A confession.

[Pigmy Pony]

At the back end of 1982, I proposed to my girlfriend, and amazingly she said 'Yes'. So the following Saturday i went into town with my saved-up £300 to buy an engagement ring (hey it was a lot of money for me back then, I was only on 90 quid a week).

I shouldn't have popped into Norman Audio (our local hifi shop), but I had to do something to make the errand more interesting. He was selling a JVC DD5 cassette deck for £99, and I was seduced by the super-cool red and blue level meters :) In my defence the £200 ring I picked didn't look £100 cheaper than what I might have bought.

Up to now the only people I'd told were my oldest friend and his wife, who were both fine with it. Don't judge me, I'm sure there'll be folk here who've sneaked the odd item into their system, or even used the old "wife pounds conversion".

[Macca]

I thought you were going to confess to being Lord Lucan.

[WullieD20]

Don't think there are many wives out there who actually know what 100 "Hi-Fi Pounds" really equates to.....:lol::lol: :rock:

[Pigmy Pony]

Don't think there are many wives out there who actually know what 100 "Hi-Fi Pounds" really equates to.....:lol::lol: :rock:

That's the beauty of Hi-Fi pounds, nobody knows :) Exchange rates vary, depending on desperation and gullibility. When I was putting together a custom bike in the late 80s, the parts averaged 40% (£100 = 40 wife pounds).

These days it's not so easy, what with sellers wanting bank transfers, credit card payment etc. And a secret bank account would be a whole new level of ruthless. Some marriages wouldn't survive that :(

I suppose the modern way is to "massage the figures" but that sounds a bit complicated.

[Pigmy Pony]

I thought you were going to confess to being Lord Lucan.

Have they not found him yet? Probably shaved his tash off.

[walpurgis]

Most people here would be shocked at what my current basic system cost me........... £140!

(and it sounds great :))

[Barry]

Most of my gear is ancient. Some of it is ex-studio/broadcast professional gear. If you look on ebay, etc. it would appear that the total value of my gear (and I have a lot) is about £80K.

Needless to say I only paid a fraction of that, and my partner never enquires as to the cost of any of it; but she would be aghast at the thought of, say, paying £1,000 for a pickup cartridge. But then she is willing pay a similar amount for jewellery.

The secret is for the two of you to have separate bank accounts.

[Macca]

never mix your finances with anyone else's, there's no benefit and a million drawbacks.

[Pigmy Pony]

Some wise words from Barry and Macca, advice which younger folk would do well to heed, while they still can. A lot trickier to make those sort of changes after a lifetime of doing things a certain way.

But... I plan to stop smoking in a couple of weeks when my supply runs out, and as an incentive I intend to put half of the money saved into an account of my own. That might work :) The only downside is that I'll be (even more) difficult to live with for a while.

[Alex_UK]

I don’t really know or care what my wife spends on her “hobbies” (clothes, hair, etc.) and she’s never really worried about my spending, although I never take the piss anyway. We have separate accounts, although she could do some digging if she really wanted as could I.

Steve, re. The no smoking, have you tried vaping? I moved from fags to vaping 6 years ago and still am, it hits the right spot for me and is a fraction of the cost, with almost all of the health risks removed. Tried everything before to give up, always returned to a “proper” smoke, but with vaping I’m cured. [emoji846]

[Pigmy Pony]

I have tried it, but the bloody thing was in my hand permanently. So I am going to try going 'cold turkey'. But if that doesn't work I will revisit vaping.

I am determined this time. Mrs. P has some diagnosed lung problems, and the doctor says that although not directly caused by smoking, it certainly doesn't help. If I carry on smoking she has no chance of giving up.

[Pharos]

Some wise words from Barry and Macca, advice which younger folk would do well to heed, while they still can. A lot trickier to make those sort of changes after a lifetime of doing things a certain way.

But... I plan to stop smoking in a couple of weeks when my supply runs out, and as an incentive I intend to put half of the money saved into an account of my own. That might work :) The only downside is that I'll be (even more) difficult to live with for a while.

I'm not trying to preach or be 'holier than thou', but as an ex smoker, admittedly not very much, stopping is an extremely sensible thing to do.
It undermines our psychology, demotivating us from better endeavours and we all know all the costs.

When I worked as a BT linesman for seven years in London, I came across so many long term smokers in their flats with blue oxygen cylinders, hardly able to breathe after a life of smoking, and my Mother died from lung cancer in '95 after a lifetime of it.

it is hard initially, but if you deal with the chemical shock, which manifests as a marked change in bodily and mental feeling, it will decay in the form of the discharge curve, and time goes so fast that it will not be long before you can count the months and years, and know that you are detoxing.

As was said to me in a personnel interview whilst at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist in 1975, regarding giving up sugar, it is a decision, not a fight. The concept of the addiction-fight perpetrates the concept of addiction. I have not had a Mars bar since that interview and stopped all sucrose. I stopped smoking dead.

vaping coheres with the concept of addiction, and it is also questionable health-wise.

[Barry]

I am (or was) one of those exasperating people who can stop and start smoking at will. For many years I would only smoke when on holiday, but found that I wasn't it enjoying as much as I once did. That, and the ever increasing price of a packet of fags, caused me to stop smoking; which I did straight away without any withdrawal difficulties.

[Alex_UK]

So, an incentive like that will certainly help (I gave up for about 8 years after Sue got pregnant with our firstborn through to when the little one was about 3, and then it restarted as the “odd one” in the garden at bbq’s and went on from there...) good luck mate, it is hard but worthwhile.

[fatmarley]

The thought of never smoking a fag again made the thought of packing it in very difficult, so I decided to allow myself a pack of fags every year on Christmas day. After months of no fags, I was so excited about Christmas day arriving and being able to smoke a lovely fag.
I waited until after the kids opened their Christmas presents and then smoked that lovely fag - Felt sick as a dog and went to sleep for a few hours. That was 13 years ago and haven't smoked one since.

