I have turned into a hoarder

[punprankster]

:sigh:i just can't seem to stop looking and buying (what i can afford). since i started with this hobby i have bought a sony ps-x50, a thorens td166, a dual 1219 and a denon 52f. and now i am eyeing a denon dp-47f as a back up to my d52f and a thorens td 160 as an adjunct or replacement for my 166. i can't even make my mind up anymore. a part of me wants to give in to upgraditis and the other part wants to be content with what i already have.

this is proving to be one expensive hobby.

 

[Mister Pig]

:sigh:i just can't seem to stop looking and buying (what i can afford). since i started with this hobby i have bought a sony ps-x50, a thorens td166, a dual 1219 and a denon 52f. and now i am eyeing a denon dp-47f as a back up to my d52f and a thorens td 160 as an adjunct or replacement for my 166. i can't even make my mind up anymore. a part of me wants to give in to upgraditis and the other part wants to be content with what i already have.

this is proving to be one expensive hobby.

I feel your pain brother!

I used to be a one turntable at a time kind of pig. I bought a Galibier Serac, put a Pete Riggle 12" Woody arm on it, then a ZYX 4D cartridge. Life was good.

Then while visiting a friend, I mentioned I wouldn't mind finding an old Thorens like a TD 124. He pulls a table off his garage shelf, and says which one is this? Well it is indeed a Thorens TD 124. A couple of thousand later, and a couple of years, I got the table done being restored with an Eminent Technology II arm, Clear Audio Signature cartridge, a Baltic birch base veneered in rosewood and a piano gloss finish. You would think it stops there...but it doesn't.

I make arrangements to become the caretaker of a Marc Morin modified AR XA table, just so I know what one is like, and I got tons of respect for Marc's work. But I hate walnut as a wood, so I make arrangements to get a base done in Lace wood. Should bea beautiful table. But....

I open up Bartertown one day,and there is a Loricraft restored Garrard 401 drive unit. I don't need it. I don't. But no, that is not the right answer. I buy it, and it sits here waiting a plinth, arm, and cartridge. I couldn't let such a desirable table with a restoration pass by, especially in such beautiful shape!

So now I got 4 tables, and I really only need one. But none of them will leave here, as they are beautiful examples of analog playback. I would even consider buying an Empire just to round the collection out. My wife must think I am certifiable.

Regards
Mister Pig

 

[joelongwood]

If you guys are hoarders, then I guess I qualify as an ultra-hoarder! Close to 60 pairs of speakers, over 50 headphones, dozens of turntables, stacks and stacks of receivers, amplifiers, tuners, cd players, tape decks, equalizers, thousands of vinyl albums, thousands of CDs. I thought I was cured a few years ago, but then I started volunteering at a local church thrift store. I don't go to yard sales anymore........I don't have to. But if something audio related shows up at the thrift, I cave pretty quickly. Just this past month I added a pair of Paradigm Atoms, KEF K140, and B&W DM110. I also just picked up a pair of Frazier Concertos from Craigslist. I just can't resist. My turntable stash includes a Thorens TD125 MKII, Empire 598, 3 AR XAs, Dual 1209, 1228, and 1219, HK T45C, Technics SLD2, and many more. The ones listed are all up and running. I guess my kids are going to have to deal with all this stuff eventually.

 

[highwaychild]

Welcome to the club!

At some point you will have to make a hard decision: Which TT/Receiver/Speaker/Tape will I sell next?
Adding additional rooms is sometimes possible (as with me, I've allmost finished with an "guestroom" - for 1 or 2 TTs...). And the cellar waits.

But for most of us this is not a real option, and your life doesn't depend on one more part of audio gear. Maybe you're marriage, comfort-zone
or sanity does...ara:

By the way: do you need a real cool vintage Dual 1011?

 

[melofelo]

Just this past month I added a pair of Paradigm Atoms, KEF K140, and B&W DM110.

:thmbsp: B&W DM110...one of the better budget speakers from the 80s and still a shrewd buy. I've had mine since '85/'86 and they are still my main speakers.
As for turntables, I've managed to 'hoard' all the way up to 5 turntable keepers plus a pair of Hitachi ht-350s,(one working the other being a parts doner). I'll probably donate the Hitachi this xmas as it's very user friendly and actually sounds pretty good.
From now on I'll limit my hoarding to obsolete cartridges and new old stock stylus.:thmbsp:

 

[jimreeves]

I don't mind having multiple turntables, they're such lovely mechanical things. Refurbing them packs my head with more knowledge of design intent and ideas of how to modify them, or not. It's all about the experience!

 

[gadget73]

People give them to me. That makes me not a hoarder. I simply foster the abandoned ones.

 

[vinyl1]

:sigh:i just can't seem to stop looking and buying (what i can afford). since i started with this hobby i have bought a sony ps-x50, a thorens td166, a dual 1219 and a denon 52f. and now i am eyeing a denon dp-47f as a back up to my d52f and a thorens td 160 as an adjunct or replacement for my 166. i can't even make my mind up anymore. a part of me wants to give in to upgraditis and the other part wants to be content with what i already have.

this is proving to be one expensive hobby.

Yeah, but what if you had a three VPIs, a Rega, and a Thorens like a guy in my club. That could be really expensive! They're not the bottom of the line models, either.

 

[TubeHiFiNut]

Hi.....my name is TubeHiFiNut and I am a 'HiFi Hoarder'.

