Is High End Audio Gear Worth the Money?

[R Johnson]

A very interesting graph, Marty!

My curve would be similar though more extreme on the Home Stereo side.
Some years ago I gave (sold cheaply) my Quad ESL 57s to a good friend so that he could have quad Quads. I'm content with a nice pair of PSB bookshelf speakers. They do a great job with "Live from the Met" opera transmissions.

Curiously, I enjoy following these threads.

I attend the Chicago Symphony weekly, plus Piano and Chamber series. Also Lyric Opera. And for a real change of pace, yesterday attended "The Kinks Sunny Afternoon". Definitely not my cup of tea, but some Axpona attendees might like to go down to Chicago Shakespeare on Navy Pier... Tonight the CSO will have Joffrey Ballet on stage: https://cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/cso-and-the-joffrey-ballet/

 

[andromedaaudio]

If i play a high quality tape i d say its worth the money .
Digital not so much i hope my future wadax player will change that a bit

 

[dbeau]

If i play a high quality tape i d say its worth the money .
Digital not so much i hope my future wadax player will change that a bit

pun intended?

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Back in the days when high end audio did not exist:

View attachment 148718

A single speaker is so much easier to listen to!

Did people even complain about sound quality back then? I wonder...

Picture of your girlfriend?

 

[andromedaaudio]

pun intended?

I m being serious .
Digital music has for the most part a flawed superficial smoothnesss to it

Not a sonic value i would associate with the high dollars spend om most high end systems

 

[Rexp]

I m being serious .
Digital music has for the most part a flawed superficial smoothnesss to it

Not a sonic value i would associate with the high dollars spend om most high end systems

There are some digital and analog versions of the same album that sound pretty similar to me but usually digital versions are inferior. No DAC upgrade is gonna fix that.

 

[bonzo75]

I m being serious

Just to explain the joke as you don't get many, what dbeau was checking with you is when you say digital player changes a "bit", did you intend to pun on the word bit. I guess with you, no pun is intended. You can sign up for my pun classes but they cost more than wadax.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Just to explain the joke as you don't get many, what dbeau was checking with you is when you say digital player changes a "bit", did you intend to pun on the word bit. I guess with you, no pun is intended. You can sign up for my pun classes but they cost more than wadax.

No thanks then to much $$
I think im gonna switch completely to AI when responding .
Cheap and BIT perfect lol

 

[mtemur]

A very perceptive comment Elliot! It's sort of like window shopping in the Red Light District in Amsterdam, only far more expensive if you want to make a purchase.

…and surely less amusing.

 

[microstrip]

(...) Home audio reproduction is wonderful, enjoyable, important, essential, life-affirming and blah blah blah, but it ain't live music. Thus, part of my brain eternally screams "keep trying, you'll get there" and part of my brain says "stop trying you fool, that isn't ever going to happen" so just get over it and enjoy what you have and banish audio nervosa for good. Hah! Easier said than done, but it does explain the rationale behind the graph. It is indeed possible for stupidity and wisdom to co-exist when you're an audiophile!

Well, since long all my brain said "that isn't ever going to happen", my personal perspective on this hobby has kept me away from "audio nervosa".

I like the hobby, essentially as an hobby with a technical and subjective challenge with a strong social component, that also returns to me excellent music reproduction experiences, and I love music.

BTW, the best prescription for staying away of "audiophilia nervosa" is reading a few chapters from the Jim Smith and Floyd Toole books from time to time ...

 

[PYP]

This is a very interesting subject, and perhaps related to the OP but might also benefit from a separate thread. The desire to improve one's home audio reproduction is part of the life-long hobby of an audiophile. But how that interfaces with resources in one's life is another matter. My personal experience may seem a bit paradoxical but if I had to graph it, it would look something like this:

View attachment 148722
The obvious explanation for the left hand side of the graph, in which there is a clear disparity between the desire to improve one's system and resources. It's why, for most of my audiophile life I was a DIY'er and re-builder of almost everything, hoping to achieve champagne-like results on a beer budget. The right side however is a different story and is probably driven by the realization that improving one's audio gear and/or room is kind of the equivalent of trying to exit a room by getting half way closer to the door with each step, but knowing that in the end, you can never leave the room using that method. Home audio reproduction is wonderful, enjoyable, important, essential, life-affirming and blah blah blah, but it ain't live music. Thus, part of my brain eternally screams "keep trying, you'll get there" and part of my brain says "stop trying you fool, that isn't ever going to happen" so just get over it and enjoy what you have and banish audio nervosa for good. Hah! Easier said than done, but it does explain the rationale behind the graph. It is indeed possible for stupidity and wisdom to co-exist when you're an audiophile!

That crossover point, whenever it occurs, is a strange moment. Realizing you have the funds for further purchases but don't seem to care is a bit unnerving at first. After all, the philosophy of audiophiles seems to be: Onward!