for the short time I have been on here, I see that members will start a thread asking about a certain piece of equipment or speakers.. they will then buy that piece of equipment / speakers, start a thread about it saying how good it is and then next thing you know, they are starting another thread asking about another piece of gear as they are looking for something different. what happened to that piece of gear that was so great ? i get the whole buying thing....but where are members getting the money to do all of this stuff ? do they not have other bills such as rent / mortgage payment, car payment, other bills to pay for also ?
I learn the most about audio from posts where people are figuring out how to get good sound on a budget. They are ingenious and thrifty and find ways to make things.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and good sound can be had with a little sweat. Everyone else is making up for their personal inadequacies.
I have zero car payments. Home is paid for, 1 kid graduating college this year then he is off to Norte Dame to earn his PHD and he is working there teaching also (only suckers pay for grad school), 2 more in college and they both work so they are off my payroll. I work part time as a SICARRIO for the Sinaloa Cartel and business is good.
Oh, and OP, ignore anything MC says not related to audio. He gets paid by the snarkiness factor of his posts, so its in his economic interests to be as abrasive as possible without contributing much.
When she gets overwhelmed by my constant buying and selling of audio, my wife says that being a teacher (like me) is not conducive to being in hi-end audio. And no, I can never and would never drop five figures on a piece of equipment, but I do spend more on audio than I should.
However, it's really the only hobby I have that costs money. And I occasionally take too much advantage of credit.
A few years ago I was at another audiophile's house for a listening session. His CD player cost more than my entire system at the time. And like you, I was incredulous but not jealous or judgmental. In these conversations, my wife often points out that none of our friends have any high end audio equipment - to which my rejoinder is that very few people care enough to do so.
There are a few noisy intolerant mental cases here these days as one quickly finds out. Also a lot of very fine people.
Many have been at this for a long time ie a lot of old geezers like myself near or at retirement. Things get old and you sell them or just change to try something new. Or keep multiple systems around just for kicks. It’s a hobby. Love of music and a career interest in technology keeps me at it. I look forward every day to hearing something new and different. Or the same old thing done well or even better if possible.
I sell my body. Yep, I’m a streetwalker. Not worth much at my age anymore, but hey, at ten bucks a throw, I can have that new cartridge in no time flat.
Frank
PS: I pay cash for my audio adventures. I put nothing on a credit card. Plus, I never pay retail for hardly anything audio-related. After working in the industry, I know what the markup is for most of the equipment we buy. Dealers are willing to "deal" almost always. If they don’t, then I go elsewhere. In addition, once one has good equipment, using the proper tweaks, there’s really no need to continue upgrading equipment.
Well when I use to look in the mirror and see this trim fit, unbroke fella most everything worked. Now I put on my trifocals to see if I have TITS. Talk about WTF.. LOL
Wheelchair race anyone.. :-)
OP don't get so upset with MC, just read every other line.. It helps a lot of folks.. Bigger :-)
i drive around my neighborhood late at night 5 nights a week. steal catalytic converters off of parked cars - every month i can buy a new set of audio note silver interconnects
"Retire first then go to work AFTER I’m all wore out.. 49 years of retirement, and what ever is left for work.."
A friend of mine said exactly that to his mother while he was in high school, except that he put it at 50 and not 49. He added "What is the point of suffering when I have energy to enjoy and having time to enjoy when I have less and less energy for that?"
Mother looked at him with sad face and said "Where did I go wrong?"
The gist of your question does appear to have an particular spin—namely a sense of incredulity about how folks spend their money and where they get it from. Someone will always have more money than you just as you have more than others. In a way, you've answered your own question about getting the whole buying thing.
WFT......all I did was ask a simple question as this is not a cheap hobby....and I wasnt being all " nosy " as you put it. I didnt ask you where you got the money for your system did I ? dont believe I did.
next time I will make sure that I ask for your permission on what I should ask on these forums....
what an ass.
Of course you didn't. Instead, he told you a lot of stuff about his personal economic situation (which may or may not be true, and which neither you nor I nor anyone else cares about), then blamed you for asking.
You're getting the hang of this place. Admin had someone start a thread to see what crawled out from under the rocks and it went something like this thread. Maybe they'll have a solution.
Not that it’s any of your business. Where do you get the time to ask nosy questions? What even makes you feel entitled to ask? Don’t answer. Rather not know. Wouldn’t do any good anyway.
WFT......all I did was ask a simple question as this is not a cheap hobby....and I wasnt being all " nosy " as you put it. I didnt ask you where you got the money for your system did I ? dont believe I did.
next time I will make sure that I ask for your permission on what I should ask on these forums....
No I don’t everything is paid for. PAYMENTS? Heck kiddo that's what's wrong. The only reason I have bills is so I have something to do.. Besides anything else I want to do.. I love being retired.
I should had done it the other way around though.. Retire first then go to work AFTER I’m all wore out.. 49 years of retirement, and what ever is left for work.. Makes sense to me, NOW...
For the long time I have been on here I see that some members will start a thread that goes haywire at warp speed: Start with a headline that sounds like one subject, like members and their systems. Then switch to a completely different subject, like people who flip components. Then raise a point that could be useful, like how to prioritize your purchases. But switch it up again to something completely unrelated and frankly no one’s business, like where do you get the money? Finally, this not being good enough, the true haywire post bait and switches completely to what no one can ever answer, which is how "members" do it. Because "members" is imaginary, an aggregate, it makes no sense. Any answer will do. We rob trains. If some "members" do then the answer is correct. We deal drugs. We rob everyone left and right. We work in banking.
But I repeat myself.
I was in Leavenworth one time and the Ferrari club was there on a tour. Friendly folk, real enthusiasts and happy to talk about their cars. One of them made a point of letting me know virtually all of them were just normal people making normal money. Plenty of examples.
So I have a hunch it is just normal people, only with maybe a different set of priorities. I pack my own lunch, hardly ever eat out, haven’t had a cell phone or the monthly bill that goes with it - ever. No Starbucks habit. Worked weekend doubles, OT, took call, paid off my 15 year mortgage in 8 years.
Not that it’s any of your business. Where do you get the time to ask nosy questions? What even makes you feel entitled to ask? Don’t answer. Rather not know. Wouldn’t do any good anyway.
Now then, is there anything you would like to know about members and their systems?
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