Why do you spend Time & Money on Audio?

[ssf]

Is it only me or has anybody else realized how difficult it has become for us to enjoy our music ?

What with Spinorama , Temphora, room issues and modes, cardiasians, class D amps not bringing out the best in music, our receivers not being suitable for music, subwoofers not agreeing to jell with with their poor cousins, the bookshelfs, one subwoofer never being enough to get me the smoothest of bass, speaker placements, time and domain issues, power sources creating issues other than the obvious of blowing up our amps, wrong cable selection, eyesight and hearing issues causing voices to be lost in the wind ? Absorbers and diffusers that if placed in living rooms might just end with us getting kicked out of the house by our better halfs, not to forget synergies and energies required to get the best possible sound. And I have not even covered preamps, poweramps, tubes, DAC's and turntables.

The main reason that I can think of why I spend time and money on audio is because of this wonderful forum called HiFiVision.

 

[Analogous]

Discontent is the mother of audiophilia?

 

[Credoh]

My Youtube feed showed this interesting video "Why High End Audio"?
But to avoid some of the limits and controversy in that term, let us keep it broad based.

Please let us know why you care about your audio setup and why you spend your time and money on it.

Regards




.

My whole family asks me this question every single day
It's the emotional connect and probably that ever elusive search for perfection I guess. But so far every time I've bought gear that is a notch above what I have there have been appreciable improvements that are impossible to go back on

 

[aljojohn]

Love towards different brands, enjoying the quality of sounds, in 80s my father owned brands like SILVER , FISHER and the like, i got the interest from those golden days towards hi end.

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

I think the thread should ask why do you spend time,money and effort/energy on audio. That said here's my answer -

Because I enjoy listening to music, immensely. Because it gives me pleasure,relaxation,happiness and soothes my mind (therapeutic value). They say music soothes the savage beast, that is definitely true in my case.

I do not care about anything else, only the music. The gear is just the tools I need to achieve my goal.

 

[souravin]

I do not care about anything else, only the music. The gear is just the tools I need to achieve my goal.

100% agree. My best music indulging moments appear with my desktop PC with a simple 2.1 Altec Lansing old PC speakers.

 

[sidvee]

My Youtube feed showed this interesting video "Why High End Audio"?
But to avoid some of the limits and controversy in that term, let us keep it broad based.

Please let us know why you care about your audio setup and why you spend your time and money on it.

Regards




.

The guy on this video has another really interesting YT channel. Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/c/huffparanormal

The Miracle Box Spirit Communication App. FAQ and HOW TO USE. – Huff Paranormal

Difficult for me to take this guy seriously anymore. Actually I am laughing my a$$ off!
He even invented a new language!:
"The audio banks are reversed human speech but have nothing that is understandable to you unless a spirit connects and changes that. If you speak Indian, and connect, the spirit will speak Indian to you"
Cheers,
Sid

 

[palu]

There wasn’t too many gadgets in my childhood hood except a stereo cassette player from national Panasonic . After grown up, I still got a special love for sound and so continued to spend money and time on sound .

 

[ilar]

For me, music is something that is inseparable from me. In other words, music is my best companion and hence this hobby.

I have come a long way from being not able to afford a small Takai tape recorder to today's hifi systems - i feel i am blessed.

That's the reason why i become a child ( excited) when i talk to my fellow audiophiles.

Good luck friends!

By the bye, great topic @Nikhil

 

[General_sound]

Love for music or the equipment it is played on is an undefinable intangible. Way back in 1972 my father spent ,then, a princely sum of ₹275 for a Philips tt. A homemade amp for ₹250 and pair of Speakers for ₹145 completed the system. Music gave me great mental peace and solace over the journey of life. Somehow also liked to tinker and kept changing various components. It remained a passion over the years. Even now, when there is no desire to change any component and the ears are slowly giving up, i still visited the What HiFi? Show twice to soak in the atmosphere and listen to some nice gear, far beyond the range of affordability. In College, way back in '73, I could not go to sleep without listening to Radio Kuwait on 25 m band. Elton John " Don't let the Sun go Down on me" was a favourite of the disc jockey. In the afternoons it was Radio Australia on 13m band. Mornings were reserved for Radio Ceylon on 19 and 25 m. Eric Fernando needs no mention . So music is integral , IMHO, to life.

