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Thread: What type of people own high-high-end gear?

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  1. #1
    Join Date: Jun 2016

    Location: Queensland Australia

    Posts: 61
    I'm Hugo.

    Default What type of people own high-high-end gear?

    I know this is an almost rude question, but I've been wondering for a while. On forums and whatnot I sometimes see users with systems that must cost tens of thousands. Sometimes it looks like at least $50k.

    Do such users tend to be particularly wealthy, or just spend a particularly large amount of their income on hifi? A little of both?

    It's not polite to enquire about people's incomes, nor question the value of their purchases; but if I don't ask, I'll never know.

  2. #2
    Audio Al is offline Pishanto Specialist & Super-Daftee
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: Dagenham Essex

    Posts: 11,215
    I'm Allen.

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    Rich ££££££££££££ ? $$$$$$$$$$$$
    [

  3. #3
    Join Date: Sep 2013

    Location: North Island New Zealand

    Posts: 1,757
    I'm Chris.

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    ..and poor, if they choose very wisely equipment that outperforms
    all expectations of audiophiles be they rich or poor, offered at reasonable price.

    Cheers / Chris

  4. #4
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Hi Hugo,

    I think an important consideration is that most people who own the sort of systems you describe have assembled them over a number of years, thus spreading the cost.

    Very few folks (on forums anyway) go out and buy $50k systems in one go. If they have them, they represent the culmination, or continuing 'hi-fi journeys,' of the owners concerned.

    That's certainly the case in my instance

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  5. #5
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

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    inclined to agree with above. most folk start with a modest system and improve it over a period of time. A bit like cars and houses really. Some obviously have more cash available and can go further up the scale, quicker. Not having kids would be a big advantage too. They can really become expensive
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
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  6. #6
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

    Posts: 37,779
    I'm Martin.

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    Or they bought it all second-hand for a lot less than you might think.

    Almost all of the people I know who could afford high end hi-fi have zero interest in it and only ever listen to music whilst driving. I can think of one exception but he is waiting for his youngest children to get to the age where they will respect it before he splashes out.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
    Or they bought it all second-hand for a lot less than you might think.
    Indeed. Paying full retail price for the most expensive new equipment is as daft as doing the same with cars. Let someone else take the initial hit!

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  8. #8
    Join Date: Sep 2012

    Location: East Anglia UK

    Posts: 1,219
    I'm Marc.

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    'The 1%' equates to roughly 74 million people, and there appear to be plenty of people who pull up outside expensive schools in expensive cars to pick up multiple children to be returned to eye-wateringly expensive houses. Sure, some of them are doing it on the never never but for many it's real, I'd hazard a guess that at the upper end of that group of people dropping 50k on some trinkets is a pleasant afternoon out.

  9. #9
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    The 1% of what population, Marc? I can't see any reference to the percentage you're quoting.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rothchild View Post
    ...there appear to be plenty of people who pull up outside expensive schools in expensive cars to pick up multiple children to be returned to eye-wateringly expensive houses. Sure, some of them are doing it on the never never but for many it's real, I'd hazard a guess that at the upper end of that group of people dropping 50k on some trinkets is a pleasant afternoon out.
    Yes, but in the UK, how many of those types exist outside of London?

    Unfortunately, in terms of the UK, the 'big smoke', down south, falsely (and massively) skews these types of 'wealth stats', as in that respect London is very much a 'law unto its own', and getting more and more divorced from the rest of the UK every day.

    Take London out of the equation, and almost any meaningful stat you care to levy at the UK changes dramatically!

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  10. #10
    Join Date: Sep 2012

    Location: East Anglia UK

    Posts: 1,219
    I'm Marc.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    The 1% of what population, Marc? I can't see any reference to the percentage you're quoting.



    Yes, but in the UK, how many of those types exist outside of London?

    Unfortunately, in terms of the UK, the 'big smoke', down south, falsely (and massively) skews these types of 'wealth stats', as in that respect London is very much a 'law unto its own', and getting more and more divorced from the rest of the UK every day.

    Take London out of the equation, and almost any meaningful stat you care to levy at the UK changes dramatically!

    Marco.
    I agree London is an extreme and represents the top-end of that '1%' idea (it's the 1% of the 1% if you will) but to be fair I've also driven around the nicer bits of Cheshire, Bristol and a few other areas of the UK where there are plenty of Aston Martins, Range Rovers, multi-million pound properties and fancy schools, so it's not exclusive to London, just magnified.

    And yes, significant proportions of the UK population are technically in the one percent (if you compare what someone on minimum wage has compared to a Somali farmer most folk are doing ok) but our culture still doesn't have a sensible way of describing or dealing with the disparity between DAVOS / The Cheshire set / North Eastern former manufacturing community and the horrors of 'developing' countries.

    For 99% of the global population, Hifi is utterly irrelevant - clean water and basic education would be a start. Because Hifi is a somewhat esoteric hobby even for those who can afford it, it means that margins have to be high because the size of the potential market is relatively small.

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