Thread: How much is enough ?

Curious to know , What’s the most money you spent on single audio product ? What was it and cost ?

I know there's no answer to this but I'd be more interested in the ratio of money spent on system to income bracket. I know for me if it wasn't for good deals I wouldn't have some of my items due to retail being out of reach for my income bracket. Some of my friends will only pay cash. I am willing to use the plastic when necessary, LOL. And, I'm sure "necessary" could be hotly debated.

It's all priorities.

It is all about what you can comfortably afford and where your are in life.

If I was making $500K/yr or more I would have a much nicer system.

Who are you fooling, $500k would be a pay cut for you

Originally Posted by Mechnutt

It is all about what you can comfortably afford and where your are in life.

If I was making $500K/yr or more I would have a much nice system.

D’Agostino Momentum Pre-Amp and Mono Blocks followed by the Wilson Alexias - saved enough to make the deal, but in hind-site still a chunk despite my income.

My Vivid Audio speakers (fronts, center and rears).
At that time, it was a bit too much money for our budget... but we've enjoyed them immensely ever since, now already for almost 7 years.

perhaps, every piece of my system is in excess of "enough" ...

"all worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow;
acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.
knowing this, one should, from the very first, renounce acquisitions and storing-up, and building..."

-milarepa

I think the people who focus on the $ spent on a piece of audio gear tend to have the smallest music collections. ymmv.

Enough is what you can comfortably spend without worrying about it or going into debt. I have had guys borrow from their credit cards and home equity loans to purchase used audio equipment from me. I can't understand that.

Originally Posted by KeithR

I think the people who focus on the $ spent on a piece of audio gear tend to have the smallest music collections. ymmv.

Originally Posted by PMCH

Enough is what you can comfortably spend without worrying about it or going into debt. I have had guys borrow from their credit cards and home equity loans to purchase used audio equipment from me. I can't understand that.

Totally agree , I promised myself I will never touch my credit card nor line of credit to purchase any audio stuff. Being said that , lately all these gear price is getting out of control. $100k cable . $ 250K Speakers....etc

I spent about $35K on my living room and called it quits.








I spent about $20K on my office and called it quits as well.

NT

I agree. I recently read a "best of show" review. $80K in cabling. Madness....

Beautiful setup blueoak. I absolutely love it.

Blueoak, that is a gorgeous system.


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It’s easy to go crazy and spend a lot of hard earned money in this hobby of ours. However, one can put together a very great sounding musical system for a reasonable amount of money. Tons of examples at Axpona and RMAF recently.

At the end of the day, it’s all about personal choice and financial means. Some people are into cars or boats or....Most of us here enjoy great music via nice stereo systems.

So you guys are saying I should have more than my 10 albums to listen to??

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

So you guys are saying I should have more than my 10 albums to listen to??

It’s ok to push the boundaries a little, how about 50 albums?

Turn it up to 11...


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Originally Posted by Paul

Totally agree , I promised myself I will never touch my credit card nor line of credit to purchase any audio stuff. Being said that , lately all these gear price is getting out of control. $100k cable . $ 250K Speakers....etc

How true about the price of gear. Most people on this forum have 10's of thousands of dollars worth if gear. However, now is a great time for audio. There is a lot of really inexpensive gear that can give you good and enjoyable sound although not to the standards of this forum. You can put together an enjoyable system with sub $1k amps, DAC's and speakers. Just look at the products from Schiit, PSA Sprout, Elac, IFI, Emotiva, Wharfdale and many other brands.

I have a system which consists of a Dayton Audio DTA100a tripath amp, Emotiva Big Ego DAC used with an AQ Jitterbug and Monitor Audio S1 speakers. It brings a smile to my face every time I listen to it. It has very good air and transparency with good dynamics. It is not the last word in detail or resolution but it is smooth and musical. Cables by Blue Jeans.

I've been toying with the concept that the optimal amount (in total) spent on an audio system is equal to the total amount spent on the owner/listener's primary automobile. So most people will need to spend more than $20k and less than $60k on the audio rig. Exceptions will exist at the extremes.

I believe this amount adequately and realistically balances affordability with the relatively high priority that a music enthusiast should place on owning a stereo that has maximum sound quality.

I am assuming (a) the owner will use the system on most days when he has leisure, and (b) the owner does not own a boat or a sports car (if budget matters are any constraint at all). I assume (a) because audio is kind of an indoor sport for cerebral, introverted folks. If you don't listen to your stereo in the summer time, then deduct that proportion of the year from the optimal percentage of the audio rig cost relative to the automobile cost. I assume (b) since we have make hard choices with regard to discretionary spending. Most of us cannot have everything, nor do we have time for all of the leisure pursuits that have appeal for us.

