Do You Tell Others How Much You Have Invested in Your System?

Do You Tell Others How Much You Have Invested in Your System?

usually no, as it is not important, to me or to them - but if they are system building, have a constructive need to know i will share it

Quality musical instruments ain't exactly cheap, either.

@7452jf 

i damaged my hearing.  1/4 mile at a time. 

@waytoomuchstuff between a few years in the army working on helicopters and drag racing, I'm surprised I can hear the details I do in music.  My wife says not so much in other situations!  Fun post!

I hear you, @7452jf  , in a previous life I spent many years hammering rivets and trimming jet engines without adequate hearing protection.  The aviation business was very good to me (except not so much for my hearing). 

I've pondered the question of if I should or shouldn't tell the cost. I wouldn't tell a person I'd just recently met. But, with people I know rather well, I will tell , once. I find that's the only way that'll help them understand how important my system and music are to me. The reason I had to think about if I wanted to share is because I didn't want to seem conceited or that I was a money man, a big spender on everything.

A neighbour once asked for advice re buying a hifi. He literally hyper ventilated over all three (perhaps 4) of my then systems he listened to. We went to several stores, I was well known at each of them. He listened very intently. He then choose the cheapest item at each store. The amp sounded bright, thin and tinny. The speakers were worse, the CD player was actually a DVD player although the system was for music only, but is was $50. All the items purchased were old stock, discontinued or damaged. The three together were a disaster. He was convinced it sounded as good as anything else he had heard. To my knowledge he still has it but shows no further interest in playing it or listening to anything else. To most people (99% of the population) saying you spent $500 on a pair of speakers would convince them you are crazy.

I got divorced in 2020.... went on a total audio bender. I replaced everything,  had to start with a clean slate.   That gear reminded me of where I USED to live.   Was it irresponsible? Probably.....but I have few bills, no debt , kids are grown,, so I said screw it.

I enjoy the hell out of this system every night .

 

My 3500 dollar listening chair is what really gets em !😂😂😂😂

Only how much it weighs!

Ronboco, I have been “auditioning” recliners for the past week and am about to pull the trigger on an awesome chair for the man cave .  They ain’t cheap , but I spend so much time in that room the purchase is totally justified 

I don't mind sharing that information, depending on who's asking.

I read once that you're considered an audiophile when your system costs more than your car, so when I bought my recent car (which city a little more than my system) I had to upgrade my system :-)

If anyone comments about it being a "waste of money," I really don't give a damn. It's my passion. 

Not enough yet. 
 

 

I always preface "I didn’t pay retail" when asked, but then I tell them what my system typically retails for.

And close with... "Don’t tell my wife".

Now if my wife asks, I tell her "less then your personal trainer", but only referring to my headphone amp.

I keep it on a spreadsheet so I remember what I paid (and the current list price) in case I didn't get a receipt. and so I know it if I end up selling it or trading it in. I don't keep track of stuff I've gotten rid of and how that "investment" performed. It holds its value better than clothes or furniture, unlike records which sometimes go up, so in my mind it almost justifies it. I don't keep what I paid for the records on a spreadsheet though I have a pretty good idea. All in all, it is WAY less than what people waste on golf, and time more enjoyably spent.

If anyone asks, I will tell them. Usually it's about a specific component or accessory. They rarely do.

I try not to tell even myself what I’ve actually spent.

I just know I’m not eating out for at least another year, and you can dress up instant ramen really nice with a few spices, some scallions and a beaten egg.

I'm a retired accountant. I keep an excel spreadsheet inventory detailing my equipment. It includes manufacturer, model, serial numbers, purchase source, date of purchase and of course costs including: sales tax, S&H, upgrades and modifications. I don't tally a cost for the many hours of time spent repairing and restoring old gear, as that is not work but fun.

What is missing, however, is any estimate of current fair market value. I don't care to estimate or know.  A print out is available to any visitor interested enough to sit down with me and enjoy listening to some music.

When they see it They look  in awe, then they always ask how much?

I tell them and then they always have the same jaw drop expression on their face,

" You're crazy!"  Ah I say, then they listen to it in disbelief in what they're hearing. Shaking they're head. They love what they hear but can't make the connection with the cost and time in the investment.

 

+1 - erik_squires

 

Ha!  

I do not say how much I’ve spent 

Absolutely, but only when asked. I’m not even sure that some of my friends that ask truly believe me. The brands of equipment that many of us have, the average person has NEVER heard of in life. Who really knows, they may think names like Pass Labs, MIT, Esoteric, even Martin Logan are cheap knockoffs!  Lmao!

kymanor 1       I know, " but it's not a panasonic, how come it sounds so good? " LOLOLOL!

joes44:   LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would be pointless to tell a ‘civilian’ what I paid, they’d never understand and I wouldn’t want to explain it.

