Is high end audio spending an addiction?

[Phelonious Ponk]

Bill Cosby-middle class means you work for your money. rich means your money works for you.

Was that when Bill still had his TV show? He was probably trying to convince himself that he was middle class.

Tim

 

[Gregadd]

I am not sure. But at one time Bill was the highest paid performer in Hollywood. I think he was trying to enter" the money working for me stage."

 

[flez007]

this is again a subjective judgement (what is not? ) - I follow a quite strict cash flow planning (I am sure many of you do the same) - and try to keep a balance on spendable slots once the basic things are covered (in my case that goes to schools, doctors, car maint, food, home repairs, etc..If one is not sure of what sot of expenses are these, ask your significant other )

This is a nice hobby, and agree with others above on the fact that there are many other ways to spend money on with an expensive/painfull outcome, the list is not short.

 

[GaryProtein]

How much do foodies spend on going out to dinner in a year...or to make a more 'apples to apples' comparison...in 5 years? How much do car buffs spend on 1 car? how about 2? What does someone spend on a few pieces of art?

Some people go on nice vacations every year. For me, i'd rather have a nice system i use every day...hours into the evening and all day/nite on the weekends. I can play music while i work, while we eat dinner, watch movies. That's just me (and probably the majority of us on this forum! )

I never considered keeping a record of what I purchased for my stereo system. I'd be afraid.

For me a great vacation is as simple as not going to the office. I love being home.

I fully subscribe to the schtick George Carlin used to do where the bad boy is sent to his room by his mother. Meanwhile the kid is thinking, "That's great. That's where all my stuff is!"

 

[caesar]

Ack,

Whart says it brilliantly:

The 'addictive' aspects from a behavioral standpoint are: obsessing over the subject, a belief that the 'next' thing is going to be 'nirvana,' a 'buzz' from the pursuit of the 'next thing,' including the research, the 'chatting' about it in place like this, and with others, including those similarly engaged in the pursuit, the 'acquisition,' the moment of experiencing the new equipment, software or other 'thing,' and then the insidious part of the personality that says, yeah, that's good or bad or whatever, but if i just get this next 'thing,' it will be better. And so on.
Not that I speak from experience.
And, where it is counterproductive is if it takes away from life itself, rather than enriching it. But, you could also use the same overall behavior to describe someone in pursuit of a new scientific or medical breakthrough, the writing of a novel, or the making of art. With the same sort of potentially asocial consequences.

And Jack very wisely added, "if you feel you've got your responsibilities more than covered, knock yourself out."

The only thing I can add to their wisdom is to consider how impoverished your life would be if you did not have things you were completely absorbed in and passionate about. Having to work hard for things you love, appreciate, and enjoy is what a great life is all about. You should be very proud of yourself.

 

[NorthStar]

I opened my spreadsheet, where I keep track of what I have spent on this hobby for hardware, and the list price of the entire current system (exclusive of tax but inclusive of all upgrades/mods I may have done; and with prices as of when the components were purchased) is a hair shy of a staggering number. Are we addicted? Can we convince ourselves we are still "rational" people? Are we restless? Egotistical? Do we have our priorities straight? Is it really worth to you the amount of money you have spent? Where does it end...

-----You know, it's very similar to women who buy perfumes, clothings, dresses, shoes, ...
And people buying expensive cars, big houses, nice & expensive watches. ...A nice lawnmower? That too! :b

 

[NorthStar]

---Count all the money one person makes in his entire lifetime.
Then take another person from another financial class and do the same.

Now, count exactly where all that money went, from both these two individuals.

That should give you an idea if there is any addiction or not. :b

 

[NorthStar]

---One thing is fo sur; we ain't Hollywood stars. :b

 

[microstrip]

(...) We do however spend ungodly amount of money though on at best small increments and too often side-ways moves ... ANd in many a system priorities are not clear ... For example, substantial amount of currency for the minuscule ( nonexistent ?) changes brought by cables while leaving the wild swing introduced by the listening rooms un-addressed ... By any definition an irrational behavior, if that is what we are discussing about...

Frantz,

Should we consider your permanent rant against cables as an addiction?

I have been playing with RPG abfusors, diffractals, flutter-free panels and modex bass traps, and no amount of room treatment has been able to create the difference in bass response between a pair of Kubala Sosna Elation or Transparent Opus in my system.

BTW, I love my house and my garden and do not consider moving to get a room with better dimensions for acoustics. But I know of people who moved just to have a better listening space - should we consider it the supreme addiction?

 

[amirm]

I think hobbies of this kind are three hobbies rolled into one:

1. The hobby itself. In this case, listening to music.

2. Buying the tools/gear for the hobby. For many this is enjoyable in itself. The journey to find and justify what to type. Then shopping for it. And that joyful moment when you bring it home, unpacking it and smelling the newness of it. All before it makes any sound.

