Tax Returns: Nothing, a new DAC or... ?

Credit Cards first. But then I am into finances. Also music.  

CC. Interests rates are climbing with an ever slumping dollar. Your CC debt will seem like our Federal deficit if you don't " Keep your mind on your money and your money on your mind"

@erik_squires do you mean a Bricasti M3 which is a dac? The M5 is just a streamer

Spend it before it's worth less.

All the haters should buy crypto so the rest can have a good laugh.

@rsf507  You are right, I meant the M3 with the streaming add on card.

Do what you want to do.

Buy now before inflation makes even a pack of gum a a major purchase.

You have a decent DAC already.  The Manhattan and Bricasti are not worth the investment from what you have.    Pay off the credit cards then save for an even better DAC. You can get a Lumin X-1 used for around 8k.  Or even consider one of the Lampizator DAC's.  

Pay off the credit cards.  The peace of mind alone is worth it.

Credit cards definitely first.Then cut them up and pay cash only for the equipment for this hobby.

No tax return, retired. Zero debt. But, my circumstances have changed dramatically with a recent lawsuit settlement from being drilled by a truck while cycling a couple years ago. The money is invested with the interest return alone prompting me to think about a whole system upgrade. I did order a Supratek Cortese LCR and purchased a factory refurbished SOTA Sapphire-local dealer is coming this morning to mount MC cartridge and tune the Alchemy phono pre I'll use until the Cortese arrives. And here I am tis morning considering if I should pull the trigger on some used speakers that cost as much as my first house. It's good to dream.  Well, there you go. Too slow. The Vandersteen Model 7's are sold. I wonder if those Magico S5 II's are still available?

Hey @wideload stick with your Vandersteens a much more musical speaker than the Magicos IMHO. Heard both and Magico was very sterile sounding yes very even top to bottom but uninvolved. Just my opinion

@op…only since you asked, nuke the CC debt

@wideload With the Vandersteen 7 upgrade program to Extreme program underway, i expect many dealers might prefer to sell the 7 and order new Extreme… i would call around. Please note, i am biased as a 7 mk2 and 7 amplifier owner…blissfully immersive in the music…..

Best on your journey

Jim

I wouldn’t call Magico’s sterile... but cool, and smooth on the top end.

Still, given my multiple auditions of Magicos and the top end Vandersteen at a show, I’d stick with Vandersteen.

Don't know what speakers you have now, but treat the room before you upgrade speakers.

now that a used Manhattan ll can be had for under $4000 , you at least need to take a listen...

@jl35 I wish I had the opportunity to.  :) 

Pay off the credit card then apply for one of the zero interest credit cards for 12 to 18 months. Then buy the DAC of your dreams and you have a year to pay what you purchased it for. If you can’t pay it off in a year apply for another zero interest card and transfer the balance. There is usually a fee but it a lot less than the interest you’d pay or just plan for next years tax return to pay of the balance. This should save you almost 10% of the purchase price and then you can apply the interest you saved to more gear...

Money isn't going to help you with the end of days.  Ammo on the other hand

Man, as one who is self-employed, I always owe, not get a ‘return’ on what I have already paid 🙂 I actually prefer it that way, and always have.

Enjoy spending *your* money, hoping to get back a portion already paid.

Alas, the 7’a are sold. I’m very happy with my upgraded Chapman’s but can listen in a different league. Extensive listening to Magico A3 and A5 with Krell to with engaging, satisfying effect. The S5 and S7’s with D’Agostino to hair raising effect. On the other hand, I wept while listening to Rutter’s Requiem through the Vandy Quatro’s. 

Clear out those credit cards!! 👍

Pay off the credit card but if you have any left over, you could consider adding the Uptone Audio JS-2 power supply to your Brooklyn.  I use a Brooklyn Bridge and felt it made a pretty significant improvement.

