Why Are People So Concerned About How Others Spend Their Money?

 Perhaps some people like the idea of having influenced somebody in how they spent big $$$ on a purchase?

Some people are overly concerned with 'fairness'. My brother is like that. Funny thing is that he used to say that same thing as a child: 'That's not fair!'. Sounds good at face value (the idea of fairness) but it can get out of hand really fast. 

I've never been concerned about what/how other people do...none of my business. As long as they're not harming themselves/others.

@sandthemall 

I've never been concerned about what/how other people do...none of my business. As long as they're not harming themselves/others.

Well said. A surprising amount of what we do harms others. That's the tricky bit.

Agree 100% Russ. Some people have that puritanical streak that Mencken pointed out: people who live in terror that someone, somewhere, might be having a good time.

People who think a CCA through a cheap DS DAC and crummy class T amp makes them the moral superiors to those who invest in the companies and components that are really trying to advance the audio world, remind me of a mean old lady in town where I was trying to catch a train, who thought I was going too fast so she blocked both lanes of traffic diagonally on a busy road to slow me down. Literally stopped traffic dead. I bet she would be very critical of my stereo too 😂

It’s not the amount that people spend that I have any problem with.

Why should I?

It’s their money and their choice, and if it brings them happiness, then that can only be good.

However, what I do find disagreeable is the commonly propagated notion that spending more money always brings sonic improvements.

We’ve all repeatedly heard such terms as ’night and day’, ’jaw dropping’, ’beyond recognition’, ’gobsmacked’ (might be a British one) etc only to later discover for ourselves that no such differences ever existed.

Therefore it’s important that there are people who can point out such inconsistencies to at least give the inexperienced a fighting chance to get some value for money in an industry that often seems bedevilled by sharks, starry eyed cable enthusiasts and the dreaded snake oil purveyors.

It doesn’t matter how much money we may or may not have, we all want value for money, don’t we?

Thankfully, as reviewer Ken Kessler loves to point out, it’s never been as easy to get so much for so less.

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/international/soundstage-uk/1639-ken-kesslers-new-stereo-system-part-seven