Box Swapping strategy

[Rare Bird]

A lot of people buy expensive cars, keep em very short term before they sell em to buy another, i'm guessing this is done while the car is still at high used value hence not loosing too much.

The same goes in hi-fi circles, are these people cuckoo's or is it us?

I find it strange for a couple reasons, the main being it takes a hell of a long time to get a system synergy perfect, how the hell can people do this every 6 months? i think the culprits are buyers of certain brands, they don't really care what it sounds like as long as the boxes badge & price tag are there for all to see.

Am i wrong?

[Marco]

I'm sure that Jerry will have a view on this! ;)

Marco.

[Rare Bird]

I'm sure that Jerry will have a view on this! ;)

Marco.

Jerry doent swap for this reason, i'm talking keeping brand new gear for very short period & cashing in before it looses it's value

[Hypnotoad]

There's a site here in the U.S. called Audiogon, it's like ebay but they auction strictly audio gear, mainly higher end stuff, and keep a very close eye on things.

http://www.audiogon.com/

I have bought my turntable, cartridge, phono preamp, valves etc etc. I have never paid more than half new price and the items I bought were as new.

I think people are crazy that they turn over things so soon as they lose value very quickly.

On the other hand if you buy things like this that are less than half new price you can use them for a while and sell them again for little or no loss.

As far as selling new things quickly without taking a loss I don't think it possible.

[Marco]

Jerry doent swap for this reason, i'm talking keeping brand new gear for very short period & cashing in before it looses it's value

True, muchacho :)

I'm not sure anyone does that sort of thing here.

Marco.

[twelvebears]

I'm sure that Jerry will have a view on this! ;)

Marco.

I was just about to say the same....

Speaking of box-swappers though, the guy I picked up my *new* Sony SCD-777ES from was possibly the most extreme I've ever met.

So the SCD-777ES had been in a cupboard in a spare room for 9 months, he's owned 3 SCD-777s and 2 SCD-1s, and currently has a Modwright'd Sony unit now.

He had stuff everywhere including 3 DAT machines, various Lexicon bits, dozens of pairs of interconnects, some of which were Transparent.

He was using Boulder amplification and had a Marantz PM-11S2 integrated SITTING SPARE OF THE RACK DOING NOTHING!!!!

And the thing is, he DOESN'T do this for a living, he's just got lots of cash and does it all for fun.... As far as I could see, the only things which seemed to have a permanent place of the team were his JBL Ti 10Ks

[twelvebears]

Jerry doent swap for this reason, i'm talking keeping brand new gear for very short period & cashing in before it looses it's value

The trouble is though that HiFi is much like cars. Unless it's certain very desirable things, as soon as it's s/h rather than ex-dem, it still drops a big chunk of value.

That said, if you nab great s/h kit, keep for a while and move on, you can do it basically for free or even make a profit. I bought my Sonus Faber Extremas for £3k and sold a year later for £3.5k

That said of course, if the gear is ACTUALLY great, why move it on at all......

[Themis]

Swapping cars is based on an economic calculation : cars have a losing [descending] value curve (based on time) then a another curve [augmenting] of recurrent servicing costs.

It's the meet of these curves that people who swap cars are trying to optimize.

Hifi has little of all this. ;)

[jandl100]

That said of course, if the gear is ACTUALLY great, why move it on at all......

Hmmm - yeah - I do know what you mean.

BUT ... :) ... trying different gear is so much fun! It really does all sound different and each component gives a new perspective on the music to a greater or lesser extent.

I've sold on gear that I rate REALLY highly just for the kick of trying something new. There probably is no cure known to modern medical science. :lol:

Looking back, though, there does have to be something that starts to irritate or at least make its presence known after a while .... I've kept my Infinity speakers for nigh on 6 months now and they still sound fab to my ears. Yes, OK, I can hear a few things ... the rez could be a bit higher, the soundstage more enveloping and 3D, the bass a tad less dry .... Whoops, here I go again - new speakers on order. :mental: :lolsign:

[The Grand Wazoo]

Yes, I'd certainly agree there are 2 types of box swappers & Jerry is of the type that takes advantage of the casualties who fall into the other category - Good on 'im!

I think part of it is to do with 'This Year's Model Syndrome' where manufacturers make changes by warming up the old model just enough to make the new version seem 'better' than the old.

Perhaps the other factor here is that pursuit of the non-existing state of perfection. They're chasing shadows in my mind.

Still the poor deluded fools do supply the market with some bargains for us mere mortals!

[Kris]

I suppose I'm the polar opposite of a box-swapper. When I buy something, I buy it for life. heck, I've even still got my first proper Hi-Fi system from the early 80's!

Finances depending, I prefer to modify and internally upgrade rather than get rid.

The only thing I've ever box-swapped was turntables. Hated all of them, so I went out and bought a Tekky and now we're wed for life!

The good thing about high-end box swappers is that it gives those not so rich the opportunity to buy nearly new things at less than retail.

The bad thing about high end box swappers is that they keep the audiophile jewellery companies from going bust.

Kris.

[Hypnotoad]

Perhaps the other factor here is that pursuit of the non-existing state of perfection. They're chasing shadows in my mind.

Still the poor deluded fools do supply the market with some bargains for us mere mortals!

These are the people I like.;)

[Marc B]

My plan is to buy for life but I can't afford what I want in one lump sum.

If I buy and sell bits , each time throwing more money towards it , I slowly climb the ladder to the point I want.

The next jump will be the kicker for me as to get there I need to save up about £3k and then sell my existing amp/speakers, or get really really lucky on the used market.

we shall see :)

And it's also a rush trying out new kit.
I can't really say I've been truely disapointed in anything I've owned, though alot of bits have had a trait that has got on my nerves over time or is lacking something I liked which the previous one had.

I guess the ultimate is finding the balance of kit with all the good traits and without lacking anything.