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Audio Accounting And Are You Brave Enough To Do It?

I almost constantly have the "approximate" figures running through my mind. I'd have to look into it further regarding what I've sold and how much I've gained or lost. I think I'll be down only a few hundred dollars after wheeling through a bunch of gear, not too bad IMO! With the gear I have left, I bought enough of it (almost all of it) used, and at the lower end of the market prices, that it's worth what I paid for it still. I'm in it for about $7800 right now, including both systems, my 65" OLED TV (not sure if that should count, but I watch music DVD's on it and stream Spotify and Youtube, so counting it) and a few other things that I'd have whether I had a stereo or not (iPad Air and Nvidia Shield). Add in the $200 or so "loss" from wheeling and dealing over the last 5 years, that's around $8k over 5 years. But what I have left is still worth nearly that much so...whatever. I like to listen to music. A LOT. So it's worth it. And I work from home, so I get to listen to music for 8 hours per day while at work, and then some after work if I want to. I'm not sure if I'd spend as much if I didn't get to listen so much.
 
I am fairly happy with my systems right now. The problem is that it would take a significant outlay of cash to attain a noticeable improvement in my rigs. For me, the priorities are in paying off my mortgage and funding my 401K. Those twin actions leave little in the way of true discretionary income. I have been lucky in that over the years I bought one good piece at a time. So the outlay has been less than painful, although considerable for me. I am not sure what the hammer price of my systems would finally be, but if they are for sale I doubt I would be in a position to care. I would be in a horizontal position if I had to guess.

The one thing that bums me out is the value of my cd collection. I would think that I have spent around $25K on cds over the years and given current prices of used cds, it would be worth no more than $5,000, if that. As an investment that is pretty lousy, for my own personal enjoyment it has been well worth it.
 
Just did the simple exercise for the two systems I have totaling money invested, not original value or current value.

It is kinda sobering. Records, not gonna attempt that one. But the big picture is I've sunk a lot of dough in this hobby.

Now I should go to the two racks of unused audio equipment and begin the process of unloading.

From the equipment side, it does beg the question: Where to next??? Continue down same kinda path, unload it all and start over, maybe simplify?
 
RT Fan said:
I am fairly happy with my systems right now. The problem is that it would take a significant outlay of cash to attain a noticeable improvement in my rigs. For me, the priorities are in paying off my mortgage and funding my 401K. Those twin actions leave little in the way of true discretionary income. I have been lucky in that over the years I bought one good piece at a time. So the outlay has been less than painful, although considerable for me. I am not sure what the hammer price of my systems would finally be, but if they are for sale I doubt I would be in a position to care. I would be in a horizontal position if I had to guess.

The one thing that bums me out is the value of my cd collection. I would think that I have spent around $25K on cds over the years and given current prices of used cds, it would be worth no more than $5,000, if that. As an investment that is pretty lousy, for my own personal enjoyment it has been well worth it.
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I hear ya on the CD's! I bought a ton of them from around 16-24 years old and shoved them into one of those storage "books." Ruined almost all of them, if not all. A lot of good stuff there. I guess the one good thing is I ripped quite a few of them to my PC. The only CD's I have left are ones purchased after age 24. I've got maybe 150 or so still in good shape. Around 200-300 vinyl records too (also started collecting those around age 24). I guess age 24 is when I started about caring for my physical media, LOL!

Now, I am only buying an average of one record per month (or less). Mostly listening to what I have already, Spotify, and local digital files.

All this to say I am NOT brave enough to do the accounting on the media, especially the CD's!
 
I hear you Hawkeye, I don't even want to think about the vinyl I sold back in college when I needed cash. "Ma Bell has got me by the calls" was the sales pitch. Those sonsofbitches went UP in value from where I let them go. Just my luck.
 
I have a pretty extensive spreadsheet I use to track my gear, tubes, etc for the past 6-7 years when I really started to acquire and cycle through gear. I started it to help me quantify what I was spending, because I didn't want it to spiral out of control. I'm good with what I've spent compared to what I have.

The media (CD, LPs) is another story though. Instead of 30-40 pieces of gear that I could liquidate in a reasonable amount of time if I wanted, I've got probably 1000 LPs and maybe double the # of CDs. No doubt in my mind that I have more invested in media than gear, but that's ok.
 
RT Fan said:
The one thing that bums me out is the value of my cd collection. I would think that I have spent around $25K on cds over the years and given current prices of used cds, it would be worth no more than $5,000, if that. As an investment that is pretty lousy, for my own personal enjoyment it has been well worth it.
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Never thought about that .. I never committed than many resources to the CD format. Guess that explains (to me anyway) the dislike of many for the streaming services like Spotify (free or subscription).
 
I am all in at $1065 for the stuff in my signature that includes all the different sets of tubes I have. Once I finish my ST70 that will add $713.42. With the SQ I am getting I am happier than a Mr Pig in Schitt.

Just about to hit post and remembered my travel rig. I.m at about $425 there and happy.
 
I have a spreadsheet for all the 'toys' I have purchased. Useful for insurance purposes, but mostly because I have a thing about lists...

I also have a database of CDs I have bought, with ten fields, including purchase date, price & receipt number. Started because I found myself buying duplicates. And yes, I have all the receipts for toys and CDs.

I'm a bit retentive...
 
I tried doing it mentally without a calculator once. I got scared and stopped. I then tried the same on my vinyl collection. Same result. I got scared and stopped.

I don’t want to know. It’s insane!

Yes, I have stuff that I don’t use presently. But I can’t get myself to part with for sentimental reasons.

