[Scott F.]

My wife told me I spent 7500$ this year on "stereo stuff".

Quicken sucks doesn't it? I get reminded of this all the time.


You don't even want to know what I've got invested in gear. 

[lonewolfny42]

You don't even want to know what I've got invested in gear.

Scott....Just consider it as an entertainment expense.....

[Soundbitten]

I've spent about $650 this year ... but the year ain't over with yet .   aa

[Scott F.]

You don't even want to know what I've got invested in gear.

Scott....Just consider it as an entertainment expense.....

Believe me I do.

When my lovely wife says something about my 'habit', I remind her that she knows exactly where I'm at. I'll you have to do is open your ears. I'm not out bar hopping with 'the guys' or at the golf course (normally). Lord knows a country club membership, greens fees, guest fees, special assessments and all that other nonsense associated with a country club can add up to some serious coinage. Audio is by far, less expensive than many hobby's.

I know a couple of serious fishermen (one is my cousin). They do the tournament circuit about every other weekend, year round. They've got loads more invested in boats, trucks to tow the boats, campers, fishing gear, lake maps, depth finders, fishing rods, lours, food, gas, and lodging and fees than I'll ever have in audio gear.

Same goes for a few serious hunters I know. Ever price a good (collectible) shotgun or rifle? Oh, and you can't own just one gun, you need one for ducks, rabbit, squirrel, doves, deer, elk, grizzlies, and so on. Add in hunting trip to the Rockies, Alaska, Africa, tags, ammo and all the stuff that goes along with it and you're faced with more serious coinage.

Our 'hobby' is pretty tame in comparison to some of the others, even if you get close to (or exceed) the $50k mark.

[Soundbitten]

My brother collects vintage guitars ... not a cheap hobby .

[lonewolfny42]

Our 'hobby' is pretty tame in comparison to some of the others, even if you get close to (or exceed) the $50k mark.

I agree Scott....

                                 Chris

[launche]

Launche,
What's troubling you about my post? I proofread it and there's no error that I noticed.

Nothing troubling...just the 20K system...caparable to a yearly salary. And then at a quick glance about 15K of that are in newly released gear.  Thus giving me the impression one spent 15K recently and on a salary of 20K yearly just jumped out at me.  But of course I'm missing all the details in between.

No judgement or concern...just in my speed reading that's what my brain summarized in a quick short term memory storage moment.

The gear makes sense to me and are products I would love to spend some time with.  Actually, I hope to hear the DEfinitions in a week or two.

[Berndt]

My brother collects vintage guitars ... not a cheap hobby .

I don't play guitar and I want to collect them...

[avahifi]

My most important system components are $800 worth of Sonex on the ceiling and $750 worth of acoustical fabric (goes on like wallpaper - available at quality paint and wallpaper stores) on the walls.

Then my $10,000 system (speakers, amp, preamp, DAC, CD player, tuner, turntable and cartridge, and all the cables included) can work really really well.

Frank Van Alstine

[TerryO]

I guess I'll jump in with my 2 cents worth. I've got a couple of "systems", if you mean a functioning rig in separate rooms. My gear gets rotated in and out of my two setups, so it's not exactly static.

System #1:

Usually consists of a Radio Shack "6 pack" CD player, an HH Scott 299 integrated tube amp (new caps and NOS RCA tubes) driving a pair of mint ADS 570/2 speakers.

cost: CD player   $100 (new, on sale)
        Scott amp   $230 + $25 for caps, tubes were a gift
        ADS Speakers   Purchased $1 ticket at Audio Club raffle

Note: I use AR ICs from Fred Meyer's and left over 14 AWG Romex "Speaker cables" for another $15 or so. So I expect that I've got about $371.00 total.

System #2:

Toshiba 3950 DVD player $55.00 (new on sale)
Sansui AU 7900 Integrated Amp ($14.95 at St. Vinni's)
"Bondo Beauties" DIY 2-way Speakers ($48.00 for parts)

Total Cost: Nearly $110.0 plus another $15.00 for IC's and cables like above, so say $125.00.

This system, I hate to say it, sounds wonderful. The Sansui took third place (out of 16 or 17 amps) at our Club's Amplifier Shoot-out, behind a Sim Audio Moon amp and a highly modified Scott 222 integrated tube amp. A lot of surprised people.
The "Bondo Beauties" were my entry in last years "The Puget Sound! DIY Speaker Contest" and took 2nd place out of 16 entries for best sound.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[george_k]

$2k-$10k sounds right assuming you know what your buying, the problem is that most people don't so they experiment (try stuff, sell stuff etc) until they reach the point of satisfaction.