[struth]

i tried one after about 8 weeks and flung it away; revolting. odd how you get hooked on unpleasant things. a electric menthol cig is much more pleasant and clears the tubes. vapers are way too strong

[wee tee cee]

Im 11 years off smoking. Vaping good quality juice with a substantial rig like a smok makes a world of difference.

Buying juice and then adding the amount of nicotine to suit your needs is spot on.

Best of luck whatever path you choose.

[Pigmy Pony]

Thank you everyone for your contributions on this, I feel incentivised :)

Mrs. P is going down the vaping route, and I'm fine with that - anything that will get her away from the cigs. I'm expecting (hoping!) that being able to put some money away each week will keep me motivated, I really want some new speakers!

[Pigmy Pony]

Im 11 years off smoking. Vaping good quality juice with a substantial rig like a smok makes a world of difference.

Buying juice and then adding the amount of nicotine to suit your needs is spot on.

Best of luck whatever path you choose.

This is the kind of thing Mrs. P will be doing, and I know she will embrace the science of it, not just muddle through with the cheapest e-cig she can find.

Talk about thread drift - how did we get from spending money earmarked for an engagement ring on hifi to giving up fags :D

[struth]

https://www.electrictobacconist.co.uk/hoxton-classic-starter-kit-p7579

e cig wise these are good. menthol is better. you can get top cap off and the little plastic seal too and put e liquid in and put both back on. several times. just a bit at a time tho.. saves lots of money.

you can get better batteries of same fitting elsewhere which is what i do. just buy the hoxton tips now and then and e liquids.30 quids worth lasts an age.

[Macca]

Talk about thread drift - how did we get from spending money earmarked for an engagement ring on hifi to giving up fags :D

You were free-associating and we just went with it.

[Pharos]

I do not really understand smoking. I remember my first fag and how it made me ill for about 7 hours, but that illusive supposed pleasure all the adults and ads conveyed, caused me to persist until I habituated sufficiently to not feel ill.

Having overcome all the nausea and distaste, becoming habituated, there is a sort of spaced out pleasure from the intoxication, and it can last with me for many hours.

After long breaks I usually have found that I again am nauseated by it and feel sick, get flesh crawl overheating and dizzy.

With my strong concern for health in every other respect I have just ruled it out, and accept reality with all of its often unfettered unpleasantness as the way to go for me. I nearly had a brandy in my cocoa this evening, but put the bottle away without having any. This decrease in consumption of Remy Martin has resulted in the accumulation of three bottles of it from previous Christmases.

[Mikeandvan]

From an aesthetic point of view, do precious metals really have any value, if you can fool some South American tribe, then why not one's future wife?

[Mikeandvan]

Audiophiles meanwhile are far easier than some ancient tribe to fool, you can just use bog standard metal or wood, just tell them it has magical acoustic qualities.

[Barry]

Audiophiles meanwhile are far easier than some ancient tribe to fool, you can just use bog standard metal or wood, just tell them it has magical acoustic qualities.

Not me!

[Pigmy Pony]

Not me!

Nor me - I like to think that mostly we are music lovers first and foremost, who want our music to be presented in as convincing and enjoyable way as our budgets/talents will allow. And are old enough and wise enough not to be readily taken in by snake oil claims.

Unless that is the definition of "audiophile".

[Barry]

Nor me - I like to think that mostly we are music lovers first and foremost, who want our music to be presented in as convincing and enjoyable way as our budgets/talents will allow. And are old enough and wise enough not to be readily taken in by snake oil claims.

Unless that is the definition of "audiophile".

+1

Not sure what the definition of "audiophile" is. I never use the term. No doubt it was first coined in America (I think it was Hartley who coined the term 'high fidelity'), and by someone who did not know that lexicographers frown on Latin-Greek hybrid words.

Wikipedia makes an attempt of a definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audiophile.

[Lawrence001]

I remember reading a definition of an audiophile somewhere, it said someone who only listens to a few pieces of music over and over again while changing their system. I didn't think it was a proper definition but it struck me as a likely symptom [emoji23]

[Macca]

I think the term originates from magazine 'The Absolute Sound' back in the 1950s.

I think the intent was to create an elitist mindset amongst the readership, defining them as people who are more discerning than the typical enthusiast who is happy with his Sony.

I've never been keen on it as a label.

[Pigmy Pony]

I think the term originates from magazine 'The Absolute Sound' back in the 1950s.

I think the intent was to create an elitist mindset amongst the readership, defining them as people who are more discerning than the typical enthusiast who is happy with his Sony.

I've never been keen on it as a label.

Me neither, I wouldn't call myself one, and wouldn't call anyone else an audiophile, not even as an insult.

[Barry]

The Absolute Sound magazine started in 1973, so I don't think the late Harry Pearson coined the term 'audiophile'. I used to subscribe to the magazine, attracted by the way the (subjective) reviews for a particular item of gear, were made by several reviewers who owned different systems.

I also liked the imaginative covers used on the A5 sized magazines. I stopped subscribing after issue 28.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/AqsAAOSwhvReDshH/s-l1600.jpg

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/vLgAAOSwIV5eDshQ/s-l1600.jpg

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cusAAOSwlyVeDshh/s-l1600.jpg

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/guUAAOSwS5ReDshs/s-l1600.jpg

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/z98AAOSwEj5eDsh1/s-l1600.jpg

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DCQAAOSwK9heDsh9/s-l1600.jpg

[Pigmy Pony]

Some great covers there, just the right side of weird. I'd have to get those up on the wall :)

[Mikeandvan]

I'd say anything more than a few hundred quid for a stylus was snake oil.