think its impressing, its more like something sad.
I think my partner thinks this is better than drug addition, gambling or crossdressing. It could be worse. And we enjoy it both even if we dont share the interest. It conveys beauty like few other things. Its a joint experience, and that is worth something.

It could be worse, some of us both gamble and crossdress when we are doing drugs, on top of being audiophiles !

 

[Raider]

I love my two-channel system and it gives me great pleasure, but it's primarily a private and individual "relationship," except for a few listening sessions with friends. My wife made it clear that she'd prefer my rack and speakers to be set up in our basement tv room, and that's fine: it's become a kind of stereotypical man-cave.
I suspect that its value is in the bottom quartile of WBF members' systems at about $30k total, but - as I'm now in my 70s, albeit healthy and active - I occasionally have a fleeting thought about what would happen to my system if I were no longer around. I think this is because I've invested thought and care in it, and it's returned real joy and satisfaction to me.
I'd prefer that someone - my daughters, nephews, nieces - would say that they'd love to have it intact, and I'd happily endorse it going to whomever would want most to keep it and enjoy it. But if no one really cares about inheriting a carefully-curated system that is capable of creating emotionally-involving interludes, I really don't want to see it ending up in a garage sale or just disposed of in a "Does anyone want Uncle Mike's old record player?" manner.
So...do other people in your family care about your system, and if not, do they know what it's actually worth so it'll at least receive some financial respect?

Probably not a bad idea to document the value of each component, give a copy to a loved one, then discuss what your preferences are, but also being clear that what you have will be sought after by others and therein lies the true value.

 

[Folsom]

Gear, Yes.

LPs, at present even I don't know.

It's a good idea to have a list built on Discogs for insurance purposes.

 

[harsheel_dbs]

When I first met my wife, I told her my Power cable cost $5k, she hit the roof... Now when I tell her I need $15k for a cartridge, she doesn't even bat an eye.... Acclimate them boys!!

Same thing happened to me initially but she gets it now. I just translate what I'm getting to a purse she is familiar with so that it is relatable.

 

[Mikeylee]

My wife is well aware of what the stereo costs because she helped select most of the components. She now winces when I upgrade because the cost to better gear is becoming substantial…in our world anyway. I have one buddy who comes over for monthly listening sessions who has a good idea of the cost. The rest of my family just knows I spend more on the stereo than they ever would. But, I don’t gamble, chase hookers, do drugs, and, the biggest cost saver of all, I do not play golf!!

 

[Carlsbad]

My kids do, at least order of magnitude. They will inherit it some day and I don't want them to give it to goodwill.

 

[Shindohaut]

My wife knows the cost of the main components as I had her approve the substantial purchases before they were made. Not something I wanted to hide from her. My wife understands and supports the importance of my hobby. My wife and kids love music but generally could care less about what is used to play them back on. Some of my relatives used to give me a hard time over the extravagant of my system. I don’t invite them over anymore

 

[Pacha]

When I'm gone, both my children want my system. How they work that out will not be in my wheelhouse.

 

[Mikeylee]

My estate plan leaves the stereo to whoever winds up executing said estate plan. The two executors noted both enjoy the stereo. In the notes attached to my estate plan, I let them know it is expensive and, if they decide to sell it instead of keep it, gave them links and phone #s to resources to get it appropriately priced.

 

[Willgolf]

I had to laugh reading all of the replies to this thread. Sunk costs are great. My wife has an idea on what I paid individually for each component. But she has no idea of my total cost. I have tried spreading my purchases over time. But in the last year, it has cost me 1/4 of the audio cost in jewelry which is fair to me to avoid the grief and hassle of my audio spending.

I am 69 and trying to enjoy the fruits of my hard earned labor. As a result, i have spent a lot of money on audio over the last 3 years. I think I am close to $400k on this hobby.

My wife is worried about what happens when I die and she has asked for a death file. The death file is all of the contacts she will need to call to tell the world I have gone Baba Kanush. Guess what is at the top of her list. She wants the dealer's name where I have purchased most of my audio equipment. That will be her first call.

 

[shel50]

I had to laugh reading all of the replies to this thread. Sunk costs are great. My wife has an idea on what I paid individually for each component. But she has no idea of my total cost. I have tried spreading my purchases over time. But in the last year, it has cost me 1/4 of the audio cost in jewelry which is fair to me to avoid the grief and hassle of my audio spending.

I am 69 and trying to enjoy the fruits of my hard earned labor. As a result, i have spent a lot of money on audio over the last 3 years. I think I am close to $400k on this hobby.

My wife is worried about what happens when I die and she has asked for a death file. The death file is all of the contacts she will need to call to tell the world I have gone Baba Kanush. Guess what is at the top of her list. She wants the dealer's name where I have purchased most of my audio equipment. That will be her first call.

I'm basically same age---laughing at the Baba Kanush line---lol--how true!
That's why there are mausoleums---take system with you and can still have a good soundstage

 

[shel50]

Take the system to a mausoleum-------good acoustics----good ethernet cable for streaming

 

[Willgolf]

Take the system to a mausoleum-------good acoustics----good ethernet cable for streaming

She may just burn my audio system with me....Ashes to ashes.

 

[Shindohaut]

My wife is well aware of what the stereo costs because she helped select most of the components. She now winces when I upgrade because the cost to better gear is becoming substantial…in our world anyway. I have one buddy who comes over for monthly listening sessions who has a good idea of the cost. The rest of my family just knows I spend more on the stereo than they ever would. But, I don’t gamble, chase hookers, do drugs, and, the biggest cost saver of all, I do not play golf!!

I play a bit of golf but my preamp cost me $10k in 2008

 

[Ron Resnick]

Better to spend all of your money on yourself while you are still alive. You want your kids crying at your funeral for a reason!

 

[Dimfer]

Audio is a hobby that became a side gig for me, and since I am using my audio stuff as a tax writeoff, I keep a good file of all receipts, and a spreadsheet of all my gears. My wife (a CPA) gets a copy of the spreadsheet every year after we file our income taxes. she’s not complaining (most of the time) because she gets to keep our tax refund.

an audio friend passed away last year, his wife contacted me and asked for my help to sort through his stuff.. we started on the storage under the stairs, I discovered a pair of Magico A3 and a PS Audio P20 I sold to him , a full stack of Electrocompaniet and many more.. then we went to his system that’s setup.. a full stack of Esoteric stuff, and mostly highend brands.. I told his wife of the approximate value, at first she told me that none of their children wanted it, but now I think they changed their mind. she said they are not in a rush to sell it. my friend died of heart attack associated to kidney failure, and his wife said he had been telling her for many months that he does not have much time to live. he went for an ultra sound one day and had a heart attack during the process, dead on the spot.

what boggles my mind is he did not even made a list of his audio gears.. and none of his audio buddies were on his contact list. It took the wife almost a year to contact me. He has a substantial record collection, I have no clue how much it is worth but I know it is a lot.

I don’t buy or sell much audio toys anymore and while I had always have that fear, I just wish now that I will be given enough time to dispose my gears before I die. my friends family is well provided (his asset list include 15 rental houses) but I can still see the frustration on his wife’s face the first time we went through his audio stuff.