$$$ and the Audiophile

[hopjohn]

It never ceases to amaze me how many "hi-end", superflous products are thrown into the marketplace year after year after year. While I'm no sociologist, I often try and figure out just what type of person would be eager to buy such equiptment, and why they would do it. I contemplate that a person like this might have some kind of socioeconomic, class based statement that they are trying to make. I also consider the possibility that their actions are associated with the ideology of spending large sums of money in order to try and make up for some sort of inadequacy. It could be a hopeless attempt to fill a personal void, an insatiable appetite for having more toys than the next guy, or something as innocent as trying to decorate an enormous home. Having not ever been a wealthy person, I try to place myself in their situation and see how my thinking would change. Would my need for budgeting and time consuming cross comparison be affected with a thick wallet? I'd hoped I could say I just wouldn't be changed all that much with regards to the common sense I have so far applied to my buying decisions, but if I were rich??? Well, I just don't know that I'd look at it quite the same way.

Here was an interesting article I found that helped shed some light...
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/technology/articles/0,15114,460275-2,00.html

 

[zipper]

I think it's all relative...............the more $$$ you have the more you can afford yourself. With your knowledge of hifi I doubt you would opt to blow a quarter mill on speakers should you be in the position to do so. But if you made $10 million/year on a regular basis would you even look twice at an Axiom HT system?

I make a decent living but try to be conservative. I'd rather be able to retire comfortably at age 50 than blow dough & have to work to 62. I've mentioned that I own a Rolex. I didn't buy it, it was a wedding gift. In fact, I don't wear it on a daily basis. I like it but quite frankly I'm an easy going, blue-collar guy & me wearing a gold watch as regular attire is like putting diamond earrings on a dog.

I don't begrudge anyone for what they do with their money, for it has no affect on me. I simply do the best I can with what I have to work with. Perusing sites like this one helps me get the best I can afford.

 

[Takeereasy]

I just assume that there are thousands of Patrick Bateman clones running around that monitor every aspect of certain fields just so they can play a game of oneupsmanship with Biff and Buffy from the club. Look at my new cable cooker Biff. Makes the highs on my speakers chocolaty smooth. Best $20K I ever spent.

I do also see it the way Zipper does in many cases however.
As for a quarter mil on speakers I can see it. If I made $10 million per annum like Zipper said I'd have a dedicated movie theater and a seperate listening room loaded up with whatever speakers I thought sounded best regardless of cost. There would be room treatments and furniture as nice and as appealing as any out there. I don't know if I'd use 400 lb monoblock amps but I'd make sure I had some good stuff. I can see blowing that much a a whole setup easy. And if I had the money I don't think anyone could begrudge me that. I still wouldn't have a cable cooker, or battery powered cables, or cd enhancing cream, and for that matter none of the knobs on my equipment would have to be oak or titanium.

 

[JimSt]

It doesn't matter if an item is "high end" or not. If you can't eat it, wear it or sleep inside of it, it's a luxury. We're all guilty of spending more than we have to on our hobby....because bottom line is it's just a hobby and we can easily survive without spending a penny on it.

Most of my friends are perfectly happy borrowing their DVD's from Netflix, playing them on their $20 Sungale DVD players, watching them on their 27" Emerson televisions, and listening to them through the television's speaker....perhaps not strangely, every one of them drives a newer car than I do. Even with a system this modest, they're spending more than they need to.

It's been my experience that the wealthy are just as likely to comparison shop as the not so wealthy. Some have a Krell vs. Classe budget and some have a Denon vs. Onkyo budget. Comparing specs, reading reviews, auditioning equipment and working towards the best value is part of this hobby. "What can I do to best improve my system, that’s within my budget?" The exception is that there are the folks who just don't care about AV as a hobby...only the end result. Those are the folks who, if they have the funds, write a check to an installer and leave the details to him. They also aren't upgrading/swapping parts/tinkering regularly. They don't tend to hang out in the AV forums. They really aren't that interested.

In the end your "high end" superfluous items flood the marketplace because there are consumers for them (if not, they don't last long on the market). Whether it's marketing hype or a legitimate rationale, there are consumers for these items because people perceive a value to them....and have the buying power to obtain them.

We live in a consumer oriented society. We have income in excess of what we need to survive. So, we have money to spend on things we want, as well as things we need. People with more money, and more importantly people who perceive quality and performance to be of the utmost importance, are willing to spend more. A very few (thanks to the ease of obtaining credit) will buy more than they can afford. Most won't jeopardize their necessities...food, clothing and shelter. I don't think in most cases there are any sinister psychological handicaps causing people to spend more. In the end, it's simply the availability of funds and a perceived value to quality.

 

[msmith855]

Well put Jim, the only thing i can contribute after that is the following...

"A very few (thanks to the ease of obtaining credit)..."

The actuality is that there is a large number that are willing to spend more than they can afford (if you believe the studies on consumer credit balances)... been there and done that myself. Luckily, i'm a little older and a little wiser now, (well okay... older and married), and thanks to sites like this I am able to analyze and research my purchases to get the most value for my money. Sure, it's still an indulgence.. but at least it's an informed one within my budget.

What was the point? I dunno... but I figured it was worth contributing nevertheless....

 

[miklorsmith]

Great!

Nice post, JimSt. The reasons are surely not simple, as people are complex. To get to a precise answer, there are probably as many reasons as people. And, what seems silly to one person is an object of profound conviction to another, so superfluous is fluid.

There are no benchmarks, or "zero points" to assess human behavior (unless you're a psychologist). This means taking one's values and judging another's against them is solely a relative comparison. It is not like saying today is warmer than yesterday, more like the temperature today is better than yesterday. Others will disagree.

More-flighty fancies like Shakti Stones and cable cookers are more likely to be judged harshly than, say, power conditioners or amplifiers. Still, this is a relative measure, as there are sufficient believers in the marketplace to keep these products alive.

In audio, I'll bet a study could be done with factors such as Fanaticism and Economics that could accurately predict retail pricing of an individual's system having never seen it.

 

[Duffinator]

I'm a firm believer in he who dies with the most toys wins, with one caveat. You just use and appreciate those toys. Nothing worse than a guy with a Ferrari that never drives it over 65 mph. If someone wants to spend a million bucks on audio gear that's fine with me as long as they own the gear for it's audio qualities and not for one uping the next guy. JimSt correctly pointed out that the reason why such equipment is made in the first place is because there is a market for esoteric gear. Personally I'm a best bang for the buck kind of guy. I like to stay well within my means but buy the best quality I can afford. That won't change if I win the lottery. But it could mean that I buy a Krell amp, as long as I get a good deal on it. But you can bet I won't be buying any of these:

http://www.wilsonaudio.com/

Wilson Audio advertises in Widescreenreview magazine, it's one of the reasons I cancelled my subscription.