I consol myself by thinking that my family has a roof over their head, they are fed, they have whatever I could not have when I was younger. I manage to save a bit every year for our retirement. I am healthy for the time being. Tomorrow never knows. I also keep thinking that there are worst things in life that can destroy oneself and family.

But I don’t go back to trying the calculation. I don’t want to know because I know it’s a crazy number.

More importantly, I’m very happy with what I have.

Full stop. :)
 
cpt_paranoia said:
I have a spreadsheet for all the 'toys' I have purchased. Useful for insurance purposes, but mostly because I have a thing about lists...

I also have a database of CDs I have bought, with ten fields, including purchase date, price & receipt number. Started because I found myself buying duplicates. And yes, I have all the receipts for toys and CDs.

I'm a bit retentive...
Click to expand...

I use Discogs to track my media and avoid buying duplicates. With the app on my phone, I scan the bar code and can quickly tell if I have a copy. After buying a couple duplicates, though, I learned to click on the artist name to see what I already have for that artist.
 
cpt_paranoia said:
Discogs didn't exist when I started my database. Tim Berners-Lee had only just invented the World Wide Web, but hadn't yet created the first web browser...
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True. I created a database listing of my CDs in the 80s using dBase, then FoxBase. But I had only a couple hundred CDs back then. Converting my list to Discogs only required scanning the bar code. I cannot type that fast.
 
I'm not sure of the need "to do it" here as no one is looking over my shoulder auditing my hobby spending. All of the gear and media would add up to a large number I'm sure. But music has been such a large part of my life (both as a creator/performer as well as a consumer/listener) that I'm not sure I can put a price tag on the enjoyment that it has - and continues to - bring me. Whatever I have spent averages out to pennies an hour over a lifetime, and it's well worth it.

I live within my means, have good savings, a family, as well as other hobbies and interests that all compete for time, attention and of course money. Until or unless audio gets to a compulsive/addictive level where I am filling storage lockers with gear I never use, or filling rooms in my house with music I never listen to, I don't see a need for some sort of reckoning or ledger event.

You can't put a price on happiness, and music delivers that to me fully and completely.

Rock on Mr Pig and don't let the price tags stop you from pursuing your own path to audio nirvana (until the wife kicks you to the curb that is :-) . Then you went too far...

jblnut
 
Mlistens03 said:
Just worked it out, and holy crap. I've spent probably $700ish on stereo gear, which 90% of were stupid cheap GW finds, and if I sold all my gear at a few hundred lower than the going rate, I'd get around $2700. :eek: And now, Mister Pig, you've put this thought in my head. it is going to keep nagging me for months, and months, and months, until I say "screw it," sell everything, and restart.
One thing I do know is that for $2700 I can do a lot better than what I have even if I buy new. I mean, Dayens Ampino, Monitor Audio Silver series bookshelves, SVS SB1000, Rega P2, Ortofon 2M blue, AQ cables, nice stands, and rack... Oh, my word Mister Pig. Do you see what you've done!?!;):p
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Mister Pig, because of YOUR thread, I think I am actually going to go through with this. This is all your fault.
I am joking about being mad, but I am dead serious about doing this. :)
 
jblnut said:
I'm not sure of the need "to do it" here as no one is looking over my shoulder auditing my hobby spending. All of the gear and media would add up to a large number I'm sure. But music has been such a large part of my life (both as a creator/performer as well as a consumer/listener) that I'm not sure I can put a price tag on the enjoyment that it has - and continues to - bring me. Whatever I have spent averages out to pennies an hour over a lifetime, and it's well worth it.

I live within my means, have good savings, a family, as well as other hobbies and interests that all compete for time, attention and of course money. Until or unless audio gets to a compulsive/addictive level where I am filling storage lockers with gear I never use, or filling rooms in my house with music I never listen to, I don't see a need for some sort of reckoning or ledger event.

You can't put a
jblnut said:
I'm not sure of the need "to do it" here as no one is looking over my shoulder auditing my hobby spending. All of the gear and media would add up to a large number I'm sure. But music has been such a large part of my life (both as a creator/performer as well as a consumer/listener) that I'm not sure I can put a price tag on the enjoyment that it has - and continues to - bring me. Whatever I have spent averages out to pennies an hour over a lifetime, and it's well worth it.

I live within my means, have good savings, a family, as well as other hobbies and interests that all compete for time, attention and of course money. Until or unless audio gets to a compulsive/addictive level where I am filling storage lockers with gear I never use, or filling rooms in my house with music I never listen to, I don't see a need for some sort of reckoning or ledger event.

You can't put a price on happiness, and music delivers that to me fully and completely.

Rock on Mr Pig and don't let the price tags stop you from pursuing your own path to audio nirvana (until the wife kicks you to the curb that is :) . Then you went too far...

jblnut
Click to expand...

on happiness, and music delivers that to me fully and completely.

Rock on Mr Pig and don't let the price tags stop you from pursuing your own path to audio nirvana (until the wife kicks you to the curb that is :) . Then you went too far...

jblnut
Click to expand...

You can't put a price on happiness

Thats true. But with enough money you could license the digital rights to happiness....

Cheers
Mister Pig
 
I used to buy and sell used gear, and almost doubled my income. That was more than twenty years ago. Buying audio was an investment for me then. However, when I quit selling audio, my purchases quit being a financial investment. I buy what I want within my means, strictly for enjoying music, and as a hobby. I don't give a ratzass about resale value, and I prefer this approach.
 
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