It is unnecessary to tell an audiophile because they already know, all of the information about your components is readily available online.

Hell no. If my wife found out, she'd kill me!

Most that ask how much you paid for your system aren't really interested in anything but to find some reason to feel that you are stupid and they aren't.

You paid that much for something?, well you are an idiot.  To them.

They have no clue about music, accurate reproduction, what real music sounds like, room dynamics, etc.  They are the "expert" and you aren't.  

So, no, I don't tell people.

Friends that are into music or accurate music reproduction, will ask my help in setting up systems.  But as you know, unless you know what you like first with regards to music and how music should sound to you specifically, you won't know where you budget should be in the first place.  

This is why, to me, the used market and high mid fi to low hi end is the place to start for people.  

But really, I don't advertise my system to people anyway.  it is for me and my enjoyment.  If someone wants to come and listen, that is great.  

most of us started at the mid fi level and got on the upgrade roller coaster because we weren't quite "there" yet.

enjoy

I don’t bring it up to avoid inviting criticism.

I get zero satisfaction from envy.  

Like souping-up Mercedes' AMG's in the past, no.  I would be thrown out or harrangued to death for reveling in such unecessary frivolity (better sound).  Many equiment improvements were called 'warranty exchanges', 'advantageous trades' or 'second-hand place holders.' Some pieces were just replaced without mention since they more or less looked the same to the uninitiated (i.e. same color, or unseen, like all cables).

If someone is sincere and shows interest in the hobby, I will tell them. Generally no though.

I do enjoy recounting how much it weighs though (1300 lbs).

I don’t drink or do drugs and never have…I tell myself that I’ve just put all that money I saved into audio. Yahhhh, that’s the ticket…

I  never tell anyone. Most people would think its too much to spend and they will usually get a bad/weird attitude. However, my wife does remind me how much I've spent. May I remind some that a $20,000 boat is commonly enviable. $35,000 on new kitchen cabinets is "economy". Our popular culture often makes a show of shunning "conspicuous consumption". The real issue is that too few have ever heard a truly excellent set up. They don't know what they don't know. And some (sadly)  wouldn't appreciate the difference if they heard it. Then there's the matter of knowing the varieties of music available. The top 10 hit stations have instilled the illusion that music got locked in a time freeze and stopped being created. Lets all try to share our love of music more and then the world will be a better place. IMO  

I design and build most of my own stuff. A SET amplifier using the best parts such as heavier duty output transformers than the most expensive factory made amplifiers you can buy and polypropylene capacitors in the high voltage power supply rated over twice the voltage they will have to filter and better filtered. My power amplifier, which uses 833A triodes running at1000 Volts can be built for under $2000 for both channels using the best parts. You can buy one for $350,000. Additionally, I saw a tube amplifier on Audiogon selling for $10,000 and it has the only slightly cheaper but inferior electrolytic capacitors which go bad every few years. 

I also do not believe five figures for cables made by companies that use bad physics or well-neigh voodoo such as golden ratio for litz strand size contribute anything to the sound, not that decent cables do not help. The effect of electric fields reflecting off nonconducting floors requiring putting speaker cables on little tripods can only be too far below anything anyone could hear or tell in a double-blind listening test. 

I never bothered to add up what I had spent over the years.

Does anybody remember in the 1970's you could buy what was agreed upon as "the best" such as a Marantz amplifier for $1000 or MacIntosh for $500? Today you can't buy "the best" for under the cost of a large house. In a way this liberates us to accept decent sounding components within what we can afford.

As for wives raising hell over the cost of stereo, I wonder what they spend on clothes and hairdos. Marital disapproval of extravagances goes both ways. For the man who after layaway of $5000 deceived his wife into thinking he had only spent the final $2000, was he defending himself against toxic femininity which can be just as abusive as toxic masculinity? This is why I do not put any faith in any claimed validity of cultural gender roles usurp through uneducated folk wisdom.  

This is funny I think. 

If anyone asks that is not into this hobby, I tell them that this or that is the least expensive or affordable product in their lineup which is true.

I wonder what they spend on clothes and hairdos. Marital disapproval of extravagances goes both ways.

Like the fine housekeeping and exquisite dining you enjoy, and the company and sex and housecleaning and the harmony of child rearing.

The female of the house has every right to demand much more. Honesty is a good start. Blokes are not very good at lying - know one thing - she will find out.

