Audiophile spending

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.

I buy what I am comfortable spending as long as I want the item. I purchased two complete systems this year; one home theater and one two channel. Both high end. That being said, they'll be a handfull that nothing is as good as their equipment and most that it is more expensive than.

I bought almost all the hardware used with a few exceptions.
I spend a lot and the retail was in excess of twice a lot.

I love the music. Every time I sit in the living room listening to the two channel and try to do anything from read to talk, I am drawn into the artistry and detail of the music. I just can't get over how incredible reproduced music can be.

I bought in excess of 400 cd's this year. I gave away about 100 which I didn't like the production quality of.

I have learned to read reviews and investigate before I buy now. I listen to a varied bag of styles, but gravitate to piano based classical, with orchestral overtones.

In terms of ratios, I doubt that I spent 5% of my total amount on music this year. But will continue to purchase in quantities of 1 to 50 cd's which appeal to me. I see the two as quite different. I see music as artistry and production qualities. I see hardware as a level of commitment and affection to the music. Related, but not similar.

Bill E