Philosophical question for the day: Does this HIFI hobby make you happy?

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Hi there.

I'm curious as to how people feel their HIFI hobby affects their lives. I find personally that I spend that much time thinking about the next upgrade that I struggle to enjoy listening to the music. A buddhist would point to the enemy that is desire. Does this hobby add quality to your lives or does it encourage you to search for a level of happiness that is unattainable, thereby creating dissatisfaction? Discuss.

Andy
 
andrewhind:

Hi there.

I'm curious as to how people feel their HIFI hobby affects their lives. I find personally that I spend that much time thinking about the next upgrade that I struggle to enjoy listening to the music. A buddhist would point to the enemy that is desire. Does this hobby add quality to your lives or does it encourage you to search for a level of happiness that is unattainable, thereby creating dissatisfaction? Discuss.

Andy

Most of us have suffered from upgradeitus on occasions. Mostly, I enjoy what I have and years of enjoyment its given my family over the years.
 
andrewhind:
Hi there.

I'm curious as to how people feel their HIFI hobby affects their lives. I find personally that I spend that much time thinking about the next upgrade that I struggle to enjoy listening to the music. A buddhist would point to the enemy that is desire. Does this hobby add quality to your lives or does it encourage you to search for a level of happiness that is unattainable, thereby creating dissatisfaction? Discuss.

Andy

Fortunately I got rid of upgraditis some time ago. I am more interested in convenience and listening to music I dont own or haven't heard (through internet radio, Spotify etc).

Listening to music is a hobby not the hi-fi. Hi-fi is a means to an end.
 
My hifis have made me very happy over the years, with the exception of my first CDP after I switched from vinyl. It was a Sony and it was replaced within a couple of months by an Arcam. Happiness returned.

I have had various periods of upgrading over the past 20 years. Getting my first proper hifi, switching from vinyl to CD, switching from CD to PC based and going all headfi.

If I had tons of money I would probably spend more time and more time worrying about the next upgrade. So it is probably a good thing I am not stinking ritch. I have various items on my wish list, but there is no overwhelming desire to get them asap. If anything my best upgrade has been Spotify, after all, it is all about the music in the end.

I am also glad I am not stuck like matthewpiano (sorry Matthew) in an eternal hunt for a superior sound. I have been able to go through a period of upgrading and then settle on kit that has kept me happy for years, replacing only when things breakdown.
 
heystak:

Listening to music is a hobby not the hi-fi. Hi-fi is a means to an end.

Could not agree more. Better hi fi means more of the music. Like many people I would like a better system, but where would I stop. I like to enjoy my music not analyse it. I am currently sitting in the kitchen listening to a compilation CD on a Technics system and thoroughly enjoying it even though I know it would sound better on my system in the lounge.

I think more about what music I am going to buy next.
 
I find it DOES make me happy.

As I have gone up the upgrade path, each step has given further improvement and knowing that there is yet more to come gives something to strive for.

I truly enjoy listening to music on my current system - and am about to do a major upgrade to amp & speakers, due to some money I have coming to me. I was getting VERY frustrated doing the rounds to demo kit from other manufacturers in case something would give me an improvement over a step up from my current brands - but much of the stuff I heard, despite costing more, was far less enjoyable than my existing kit - that surprised me and the frustration built ..... and built .... until I decided to simply try stuff higher up the range in what I have ... and WOW - now I'm happy again to know that past decisions have been wise and the upgrade will allow EVEN more of the type of sound I love.

The pleasure comes now, from listening to what I have. I have even considered the fact that it's not worth upgrading, because I do enjoy the current kit ..... but now having heard stuff higher up the ranges, I know there is more to attain. If the funds were not there, I could still enjoy what I have - which is reassuring.

How can desire be an enemy?? ..... when it gives you a purpose and something to strive for. Everyone has desire for SOMETHING in life, otherwise there would be nothing to get up for in the morning.

If you struggle to enjoy listening to the music, it could be that you have not purchased wisely enough within whatever budget you have....... as I mentioned, I have heard kit recently, costing far more, that gave me less enjoyment.

