At what point is it enough?

[jameswei]

I was a hoarder when I live in the States, well sorta of a hoarder because I do flip gears but I was always buying and the house is always a mess. Before I leave for Taiwan to take care for my aging parents (89,91 years old) I sold off everything and give away the rest that was hard to sell. Now two years later in Taiwan I have bought a Marantz CR-611, SA Mantra 5 speakers, SA Aura 1 speakers, Monitor Audio Radius 380, Modi Uber 2 Multibits DAC, SMSL M8 DAC, Teac TN-300 these were all new gear. I also bought Sansui B/C 2102, Sansui AU-X901, Sansui AU-X711, Pioneer C-90, Marantz Model 250M, Marantz 16D, Sony CDS C333ES, Primare T21, KEF 105/3 and Spendor SP3/1P. I also just bit on Ebay on some Proton receiver because my tech has one and it sounded nice and I want one. None of these gears are cheap here, I think its twice of the prices in the U.S because the government here adds a 37% tax on imported stereo stuff. I just realize this morning that I have a sickness and also the some of the Akers have this problems too. The question is "is there a cure for this buying sickness"?

 

[jameswei]

OH forgot to mention just pick up a Technics SL 1200 MKII last night.

 

[Hugo9000]

'The question is "is there a cure for this buying sickness"?'

Yes, spend time actually listening to music. Preferably on those wonderful KEF R105/3 loudspeakers!

 

[4-2-7]

The question is "is there a cure for this buying sickness"?

Well yes, buy really expensive gear, I bet that slows you down, it did for me. At that point not just any old gear will work for you and when you buy something to improve what you already have, it cost a lot and you really think about the move.

 

[grillebilly]

Get some new hobbies. Idle time makes for compulsive buys and irresponsible spending. The proof is all the high selling prices on Ebay during the colder months.

 

[danrclem]

Sickness? What sickness? I thought acquisition of stereo gear was a perfectly normal behavior. It's those people that don't collect who are sick you know. They are the people with the real problems. Well gotta go check out Craigslist again. Haven't checked it for 20 minutes or so. Be back soon.

 

[whoaru99]

I just realize this morning that I have a sickness and also the some of the Akers have this problems too. The question is "is there a cure for this buying sickness"?

Just like with dope, admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery.

 

[sheltie dave]

Getting new hobbies will not work. The compulsion to acquire runs across multiple hobbies, and you are one of those buyers who is perfectly happy putting in the hours of research, bird dogging, and going to the sales.

The worst of the Stop It! strategies is counting on the house being full of shit, so you can no longer buy in uncontrolled fashion. Your coping mechanism is to deflect by noting you are also a flipper.

You can go upscale, but even with extensive selling, you still are acquiring - and acquiring lots of gear. Even you are noticing it is piling up.

All this behavior comes from within you, and it requires a great deal of discipline to get to the level of skill, knowledge, and transactional ability you have forged. The answer to your question is simple - do YOU want to change yourself? If you do, look into some of the online 12 step self help programs, and start down the journey, using your own discipline and knowing you can help those you love, by changing yourself for the better.

 

[jameswei]

I wish I was still flipping, over here there's not much demand for used gears and I usually sell stuff back to the second hand shop at half of what I paid for. I am on the wrong side of flipping! I think I need to do the 12 steps and figure out a cheaper hobby. The record prices here is outrageous, $1200 NT for a record, that $40 US. I should of ship the 10,000 records that I had back here.

 

[DrumminDaddy]

My wife has the cure. She's gonna kick my ass.

 

[KingBubba]

Your tendencies to buy are actually a psychological problem. There are many people who suffer from it, myself included for many years. The core of the problem is that people look to fill a perceived loss in their lives by buying things, large and small, because the purchase make them feel good for a short time. They seek more things to purchase because the good feeling does not last very long. You, like I, have lost someone or something in your life and your buying is done to fill that loss.

I finally realized, for me, that my loss happened in the 1980s. I purchased an SX-1250 in 1981. In 1986, I tried to put new thermal compound on the output transistors as a matter of maintenance. I made a mistake remounting the transistors and when I next turned it on it literally blew up with a loud bang like a shotgun. I was permanently hurt by that and lived through the sadness of watching the trash man picking it up and throwing it into the trash truck bin. I hated myself for years for my stupidity. Then I found a Sansui G-6000 at a thrift store for $60 in the early 90s and from then on the game was on. Anything silver went home with me.

