Troels Gravesen Faital 3WC-15 Loudspeaker - Review

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Originally Posted by Macca

Just regarding the whole 'value for money' thing.

Obviously this is relative to what else can be bought for that amount of money or more.

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The way I like to look at expensive purchases is to convert it into a monthly figure. So, assuming you intend to keep them for say 10 years, that works out to about £42 a month. Comparing that to say a Sky TV subscription, it's far cheaper over the lifetime of the product and no doubt you'll end up keeping them and enjoying them for way more than 10 years.

I recently replaced my desktop speakers after 5 years - they cost me £160 I think, so £2.67 a month, and I still have them and will use them for something else, or they'd sell for probably £80. Well, that's how I justified spending £700 on their replacements!

When putting together a custom motorbike many years ago, I used the 'wife pounds' conversion with all purchases, where everything I bought cost roughly double the amount I declared. Easier to do back then with cash sales.

With most purchases these days being done with credit/debit cards and bank transfers, costs are there for all to see, so justifying purchases by showing what the monthly cost is, is all we have left. Over the last ten years the things I've bought, minus what I recouped from selling other stuff, the cost works out at less than a fiver a week. That's a cheap hobby, and we probably spend more than that on bog roll.

I don't do any of that. If I see something I like and want, and can afford it, I will buy it then and there. I can't be bothered 'amortising' such purchases, and I rarely sell any of my excess gear.

Over the fifty years I have had with this hobby, some of the earlier acquisitions have turned out to be bargains: my speakers were bought for £50 for the pair, likewise the SME arm was £25. All of my gear is now worth considerably more than what I paid for it, because apart from cartridges, it was all bought used.


Martin's new speakers are value for money: by dint of working on longer than had need to he was able to benefit from his company's redundency scheme, allowing him to buy the components, have a cabinet maker build the enclosures and has ended up with a pair of speakers with which he is delighted, and which will probably see him out.

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Originally Posted by Barry

which will probably see him out.

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They'll have to - unless the stock market does a back flip or I go back to work.

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Originally Posted by Barry

I don't do any of that. If I see something I like and want, and can afford it, I will buy it then and there. I can't be bothered 'amortising' such purchases, and I rarely sell any of my excess gear.

Over the fifty years I have had with this hobby, some of the earlier acquisitions have turned out to be bargains: my speakers were bought for £50 for the pair, likewise the SME arm was £25. All of my gear is now worth considerably more than what I paid for it, because apart from cartridges, it was all bought used.


Martin's new speakers are value for money: by dint of working on longer than had need to he was able to benefit from his company's redundency scheme, allowing him to buy the components, have a cabinet maker build the enclosures and has ended up with a pair of speakers with which he is delighted, and which will probably see him out.

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"Wife pound conversion" used to be a thing, and that's not me being sexist, it's just that hobbies have always been more of a man thing (though not always). And all too often hobbies have costs which are hard to justify to anyone who does not share that interest...

It's not something I do these days, anything that costs more than a few quid we consult each other on, and only happens when we are both in agreement. But I know my mate's wife (she's admitted as much to Mrs. P), is constantly buying antique and vintage items at auctions, to sell on at vintage fairs, car boots etc, hopefully at a profit, and my mate doesn't know the half of it. Or maybe he does, but just wants a quiet life. I don't want to get in the middle of that so I'm saying nowt.

Well done on getting all those bargains, I've never been any good at that, I don't think I've ever sold or owned anything that's worth more than I paid. Maybe my bike will one day, but that's likely to be well past my bedtime.

I use à different approach. If there is something I want, I evaluate compared to how many Mrs. H haircuts it costs.
My 2nd hand DAC cost two haircuts for example.

Going back on track a little, I think I will be doing something similar to Martin when I retire, and I move to my other house.
It will need some different speakers, and I will treat myself. My current speakers are good enough for my current listening space.

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Originally Posted by Macca

They'll have to - unless the stock market does a back flip or I go back to work.

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Or brush up your poker skills? ;)