...... OR - it could be that your budget does not meet your expectations - and that would be truly frustrating, I imagine.

if you heard pretty much all combinations of kit in your price range and were still unhappy, so 'for fun' auditioned kit at a higher level and found something you loved, but couldn't afford ... arrrrrgh - nightmare!! Especially if life did not show you a way to attain that at some point.

I guess it has to do with the point where the law of diminishing returns kicks in enough to make further investment in this hobby too costly. If you are still unhappy with the sound at that point, I can only imagine that the search needs to be widened on what you have heard at your budget.

Plenty of people are happy with their budget separates for a £500 system and cannot see the need to spend more .... yet on hearing a £2000 system could be blown away ....... if they were to hear one.

Likewise, those in that bracket might feel the same about a £5k system ......... and those may feel the same with a £10k system .....

Belief systems may dictate whether they can justify the spend, if they have the funds ........... and also whether they even bother going to listen at all, at a higher level. A couple of friends of mine cannot believe what my system costs, or what I may spend next, thinking that their £1000 system is SO good, that how can it be worth spending more.

a) I envy them in a way - that they are happy at that price point .....

b) I pity them, that they may never enjoy something slightly more high-end on a regular basis

May the debate continue!!
 
Yes. Given that I work from home my hifi provides me with many hours of good quality sound everyday (9 - 12 hours a day is not unusual).

A portable radio/CD would 'do the job' but it would not be the same.

Even after the missus is home from work the music/radio stays on, (we are not big TV viewers and only tend to watch from about 9 - 11pm most days and that is often a DVD.)

I am almost at the end-of-the-line with changing the system to something I can 'forget about' and the penultimate change went in a week or two ago. (The NAT-05)

One more change to go with the speakers (and selling off the TT and albums) and I will be done with 'hifi' for many years hopefully and won't have anything much to talk about
emotion-1.gif


I think that has been an ambition for a couple of years now - to have a good system I can just forget about and enjoy - but I made a couple of mistakes on the way. Now I am 80 percent there.
 
Andy, great topic! I definately see similarities between this hobby and certain addictive activities. There is an unnatural high from the process of upgrading. Lusting after a new purchase, finally ordering it, waiting for it to arrive, taking delivery, opening it, installing it, and listening to it. This can be addictive as evidenced by the healthy used high end audio market.

I would not say it makes a person happy or unhappy. Happiness is generally a personal decision and a state of mind. However, if you are spending money you should not be spending, it is destructive and should obviously be addressed.

For me, the key to happiness is gratitude. I don't have the fanciest system money could buy, but I'm grateful for how very good it is. In fact, I'm crazy about it. This gratitude makes it easy for me to be happy. But happiness and satisfaction are not exactly the same thing and I'm more guilty than most about chasing upgrades.

It's true that it's easy to spend all your time critiquing your system rather than relaxing to the music. I don't have that problem, but if that is your problem, I would say step one is throw out all your hi-fi magazines and don't buy any new ones. Don't visit web sites that sell or review new products. That should help.
 
heystak:Listening to music is a hobby not the hi-fi. Hi-fi is a means to an end.

Echos my views exactly. Only when something doesn't sound good do I look for an upgrade. I tend to go in fits and starts - maybe one or two upgrades a year, then nothing for three or four years...
 
heystak:Listening to music is a hobby not the hi-fi. Hi-fi is a means to an end.

I have to strongly disagree with this. HiFi is most definately the hobby for most people. For me it's two separate hobbies.

Hobby 1: Researching, buying, and listening to great music. I love this hobby. I probably purchased 100 CDs in the last 12 months. The internet has made finding great music so much easier. 15 years ago it was almost impossible to find good music. I also spend a couple hours a day with the HiFi on while I'm watching and playing with my small kids and a few times a week I get a few hours of alone time for serious listening. I love listening to my system. I've almost completely eliminated TV from my life because I choose HiFi time over TV time. There is no TV in the room with my HiFi.

