1. Home
  2. misc-audio
  3. 152119-137844

The 5 stages of making a bad audio purchase

This is tongue in cheek people, so let’s keep the replies light shall we?
The 5 Stages of Making a Bad Audio Purchase:

1. Denial: "My system, which before was of course totally awesome, is now totally awesomer! The sound stage isn’t just 3 dimensional any more, it is 4 dimensional. I can feel fingers sliding across guitar strings, drums are like my head is against the snare, and the bass goes 10hz lower ...."

2. Anger: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T BELIEVE MY SYSTEM WENT FROM AWESOME TO AWESOMER!!!. You obviously have a crap system, your ears are crap, you are just jealous."

3. Bargaining: "Hey, this gadget will make your already awesome system totally awesomer! 60% of MFR list is a great deal for it! That’s 40% off and you don’t even have to pay tax. I am only selling it because I am upgrading to the even awesomer version 2. My loss is your gain."

4. Depression: "I can’t believe I spent $5,000 on this thing ....."

5. Acceptance: "Sure, 75% off list is fair."
atdavid
jacksky
103 posts
 
To EBM; I too have only made great purchases....that includes 5 sets of speakers, 3 receivers, 2 complete home theater systems and 2 amps sitting in my basement while 3 sets of speakers are on my main listening room rotation. They were such great purchases can’t bear to let em go.

to Tom6894; I agree system matching is critical....but I Like Vodka. Am I doomed never to get the most out of my system?

to Elliotn  ewcombjr; you pose the ultimate conundrum: if most home listening is done under the influence of some substance, then that is the only way to audition new equipment. But if you then buy that equipment:
- could someone question your purchase stating”what we’re you thinking, were you high?
- if you then listen to the purchase stone cold sober and it doesn’t sound great, will you forever be chasing that initial high?
fleschler
2,070 posts
 
I have made some purchasing mistakes in my time.  I remember an "audiophile" CD player which I bought for 40% off, the Muse Signature 9, somewhere around $2000 back in the 90s.  It was awful, cut off beginning and ending transients.  I guess I bought it because my analog would always beat CDs in the 80's and 90's.  Worse than my Sonys and Kyoceras. 
I bought speakers in the 80's and 90's that didn't suit my electronics but I sold them for minor losses.  Most recently I purchased some SR products which were more playthings than sound enhancements (I love SR duplex outlets, fuses and HFTs).  Got 80% of my purchase price back.   So, we all make mistakes along the way to building a great audio system.  My equipment is mostly 13 to 30 years old with only cables and tweaks which are recent purchases and my new DAC, the COS Engineering D2 as of yesterday.  
Yes, that expensive CD player purchase bugs me even today.
papafrgog
103 posts
 
No matter the topic on here...eventually the discussion goes sideways. Sometimes funny, sometimes sadly. BTW, IMHO YMMV so CBD, FWIW. 
jeffvegas
372 posts
 
We are buying STEREO gear that costs as much as cars and homes!!! We are all ADDICTS!!!! The extreme high quality sound we hear from our stereo gear releases gross amounts of endorphins and brain chemicals mimicking the high experienced from heroin, meth, alcohol and cocaine. A research study was conducted at STANFORD University that showed elevation levels of dopamine equal to that of methamphetamine from listening to music. As well as blood pressure was reduced by as much as 20 points. I suffer from depression and anxiety and I can tell you 100 percent that a high end Audio system can nearly cure these disorders. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I’m sorry to inform you guys but it’s actually a viscous cycle, it’s also a negative reinforcement, that causing all the problems. The equipment itself degrades the sound and the more CDs and LPs you accumulate the worse the sounds gets, all things being equal. If you don’t believe me and it would not surprise me if you don’t, try taking all your CDs and LPs and books entirely out of the house some time. Then listen to your system again without all the media in the house. Same goes for all unused audio stuff you may have lying around, amps, cables, power cords, it’s all very bad for the sound. I especially feel sorry for Fleshler who has a bazillion CDs and records. OMG 😲 No angry emails, please, I’m not making this up. I’m only trying to help. 
More to discover