Is this hobby worth the cost

[jigarpatel]

Please forgive me using Hindi here,

Kuch to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna
Chhodo, bekaar ki baaton mein kahin beet na jaaye raina

An inner battle between the conscious mind (finance and related rationale) and the unconscious mind (the desire to have a nice HiFi setup) is something I think everyone experiences. In some battles, the unconscious mind wins, in others, the conscious mind prevails, and some battles go on forever.

In the end, just enjoy whatever you have and keep dreaming and desiring—there’s nothing wrong with that.

 

[Nitin K]

. All he's asking is a simple and relevant question - how does one justify the spend of a lunatic fringe to the sane majority?

In this one line, you have said it all.

 

[Kannan]

How do you stand your ground

Stand on audiophile grade spikes

 

[hifimaddy]

Stand on audiophile grade spikes

This would be much better than audiophile-grade spikes.

 

[Hiten]

he's asking is a simple and relevant question - how does one justify the spend of a lunatic fringe to the sane majority?

Very easy...
Post any of the following after purchase
1) day and night difference
2) my wife came out from kitchen to listen
3) my neighbour requested to turn up the volume
3.1) my neighbour has come to stay with us since last month.
3.2) my neighbour has come to stay with us since last year.
4) silent music passages are blacker than black
5) tears were rolling down my cheeks
5.1) goosebumps
6) my feet started tapping on its own
7) my shoes in the shoerack started tapping on their own
7) speakers disappeard (only to reappear when my best audiophile buddy Mr. Nimbuprasad comes to visit)
8) analog sound
9) digital precision
10) audiogods have blessed me. I see him smiling and giving blessings from heaven above with light emerging from palm of the hand and brilliant white light falling on my D'Agostino.

Sprinkle random words like salt and pepper from following at your hearts content

Coherence, sparkle, liquid, tight bass, smooth, synergy, nirvana, live , elvis in my living room, pink floyd on my sofa, lata behind speaker,

Precautionery steps for future calamity...
1) Remove 1 last digit from your purchase bill
2) for accuphase and luxman remove 3 digits
3) tell the system was gift from friend
4) ask your friend to personaly install system which you purchased. Throw out brand new boxes
4.5) hide amplifier faceplate with Crown amp faceplate by reusable double sided adhesive tape
5) tear out your bank statement pages

And then...
prepare for divorce (because women have sixth sense. And can catch you any time 'they' want)
So dont overspend if feeling guilty. As differences are small and only individuals can justify 'to self' the 'cost'.

Just to clarify. I have spent and made losses in diy which i enjoy. No regrets.

 

[frend2001]

Our forum ( & FMs) isn't shy on good advice, great knowledge and witty humor.

This thread is soon becoming a great stress buster.

Especially after chasing own tail for hours to find the ground loop hum originating by a disconnected TT ground wire.

 

[hifimaddy]

3.1) my neighbour has come to stay with us since last month.
3.2) my neighbour has come to stay with us since last year.

 

[ishmeet73]

Common sense aside. Can you put a price on passion?

Without passion, is life worth living?

Alas, a little common sense wouldn’t hurt either…….

 

[dafreaking]

I don't treat this as a hobby.

Spend sometimes 8 hours a day at my workstation so need/want good sound for that

Can watch TV/movies etc sometimes for 3+ hours a day so want the best possible sound for that.

Does it mean I'm going to nitpick about every little aspect? I not at all. I probably use my various sound systems more in a week than the average "audiophile" does in months

 

[Arvind Singh Lodhi]

No its not worth. I bow down. I will never spend 20lakh on a speaker, 10 lakh will do for me.

You mean 20L for a pair of speaker is fine.

 

[alladinkachirag]

Yesterday it was worth it . So, usually I listen to music with my son around playing games on his phone. Last evening I had the usual Radio Paradise Main Mix playing and my son asked me a question - Will you also play music from the tower speakers that you have bought for such a long time? He is soon turning 15.

This was interesting question. I answered: the music is actually playing through those tower speakers only. My son goes closer to one, brings his ear to the speaker and exclaims in agreement. He said, he always thought the sound was coming from the amp which was kept on the shelf and incidentally center of both speakers. Oh yes, the imaging is super that makes the speakers invisible - was my explanation to my son.

And I had a super peaceful night sleep after. Absolutely worth it.

 

[AP@1992]

I guess this hobby is worth it if one is enjoying music and has not jeopardized their essential requirements for the cost to acquire it.

Time used to listen to gears can be different, it can be once in a day or week or month. So duration of usage is not material IMV.


This hobby can get tiring if we fall in the endless but inevitable cycle of upgrades, analysis and comparison. Once in a while it's fine. But if this goes on for ever, I feel this hobby doesn't bring enough joy to justify the cost. Fatigue, disappointment and lack of focus in other areas creep in.

If this part is taken care of, nothing brings out emotion like a well recorded track. Pure bliss.

 

[Kannan]

Yesterday it was worth it . So, usually I listen to music with my son around playing games on his phone. Last evening I had the usual Radio Paradise Main Mix playing and my son asked me a question - Will you also play music from the tower speakers that you have bought for such a long time? He is soon turning 15.

This was interesting question. I answered: the music is actually playing through those tower speakers only. My son goes closer to one, brings his ear to the speaker and exclaims in agreement. He said, he always thought the sound was coming from the amp which was kept on the shelf and incidentally center of both speakers. Oh yes, the imaging is super that makes the speakers invisible - was my explanation to my son.

And I had a super peaceful night sleep after. Absolutely worth it.

you did not get the drift from your son. He possibly meant dho speaker leneke baad bhi sound beechse aaraha hai. Kya faida hua, Total waste

 

[alladinkachirag]

you did not get the drift from your son. He possibly meant dho speaker leneke baad bhi sound beechse aaraha hai. Kya faida hua, Total waste

LOL. Quite possibly what you said is what he might be thinking ki yeh bekaar speakers hai.

 

[hifimaddy]

Actually, the thread title was "Is this hobby worth the cost?" Commenting and memeing in this thread is a hobby for all FM's, so I would say the hobby is worth it. Without the hobby, we wouldn't be here; if we weren't here, there would not be a forum for us like this.