Hobby 2: HiFi system building. Researching and buying electronics, speakers, and HiFi accessories. Reading the web sites, magazines, and going to brick and mortor stores when possible. For me, this is a totally different hobby from above and I also love the this hobby. So much fun. Again, the internet has made this hobby so much more interesting with lots of possibilities that did not exist in the past.
 
Yes my hifi makes me happy, well its production of music anyway. I have whiled away many hours on forums, discussing upgrades andr esearching and demoing kit. I am happy with my set up now, and barring a few minor mains tweaks will see me and my family good for a lot of years to come.

I find it (researching and planning whilst listening to music) keeps the brain ticking over nicely and makes sure you can forget about work, and any other little life problems / niggles. My hifi room is somewhere for me to relax and contemplate.

Has never really intruded into my home life really, I save up for what I want to buy and the family benefits in the end. It could be worse I could be down the pub every night for example ( wasting money), so to be content and happy at home is an absolute positive in my life.
 
Usually, I keep my stuff until it drops; Wharfedale speakers (28 years), Tuner (30 years and still going strong), Pioneer amp (17 years), Alpha 7R (5 years), A65+ (5 years), 73T (3 years), turntable (3 years) and RS6's (2 1/2 years).

As you can see I don't just change my equipment on a whim.
 
jaxwired:

...... For me it's two separate hobbies.

Hobby 1: Researching, buying, and listening to great music.....

Hobby 2: HiFi system building....

Totally agree with you jaxwired and both hobbies are inextricably linked. I get frustrated by people who say they are music fans, but listen to their music off a dreadful Tesco stereo. They just like background music and dont know what they are missing.

To go back to something Big Aura said above '- but much of the stuff I heard, despite costing more, was far less enjoyable than my existing kit -' One of the reasons why I am very satisfied with my kit is that I have heard enough demo systems in hifi dealers, some costing tens of thousands of pounds, to know that I don't need to spend that amount of money on getting a sound that I am happy with.
 
It's good to know that you all seem to be enjoying your HIFI. I think I was at my happiest a couple of years ago when I listened to music via my PC. I didn't expect much but I was constantly surprised by the quality of the sound.

HIFI is my hobby, not music. I enjoy listening to music but it's kind of a side issue. Perhaps when I listened to music via my PC, my hobby was music
emotion-1.gif
.

I think gratitude is very important. It's too easy to take what you have for granted. I travelled around India 4 years ago and I came back thinking how lucky I was with all the poverty over there. It struck me how us brits moan about little things and don't appreciate what we've got. It's easy to get lost in a culture.

Thanks for the interesting replies.

Andy
 
jimdonnelly:heystak:

Listening to music is a hobby not the hi-fi. Hi-fi is a means to an end.

Could not agree more. Better hi fi means more of the music. Like many people I would like a better system, but where would I stop. I like to enjoy my music not analyse it. I am currently sitting in the kitchen listening to a compilation CD on a Technics system and thoroughly enjoying it even though I know it would sound better on my system in the lounge.

I think more about what music I am going to buy next.

Have to agree with both of these. I know that the my hifi will be far better than my ipod or the tv in the bedroom, but if thats whats available that's what i'll use. As for upgrading, i've never been unhappy with my kit as such so only felt the need to upgrade when i had the spare cash to do it.
 
I will be happy when it's all set-up, but right now it is making me quite frustrated!
 
Music always makes me happy, but my relationship with hi-fi has been very rocky over the last couple of years, as idc quite correctly alluded to. I've struggled to find that comfortable point where I can stop thinking about how much better it might sound 'if this' or 'if that'. I find a lot of hi-fi has major drawbacks like a steely spitty treble, poor imaging, or overblown bass and some of these irritate me beyond belief. Quite often I've enjoyed my music most in the car on the relatively prosaic 'Symphony' head unit Skoda fitted in the factory.

However, reading about and discussing hi-fi still makes me happy and I'm absolutely confident I'm not too far away from getting this sorted. I'm actually starting to realise that the CD format itself might be responsible for a lot of the disatisfaction. I enjoy listening to vinyl and lossless files more. I can sit for hours listening to those fab black discs or exploring the contents of my hard drive through the Squeezebox/V-DAC combo. Certainly I'm intending to invest in the new Squeezebox Touch at Christmas and hook it up directly to my HD, and a new turntable is very much on the cards.
 
