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
manitunc
795 posts
 
Absolutely, a countries overall wealth and financial condition is based on a strong middle class, but that is achieved by the poor rising up, not the rich being dragged down. Unfortunately, many in America have decided that they are entitled to live a middle class lifestyle, without really having to earn it. It seems that in America, the middle class is the lowest financial class we are willing to accept, almost as a birthright. It used to be that we were proud to achieve financial success. Now it seems we have to apologize for it. At the same time, we seem to have a class of doolittles that expect the government to provide them with that which they are unwilling to work for themselves, and do it by taxing the very people who have worked to achieve something for themselves and their families. Classic redistribution of wealth, which when forced, is something I just can't agree with. I wont apologize for any financial success I have achieved, and I dont expect anyone else to unless they have committed a crime to do so.
astralography
51 posts
 
I was once given some good advice early on.. if done right, $5K will take you 98% of the way there, and you can then spent another 100K on that last two percent.

Absolutely go analog. Cover your basics with a reworked vintage tube amp. Get a quality TT with a decent cartridge.
Buy high efficiency speakers, and remember that there is no substitute for a bit of size. Passive woofers will always give you better detail on the lower frequencies.

Use common sense.
Buy a sub with a 15 inch cone. Most bass players used 15 inch cones in their amps. Play back through what they used.
Horns sound better played back through horns such as Klipsch.

Make your own wires with thick 10 gauge stock wire you get at the hardware store. Forget fancy nonsense, power conditioners and other silliness.

Then just focus on your vinyl collection. Enjoy the hobby of finding good slabs of vinyl and focus on playing good quality recordings. Learn about the best pressings and remember that 180 gram new remake releases on vinyl are a total scam. Original pressings almost always sound better.
Anything remastered digitally in pro tools is going to just sound like a CD pressed on vinyl. Don't fall for this nonsense. Buy a $20 clamp and kiss 180 gram away.

The sound engineer on the album is everything. Train your ears to understand that compression kills.

It's about finding your favorite artists. Second about how they performed, third about how that album was recorded. 4rth about the pressing, 5th about the condition of that particular piece of vinyl.

Spend your time in the vinyl shops, not the audiophile gear shops.
mordante
511 posts
 
To be honest, and I may be mistaken but I realy think the rich in the US don't pay enough taxes. These are the state taxes in the Netherlands.

€0-19,000 33% tax
€19,000-55,600 42% tax
>€55,600 52% tax

and then there are also provincial en local taxes. To me this seems like a fair system. The average income before tax is about €33.000 in the Netherlands. I earn about that much. I strongly disagree with Manitunc, I think you live in a ivory tower.
jdoris
972 posts
 
May I withdraw my question?

John
ckoffend
684 posts
 
Is it better to be poor in the US or "middle class" in India, China, Vietnam, Mexico, slew of African countries, etc. . .? In most cases, the poor in the USA still live a more comfortable life than the middle class in many of these alternatives.

Even the poorest in the USA have safe drinking water, public safety, access to education, access to technology (free in most communities via schools, community programs and libraries).

Trickle down does not always come in the form of cash!

Just take a look at what our President has been promoting this past week - high speed internet access to all! The fact that this is even a topic of relavence says a huge amount about where we are.

For those that don't believe that trickle down works, take a look at charitable contributions and where (from whom) they come (the nice aspect here is that this is not government forced but individually selected for what is typically benefits of their community - whether seen as local, state, federal or the whole planet)? Take a look at the tax rolls and who pays what percentages of taxes?

I am all for incentifying the "poor" and assisting them in their efforts to get ahead. Many people need a helping hand sometime in their lifetime (not always financially) and I support those that have the capability to extend a helping hand to do so. We are all better off when our society as a whole is better off. Society as a whole is better off when all the individuals can sustain for themselves - through education, hard work and great effort.
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