Non philes/music lovers and the cost of audio ? ? ?

I just don't get it. Why are there so many people that love music but are opposed to spending money to improve the sonic performance ?

The reality of it hit home the other day when a friend was over visiting and seem to enjoy some music that was playing in the back ground. He mentioned, as he has many times that he would like to improve his music system and asked what speakers he might start with. When I mentioned another friend had a great deal on a used pair and told him somewhere in the area of $2000 he clearly seemed taken back. This friend is very financially stable and thinks nothing of spending $16,000 CDN. every year on hockey seasons tickets.

I know we all have our own priorities but sometimes it's gets just a little hard to understand.

 

Well, me and my wife have chosen to work in an area, essentially a dying craft. On average, after bills and retirements savings, we have $20-$30 a day for food, incedentals, pet food and pet medical. You can see where it would take a good long while to eek out even $2,000. The flip side is that if you want good sound and you actually can't afford to make a misstep, you shure better do your research and know what you are getting. For us, listening to music is an every day event. I'd never spend the money on hockey tickets. We are probably more likely to spend money on music because we can't afford to go out, so we purchase food and cook every day.

 

What does he have now? Maybe $500 speakers would have been a huge improvement and started him down the path.

 

It's like a hot bath, it takes a minute to get acclimated.

It is odd that some people choose to tow the line on fiscal responsibility when it comes to hifi and will be completely frivolous and extravagant everywhere else.

 

I get the sentiment here, but every time I listen to this Snell/TPA3116 setup for 240 bucks, I often wonder why I own 2000 dollar speakers

 

There is a difference between good sound and audiophile sound. For someone who just wants to hear music, good sound can be had for as little as $500, but audiophiles are listeners, not just hearers, so we pay a premium for playback gear that enhances our listening experience.That's not to say that a $500 system isn't good enough for listening (I believe any properly set-up hifi system is), just that audiophiles are passionate about the listening experience itself and will put a lot of money toward that end. I would never pay $16,000 for hockey season tickets, nor $20,000 for a speedboat, but I still enjoy the occasional hockey game and boat ride.

 

It's called priorities. It sounds like your friend simply gets more enjoyment from his season tickets than he would from improving his system. And of course you feel differently, but that doesn't mean either one of one are wrong. Spending the money is fine, imo, as long as you get enjoyment out of it. And of course as long as you have it and aren't starving yourself (or your kids) in the process.

If I was a gazillionare, I'd love to improve my own system. But my money goes towards the kids and home improvement mainly. And the budget I have for music playback mainly goes towards music as that's my priority. If I can manage a hardware upgrade every once in a while that's great, but music comes first. It's that simple.

 

Not only is it financial priorities, but time as well.

How many people do you know actually have the time or mindset to spend the time to...just...sit...and......listen to music?

It's always go go go: school, camp, shopping, appointments, kids practices, whatever.

So it could be a conscious choice of priorities both money and time: just not worth it.

Music is just one sensory stimuli among many being multi-tasked....shame that.

 

The boat analogy is a good one. $30,000 for a boat, monthly storage or a dock, maintenancen, fuel, travel/lodging getting to the lake and ultimately your just floating and at risk of drowning.

But it is hot today.

 

I think the prices are out of line. The gear is not physically "worth" the money being asked. At least not for me but I have other priorities and enjoy what I have rather than constantly wanting more and better.

 

I rarely sit and just listen to music. But I was always that way, it's nothing new - I still get a lot of enjoyment from it, but I don't need to isolate myself to do it.

Not that I haven't done dedicated sessions from time to time, but usually that's for an album I've already become comfortable with so the dedicated session is to just soak it in a little bit more than I usually do.

 

Well, for me, personally, I want to hear music and get what I can afford. And I have some requirements - first I don't want anything that is going to eat my vinyl. So we bought an AT-LP120usb 3 years ago and we LOVE it. 2nd - I want the ability to transfer some to my iPod or CD for portable listening. As for speakers, well what I have is cheap but we can hear it across the house and it sounds good to us so I'll stick with what we have for now. Total investment probably around $500 and that includes around $230 for the AT-LP120. It tracks nicely, has a good sound and makes me HAPPY so I don't need to spend more. My wife is a stay at home mom and I am the only income. I have a pretty good middle class Union job but it's hard to live on one income. I work overtime to pay off debt and buy an occasional new LP (at 25 bucks a pop it's once a in great while). I love listening to LP's but not strictly limited to playing LP's. Would I want a better table, speakers and system? Sure, but I don't need it. And really if I could do what I wanted I would love to get one of these:



And make it look like this:



The guy makes it look easy and it doesn't really look like it would cost too much but I am not very mechanically inclined nor do I have the time.

http://oldhousecrazy.com/2013/01/06/restore-an-old-stereo-console-diy/

And if I had $16,000 to spend I would use it for some needed home improvements.

