Is a "Headphone Collection" stupid?

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock\ Please... women are the biggest collector's of worthless items.

Thanks for generalizing. Can I say that ALL men are shallow and self-absorbed? Well now that wouldn't be fair of me would it? So what is it that makes you feel you have the right to judge?

You want the woman to look like she came off the catwalk, but you don't want her to have to PAY for that look. Beauty costs.

But what do I know, I'm just one of the biggest collectors of worthless items...

Earshoes, that's a good one though.

As for the OP, it doesn't sound like the best or most respectful friend, but at least she needs her mouth and hearing checked.

 

[lmilhan]

If it exists, people collect it.

A headphone collection isn't any more or less "stupid" than any other collection that exists, be it knives, flashlights, beanie babies, postage stamps, coins, MP3s, DVDs, shoes, purses, belly button lint, plaster casts of famous people's genitals, etc.

I am sure that your friend has a collection of something. Sorry to generalize, but since we are talking about a woman, she more than likely has a collection of shoes or purses. I would say to find out what type of collection she has, and ask her to explain to you why your headphone collection is stupid, and her shoe collection (or whatever collection it may be) isn't.

 

[Roger.McMurphy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonethugz actually i think this hobby is stupid and i know i'm stupid and do a lot of stupid things

Of course it is stupid. I don't have 4 set of TVs in my living room, just because they make things look different. One CRT for cable TV, one Plasma HDTV for the movies, once LCD TV for the computer, one projection TV for the kids, because I don't like it when they touch my precious plasma TV. One is all I will ever need. Same thing goes with cars. Or with clothes (I won't say one pair of boxers is all you will ever need though

)

See how stupid headphones are?

Collections are a waste of time, and they usually make up for a lack of something else. If you own 10+ pair of headphones, you really have some time to waste, and you certainly do not live your life to its fullest. You must have a problem with yourself, because you shouldn't waste your time like that my friend. And chances are you know what your own problem is. Grab your life by the balls! Squeeze them tightly, extract the rejuvanating fluids and enjoy!

Numerous hobbies are stupid to a certain extent. Nothing beats beauty though.

 

[F107plus5]

Yeah! Let's go for it!!

Let's run right up front or even up on stage and see what those rock groups are all about!

Then let's run over to the concert hall but sit farther back where we can get the full effect of all those instruments!!

Yeah! Don't want to miss a thing!

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong Thanks for generalizing. Can I say that ALL men are shallow and self-absorbed?

Sure you can. And you'd be right, too. You could also say ALL women are too. And you can also say men are also collectors of worthless items.


Now, having summarily offended the entire human race, I can now go to bed (what, still only 5.48am? Still early!), content in the knowledge I have made the world a better place.

 

[MCC]

Total money spent on audio: ~$800, including my DAP. I also don't yet see the logic behind collecting so many headphones, but to each his own.

 

[ThirtySixBelow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger.McMurphy Of course it is stupid. I don't have 4 set of TVs in my living room, just because they make things look different. One CRT for cable TV, one Plasma HDTV for the movies, once LCD TV for the computer, one projection TV for the kids, because I don't like it when they touch my precious plasma TV. One is all I will ever need. Same thing goes with cars. Or with clothes (I won't say one pair of boxers is all you will ever need though ) See how stupid headphones are? Collections are a waste of time, and they usually make up for a lack of something else. If you own 10+ pair of headphones, you really have some time to waste, and you certainly do not live your life to its fullest. You must have a problem with yourself, because you shouldn't waste your time like that my friend. And chances are you know what your own problem is. Grab your life by the balls! Squeeze them tightly, extract the rejuvanating fluids and enjoy! Numerous hobbies are stupid to a certain extent. Nothing beats beauty though.

I'm not really seeing how doing something you really enjoy and enjoying life because of it is a waste of your life. How better to spend life than doing the things you enjoy? Just because all you can think of comparing it to is TVs and don't understand doesn't make it wrong or stupid.

 

[vapman]

Personally, I don't see the point of having a headphone collection unless for some reason you really want/need to have lots of different sounds to listen to music with. I'd rather have a pair of beater headphones, a pair with good isolation so I can listen outside/in an airplane, and a really nice pair for home listening.

 

[ClieOS]

1 Etymotic, 1 Shure, 1 B&O, 1 Logitech, 4 Sennheiser, 6~8 Panasonic, 2 or 3 Sony, >2 random brands....and still considering another one next week, who say you got a collection?

I even got 8 headphone amps, Ok, just call me crazy.

Do i have too much time? Maybe i do, that is why i am doing a master degree on one of the top 100 university...or maybe i dont collect headphones, just a man who truely enjoy his music. It is like those who build sport car, "the best one is the next one."

