Audiophile spending

I think the ratio doensnt necesarly dictate preference of music over gear. When you get into systems that cost fity thousand dollars and up it would be pretty hard to have it 50/50.

I would say I have $5000 in cd's and $65,000 in gear but I have been planning expanding my collection considerably. I go through phases when I concentrate on building and tweeking my system and other times expanding my listening knowledge.

I will even admit at times I like the gear more. I enjoy the science behind it and the fufillment of tons of research turning into a combination of well matched components. The payoff is when the sum of your system is greater then its parts it brings unequal enjoyment to the music. It always comes back to the music.

60% hardware 40% software. I expect the ratio of hardware over software to increase. With limited opportunities (time) to listen, I find that my desire for greater excellence in reproduction only increases. I am very content however, and believe contentment is the only valid measure of success applicable to expenditures on luxury items. God bless.

I don't think the ratio has any bearing on how much one enjoys music. The reason? It's easy to pull the trigger and spend thousands in a minute when it comes to equipment. More difficult to do so with music -- unless you decide to just buy a whole section of the store. This is an apples and oranges proposition. Extremely high cost (and extremely low cost) systems throw this even more out of whack.

I agree with Perfect in that the ratio does not mean a lot in our case. Regardless of the system's cost, we would have purchased the same amount of source material in the same manner. The few CD'sthat we purchase at retail (or above) are things that are either brand new that we must have ("All Things Must Past", for me) or hard to find items such as ("Yvonne Elliman" - Japanese release and Mink DeVille "Cadillac Walk", for my wife). These being the most recent examples.

Hi Abstract7; My software/hardware ratio is about like yours, ie 1/3 music (CDs) and 2/3 equipment. I now have about 1000 CDs with an estimated value of $15K-- but as I do not keep CDs I don't like, I can also add that I've probably purchased another 250 or so at a cost of about $3750. that I've gotten rid of.

My main rig (w/accessories, eg tube traps, wire etc.) has a retail value of about $35K. (this does not include the $13. for chickenwire to protect speakers from cat), but this will soon go up as my DNA-2DX amps are going in for upgrade to Rev. A, and yes I'm really excited about it. I have Perfect's attitude about equipment-- it can be a great source of satisfaction in this pursuit, but I also agree with Perfect in that "it always comes back to the music".

When it comes to buying music, I often go in wild binges eg this month I've bought 35-40 CDs, but I bought none in Jan. or Feb. Would you rather have 1000 CDs to play on a $3000. system or 1000 CDs to play on a $30K system? Or 3000 CDs ($45K) to play on a $3000. system? Balance Grasshopper? Quite frankly, I listen to music 3-5 hours every night and I cannot cycle through 1000 CDs very quickly. And in reality, I find myself listening to a "set" of 30-40 CDs for a period of weeks or even months, and only slowly replace those with a new set of CDs a few at a time. The most exciting thing about this affliction to me is finding a new artist that I really like, and especially one that has a bunch of music available. Most recently, I've "discovered" Holly Cole's music, and before that it was Diana Krall, and Shirley Horn-- also Dead Can Dance.

JA of Stereophile Mag. once stated that he would never hire anyone to do review work for him that had more money invested in equipment than in music. What do Agon readers think about that? I personally think that Dekay alone can shoot down the lack of reasonableness of that position, ie Dekay finds good music pretty inexpensively, but I'll note he also finds good equipment inexpensively. I want to hear the best music I can find on the best system I can afford. Gone on way to long......Cheers. Craig.