Originally Posted by BayStBroker

I've been toying with the concept that the optimal amount (in total) spent on an audio system is equal to the total amount spent on the owner/listener's primary automobile. So most people will need to spend more than $20k and less than $60k on the audio rig. Exceptions will exist at the extremes.

Maybe, but not for me. I still drive my 2005 Mazda3 that I paid an even $20K cash for in October 2004. Not spending money on a new car gives me more to spend on the stereo.

As an engineer, I look at the facts/data, and base my decisions on that. So, I am almost 69, and my father went a few years ago at 86. I figure, baring any medical breakthroughs, I am in my last 20 years. Since I am still working, I have a lot of discretionary income, and spend some of it on audio. At least for as long as my ears hold out. At some point, I need to retire, and then will divide my savings by years left to live, and get an idea as to what extra I can spend on non-essential items, like stereo gear. If in 10 years my ears are still good then maybe the TOL Magico will be a good purchase.

Originally Posted by BlueFox

Maybe, but not for me. I still drive my 2005 Mazda3 that I paid an even $20K cash for in October 2004. Not spending money on a new car gives me more to spend on the stereo.

It doesn't work for me either. I paid $10K (with trade in) for my 2016 Nissan Versa which is the most fun to drive I've had so far. It's an anti status symbol if you will; being extremely comfortable in my own skin I don't have to "prove myself to the world", and the car is environmentally friendly. My system costs more than six times that. I love my choices.

I went from a top Audi to a (top) Skoda, thus saving tens of thousands of euros.
This gives me more money to spend on audio.
I'm one of those who can't have it all.
Fortunately, because longing for something is also fun.

For me, how much is enough is when I say it's enough. That declaration has nothing to do with what anyone else is doing. No one else's spending habits effect me in the slightest.

What's funny is "enough" seems to be a moving target. Each year I tell myself this year I won't spend more money on audio equipment because i am happy with the gear I own. I said it last year and and didn't stick to it. I said it again this year, no more spending. Guess what, I've already shelled out another $10K since January 2018, and that's on a system I'm trying to downsize. Obviously I haven't reached "enough" yet.

Maybe next year.

Originally Posted by jdandy

For me, how much is enough is when I say it's enough. That declaration has nothing to do with what anyone else is doing. No one else's spending habits effect me in the slightest.

My upgrades have been influenced by what I heard in my audio friends' systems, which showed me what is possible in audio. But I always thought on my own terms about the amount of money that I would want to spend.

I agree that enough is enough when l say it's enough. At this point I have such high performance and value price ratio that I really don't know how to efficiently upgrade from here. I probably have one of the best monitors you can buy (for system, see signature), extremely resolving and musical digital source and amp that provide a first class signal to the speakers, probably some of the best subs you can buy for a medium sized room like mine, and some of the best cables for a still reasonable price (I am not willing to spend 5 x more for a 10 % increase in performance).

Sure, the monitor/subwoofer concept itself is a compromise. But so is every system concept that I have heard. And the positives of my current system are much greater than I had hoped for (I am thrilled, frankly!), while the disadvantages are much less than I had anticipated.

So is it enough? At this point I'd say yes, for the reasons cited. Might I suprise myself in the future? Sure. But until my current system, I had a clear and reasonable upgrade path. Not anymore.

Sure, there are better DACs, but this DAC is so incredibly good that I would have to think in terms of 20 x its price for a potentially really substantial upgrade (except for the current version 2 upgrade for this DAC itself). Would I want to spend that money on a top level DAC, an item that in terms of price/performance ratio usually becomes obsolete quite quickly? Not really.

Originally Posted by jdandy

For me, how much is enough is when I say it's enough. That declaration has nothing to do with what anyone else is doing. No one else's spending habits effect me in the slightest..

Pretty much agree. I've never been a "keep up with the Joneses" type of person" to appease some ego. I always look around for additions or changes that my old ears can distinguish like a new DAC and a pair of JBL L-100's but recently a new priority occurred. My daughter gave me my first grandson. So at 2 1/2 months old, I've already set the little guy up with the Gerber insurance policy that can be turned around for assistance for college use, so enough is enough as of right now, I'm going to spoil this little guy for a while, so when this little guy my new little fishing buddy grows into music as I've got a couple of old Martins that I would like for him to grow into, and maybe he will enjoy audio and get some hand me downs from Grandpa. He is already a Dave Matthews and Tom Petty fan as is my daughter, so who knows what this little guy will become.

Chris.......Very cool. Looks like Grandpa is going to spoil the heck out of this little man. He is most fortunate to have you in his life.