members and their systems


for the short time I have been on here, I see that members will start a thread asking about a certain piece of equipment or speakers..       they will then buy that piece of equipment / speakers, start a thread about it saying how good it is and then next thing you know, they are starting another thread asking about another piece of gear as they are looking for something different.           what happened to that piece of gear that was so great ?       
  i get the whole buying thing....but where are members getting the money to do all of this stuff ?       do they not have other bills such as rent / mortgage payment, car payment, other bills to pay for also ?
birdscantrow
I save money on my system by buying other people’s cast-offs as they move up the audio chain, not buying snake oil and not drinking the Kool-Aid. I recently bought a complete Mark Levinson audio system and the dealer threw in a Lexus.
"I recently bought a complete Mark Levinson audio system and the dealer threw in a Lexus."
Try Naim next time.
@aewarren

Exactly.  The only components in my system I bought new are my SME V (30 years ago) and its brand new cartridge (just received).  Everything else:

Turntable:  Demo
Preamp:  Trade-in
Amp:  Trade-in
Digital front:  Used
Tuner:  Used
Interconnects:  Trade-in
Speaker cables:  Trade-in
Power block:  Trade-in

It took a while but eventually I assembled a system that gives me near continual satisfaction. I now only enter the market when something breaks, obviously wears out, or when a new technology both comes of age and becomes affordable. I've even reached a shaky détente with my unquenchable lust for buying musical instruments.
@keegiam, aewarren, 'and all the ships at sea' (for those of you who remember That phrase...*L*)...

Nearly Everything I own is used, or has been about me for decades in some cases; it was SOTA then, and it still is, spec-wise.

The exceptions:
-IC's; most cables and speaker lines are new....not fancy, but capable.
-A digital crossover (beats a bunch of individual boards)
-A digital splitter/mixer, for my own devious (and perhaps demented) purposes...and Yes, I heard that...*L*
-A purpose built computer for audio only that'll boot your laptop into a corner.  It works in conjunction with an older one that basically monitors what's going on...

The 'freeware' I run is able to accomplish nearly Everything I can consider doing in an audio environment, including mine.

Like some 'hot rods' and 'rat bikes' of my (and likely your) past...
...'tain't 'pretty'....but It Works.  Real Well, thanx.
J