[Marzie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sordel /img/forum/go_quote.gif One of the rules by which I live my life is that "you never regret what you buy; you only regret what you didn't buy". It's not always true, but it's true so often that it's worth bearing in mind.

I like that quote (that's two new quotes I've liked today.)

I would say over my lifetime $(music) > $(gear), heck I had my last receiver for 8 years and I still have the speakers I bought at the same time. But lately gear has been catching up (thank you, Head-Fi.) From the peak of my CD buying between ages 14-17, I have spent less on CDs every year since, up till this year. Nothing like having your entire (well, all the good ones anyway) CD collection stolen TWICE to help you find other interests for awhile.

 

[choomanchoo]

Well, normally I'd vote gear, but as of lately, I've been buying Cd's like a madman,

 

[vcoheda]

it's a balance.

what's the point of having lots of CDs but a crappy system to play them on, and vice versa.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Everyone who answered "gear" needs to seek help immediately.

Unless of course you already have more music than you could possbily ever listen to in a lifetime, yet your music collection still continues to grow more quickly than you can keep up with currently (even forgetting all of the music that you couldn't keep up with from previous years) and you can afford and so desire to spend money on gear that brings infinitely more satisfaction to your ears than some sh!t system that someone else who seems to know everything thinks you ought to be listening to.

 

[jsaliga]

And then there's the folks who blow wads of cash on a high-end system just to play a bunch of lo-fi garage rock recordings. I suppose they want their music to sound sh!tty in the "right" way.

People will have different priorities. I've been building my music collection over many years, but all told I probably have close to $40K or so invested in content. I've been spending a lot on equipment this year because my entire system is being updated, and when my new speakers arrive later this month to cap things off I will have spent about $14K this year on gear.

That being said, I never felt the stuff I replaced was bad and by no means was any of it a high-end...or should I say high dollar set up. So it isn't like all these years I was suffering miserably through really lousy playback fidelity. Over time I have owned some very affordable systems that sounded terrific. This isn't the 1980s, and you can do a helluva lot with a few thousand dollars today that simply was not possible 25 years ago.

What repeatedly astonishes me on these forums is the large number of people who throw big money at equipment and don't seem to have much in the way of a plan. They aren't even able to articulate what it is about their existing setup that they think is deficient and needs improvement. I see more people on Head-Fi, moreso than anywhere else, that seem quick to judge the performance of equipment entirely on its price tag. It's their money to spend as they choose, obviously, and I sure don't have a personal stake in their choices. But it strikes me as strange nonetheless.

My priority has been on building my music library over the course of decades. Buying music is a both a habit and a hobby. I shop for music two or three times a week and place orders once or twice per month. I don't shop for gear anywhere near that frequently (thank God!). I might check out equipment reviews from time to time but I only shop when I want to make a specific improvement in my system or need to replace a component that has outlived its usefulness. I never obsess over it. When my speakers arrive I doubt I will seriously look at new gear for the next several years.

--Jerome

 

[Kang]

For 20 years, I spent 10x more on music than gear. Now, with a new amp on order, it's reversed. Then, music will dominate again.

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Unless of course you already have more music than you could possbily ever listen to in a lifetime

I used to think that. But I find that one type of music opens my interest in another type. So the lifetime's worth of music I currently own doesn't have the particular thing I'm interested in today. You can never have too much music.

See ya
Steve

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Focusing on equipment is a dead end. Focusing on music is a neverending source of satisfaction. See ya Steve

Speak for yourself.

I have continued to upgrade both my system and music collection for around 30 years. Listening to the records I have owned over 30 years on my present system is better than it was when I first got it. No doubt it will sound even better ten years from now.

 

[Sarchi]

I seem to alternate.....I'll go nuts buying and selling gear for a few months, and spend nothing on music. Then in another year I'll leave my gear unchanged and spend $1K on music.

 

[jsaliga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins /img/forum/go_quote.gif Listening to the records I have owned over 30 years on my present system is better than it was when I first got it.

So you can remember note for note what something sounded like 30 years ago? Jeebus, your memory is a helluva lot better than mine.

--Jerome

 

[Faust2D]

I am with you. Once you get a good system, blowing thousands of $ on esoteric gear to listen a handful of "reference" CDs seems nonsensical to me, but some folks care more about how music sounds and not about the actual music. On the other hand if you have a huge collection and a boombox, it's nonsensical as well, but I am yet to see this. I encounter the first scenario very frequently and rarely see people with huge music collections and really crappy gear.

 

[bigshot]

I remember going to visit an audiophile and the only thing he had to demonstrate his equipment was Mannheim Steamroller. OUCH!

See ya
Steve

 

[granodemostasa]

I wanna say music, because i spend $ more often on music... but then i drop like 250 on an ipod.... and realize that's more than i've spent on music the whole year (i cheat way too much by downloading).

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif I used to think that. But I find that one type of music opens my interest in another type. So the lifetime's worth of music I currently own doesn't have the particular thing I'm interested in today. You can never have too much music. See ya Steve

Oh, I definitely agree. No doubt about it. I don't have any limitations on my music budget. If there is something that I want, I get it. Quite simple. As you say, there are always new windows opening up. As you discover one thing, you're naturally led into something else. That's where the fun is, really. But because of this, I can't ever seem to keep up with my collection. In other words, I can't listen as fast as I collect and I don't even consciously try to collect music. I'd imagine it's much worse for those who do.

As far as my comments go, I was simply reacting to the gross oversimplification made by Aman (to the effect that) anyone who has spent more money on gear than on music needs to have his head examined. My point was that no matter how voracious your appetite for new music might be (unless you collect just to collect and not to listen), there is only so much you have time to listen to. Once a collection gets beyond say 5,000 to 10,000 albulms, how much more music can you possibly listen to? If you still want to collect more (as we all do) then start trimming back your collection by weeding out the stuff that a) you've never listened to and b) you never will listen to, realistically speaking.

So even at 10,000 albulms, you still only have $100k invested in music. Unless you want to become a satellite Library of Congress, you don't need to invest more $ than that in music. Yet, if you have the funds available and are so inclined, you can easily spend more than $100k in gear and still not have reached a saturation point (even assuming that you get good deals in the used market and even assuming that we're talking about a single 2 channel system and not wasting a bunch of money on cables). I know that others may, and I'm sure will, disagree.

 

[fuzydice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... no matter how voracious your appetite for new music might be (unless you collect just to collect and not to listen), there is only so much you have time to listen to.

Make more time for listening

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Once a collection gets beyond say 5,000 to 10,000 albulms, how much more music can you possibly listen to?

A lot more, believe it or not

Plus it's sort of nice to be able to walk through your music collection much like you would walk through the aisles of a record store, except instead of saying "Hmmm I can't afford to buy all of these Lee Morgan CD's" you realize they're already yours