hifi as investment?

Obviously, items that are hand built in limited quantities by "masters of the trade" are the most likely candidates. The early tube based pieces made by Marantz are a prime example. Once you start working your way into more modern gear, there are very few pieces that could ever come close to obtaining their original retail sales price on the used market.

As such, building a system based on "collectability" or "market value" will have you running almost all vintage tube gear. If you like that sound, that's a double bonus for you. If you don't like that sound but are worried about your investments in this "hobby", you are better off looking for the best buys possible on used gear that has a good reputation. Straying from this formula to find some lesser known "gems" may net you musical satisfaction, but it will only end up hurting your pocketbook in the long run.

While i do agree that a quality "bang for the buck" system is hard to beat for the money invested, if you are more worried about your pocketbook than you are obtaining musical pleasure from your system, you should be scouring the ads at Best Buy & Circuit City to see what will produce the amount of sound desired for the least amount of money. In the long run, it is only the personal enjoyment that you obtain from using your system and listening to music on it that will ever recoupe the investment that you make in it. Once you accept that fact, you'll be a lot better off and won't feel so guilty about allowing yourself these pleasures. Sean
>

Sean- nice suggestions on the tube gear and I think I would enjoy those very much. I'm running Cary 2a3 monos now. Any more specific models?

Your last paragraph throws me off. I'm not looking for "bag for the buck" I'm looking for "big bucks that won't bust"

Circuit City???

While some items retain their used value (usually about 50% of retail) longer than others, as soon as the next generation of that item comes out they will drop in value. Since you can't really preditct when that will happen, I think your plan is flawed. This especially true with digital but happens with all gear. That is unless the company goes out of business, and then it drops because you can't get support.

Buy it because you like it and it is fair value today. Tomorrow it may be worth a lot less and very rarely will it go up unless you got it below market value.

The only thing that really holds it's value is vinyl.

I suspected vinyl. I have no experience there, but the I've seen that the 80s LP12s and the like are still commanding a lot of respect.

IMHO audio would be a terrible investment, or alternate currency, compared to mutual funds, the stock market, real estate, or investing in classes or an advanced degree to further yourself in your chosen profession. Most of us are in this because we like the music, and occasionally (or even frequently) have a jones to improve our systems to approach whatever "the absolute sound" means to us. You have been fortunate to break even or make a profit on your transactions, and I am sure some here are in it for that reason. However, in my experience, when you throw in your time to pack and ship, shipping and insurance charges, the time to deal with sellers and buyers, the time to search the web for the best deals, and the risk (nothing is risk free) of being defrauded or losing on shipping damage, you would likely do better in any number of "businesses." I feel I have been fortunate to do ok at this by buying only components I wanted to upgrade my system, sticking to items in good condition, being patient when both buying or selling, getting to know the sellers I am buying from, and walking if things do not sound right. Even so, I have had 3 deals where I felt the item was not in the condition advertised, and 2 deals with shipping damage. The shipping damage deals turned out alright (after significant time involvement) and one of the disputed condition items turned out alright after I e-mailed pictures to the seller (who had been selling for a relative and had not seen the item). On the other 2 deals, I took a loss on resale since I described the item honestly and accurately. Believe me, you will do better to simply have fun with this, enjoy your successes, take your disappointments with a grain of salt, and find a better way to make money.

as if not outright then by receiving an item which is not in the condition advertised