[IEMusic]

Often times, certain aspects of life and certain hobbies/interests can change one’s perspective on other topics, sometimes seemingly completely unrelated. What are some of your wise insights and perspectives that you’ve discovered? Of course, no explosive topics like politics or religion please.

One of my not-so-profound perspectives is this:
I understand that the hobby of personal audio, specifically IEMs for me, is not essential, and that one can easily fall down a deep dark hole of debt, if not careful. However, at the same time, it’s also not one of the really expensive hobbies. This hobby has actually made me have a deeper appreciation for simple, yet durable and reliable automobiles. Sure, we all like the flashy luxury vehicles, but what’s the financial scale of a mid-level $80,000 BMW vs a very luxurious $3,000 TOTL IEM. Plus, all cars break down and need repairs. Would you prefer a new $1,000 IEM, or a replaced front suspension, or new set of tires? It’s kind of made me realize how much more extra money, as well as savings, can be had with a much simpler car, that is extremely reliable, even if boring. It is a matter of priorities and personal interests, of course, but I do think it’s interesting how so many people can think it unfathomable to spend $1,500 on a new IEM, but don‘t give a second thought to leasing a new luxury vehicle every 2-3 years.

I also find that sometimes, enjoying certain non-essential hobbies can make me very grateful when essential things are going well, such as home repairs, health, etc. After saving up for several months for a new IEM, it’s so nice to not need a root canal instead.

 

[baskingshark]

Often times, certain aspects of life and certain hobbies/interests can change one’s perspective on other topics, sometimes seemingly completely unrelated. What are some of your wise insights and perspectives that you’ve discovered? Of course, no explosive topics like politics or religion please.

One of my not-so-profound perspectives is this:
I understand that the hobby of personal audio, specifically IEMs for me, is not essential, and that one can easily fall down a deep dark hole of debt, if not careful. However, at the same time, it’s also not one of the really expensive hobbies. This hobby has actually made me have a deeper appreciation for simple, yet durable and reliable automobiles. Sure, we all like the flashy luxury vehicles, but what’s the financial scale of a mid-level $80,000 BMW vs a very luxurious $3,000 TOTL IEM. Plus, all cars break down and need repairs. Would you prefer a new $1,000 IEM, or a replaced front suspension, or new set of tires? It’s kind of made me realize how much more extra money, as well as savings, can be had with a much simpler car, that is extremely reliable, even if boring. It is a matter of priorities and personal interests, of course, but I do think it’s interesting how so many people can think it unfathomable to spend $1,500 on a new IEM, but don‘t give a second thought to leasing a new luxury vehicle every 2-3 years.

I also find that sometimes, enjoying certain non-essential hobbies can make me very grateful when essential things are going well, such as home repairs, health, etc. After saving up for several months for a new IEM, it’s so nice to not need a root canal instead.

I've discovered that we are actually very fortunate to still be able to participate in this hobby, when in some places there are folks without jobs, food and health (especially in the current coronavirus climate). So when I see some folks in the threads decrying a few weeks of delay of their purchases (due to logisitical and flight delays from covid), I think that's a small issue in the big scheme of things. At least we still have the health and wealth to still have an audio hobby.

But yeah u are right, the audio hobby isn't as big a moneysink as automobiles, watches and other higher ends stuff. And especially so in the last 2 - 3 years when CHIFI IEMs flooded the market to give us superb price to performance ratio, so we won't need to sell a kidney to fund this hobby. Or be addicted to other less wholesome stuff like smoking, drugs or alcohol etc.

 

[Spareribs]

Well you are correct in ways. IMO, buying an expensive luxury car is unnecessary especially if it’s beyond your income.

But there are many people who do end up driving a fancy car anyway. Personally I prefer taking a subway if available and I like people watching especially weird people.

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

I recently saw a youtube video of a person who owns a number of expensive watches and also apparently just bought a freaking Ferrari either this year or last so even in this situation this guy is well off.

 

[Spareribs]

Yeah, the audiophile hobby is actually not that expensive compared to other hobbies.

Even if you look at a vinyl rig. For $5000 or less, you can get an outstanding highly respectable audiophile turntable, cartridge and phono preamp.

Cheap-compared to other luxury hobbies.

 

[IEMusic]

Yeah, the audiophile hobby is actually not that expensive compared to other hobbies.

Even if you look at a vinyl rig. For $5000 or less, you can get an outstanding highly respectable audiophile turntable, cartridge and phono preamp.

Cheap-compared to other luxury hobbies.

I think personal audio has more of a ceiling, and enjoying good audio equipment doesn’t have to be too expensive, if careful, especially with the great options that exist nowadays.

High-end home audio, however, can approach the upper echelon of luxury goods though, with several pairs of speakers costing upwards of $1-200,000 each, turntables costing $80,000, and cartridges costing $40,000. Of course one doesn’t have to spend a small fraction of that for an awesome home audio setup.

 

[Midcentric]

If I didn't learn anything from this hobby, I learned that incremental returns principle is all in things.