Law Of Diminishing Returns?

@audioguy85 

That was @magister who said that. I miss his posts a lot. 

I used to own a Porsche and a 1936 Ford (at the same time).  Drove them on nice weekends.  Not daily drivers.

I have no right to criticize what someone spends on audio.  An old Chevette would have been as useful.

My diminishing returns are about there for me.  My audio gear is a joke to most folks here, but that's OK.  I spent my career around a lot of loud, spinning, machinery.  I choose to not spend more than I can hear.

I consider myself a stereo enthusiast vs being an audiophile. The main difference? Budget. I've been in this hobby since the early 70's and have had many different components over the years. I had to sell my prized stereo during a contentious divorce (in the 90's) and never bought to that level again. 

I now find that I like used and carefully researched mid-fi equipment. My personal rule of thumb is never to pay over $1K for any single piece of equipment. Cable prices are based on no more than 10% of the price of the equipment being hooked to them. These are arbitrary numbers based on what I am willing to invest in audio at this point in my life, the quality of my 68 year old hearing and my audio compromised listening space. 

I did manage to buy one Stereophile Class B rated component, for my humble system. 

I hit the law of diminishing returns within every upgrade! +1 @secretguy

Interesting post. Thinking about my own Gear Journey, I’ve only bought two components new- a turntable to go with the used Fisher integrated bought in 1970, and a Hsu subwoofer bought in the mid 2000s. My systems have improved incrementally over time and IMO always punched above their weight in terms of cost. New purchases followed an increase in listening skills, discernment, knowledge of acoustics, and opportunity (finding a pair of JBL 4430s in a pawn shop, for instance).

Am close to the end of my gear journey now, listening to speakers I couldn’t even think about buying new and a lightly-used, great sounding preamp. Total between the two last year was just under $12k. That is magnitudes more than I’ve spent on my stereo at one time … ever. 

Agreed on the 80/20 rule and think the cost-quality curve is exponential. There’s probably better sound out there. But I get stuck listening to music for hours now. I’d rather listen to music than watch TV or movies.