 

[Analogous]

My Youtube feed showed this interesting video "Why High End Audio"?
But to avoid some of the limits and controversy in that term, let us keep it broad based.

Please let us know why you care about your audio setup and why you spend your time and money on it.

Regards




.

I love music and I am thrilled when I hear it performed beautifully in my set up.
Life without this would be a mistake.

 

[MasTerasTrix]

Yet to view the Video:

In my opinion,

Music is an extremely natural phenomenon and pervades our lives in all forms and moods. It has the unique distinction of physical and emotional fulfilment, often bordering on epiphany. It can be enjoyed in a group, between 2 souls or in solitude. It traverses all mundane limitations like caste, creed and colour.
One does not need an expensive gear to enjoy music and that underlines its worth and beauty, and there also lies the mystery of the question in hand
"Why you care about your audio setup and why you spend your time and money on it".

In my home, my wife possibly listens and enjoys more music from her Saregama Carvaan that I do from my dedicated 2-channel gears which has kept oscillating over the years.

Now to the question of why????
It is and can become an addiction. Sometimes that one euphoric moment (placebo or factual) by a change of a cable makes you forget the money you drained on it. At other times you are often at loss if you experience the opposite or experience no improvement (a dead investment).
Audiophilic Insurgency is a self inflicted internal conflict that often borders on insanity and makes us do things beyond our means for God only knows to meet what end.
It is like the mysterious Blackhole - full of gravity, darkness and keeps sucking you in.

In this journey, it is extremely important to keep the senses under control and not get carried away with the hard earned money or the never returning time.
One must ultimately learn to enjoy music, in whatever form it is delivered, as most of the nuances are already hardwired into the neurons of your brain.

This is one of the most practical and sane approaches towards a hobby i have come across and you couldn't have worded it better. Every single word you have penned down here is worth its weight in gold. Really well written and thought of. Cheers to you for the great approach.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Because it is frustrating and yet, rewarding. The rewards are euphoric, but short-lived. The frustrations are inevitable and almost constant. You keep enduring the frustrations because you’ve tasted the rewards. Just that the goal-post keeps shifting (upwards or side-ways).

At some point you realise this is how it’s going to be, forever. But you can’t help it.

Almost defined an addiction, eh?

 

[manek]

For me, there was always music playing at home whether on a small mono or a ghetto blaster or a proper system. Music bonded us as a family and was the one thing common across the board. Thankfully the same kind of music.

Music first, was always our thing and every time the family upgraded, the system music got better. One enjoyed listening to it more and more. The emotional connect was greater.

But there is also a limit to which we said we would invest. Never to go beyond ones means.

So for us the money mostly went into software and not the hardware. But there will always be a reasonably good system around to enjoy the music !



Manek

 

[arj]

Is it only me or has anybody else realized how difficult it has become for us to enjoy our music ?
..

I do get what you are saying and perhaps something we learn with time.

Personally i do enjoy music on my Hifi, in my car and on spotify with headphones and enjoyment seems to be present anyway I do it. Maybe the expectations with each setup is different But it also becomes more than just listening to music. Trying to eke a little bit out if the system need not be about spending money but learning and optimising with what you have

 

[aeroash]

This is a two-pronged perspective.

1) Most end up spending money trying to improve the sound in a sub-optimal setup. A sub-optimal setup is where one has no space (most of us) or the knowledge (most of us) to optimally set up the speaker and the listening location. In the process, crossing our fingers that a new DAC or a Power Amp will be the answer to our prayers. What is certain is that there can never be a holographic sound when the speaker placement isn't sorted.

2) The second group is the ones who've gotten the basics down to a tee and are exploring varied flavours.

 

[hydrovac]

Some very smart replies here, so I'll just add on a couple points...

It’s a hobby... a very expensive one, but in the end geeks like to spend big time on their object of obsession.
But that’s not to say we’re all dupes who bought some snake oil... we know what our ears love, and we spend accordingly to get that extra little bit of satisfaction.

It’s mostly FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt... buying expensive equipment eases the fear of missing out.
That’s all it is to me, really.

...