 

[lini]

*lol* Joe (hi btw! you doing alright?): Maybe you should move into a smaller place. In my case (~ 35 m² plus cellar compartment) that at least puts a natural limit to hoarding bigger pieces of equipment...

Yet another solution might be to convert to a religion that allows you to have more than one wife. Because the more wives, the higher the chance that a particular piece of equipment may fail in terms of WAF - or that the space you intended for it might already be occupied by shoes or handbags...

Grinnings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: Long live gender-specific stereotypes!

 

[mkane]

I have that problem with more that one hobby unfortunately. There's another AR somewhere around here needing help also.

 

[janikphoto]

I think it's ok to have several in-service stereos and maybe a back-up or two. I'm not so happy with people that just hoard it away and it's never used. That's why I try to flip some gear... I get to enjoy the chase, the refurbishment, testing/enjoying of different gear. However, I don't have to deal with it stacking up too high and wasting away in a storage unit.

 

[lini]

mk: You aren't the only one with that problem. But at least my watches, lighters, pocket knives, pens, flashlights and cameras don't require that much space... I wish I could also say that about the clothing/shoes, books, tools, measument equipment, power supplies and all the computers plus peripherals and spare parts. It really is astounding what one collects over the years...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[4Play]

Well, I guess I need to join this auspicious group. Let's see...

Amp/Preamp/Integrated
Kenwood KA-9100 integrated amp - McIntosh MA5100 integrated amp - Jolida JD-102 tube integrated amp - Harman/Kardon Citation 19 amp and Citation 17 preamp

Turntable
Dual 721 direct drive - Dual 1219 idler - AR ES-1 - AR XA

Speakers
Ascend Acoustics CMT-340SE - Focal 806V

Network Audio Player
Denon DNP-720AE

Not as bad as some but just enough to be included in the club.

 

[R-2-R]

I hear ya!

Yes, this hobby can quickly become addicting!

...and it's places like this that feed and encourage your appetite for more. :sigh:

:sigh:i just can't seem to stop looking and buying (what i can afford). since i started with this hobby i have bought a sony ps-x50, a thorens td166, a dual 1219 and a denon 52f. and now i am eyeing a denon dp-47f as a back up to my d52f and a thorens td 160 as an adjunct or replacement for my 166. i can't even make my mind up anymore. a part of me wants to give in to upgraditis and the other part wants to be content with what i already have.

this is proving to be one expensive hobby.

 

[kcblair]

Well I don't know about hoarding, I started collecting TT's about 2 yreas ago, but I would flip the ones I didn't care for, after a short refurb, mostly belts, stylus and CLA. I'm at the point, were I like the four I own and use.

Also, not much has come up on CL in the past several months. I have 3 receivers, 2 as a backup to my main, as with vintage stuff, if it fails, I'm not paying $45/hr to get it fixed. Especially when I paid $20-40 for a receiver.

So not really a hoarder , just backups.

 

[4-2-7]

:sigh:i just can't seem to stop looking and buying (what i can afford). since i started with this hobby i have bought a sony ps-x50, a thorens td166, a dual 1219 and a denon 52f. and now i am eyeing a denon dp-47f as a back up to my d52f and a thorens td 160 as an adjunct or replacement for my 166. i can't even make my mind up anymore. a part of me wants to give in to upgraditis and the other part wants to be content with what i already have.

this is proving to be one expensive hobby.

You know what helps a lot is when you stop thinking your only buying what you can afford. (This Month) The reality is you can afford 4-5 times the quality of decks your buying. Sure your decks are fine and we all pretty much start out the same way. It took me a while to figure this out though, I can have ten tables in the 300 hundred dollar range or one 3000 dollar table.

So as you buy tables think about the over all investment you are putting out. Some day if you really enjoy spinning records and realy want an up grade, it cost money. See that deck you think you want and can afford, take the money and put it in a jar for your $4000 deck.

My Dad had a saying for me when I was a kid, Money burns a hole in my pockets. :thmbsp:

 

[carcrazy]

I am also afflicted with the audio bug, mostly with power amps. I have:

2 Bryston 2B LP (spares)
Denon POA-2200
Forte model 3 (basement system)
2 Bedini 150/150 mkII (one in fish room system, one for spare)
Bedini 25/25 1 meg
Bedini BA-803 (bedroom system)
Bedini 100/100 1 meg class A (waiting for repairs)
Threshold 400a (spare)
Jeff Rowland model 5 (main system ss)
Beard P100 tube amp (main system)
Ray Lumley M-100 tube mono blocks (2 pairs)

That's 14 power amps that I've spent over $15,000 on, you'd think that would be enough. But no, now I am checking out a pair of Antique Sound Lab Hurricane DT tube mono amps. Do I need a third set of tube mono blocks? No, but the itch to try something new is almost over powering. I need help.
:yes:

 

[SSaxdude]

Damn, some of you have crazy giant collections of equipment! And here I was thinking that I was a hoarder for having 6 turntables. Ok now 5, since I sold one on Craigslist last week...and I plan on selling another.

4 turntables for me will be perfect; 2 in my main bedroom set up, 1 for my headphones only/comfy chair set up, and finally one in the basement hooked up to the home theater.

 

[malden]

......Yet another solution might be to convert to a religion that allows you to have more than one wife......

You may be onto something...I think that hoarding audio gear, for some of us, is a substitute for having multiple wives...