Audiophile spending


We all say it’s about the music, but when a recent post came up and asked how much do you spend on equipment vs music I did an actual check and found that I spend about 2/3 equipment and 1/3 music. There were some interesting comments in that thread, one said that he would not increase his music spending rate, because he could not find time to listen to more material than he was already buying, but that his equipment rate of spending continued to increase. It’s also interesting that the rate of spending might not correlate to the value of the equipment vs the value of the music since we audiophiles tend to sell off our used equipment as we upgrade, but probably don’t sell off our music (at least I don’t, of course some do—there is used music for sale on Agon) So the questions to this post are:
1. What is the ratio of your spending rate on equipment vs music
2. What is the ratio of the value of your system (retail) vs your music (retail or fair market for collectibles)
3. Is your spending on music limited by the time you have available to listen to music or by budget
There's no need to post dollar amounts (you can if you want--but it's really a matter of what gets spent in relative terms)
abstract7

Showing 1 response by gregm

Hear hear, Garfish & Njonker! Abstract7, great & recurring question. I've met (few) people who listen to equipment rather than the music. There the ratio is overwhelmingly in favour of equip. BUT, this ratio is a tricky thing -- the moment I upgrade, it swings in favour of equip. -- then music swings back up again because I (we all, I guess) go on a S/W spending spree to enjoy more & better sounding music...
A complementary indicator could be, "spending on source equipment vs. that source S/W". My TT set-up used to retail at $~6K, vs. a LP collection of $~15K (1400). CD player cost $ 5K vs. CDs cost $~7K (including the CDs I have purchased & changed).
BTW, as Niels, I also spent 8% of budget on toys + another 8% on live music!!

Regards, Greg.