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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
hifiho
50 posts
 
Me??? I pay cash for vehicles.... If I can't afford to purchase out of pocket, I don't need it. My only payment obligations are to my mortgage company, utilities, and child support . The credit cards are kept close to zeroed-out, and they're most often used to accumulate airmiles, rather than extend credit. Paid off monthly. Unless, of course, there's a piece of audio gear that I gotta have at a price that can't be beat, and it's halfway around the world... Credit cards are handy for THAT.

Status?? Nah.... I drive a '92 Lumina (the stereo in the car is worth about half the value of the car), and it does the "point-A-to-point-B" adequately. It turns no heads, and that's not what I bought it for. I occasionally borrow a flatbed pickup from work to do yardwork (or haul stereo equipment). Those are the only shotcoming MY vehicle has.

Most of my friends' jaws drop when I tell them what I paid for my most recent investment.... But then again, they're driving new cars and pickups.

At the same time, I don't have the expensive drug/ alchohol/ niccotine habits that some can't seem to outgrow or break away from.... Talk about priorities?? Jeeezzz!!

MY drug of choice is less harmful, and in the long run, won't cost me my home, life, freedom, or cause complete financial ruin. How many geezers do you know who have been on an iron lung or a kidney machine due to "excess stereo gear"? Hit the local Intensive Care unit of the local hospital, and see how many of those people would rather have been addicted to audio.... Hmmmmm.
wildmonkeysects
12 posts
 
Funny, the Honda Insight hybrid was supposed to be a babe magnet, but all I get is stares like I'm from another planet. Oh, I am it seems.

True socal story: there was this lowrider boomcar on the freeway, and as the tuning and damping of the suspension was of course out of sorts in the search for lowness, happened to catch a sub hertz resonance with the concrete strips that are poured separately for stress relief. A subtle dip about every few car lengths, that stock suspensions have no problem with.
The occupants had stylist bowl haircuts similar to Larry of the Three Stooges in a vain attempt at individuality through conformity. You've seen the look, abrupt cutoff at the mid of the neck.
So, with the boomcar bouncing severely, and the hair going floppa, floppa, floppa, the stylish occupants were not going to loose their cool, and just hunkered down. The funniest visual in a while. You had to be there, and are probably glad you were'nt. Just to add insult to injury, my buddy, who likes to live life on the edge, rolls down the window, and mimiking the bounce, says something like "are we having fun yet?". Fortunately there was an exit at hand, so no physical injuries were sustained.

Oh, back to the subject...if one includes all three systems, main, secondary, and office, they are more $ than my vehicle (the hybrid). I think that is a healthy ratio. So what if it only gets smiles from geeky granola gurrrls...

Watching the power meter spin backwards,

WMS
stereokarter
185 posts
 
Then there is always golf......
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Its not the money, its the stuff!
jeffloistarca
1,004 posts
 
Cars vs. a serious rig. Well speaking for myself I went with building up some good sounding music systems first (I have also have a decent HT and still don't care for TV or movies, but that's my own quirk, wife and kids love it). I won't mention my cars, I drew enough fire listing my systems. To me, the music always came first, still does. My cars have damned good sounding stereos, which was just as important as the performance or appearence to me. Do people view my cars as more valuable than my two channel stereo? Yep. Who's right? The cars will breakdown and rust away, and I'll still be loving the fine music from my "expensive" home stereo. Quality audio provides greater long term value and outlasts any perceived status symbols, and more importantly, doesn't need to be under public scrutiny, just enjoyed.
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