Thanks for the recomendation, @direwolf336 - I have gone through 2 outboard power supplies and the iFi has been stellar for me.  No better or worse than my previous Astron, but a lot smaller.

i am very surprized by this thread question coming from you......

I really really like the Mytek Brooklyn .... but do you think in this price range I could find something that would make me pull out my card?

Or do I save my money and prepare for the end of days??

The answer is in your inaugural question...You seems to like the Mytek you already own...

Please dont throw your money NOW...

You will need it for more urgent matter...

There is no end of the world by the way...

Only falling off bodies...

If you want an upgrade study psycho-acoustic INSTEAD of only physical acoustic and experiment with the relation between the speakers and the room and YOUR PERCEIVING ears/brain and about the way you can create a better timing between the two frontwaves coming from each of your speakers and balancing it with the reflected waves... It is related to the dimensions and geometry of your room for sure....I myself used a foldable wood screen with absorbing and diffusing Helmholtz tubes... This make the sound not only filling the room but create an intimate relation with the sound which exist only in headphones usually but my room is probably smaller than your own ... Cost : peanuts.....

But you all know that already, i wrote it for other newcomers who will read your thread...

I know your question is only a pretext to discussion...

my motto is : No upgrade before embeddings mechanical,electrical and acoustical control...

if not, we will chase the smell of our tail and call it our taste in Dac... 😁😊

A dac is NOTHING compared to acoustic especially if it do already a good job like the Mytek did...Perhaps a low cost "bad" dac need to be upgrade yes, not the Mytek...

Acoustic MAY create miracles, changing a good dac for another good oneis throwing money in the gutter...And after that, justifying the expanse by writing a review and calling this upgradem your "taste" and conditioning other people to cosly upgrade instead of acoustic science...

Acoustic has nothing to do with "taste" but with the way our specific ears/brain process the sound....

My deepest respect to you...

Hey @mahgister  Well I have 6 more pieces from GIK Acoustics arriving in the next couple of weeks, so my room treatment, except for the ceiling, will be complete.  I really do like the Mytek.  I was really only asking for opinions of a DAC to listen to that others might feel was worth the delta.  I also have a room full of gear I need to get rid of so with a little effort I could even make it a low cost transaction for me.

I already have a Topping DAC I don't listen to except in emergencies.

The one feature that would be nice to have is built-in Ethernet/Roon endpoint.  This would be mostly a convenience and simplifying action, letting me get rid of 1 more piece of gear in my stack. 

I know that you know for your self what you need to do for sure...You dont need me or anyone for that...

I only expressed my opinion mainly for others to read...

I apologize if my post seems unwanted advice coming from an obsessed mind like me...

I enjoy your posts and threads...

I wish you the best eternally...

P.S. my dac is a so low cost one and so good it is a pity the designer do no sell them in Ebay anymore i think...

I paid it peanuts at time.... It is a NOS battery dac, tds 1543 based dac, call SPS..

I pay it 20 bucks new on a miraculous ebay bid...

I dont claim that this dac is better than costly one, i claim that he is good enough if we solve mechanical,electrical and acoustical control problem..

I cannot even detect any limitation from it in my system and room...

And remember that my speakers/romm exceed inS.Q. any of my 7 headphones which i will never used again...

http://audio.starting-point-systems.com/

To give you an example, I'm intrigued a lot by the Mytek Manhattan II but I've never heard it.  If it's somewhat better sounding, the network interface would make it a worthwhile investment for me.

Keep your money....

It is my advice...

but if happiness means expanse for a dac buy it, life is too short...

My best to you...

or maybe a used Manhattan ll will not only sound better, but will hold it's value for a few years as prices for everything increases...

or maybe a used Manhattan ll will not only sound better, but will hold it's value for a few years as prices for everything increases...

This is always a quandry.  I bought the last new-in-box Luxman 507ux in the US for like 50% off retail.  So, sure I could sell it used for more than I paid right now, but then I'd be left with nothing to listen to.  🤣

Pay off your credit cards in full (why pay interest $'s that most likely have little, if any, benefit when filing taxes)?