 

[Land]

It's a hell of a lot less stupid than collecting stamps (I apologize to the stamp collectors on head-fi

)
It's a hell of a lot cheaper than collecting cars

Maybe collecting headphones is stupid, but if you enjoy it..........why not ?

as to the questions: I own 2 headphones and I spent arround 5k in audio gear, but that includes instruments so it's not that much then.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong Thanks for generalizing. Can I say that ALL men are shallow and self-absorbed? Well now that wouldn't be fair of me would it? So what is it that makes you feel you have the right to judge? You want the woman to look like she came off the catwalk, but you don't want her to have to PAY for that look. Beauty costs.

Unless I'm taking this the wrong way, it looks like you're highly contradicting yourself right here.

I also doubt he intended to generalize.

Additionally, I don't know one woman that doesn't wear jewelery of some kind. I go to a college of over 40,000 students, and I have never met one girl that didn't have on some sort of earing(s), or necklace, bracelet, ring, bag, et cetera. I would argue that jewelery and other female beautification is something that just about every woman in the civilized world has invested in, in some way, shape or form (other than those very few radicals who know better and conciously never touch the stuff

).

A headphone collection is just as stupid as a jewelery collection, and I think both are equally stupid. Think about it - the only reason why you have more than one of anything is because you like them both but prefer one or the other on different days. Just like how people do not carry two or more handbags from their collection, you cannot wear more than one headphone at a time from your headphone collection. If you have separate headphones for portability, others for studio work, and then others for dedicated listening, this is fine. Just like it is fine to have different bags that serve different functions.

But really, it is unrealistic to have more than one of an object that serves the exact same purpose as another that you own. This extends all the way to the fact that many people on this board have more than one SYSTEM! I'm not talking one reference system and then a bed-side system - some people have two different listening rigs in different rooms of the house. This doesn't make sense to me. Why not achieve the sound you want through one system and not waste any more money on another setup? It just boggles my mind. This can't be the way that society works today... If people cannot make up their minds about something, they just get both?

 

[Thai Fighter]

Collecting headphones might be like collecting souvenirs/mementos. When you put on an old pair of headphones certain memories start to come to you, memories from the time when you used them...

 

[lmilhan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman But really, it is unrealistic to have more than one of an object that serves the exact same purpose as another that you own.

I dread to think of what your 1 pair of underpants looks like.

I would also hate to imagine being restricted to owning only 1 of the following:

Shoe.
Video Game.
Television.
Pants.
Toothbrush.
Sock.
Tie.
Music CD.
DVD Movie.
Chopstick.
Contact Lens.
Shirt.
Pillow.
Bedsheet.
AAA Battery.
AA Battery.
Almost all sizes of batteries for that matter.
Computer.
Favorite Website.
Pet.
Meal Per Day.
Book.
Speaker.
Car Tire.
Guitar String.
Salad Dressing.
Condiment.
etc.

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock\ Please... women are the biggest collector's of worthless items. Think about this, Say you buy a $300 pair of cans. Two years later, you decide to sell said cans, and upgrade. You should be able to get $150-175 for those, to put towards the next set. Your friend goes and spends $300 for a Coach purse. 2 years later, she doesn't like it anymore, so she decides to sell it. She might be able to get $10 for it. Women wouldn't buy a used bag, and because that thing is probably out of style 2 years later. YOu tell me, which collection is more worthless?

Hehe, that's quite true. Women have to change handbags every season (ie 4 times a year), especially those who shell out $2-3k for the most head-turning Dior and Chanel ones. A few months later, you simply can't be seen with the same handbag because it is already considered "yesterday's thing". Those have little to no resale value because it's simply "unstylish". Same with shoes, clothes, hats, wallets and other items considered to be "fashionable". (Of course, you could buy one of those LV handbags which carry their timeless monogram design. The Japanese are particularly keen on them

)

High-end headphone-fi isn't as affected by tremendous depreciation. You can spend $4k on a HE90 and it'll still fetch $4k, if not more in a years time. However, mid to low-end headphone-fi definitely is. You could also spend $350 on a brand new HD650 and you'd probably get $250 in two years time! Plus, headphone-fi is the only hi-fi hobby that even vaguely holds its value over time. Look at the speaker-fi and the 'Gon for example. Second hand speaker-fi is not worth a lot money (I'd say about 30-50% the original value) so one could argue that speaker-fi is just about as much of a waste of money as buying handbags is. Every time you sell a component on the 'Gon, you lose a lot of money.

Now the only money-preserving "hobbies" are collecting vintage motors, violins, art, diamonds/jewels, etc... You don't lose any money as long as you keep the items in good condition.

To some extent, those of us who claim that buying/collecting headphones is better than buying haute-couture fashion are hypocrites. Just examine the facts... That said, those who are crazy headphone collectors/buyers will probably never spend as much money as those who are crazy about fashion (with a few exceptions; you know who you are!). In which case, we win!

 

[reivaj]

If I said I have the biggest collection of belly button lint would you guys beat me down?