Hi all,
Some recent threads have highlighted this proverbial question.
Personally, I'll be receiving some new (used) speakers this Thursday with some pretty high expectations regarding a clear performance "bump".
Let me clearly state that I am not criticizing anyone for investments made in their audio systems. Read conspicuous consumption. This is a personal question that can only be answered by each individual.
The often used matrix resembles the classic X - Y graph with dollars being the "X" / horizontal axis and "Y" / vertical axis being system performance. At some point, the plot is no longer linear (greater than or equal to dollars invested versus added performance) and tends to "flatten out".
I know that I have struggled with this in the past within the context of real versus perceived value and the "expectation bias" phenomena.
Any guidelines that forum members use to address this issue, within the context of overall system cost or other appropriate parameters, when contemplating a buying decision?
GG
Dude,
I think you have a good starting point for a model of why people keep swapping gear, but let’s expand on it a bit.
I think there are several principles in play. Individually, they are not that complex. But they come together in interesting ways. First is from psychology/ economics. The technical term is “hedonic adaptation” by psychologists and declining marginal utility by economists. By being exposed to something over a period of time, we get used to it and it becomes our reference. For the majority in Hawaii, the rainbows and the sunsets are just not as special as to the honeymooning tourist. Get that person to Alaska for 5 years and they will again appreciate those sunsets for a little while. We quickly adapt and get less and less pleasure every time. Additionally, as we are getting used to something, after a while, our brain expects to see or hear thing a certain way just because we are used to them. If you are used to listening in one hall or jazz club, another venue may feel strange for a short while until we get used to it.
Now let’s look at the economics/ sociology angle. There is also a reality in this hobby, which many people refuse to admit, is that some products are better than others. Take a car like BMW. You can get a fairly basic model for somewhere in the low to mid $30K range. If you are fond of the way the brand drives and really engaged in the car hobby, BMW can sell you a car that has that same BMW feel for a lot of money. My friend went from a 3-series to a 6 series, and then to an M sports division 6 series, and is now looking forward to an Alpina modded BMW. Same way with speakers. Take a most basic MBL or a Magico. They got that house sound. If you want more, they can get you up there to the top of their product line.
And the way they get you up there looks more like the technology S curve, with time represented on the x axis and performance on the y axis. As you move from one speaker to another, you jump from one S curve to another. The curve with the newer gear may start out lower, or start at the tip of the previous one and then dip down if you are changing rooms or don’t have the right ancillaries. But eventually, as you upgrade, you will hit the steep rise and then reach a new plateau. You will then jump to the next S curve, until the cool new gear comes out or you get a great deal on something, like most of us here. Or alternatively, as we acquire to new tastes and experiences, we may get sick of the gear we have, and we may jump on a completely different set of s-curves, such as horns, headphones, etc.
