Who else here is frugal?


If I had to describe myself as an audiophile in one word, I'd like it to be frugal. Iconoclast may also be right, but if I'm different it may be due to being frugal.  There used to be a TV show called The Frugal Gourmet. To paraphrase him, the food he cooked wasn't necessarily cheap, but he'd get as much value as he could out of what he was doing.


Being an iconoclast doesn't hurt either. Listening for yourself and buying what you like, regardless of what reviewers say and how expensive something is also points us towards this.


What about you? Do you feel better saving money than spending it? Then tell us about yourself. :)
erik_squires
One wonders if the dance craze The Frug back in the 50’s is somehow related to frugality. Maybe trying to teach frugality to wayward youth. 🕺🏻
stereophile's Michael Fremer just reviewed a pair of amps that cost 170,000.00 dollars. You can probably find it on their website now.
If that "just" refers to review of darTZeel NHB-468 monoblock power amplifier from October 2019, the first paragraph or two are about why it is not entirely unreasonable to review it. The price is high, but not high enough in some way.
As there is no absolute measure of value in audio past a certain point, say about an arbitrary $20-25,000 system (not including the room), there is no relation between price and value. It is akin to a luxury purchase like jewellery, and unlike a car where even the most expensive can point out distinct and verifiable differences. Capitalism is great. It gives a way for people with less than they want, to legally "extract" money from people with more than they need. It's not perfect, but I will take that over the other options. Someone making a $170,000 set of power amplifiers probably has a net worth much lower than someone buying a $170,000 pair of amplifiers. This is a way to even things out and make 2 or more people happy in the process.