I'm quite lucky that I'm finished now. The only thing I'm worried about is when my CD player dies. I might get a CD6003 and keep it boxed so I don't have any downtime without my precious music when it does go.
 
problem with me, is what starts as a hobby, eventually turns into an obsession ... am currently always skint, so stick to older gear at the moment

I have always enjoyed music, and as a child, used to cut peoples lawns so that I could buy LP's ... even at work, I listen to music all day through the computer with headphones and have an old walkman with cassette tapes for when I travel on the bus/train

Think I am close to a system which will please me (for a while) so hope I dont have to spend too much and upgrade again .... wife has already said 'enough!' ...

told her that I still need to connect spotify through my hifi ... so thats next on my list (she has a few playlists on spotify so will be easy to convince her) ....

then need to get speakers for my 2nd system (bedroom system) .... then ...
 
Yes; love it in fact. Being less than able to splash out with a young family - and that was even IN work until lately - I've found it helps to be able to spot a good deal and going down the used route is exactly that.

Found some great kit at throwaway money that means I doubt I'd splash the cash in huge sums again. One can achieve excellent sound quality if prepared to do a little bit of legwork studying the background beforehand.
 
I think about my next upgrade but realize that it's now 10 years down the road. My new speakers need about 80 more hours before I'll really know if I'm good until 2019. Who knows what will be around by then. I hope technology doesn't destroy my lifelong dream of McIntosh tube amplification.
 
I enjoy music and hifi. The two, to me are interlinked. On a rubbish system I find it really detracts from my enjoyment. But sitting here now, having listened to a couple of Roberta Flack tracks which just sound sublime, I'm happy. That doesn't mean I don't want to upgrade; that'll always be the case but the closer I get to nirvana the more every upgrade costs. Unless I win the lotto then it's gonna have to stop at some point. I'm not far away in my view.
 
I'm a Buddhist here, so i have to say how difficult it is to maintain a healthy hobby without getting too obssessed. I'm a musician also, I hang out with other musicians who listen to music a lot, but most of them have really rubbish system. Until one day one of my friends who is really into music production, he's the first one started a decent system, with Tannoy speakers etc.. So that sort of triggered off my hi-fi discovery.

I have to say that I was once too carried away with the upgrading, but then when I discover and knows what kind of sound I'm into, everything becomes easy. To me, it's not so much about the upgrading, it's about knowing what equipment to get to acheive the sound one wants.

In the end of the day, hi-fi is something that relaxes me after a long day work. Of course from the Buddhist point of view, human realm is a karma effect that were prominently caused by mind state called desire, u dream of getting something, and once you have it, u start to dream for something "better", better only exists in one's never ending thinking process.

So this is what I say to my friend who has a Bose system, when he asks me if he should get a proper hi-fi system, I said if you are happy with it, don;t bother. But it's another story if you start auditioning.

andy
 
You know ive been thinking about this lately as i was looking to buy a Tv and ended after to much reading and going to town and having a look around far to many times i ended up buying a Tv that hasn't even had a review done on it on any UK website , i could of got the panny 42 icnh plasma that has a good picture and was a 5 star rating , but no it ended up me not being able to wait any longer and just going with a main stream brand ( samsung ) and the fact it was using less than half the power on normal use made up my mind

Mind you still wonder if i did the right thing but samsung have been a pretty safe purchase in the Tv market , But i guess it comes down to the less you know sometimes it works in your favour and you can be just as happy , If your happy then what does it matter ?
 
Actually I don't have a hi-fi hobby. I just love listening to music, and try to find the best system I can afford whenever I can afford a new one. Then I use some time sorting out what system that is before I buy, listening a lot, following discussions, and reading relevant literature.

After buying I need some time to cut myself loose from the hi-fi forums. But after cutting loose, I don't actually care for hi-fi until the next time something ought to be replaced or added...
 
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