 

In my case, I don't want to spend a fortune, small or otherwise on audio to wrangle the last 10% when I can buy a Marantz PM8005 integrated amp (or Yamaha, Riga, NAD, etc.) for a grand, a pair of speakers from a company like NHT for a grand or less (Classic 3), and a CDP or turntable for $500-1000 and wire from Monoprice or Blue Jeans for $50-200 and be 90% of the way there if not 95%.

One can put together a very, very good system for $3000 or less that will please all but those who can't be pleased without spending many thousands of dollars . An even more basic Marantz (or Yamaha or similar) can be bought for $500, matched to NHT SuperOnes, and similar price range CDP and or TT with the same wire choices mentioned earlier and have a better hi-fi system than most people will ever dream of and stand alone fine for critical *music* listening vs. critical *gear* listening. And you're well under $2000 for this set-up.

The problem begins where some people think you can't get good sound for under $10k or even $5k and that turns off people who don't have OCD like most *audiophiles* seem to suffer from.

And at dinner, we listen to this stock 1969 Zenith Z931 and enjoy it immensely for the old school wonder of it:

 

Ehh....because most people don't care. He's saying that to YOU--because he knows you care....it's a kind of friendly apology-a social mechanism. Not an actual desire to improve his playback.

He doesn't go to those hockey games alone, right? That's not equivalent. That's got less to do with Hockey as the people he goes with and the greater sense of tribe.

 

The thing is, at this time it doesn't cost a fortune to put together a fantastic sounding system, and if it doesn't include vinyl, even less. One can even get into tubes for not a lot of money these days. So many options are out there.

 

Not the point here, the friend I'm talking about has never upgraded.
The price of gear is not out of line unless you have the resources to go crazy with it.
We all have are priorities but to spend enough money to have a decent system on one seasons hockey tickets and then be shocked by a pair of used speakers ?

 

The word tribe gets dropped above. Makes me think how hypnotic it is to be in a stadium full of people, all cheering, all on the same page. There is a feeling of safety in that experience that is primal. Not everyone sits around and spins records all day. I do, but that's me.

 

I still assert that even if price is reasonable, a 'system' implies that it occupies a designated space in the home and therefore would require the listener to sit in that spot to realize the potential sq.

Few(er) people are willing to sit in a designated spot and do nothing more than listen to music.

More people are inclined to have 'buds' jammed in their ears streaming some current pop tune while watching a cute kitten vid on youtube with a DVR playback of How I Met Your Mother on the big screen while glancing over at their homeboy tilting his iPad over the latest selfie he posted to his FB page.

 

I don´t I have an opinion about what other people have for listening habits, and what systems they have. I have friends that are extremely knowledgeable in some classical music, but are not the least interested in audio per se, and couldn´t care less of my system, it´s fine I think. People do what they want and like.

 

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There is no reason not to go to www.accessories4less.com or www.jbl.com websites and improve a listening experience for almost no money. I know it may not make Stereophile's Recommended Components list, but still can sound very good for almost no money. At the very least with a DVD player almost everyone has, by a headphone amp like the ART Headphone4 for $65 and a pair of AKG K612's for $199 and really enjoy your self. The Art can handle 4 pair of cans at once for friends to join you. There is no excuse for bad audio anymore.

 

It's also possible that the hockey tix help him businesswise, too. You want to hook a potential client and you have hockey tix, well, that can help...

 

It's not limited to audio gear. An neighbor in my old 'hood, who could have bought and sold me 10X over, was absolutely floored at the price of the little Italian sportscar I was driving- he wasn't really that interested in cars, and was shocked that anybody would spend such money on things. Maybe that's one of the reasons why he was rich, I dunno.
Aside from fiscal conservatism, it's largely a question of priorities- these are luxury goods, since you can get music with a phone or computer, which most people have, or an old school rig, which isn't costy.
What I find more interesting is people who say "I'm not into music." Who cares what kind of music, but no music? To me, it's like one of the senses, like saying, I'm not into seeing, or hearing or tasting. (I guess there are folks who view food as fuel, so the analogy doesn't really hold, but you know what I mean).....

 

You would think that this would be common sense and easily understood, but alas...

 

tmsorosk, your pal doesn't need to spend anything close to $2000 to get very good speakers. One can get great new speakers for half that and great used speakers for a quarter of that $2000. But I understand your being taken aback by $16k for hockey tickets. I mean, who in their right mind would go to a hockey game??

 

I agree with everybody who said it is a question of priorities, and it is. I've had people come into my house, see my system and act as if nothing is there. I've got family that considers my hobby a tremendous waste of time and money. ( Those are the ones I avoid talking to whenever possible) I don't do too much dedicated listening, it's mostly background as I do other things, but I'm starting to have more time to enjoy what I have.