If you add the "lessons learned" costs  (i.e. the money spent on realizing what sort of sound you like) to the final system cost, I imagine that would easy surpass $10k.

[klh]

Here's my breakdown:

$4600 projector
$2000 speakers
$1000 integrated amp
$500 PS3
$200 cables
$300 HDMI switcher and digital tuner
$800 DIY passive acoustic room treatments

WOW... I can't believe I've spent nearly $10,000. And all but about $2,000 worth of equipment is less than 1.5 years old. Granted, half of it is in the PJ; but still, it's amazing how quickly it adds up.

[zybar]

My most important system components are $800 worth of Sonex on the ceiling and $750 worth of acoustical fabric (goes on like wallpaper - available at quality paint and wallpaper stores) on the walls.

Then my $10,000 system (speakers, amp, preamp, DAC, CD player, tuner, turntable and cartridge, and all the cables included) can work really really well.

Frank Van Alstine

Amen to that Frank!!

Room acoustics are so important.

George

[samplesj]

The room is definately the key factor.  And it doesn't even have to cost much.  But make sure you get your money's worth with acoustic treatment.  For example rigid fiberglass traps can be cheaper than foam products and because of their increased mass they do a much better job at LF absorption.

If you are buying commercially or going the DIY ask what frequency ranges it affects and how much.  There are products out there (and DIY plans even) that may actually make the room worse.  Try to keep a balanced approach.  For example the old advice to put carpet on the wall is going to make the room very unbalanced (tons of HF absorption and no real LF absorption). 

Unfortunately even other users recommendations like special wallpaper need to be evaluated against the measurements provided by its vendor (and if they don't have them then there is a huge red flag).  While its entirely possible there is some trick its found, at first glance basic physics say it can't help much.  Whether we like it or not LF absorption takes mass and wall paper isn't going to have it.  Even diffusion takes depth for LF and again you aren't going to be able to get that with flat wallpaper.

[george_k]

I haven't been able to find rigid fiberglass in Montreal, I've been to all the hardware store chains including Home Depot, nobody carries the stuff, Owens Corning or any other brand

[Cacophonix]

I haven't been able to find rigid fiberglass in Montreal, I've been to all the hardware store chains including Home Depot, nobody carries the stuff, Owens Corning or any other brand

http://www.atsacoustics.com/cat--Fiberglass-and-Mineral-Wool-Batts-and-Boards--106.html

I bought mine from atsacoustics. Check to see if they ship to montreal ...

[samplesj]

I haven't been able to find rigid fiberglass in Montreal, I've been to all the hardware store chains including Home Depot, nobody carries the stuff, Owens Corning or any other brand

Home Depot (or Lowes for us in the southern states) aren't the right kind of place.  You need to be looking at speciality insulation places.  Luckily I had a SPI location nearby.

Here is a decent looking link that popped up at the top of a google search
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=147777


EDIT: a quick search for Montreal found: Isofab inc. 514-738-1916

[TONEPUB]

I agree with the room treatments wholeheartedly.

I use a little bit of Sonex and some monster bass traps from GIK
along with their panels.

Nothing has made a bigger improvement in the sound of my system!

Plus if you can get the room to sound better, you will hear whatever
other improvements that you make that much easier!!!

[ckoffend]

With regard to how much we spend on audio systems, obviously the range is going to be quite wide.  I would have thought myself quite conservative and buy and sell a fair amount trying out many different components.  I am embarrased to indicate what I have in my system at least what I paid, considering everything buy my speakers (Wilson Duettes) are used.  But I can tell you with the speakers included I am closer to the +20K mark and when I factor in that when combined, I have paid well under half of retail price, it amazes me what people will spend.

With regard to reviews, I would like to see more reviews of mfgrs. middle and upper items than their statement items.  I believe there are company's that make great phenom statement items, but really slack on their other products.  I think this is more true with some manufacturers than others (obviously).

Then there are those manufacturers that trickle that technology down in the following years to their middle and mid-upper level items.  In my opinion, these are the company's that produce the products for me and also produce greater value in their products.

I am still a firm believer that most excellent 5 year old amps and preamps compete with their current models (in the same general price range) and the same can be said of speakers.  These are items that I feel don't suffer from this mid age level like a CD player can.  To me, some of the best magazine and review reading is done in issues that are a couple of years old.  A great product from 4-7 years ago, in the categories above are still going to be great products, even by todays equipment standards.  Cables of course it is a no brainer, a great cable 5 years ago is just as good as a great cable today.  The technology in this area just hasn't changed very much.  A 5 year old top of the line cable can be had for about 25% of its current day equivalent and 99.9% of listeners will not hear a difference (and unless there is a major change to the product, it is because there probably is no difference other than color).