2. analog
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How can anyone afford this ?

I consider myself a dedicated audiophile. I am 36(which I am guessing is a little younger than the average here) and single. I have been interested in high-end audio since I saw my uncle's Mcintosh and Threshold equipment for the first time when I was 5.
Since joining the workforce and saving a little I have always been trying to put together a nice system on a budget. I do OK financially(I am a systems engineer) but I do live in NYC which may put some of this into perspective.
Over the last 6 months I have struggled to buy(all used on Agon) a pair of Dynaudio Audience 42s and a Threshold CAS2 amp, Chang CLS3200, and cables(I haven't gone out[I don't have a girfriend], purchased anything else and really haven't eaten too much to be able to afford these and it is still a real stretch). I am using the amp with a direct connection from my CD/DVD player(Cambridge Audo Azur 540D...slightly modified[op amps, PS caps, bypass caps] that I have had for almost 10 years). A fellow has a Threshold FET2 series II(to match with the CAS2) he is holding for me but that seems like a pipe dream at this point along with a turntable.
A few years ago the analogue bug hit me.
I had a setup consisting of an Audio Analogue Settanta integrated and a Nottingham Horizon SE turntable with a Rega RB300 tonearm with the Incognto rewire and structural mod. This was not an expensive kit by any stretch but for me it almost put me in the poor house. I had to sell the entire rig to pay my bills and it hurt.
It seems over the last 10 years or so I have not been able to keep a kit for more than 6 months before I had to sell it. Whenever I don't have a rig I am constantly scanning the online Ads lusting for the next bargain to set up a system and cannot even listen to music on a mass market rig(I have been spoiled).
Anyway, I guess my question is how can anyone normal afford this hobby? What type of money do you have to be making to be able to enjoy this hobby.....$100,000/year? $500,000/year? Do you need to be worth millions? $5,000 barely gets you in the door(some interconnects cost more) and you could possibly spend millions. I am not looking to put together a $10,000 system(not even close...and that is modest in this hobby) but if I wanted to I don't see it ever being financially possible. If I had a girlfriend or a family(hopefully someday) I would not event be able to think about this hobby with a good conscience. I guess I am wondering if all these people in this hobby are millionaires? I am close to selling my rig again to pay the bills(the amp needed repair/recap and that was $450). Any advice for an audiophile who lusts to put together a nice rig but can't afford it? Should I get out and save for 5 or 10 years and then try again? Maybe I am in the wrong hobby but it is more addicting that crack to me(and more expensive). Maybe I should be a crackhead instead...that might be the only thing to make me forget about it. Thoughts?
adamd1205
goatwuss
877 posts
 
Ask for a raise. An engineer with some experience in NYC should be making at least 100k a year, right? I would think you'd be able to scrape up a few K for a stereo... How much is your rent, like 4k? If so - maybe move to the suburbs?
inna
7,296 posts
 
$2k rent will get you a small decent place in Manhattan. But if you eat those $10 sandwiches five times a day or always use a cab to move around - that could be a problem.
blkadr
739 posts
 
Recently, as you know, new residential construction has all but ceased to exist. Subsequently, so has my stereo budget. I thought my hobby would be on permanent hiatus.
Over the last year, I have sold off this and that, tweeters, cables, a cartridge, all from my closet of unused toys.
This little bit of cash has been converted into a HLLY Tamp-20 t amp and a used pair of Klipsch Forte IIs.
I know t-amps don't get any cred here, but talk about fun?! This little palm sized wonder sounds as good as any high dollar set amp, and with the Klipsch it compares with any setup on the planet! ....psyche!!! Of course I'm joking! But it is a fun listen and does sound really good. BTW the t-amp sounds pretty good with most of my speakers.
The point is, (to my surprise) there is virtually no budget constraint to enjoying this hobby and good sound.
raquel
841 posts
 
$100K is what a good shoe salesman makes in NYC - the cost of living is 40% higher than the next highest city (San Francisco). $10 will barely buy you a mediocre sandwich at Starbucks here. $2k/month will get you a tiny dump of an apartment, even since the recession began - that's what kids out of college rent. There was a study done in the mid-90's, well before the crazy salaries really started and began to bid the prices of everything up, which concluded that a family of four that aspired to private schools for two kids, two vacations a year, a bit of savings, and to own their own apartment needed to make $325K-$350k/year to even have a chance at such a lifestyle. Anecdotally, it feels far more expensive now. $25k for a good private kindergarten in Manhattan is on the low side ($30k-$35k is typical). Speaking of shoes, the lowly house brands at Barneys, Bergdorfs, Paul Stewart, etc., start at $450-$500/pair now, and if one is so disposed, you can drop $1,500 (before the 8.25% sales tax) on an unassuming pair of black wingtips at these places. It costs me $250 to fly to Austin to see my mom, and $125 if I have to take a car service home from the airport when I get back. Those big apartments on Friends and Sex and the City are pure fiction - $1 million buys you a two-bedroom, one bathroom apartment, with a miserable excuse for a second bedroom and if you’re lucky, shared laundry facilities on premises – once they hand you the keys, there’s an additional $2k per month for common expenses for as long as you own the place ($2K if you’re lucky, that is). In short, life is very different here than the other places I've lived in the U.S. (Cincinnati, Richmond, Northwestern Ohio, L.A., Boston, Detroit / Ann Arbor), and most people who don't live here do not understand just how different it is.

The really big, cosmopolitan cities – New York, Paris, London, Sao Paulo, Tokyo - have extreme costs of living and correspondingly extreme professional situations and lifestyles (Brazilians are laid back? Really? ... I have former Brazilian colleagues who bill 400 hours a month at their law firms). So to respond to your question, yeah, a lot of people can indeed afford it (but as someone once eloquently said, it's costly to have money).
gopher
499 posts
 
I'm 28, married with a kid in another very high cost of living area and, although I find myself completely engulfed in this hobby, I've gotta respectfully say--you're doing it wrong, bro.

This hobby provides a lot of entertainment for me and is one of my main outlets in life, but I sure as hell wouldn't put myself into consumer debt for it... or jeopardize my ability to pay for groceries.

I'm a professional, though not 'rich' by any stretch of the imagination--like you, I do fine on the income front, but its all about managing what comes in.

Start with something modest for your means and incrementally upgrade from there. It can actually be a lot of fun trying to extract maximum performance for minimum dollars... I got started in college with a pair of MMGs and a Jolida integrated amp.

Just don't fund this hobby with the money for your necessaries!

One does not have to be rich to enjoy this hobby, but they do have to approach it strategically for their particular life situations and have the patience to wait for the right deal and the instinct to pounce... also, having friends in the industry does not hurt.
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