Many years later I found Audiokarma, where I was surrounded by a lot of people like me. The more I learned, the more I bought. Luckily the TV show "Hoarders" came on and I immediately recognized myself in the people on the show. I finally knew that buying stuff was not going to really make feel better. After I accepted this new understanding, I finally could stop the buying. I kept the good stuff and donated the rest of the stuff. I now still have way to much stuff, but it is a nice collection that is not getting any bigger. Every year I try to send out one or two a year to be rehabbed by some of the great techs here at AK. There are still a few vintage receivers that I would buy on the spot, if I found them reasonably priced at a thrift store. One of those is the Marantz 2270, another would be the Onkyo TX-6500MkII. I doubt that there is much of a chance of finding these. Collecting is a fun and reasonable hobby. I hope you have fun with your hobby, but think about what I said and you will find that somewhere there is a loss you are trying fill. Have fun. Oh, btw, you have some nice equipment there.

 

[goodolpg]

Your problem is obvious, you have too much discretionary income.
I can help with that.
Send me the money each time you are tempted to buy some new gear.
In return for the money you send me that will be one less piece of gear just taking up space in your home.
This will benefit both of us.

 

[Dr. Morbius]

You don't own stuff. It owns you!

 

[captouch]

Well yes, buy really expensive gear, I bet that slows you down, it did for me. At that point not just any old gear will work for you and when you buy something to improve what you already have, it cost a lot and you really think about the move.

There's a lot of truth in this advice if you're a 'rational' audio enthusiast. As long as something you run across that could be better (or equal and different/interesting) compared to what you have, the temptation to buy is there out of curiosity and love of the hobby.

But if you already have really good and expensive gear, you should at least be able to resist low or mid-fi stuff because the chance of it topping what you have is really low. If you still can't resist and it's not a practical play (no lose situation where you could certainly sell for more than you paid), then maybe you do have a compulsive tendency.

If you're regularly buying high and selling low, know that, and still keep doing it, then maybe it is time to really address it as a problem rather than a hobby.

 

[jameswei]

Sony DVP-NS999ED just arrive

 

[freQ(*)Oddio]

was aware if my buying problem, we all have energy to be rid of to a vice, instead of constantly searching for something diff, i switched to repairing or improving what i already owned, and ordering $2 parts instead of entire components, takes up my time now anyway.

 

[jameswei]

I tried that briefly and almost destroyed a Denon POA-1500, so I gave up on soldering, maybe ruining gear is cheaper than buying!

 

[04blackmaxx]

I made a mistake remounting the transistors and when I next turned it on it literally blew up with a loud bang like a shotgun. I was permanently hurt by that and lived through the sadness of watching the trash man picking it up and throwing it into the trash truck bin.

I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude or anything but thank you for this line because I started laughing out loud uncontrollably picturing the scene of watching a botched fix get taken by the trash man...if it hurt so bad why did you watch it get taken away? You seriously hated yourself for years over ruining a piece of electronic equipment?

 

[KingBubba]

It took me five+ years to get up the balls to throw it away. It wasn't my intention to see it being tossed. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. At this time in my life, I was making $1.75 an hour; so buying another $500 receiver or paying the $90/hr, for repair, was mostly out of the question. I worked very hard and saved a little at a time to come up with the original money to buy the 1250.

Yes, this was a real blow for me because that 1250 was a sort of symbol of something I had always wanted, a real quality high power receiver. I went through high school and college with a 25 watt Lafayette integrated amp and a pair of Criterion 10a speakers. I felt I deserved something special and I worked hard to get it. That is why it was real blow when I killed it with my own hand. I was like having a shotgun being fired two feet from my face. I'm over it now and I have a 1280 and a 1250 rehabbed by mattsd. They are now the core of my living room system. I'm feeling much better now.

 

[HTWillie]

Soon after getting into this game a few years ago, I realized how quickly it could get out of control. The fix for me was to aim for higher end gear.

I simply don't need any $8 pair of bookshelf speakers, no matter how good they are. Or $12 CD players. Or $40 receivers. The pieces I aim for now fetch $300-1000 on the used market, and keeping that in mind is enough let me pass on lower valued gear.