Audiophile spending

What an interesting question. I guess I want to take a little different spin on the Ratios.

The number of high-end equipment buys I have done in the last year for my audio system was 7. The number of software buys I did I can't even count, must be at least 30, probably more. Each equipment buy was high-dollar and single piece, the cheapest thing I got was a couple of hundred dollars. Software buys have been anywhere from 1 CD to about 80, usually in the $8 to S30 range.

For me, this is all about the music. The equipment is stuff you need to make the music sound best. I think I am done with my main system for a while now, I have it sounding the way I want it to sound. The last batch of upgrades was done after I moved last May, new house == new system... Next project is the second system, for my new 'home away from home' on the west coast. Probably, I will end up bringing one of the east coast systems... ok, with a few upgrades :)

I have almost exclusively CD's. I have more money in CD's than in equipment, and that probably will not change. I get much more pleassure out of finding a new disc I like than I do out of getting a new amp. On the other end, when I do get a new 'toy', it is awesome to go back through thousands of CD's to hear some of the great stuff you haven't heard in a while.

My spending on music is limited by one thing only: Self control. My wife claims I have little self control, she is right. I have, at last count, 100 or so CD's that have not even been opened yet. Yet I buy more. The 100 or so will eventually get listened to, when I am in the mood to hear them. It is sometimes a bit painful to spend half a paycheck on music, which has been known to happen. For me, it is the thing that keeps me sane, balanced and happy, so it's worth it.

And that brings me to the other ratios I am interested in: How does your spending on equipment and music relate to: Car payment? House payment or rent? Food? Clothing? Heck, what percentage of your paycheck goes in to this hobby, both to music and to gear? Last year, I spend nearly 10% of my income on music, another 10% or so on toys... I never thought of it that way before!

Niels.

Hear hear, Garfish & Njonker! Abstract7, great & recurring question. I've met (few) people who listen to equipment rather than the music. There the ratio is overwhelmingly in favour of equip. BUT, this ratio is a tricky thing -- the moment I upgrade, it swings in favour of equip. -- then music swings back up again because I (we all, I guess) go on a S/W spending spree to enjoy more & better sounding music...
A complementary indicator could be, "spending on source equipment vs. that source S/W". My TT set-up used to retail at $~6K, vs. a LP collection of $~15K (1400). CD player cost $ 5K vs. CDs cost $~7K (including the CDs I have purchased & changed).
BTW, as Niels, I also spent 8% of budget on toys + another 8% on live music!!

Regards, Greg.

Garfish raises an interesting point. If J-10 lives in a NY apartment, where does he keep his music collection? It must be a monster to add up to more than the retail cost of the gear he keeps there. Perhaps JA gave J-10 a "grandfather" clause after he made that statement.

I guess I should answer this question as well. I’ve already answered the 1st question it’s about 2/3 equipment and 1/3 music. It turns out the value of the system is about the same ratio. My spending on music is definitely limited by time to listen to the music. I always want to buy more, and budget wise can afford to do so, but I limit myself so that I can listen to the items I’ve bought. I didn’t always do this—sometimes I would go a music buying binges and then 6 months later discover a record I owned and had never played. That’s when I realized I really wasn’t achieving anything by buying so much music, and that slowing down would actually let me enjoy the music more.

I don't think there's much significance to the ratio (though it is an interesting question). The amount of music I buy is related to many variables - budget, time to listen, urge, what's new, etc. It's never because I've listened to everything I have and I'm bored, but I also don't stop buying just because I haven't listened to everything I've already bought.

Gear purchases are driven much more by budget and expected performance gains for the experience of listening to the music. I'm much less inclined to spend a lot now on gear because I really enjoy what I have. When something happens that convinces me a substantial performance gain can be had, I'll look to get it. It'll probably be several thousand dollars, so that'll immediately throw the ratio off, at least momentarily.

It is an interesting question, much more so based on actual cost than retail, IMO. I have about 800 CDs at an avg price of no more than $10, so that's $8000. My current system (the music part anyway) cost about $10000, so it's pretty close to 50/50.