When I was 10 or so years old, I developed a brief habit of questioning the fiscal value of various things hanging around the house, asking my dad what “this” and “that” is worth. Most of the time I focused those questions on my baseball cards. He always gave me the same simple answer; “whatever someone is willing to pay for them”. That response always angered me because I wanted an absolute value, not something that was completely up in the air. After all, I could use that information to sell them and buy something even cooler – like Lego’s!
While we aren’t talking about petty collectables and cheap toys, I find myself repeating my dads go-to response here. Naturally - I am going to illustrate by example;
A number of years ago I took two friends to a small hi-fi shop around Portland, Maine. While I wasn’t a fully blossomed audiophile at the time, I was into it enough to recognize all of the gear being offered. My friends were normal kids who found it fascinating – but nothing more. I shuffled them into a room with some pricey Logan Prodigy’s that were being powered by Krell electronics.
One of them was very impressed and openly stated that if they had that kind of cash to throw around – they could see why someone would pay so much for a good stereo. While he was enjoying this new experience, my other friend was less than impressed and grew more impatient as the seconds passed - wanting nothing more than to leave the store. I’m sure this experience was not too dissimilar to being dragged into the beauty cosmetics department by your wife/girlfriend/female friends.
This sounds like a digression but it actually leads me back to; it is whatever someone is willing to pay and moreover, how much expendable cash they have in the first place.
Attaining a truly musical system with audiophile attributes can be had on the cheap. I’m talking $1000 cheap. There are plenty of great inexpensive integrated amplifiers on the market, as well as speakers and even sources to select from. There’s never been a better time to be into hi-fi than now… and those just stepping into the hobby should consider themselves blessed.
Now I know what you’re thinking; most of this is vague and hardly touches on your specific questions. Hell, you may even be right. Call it a guilty pleasure to take advantage of an opportunity to sit on a soap box.
But just as a side comment; as the price goes up, so do my expectations. Odds are I am not in the minority with this school of thought. In my experiences thus far, I’ve met more disappointment in stratosphere priced gear, than satisfaction. I am happy to play in mid-fi waters.
