New Music vs. New Equipment

Hi Onhwy; I've asked myself this question many times, and glad to see it brought up here. I can identify with your concern, and also the thoughts of the above posts. I have about 1,000 CDs (est. cost $15K), but I have about $30K in my primary system. I listen 3-5 hours every night and still cannot cycle through all my CDs in any reasonable length of time (months). What happens is that I listen to a dozen or two CDs for several days or weeks before moving on to a new group. Also, I've found that every time I make a significant change in my gear, almost every CD sounds different-- so it's like starting over. Quite frankly, I go in "fits and spurts" between buying music and upgrading my system-- I like doing both. BTW, I do not keep CDs I don't like or those that don't have potential, so to accumulate 1,000., I've probably purchased 1,500. Unlike Redkiwi, I buy CDs in binges-- maybe 30-40 in some months, but them go 2-3 months and only purchase a few, but I do agree with Redk that there is no problem with having your system cost more than your music. It would take me a long time to listen to and enjoy 2500 albums as you have. FWIW, some years ago, JA of Stereophile mag. said he would not hire a reviewer who had more money in his equipment than in his music. That position, IMO, is ridiculous because some systems are LP based, and LPs can be found pretty cheaply in many cases. Put another way (extreme) would you rather have $10K in music and $500 in gear or the other way around? IMO, both are would be way out of balance. I look for a balance that I am comfortable with-- right now, I need to be buying music. Cheer. Craig.

I am lucky in that I live in an area where used CD's are available in the $1 to $8 price range. Most of what I purchase is in the $1 to $3 range and I purchase on an average average, at the least, 20 CD's per month. They come from a local flea market (at our high school) as well as the local thrift shops. I also trade and purchase as a local record store that I traded/purchased vinyl from in the 70's. The selection can be a bit odd, but considering the price, I don't worry about it and am exposed to a great deal of music that I would never find at the record clubs or on Amazon. Music, to me, is the reason for all of this madness in the first place and has always been my first priority. I have also always been interested in non-mainstream music (especially local live talent when I was younger) and this purchasing scheme suits my taste as well as my budget.

I am also lucky to live in an area where I have been able to clean up on LP's others have found outdated. But after realising that I have more than I can reasonably listen to and still have time for my old favorites, I have focused on making sure my equipment is up to the task: a new cartridge, new caps, extra tubes, better cables. It's good to remember that it is not only a question of trying out better components, but being able to maintain those that you like. I do like listening to new music as well as hearing what I already know sound better. I still buy new music when a favorite group releases something on vinyl but I don't worry about keeping up with the latest CD's because I figure that once it is digital, it will be around for a while.

even tho i have only ~1000 albums & ~100 cd's, it's prolly all i'd really *need*, as i have some stuff that hasn't seen daylight for at least a year, if not longer. but, i still go to the record shops every now-n-again, yust cuz it's fun to put something gnu on the platter.

but, i have a 1st-quality tuna & two excellent radio stations, so a lot of listening i do is via the fm format. if yuve never heard a truly hi-quality tuna broadcasting a good stations' signal, ya mite wanna inwest some hardware dollars *there* - then, yure getting *lotsa* free software! ;~)

regards, doug

"Hi-quality tuna broadcasting"? I can smell, er, hear it now. "You're listening to WAHI, the finest fishing spot on your radio dial. Let's cast a line out (sound of reel spinning) for the new one from Sashmi."

"It's all green and kind of mean...WASABI!..." (Insert rimshot)