Sell the gear you don't need/use before you become too old/lame to do so easily.

DeKay

PS:

If you come back to LA help me sell help me sell the gear I no longer need/use.

Well if it is end of days… a new DAC. I love audio… but no way am I giving the credit card companies a penny. I am retired and had to remodel after a flood… but no more than 4.5% am I going to pay.

Nuke the cards.

Been without any credit for 13 years, and got our business and affairs in order.

If we couldn't swing something, it went on standby until we could.

Audio went to the bottom of the list, so I got more flexible about what I could do:

The improbable with next to nothing.

More later, if I want to rant @ you....dinners' ready. ;)

OK, one thing is clear, this thread has turned into a  "how much do you hate credit card" thread and I'm completely here for it!

@erik_squires ..*L*  I don't hate them, per se...  But...

We had cards, once upon....2 years into our business venture, trying to make it into Our Version of what it could be, employees, work picking up, working hard at making it move...

And then the market decided to crap on all of us.

Phone didn't ring for over a month.

I ended up filing personal bankruptcy to shield the biz.

Since we were 'too new' with not a good 'track record' for the biz, the bank shrugged.  It got real tight for longer than we cared for, let everyone go.

Spouse, self, and the pets were It.  Only the improved quality of our work, the improved attitude we brought to it and some lucky happenstance pulled us through.

In the next two weeks we complete the largest commercial contract to date, high profile, and 6 figures.  The design firm remarked that we're the most pleasant firm of our sort to work with on a 'difficult project'.

Difficult, yes.....but we're used to 'punching back'. ;)

Zero the cards, bring down anything else you can while you're at it.

Lean the carbs on your lifestyle for awhile....go frugal, it won't hurt that much.

Wait....see what the near future entails.

Maybe that DAC or whatever current lust entails may show up 'substantially reduced' later...and since you've got 'this 'n that' you're calling surplus, move it NOW.

Pause the ceiling GIK, unless the surplus is '+ enough'....or just 'cheap out' for the time being.

Of course, you're free to do what you might....🤔

My concern is that of the cornered animal that has nowhere to go but through you...or us....if one gets my drifty drift....😔

Our bank remains 'unhelpful', even now.

We remain just for the convenience and their current decent level of service.

I suspect that cryptocurrency will end up in a crypt.

But...like the 'market', all are bets in the final analysis...

Take care out there.

Regards, Jerry

Oh, Erik....get a load of this, meanwhile....*L*

Scary....*L*

Bearing in mind that with inflation (as has been mentioned elsewhere here recently), that dosh will buy you much less in the foreseeable future.  

@erik_squires where are you in SC? I am in Columbia. - Louis

To begin with, pay off credit cards, then apply for one of the zero interest rate credit cards for a period of 12 to 18 months, or as I did, I found the most favorable interest rate through https://hurtigudbetaling.dk/ to give as little interest as possible. Then buy the DAC of your dreams that you've wanted for so long, and you'll have a year to pay for what you bought it for. Loans are a banking product, and they can be profitable and useful if you approach the procedure wisely. In general, you need to take a loan when required. You should not use this service when you want to live "beautifully." For example, you can save up or earn extra money for the desired thing.

A lot of good info here. Since tge original question is about tax returns and credit cards, I will point out that if you usually have CC bills and usually get back $5000 for a return, then you should really change your withholding amount to actually have the cash to pay for things you otherwise use the CC to purchase.  This way, you don't pay interest on your CC throughout the year while you are lending your money to the government interest free. Your scenario is a perfect example of this.  

In essence, all the CC interest you paid this year could have been avoided if you did the above. It's your money, take it as soon as possible.  Don't lend it out the whole year to the government while paying CC interest. Change your withholdings.  Good luck.

+1 @cissado 

I'll take your advice, for sure!

All the haters should buy crypto so the rest can have a good laugh. check more on site