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Priorities, who makes the rules anyway?

I'm putting this on the table for two reasons, 1) I am tired of 'which amp for my speakers' threads, and 2) I am right.

Most everyone I know thinks I am a crazy-man. They refer to me as the one who has taken home entertainment to the "extreme." My question is, where'd they get that idea? Generally speaking: the average upper-middle-class yupster walks into a car dealer and plops down $???$ without thinking twice. Next they slice the price into monthly payments, add interest and insure it, all for the low, low, price of what...say, $35k (for arguments sake). Now throw another in for the wife. Where are we now, $70k in cars? The point. This sort of average behavior is thought of as completely reasonable and rational in most circumstances.

On the other hand, a guy like me (or we) who throw(s) down anything approaching (or even half) the total amount of the car, much less both cars, on home entertainment stuff, is a nutcase (or bunch of them if all of you are still on board) with out of whack priorities. What is with this? I enjoy my HT system way more than I enjoy my car. I spend more time at home with my HT system, or at least try to. All else equal I would rather drive a junker pick-up and come home to a plasma flatscreen, than any other, another way around. For me, this is true, even if it's just to watch the news. (The real point, as you may have guessed--I am talking myself into spending more). I NEED that flatscreen. I do.

When are we going to start thinking of home entertainment the same as we do cars? As it is for most, high dollar home entertainment is still thought of as a guilty pleasure.
j_thunders
garfish
1,840 posts
 
While I agree with Jt, one important difference between the car and the stereo is that in our society, regrettably, the car is pretty much essential to our way of life, eg to get to work, make a living etc., while (and this may be heresy on this site) but the stereo/HT system is not essential-- to most. I see the "thunder" clouds forming and can feel the lightning ready to strike as I type ;>)

My stereo cost 4-5 times what both my P.U. and wife's car are worth, but damnit, we still need cars. But you can see MY priorities regarding spending money. My neighbor, who helps me pack/unpack heavy amps, speakers etc. just shakes his head in wonder at the amount of $$$ I have in stereo equipment. He thinks I'm basically harmless though.

As to what amps with what speakers? Well, there are always (hopefully) new people getting this affliction. Cheers. Craig
slawney
242 posts
 
J, I completely agree. And, what is more, for this very reason, I do not have a car. I take the train or subway--I live in a big European city, it's easy--or I drive my wife's FIAT (but this happens only once a year). To put the household economy in perspective: there is one IC in my system that retails at more than we paid for her FIAT. BTW, the yuppies around here want it all: the Mercedes and the home entertainment system (but they inevitably buy Bang & Olufsen).
j_thunders OP
173 posts
 
It's not really fair tabling this in front of this group, you all got it as bad as me, or worse. Of course you (fellow nutcases really less crazy than the average shmoe) will agree with me. We got our priorities straight, the rest are who is brainwashed.

I used the car thing because it is convenient to make the point. Anything else works too, like boats or a new kitchen or something. A guy got me to thinking though, when he asked me just last night, "What % of my take-home do you think is the most I should give in making a car payment?"--like a car payment is a fact of life. I admit I'm diseased, but I immediately thought NONE?!?!, what kind of crazy question is that? The payment cuts into any amount you can spend on cool stuff like, well, you know what cool stuff.

Thanks for the responses though, nice to know if I am really not normal, I am thought of as normal at least somewhere.
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snooker14
164 posts
 
I just came home from a stop at the local mini-mart. Saw a car all decked out with a twentysomething in the driver's seat. He had the usual mag wheels, spoilers, wide tires etc. Inside there were a pair of custom red leather seats with cross-over seat belts, a tachometer mounted on the left side of the windshield and a fire- extinguisher on the right side. Tunes were blasting away with some deep bass rythm. So I popped my head in and said....." nice tunes. Cool fire-extinguisher. I assume that's there in case one of your amps overheats, right?" He looked at me through his fast shades, confusion spreading across his face, and replied..."no dude, it's in case of an engine fire"
At that moment I realized he was nuts and he realized the versa. He drove away, leaving me wondering why anyone would have a fire-extinguisher just two feet away from his stereo with no intention of using it solely to save the music!
kitch29
316 posts
 
A Formula 301 parked at Shooters dock will get you laid 7 nights out of 7. Try that with the stereo.
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