3. Coming to places like this to find out what to buy. I suspect some of us spend more time here than we do in the other two!

My photography hobby was consumed by #2 for a long time. I went though 6-8 camera bodies alone. Sadly I still have all of them! But it was great fun by itself.

These days I am focused on #1 when it comes to photography. I don't visit forums. I don't buy new gear. I just take pictures. It took high level of equipment maturity to get me there.

 

[JackD201]

Frantz,

Should we consider your permanent rant against cables as an addiction?

I have been playing with RPG abfusors, diffractals, flutter-free panels and modex bass traps, and no amount of room treatment has been able to create the difference in bass response between a pair of Kubala Sosna Elation or Transparent Opus in my system.

BTW, I love my house and my garden and do not consider moving to get a room with better dimensions for acoustics. But I know of people who moved just to have a better listening space - should we consider it the supreme addiction?

Our home's structure is built around the dimensions of the listening room. I must have it worst of all! LOL!

 

[mep]

I built an addition on to my house in order to get my listening room. It was money well spent though.

 

[DaveyF]

If you think our hobby is expensive, try collecting these: http://arts.cultural-china.com/en/143Arts10044_2.html

 

[ack]

Brilliant, fascinating responses by everyone!

But equally fascinating how few of our friends or strangers care about our hobby, unlike, say photography (since it was brought up). How do they view us? As addicts? OC? Lunatics? Artists?

 

[NorthStar]

---First, Congrats Amir on reaching 6,000 posts! :b

________________

Life is an evolution, a transformation, a time for this and a time for that ...
Each one of us has his own journey into whatever his/her passions are.
And some people like to give their full potential into one thing, and then go to the next.

Life is full of accidents; happy ones and less than happy ones.
Money is big part of many hobbies of ours; the more of it usually the merrier.
Also there is the other side of it; the spiritual side, the knowledge, the other reach ...

If we are here in the now at WBF it is for a reason.
But that don't mean that yesterday or tomorrow we'll still be here.
What was, what is, and what will be is an evolution, a transformation.

 

[Bill Hart]

Brilliant, fascinating responses by everyone!

But equally fascinating how few of our friends or strangers care about our hobby, unlike, say photography (since it was brought up). How do they view us? As addicts? OC? Lunatics? Artists?

I suspect they get it. Some of the audio folks i have known were professional photographers as well- Myles and i had a mutual friend -chuck lamonica- who was both a well-known 'food' photographer and a serious set of ears.
I knew a guy when I lived in Pittsburgh as a college student- he collected all sorts of things- crazy hi-fi, vintage ferraris (long before they went through the roof pricewise), china or porcelin, etc.
there's a guy down the street from me who is a 'bird' broker- basically sells super exotic birds to people who have massive private aviaries- so, whether it's fine art, baseball cards or industrial cast-offs, there's somebody who's on top of it as a pursuit. we were sitting at a local sushi bar the other night, the olympics were on, we got to talking with another couple about olympic sports, turns out the guy has a vast collection of pro wrestling memorabila. Go figure. I understood it.

 

[JackD201]

Almost all the other audio enthusiasts I know have other strong interests. I think it follows since we are all people who take enjoyment seriously. I think the most common is photography, even more than HT. In my case audio's strongest competitor is Golf. Its still competition season despite the onset of the rains so I've still been spending more time playing and practicing on the course and on the range than listening to music. There's also the equipment and it's tweaking and adjustments which is its own source of fun.

 

[Mosin]

I believe to get the answer you have to ask yet another question... "Am I really, really, really into music?" If you aren't, you are a clueless equipment addict. However, if you are a true music lover, you are an audiophile.

Audiophiles can never be addicts, now can they?

 

[puroagave]

audiophiles and 'music lovers' can be mutually exclusive, in fact the biggest lovers of music that ive met, if you measure it by the size of their music collections, dont have a decent audio system by audiophile standards. then there are those that collect music as an addiction in itself (used to be me). people on this board by in large, i think, like to play with gear. why beat around the bush, messing with gear is fun - and im guilty as charged.

what you spend on audio gear is in all likelyhood proportional to the disposible income you have and not an indication whether you're a bigger music lover than the next guy.

 

[Mosin]

audiophiles and 'music lovers' can be mutually exclusive, in fact the biggest lovers of music that ive met, if you measure it by the size of their music collections, dont have a decent audio system by audiophile standards. then there are those that collect music as an addiction in itself (used to be me). people on this board by in large, i think, like to play with gear. why beat around the bush, messing with gear is fun - and im guilty as charged.

what you spend on audio gear is in all likelyhood proportional to the disposible income you have and not an indication whether you're a bigger music lover than the next guy.

Maybe Rob, but I actually know guys who never actually sit and listen through a piece of music, yet they have equipment to die for. There are poseurs in our hobby, and I don't have much respect for them. To me, the music trumps everything else.