That you may wonder what they spend on themselves, often for reasons of self esteem to make up for what they cannot find at home.is a reason for many divorces.

No-one asks, so no, I don't volunteer.

No.

Not anymore. Got tired of the quizzical looks that begged for justification. 

I equate Audiophile hobbiest with housing landlords. The rent is always to high to tenants. Audio equipment is always too expensive to laymen. It doesn’t matter how much one spends on their hobby if it isn’t audio gear to most people. Watches, cars, boats, art collecting, wine collecting, etc.= no problem, However, mention cost of higher end audio gear and they often say or think that one has wasted their money. I don’t hear that about videophiles and their hobby. Just audio gear.

HA... So many great replies... too many to single out.

 

I will tell interested people where I shop. They can figure it out.

Only my insurance company.

I can purchase a couple of nice sounding cables for under $100. Room, speaker placement, component matching all matter more. Most situations do not involve throwing $10,000 in cables to get a noticeable improvement in sound. If you spend $10,000 on cables you have more $$$$ than you know what to do with. I heard a pair of $50,000  speakers, on $30,000 of Amp, preamp, and it did not sound good. He had large speaker cables about 1/2" diameter, huge interconnects.

1. The room was crummy. A bose wave radio would have put it to shame.

Very true. I have seen $20K+ speakers a foot from a wall in a maybe 10'X15' room with all expensive tube electronics and it sounded like all bass, overwhelming all the instruments. Fed by over a $20K multi-arm turntable. What a waste of $$. Who knows how much the cables cost, but I am sure they aren't cheap. They looked very thin, so maybe silver? Who knows.

I guess if you have a mid 6 figure system, $10K cables are par for the course, and you can hear a difference.

My main system cost about $70,000 with lots of gear (78s TT, DAT, R2R, CD mastering deck, multiple amps and pre-amps). My cables cost about $5,000 (7 power, 7 ICs, digital, speaker cable). My room cost $150,000 custom built for listening. (You can see my list on my profile). If someone just throws money at an audio system, it is highly unlikely to sound good. The equipment must have synergy and be appropriate for the room. It has to be set up correctly. Some basics have to be followed to extract great sound. Good sound can happen with lesser cost systems/simpler equipment such as an integrated amp, or self powered speakers, streamer or CD player. Analog and digital separates require much more thought. Proper placement in the room and on adequate stands for the equipment are essential for the best sound.

Spending $10,000 on cabling indicates someone can afford it but no indication that the buyer knows what to do with them. For a few $100s in cables, (even cheaper Monster 300m original ICs) and a Yamaha CR620 can provide very good sound on the cheap but not great sound. My non-audiophile friends have modest systems even if they are musicians. I’ve set up inexpensive systems for $500 and $1000 using good quality used equipment.

Only if they ask...

and as far as my pride goes, I'm most proud of how LITTLE I have spent on my modest secondary system, and it's what I use to "showcase" to anybody interested how great of sound they can get for not much money.  

as for my "higher end" system, I still pride myself on how great it sounds for the relatively small amount of money I spent on it to get the awesome level of performance it delivers... but I don't share the cost unless somebody asks and really seems interested in "going there."  

Most people would be MORE THAN happy with my modest secondary system; it sounds far better than anything they've ever had in their homes, most likely, if they don't already have a good system of their own, so occasionally I use it as a mentoring start point for those who express interest.

I saw someone saying, "it's a good deal if you think of the cost per note."  My setup is AV, so I justified the cost of a recent upgrade based on how many movies we watch and how much it costs to take a family to the movies.  And it honestly looks and sounds better at home anyway. 

My secondary system cost $5,000.  Legacy Signature IIIs, a highly modified Dynaco Stereo 70 (voltage regulated not ultralinear now), custom subminiature pre-amp, Kyocera 310x (upgraded caps), Grover Huffman Empress cabling and a Synergistic Research Blue power outlet.  Great sound, fills 2,500' LR, DR, BK, Kitchen and FR.  

I will, but only if asked, and always prefaced with, "... you know ... there are people in this hobby who will spend $25,000.00 on one power cord, so ..." Then my costs don't sound too outrageous.

I say I have spent 25 years putting it together and that I bought many things used. My wife says, “It’s irreplaceable” . . . I tell people when pressed, “Do you drink coffee?” They say “yes.” “Do you buy one most days for about $5?” They say, “Yes” and I tell them you spend $1,300 a year on coffee. I don’t drink coffee and buy something every couple of years for the stereo. I also say that I renovated a home for years with my own blood sweat and tears. When I sold it I bought most of my system. People understand at that point.