HiFi Equipment – The Cost of Ownership

I am more interested in the value of ownership rather than the pure cost of ownership. That is the ratio of the pleasure of ownership vs the cost of ownership.

Surely this is more relevant but impossible to measure of course.

We can also use another measure: ROE (Return On Enjoyment)...

It is simpler not to factor the resale value and to know exactly how much the music system had cost you so far. In my very modest case the purchasing price plus maintenance (transport replacement, recap, dedicated circuit) divided by ownership time (17 years) comes to… $49.02 a month. In comparison, I spent almost double that monthly amount to acquire music.

Pleasure (unmeasurable) comes first but cold numbers could be a wake up call to some who live on the extreme.

Wife......         

Holidays....             

Job.....           

1st Music system   

Current system      

If it's of value to you then groove on.  But  if you want a competitor - say a 10 year cycle of ownership compared with golf club membership or a premiership season ticket over that period?, 

Adam Zielinski posted:

We can also use another measure: ROE (Return On Enjoyment)...

A ratio that might suit our quest here could be:

Net actual investment made ➗enjoyment experienced (NAIMEE) 

nigelb posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

We can also use another measure: ROE (Return On Enjoyment)...

A ratio that might suit our quest here could be:

Net actual investment made ➗enjoyment experienced (NAIMEE) 

Setting target KPIs based on the above:

> 1 (greater than 1): enjoyment is too low vs funds spent

<1 great enjoyment vs investment.

I did a similar, but more crude calculation when I bought my first proper system in 1991.

The CDS, 72, HiCap, 250, Epos ES 14s + stands and Sound Org rack came in around £6500.

I used a 10 year time frame and estimated the system would cost under £2 per day over the 10 years.  I was quite happy with that.

All went a bit awry when I upped it to 52, 135s, SBLs and Mana a few years later, not to mention the SME TT + bits, and the more recent 500 and 552 albeit pre-owned.

It has been a very enjoyable slippery slope.

nigelb posted:

I am more interested in the value of ownership rather than the pure cost of ownership. That is the ratio of the pleasure of ownership vs the cost of ownership.

Surely this is more relevant but impossible to measure of course.

Couldn't agree more.

If I was doing a cost analysis my guiding principle would be what proportion of my income does the purchase represent.  But this is meaningless as a datum and less than meaningless compared to musical enjoyment. Cost isn't the same as value. Value to me is of more value than cost. If it costs too much I won't/can't buy it.

When I first started in full time employment a £150 cassette deck (a common price point for a decent one in '79) would have been around 1,5 times my monthly income. A NAD 3020 would have been about 0.7. The ratios aren't in that range nowadays and the purchases are considerably less frequent.

When I was in the market for the 3020 it was because I couldn't afford an A60.  I am no longer on that kind of aspirational path. I hope not to be buying much more hardware, at least not much if any big ticket stuff. Maybe a Statement level streamer if it ever materialises and justifies the outlay.  Whereas in the 80s I was buying something most years and planning ahead all the time with no hard end point in sight.

I didn't know how much of an upgrade nerd I would become - although the signs were there early on. But I could have stopped. In fact I did stop, putting all frivolous purchases on hold for a few years plus selling my car to buy a house. So I could do it. And it happened again at various times when other needs were paramount. But it never went away. And if I had known then what I know now I would have got 20 years out of that 3020 and built a fund up for my second and final system purchase. Ahhhhh, hindsight.... And the retrospective illusion of a perfect world where the money wouldn't have gone on other stuff - like food!

Adam Zielinski posted:

nigelb posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

We can also use another measure: ROE (Return On Enjoyment)...

A ratio that might suit our quest here could be:

Net actual investment made ➗enjoyment experienced (NAIMEE) 

Setting target KPIs based on the above:

> 1 (greater than 1): enjoyment is too low vs funds spent

<1 great enjoyment vs investment.

Yes indeed, with my NAIMEE quotient we are seeking a small number i.e. A small investment that gives big pleasure - a small number divided by a big one.

The NAIMEE quotient could be applied to particular component. For example, my most recent purchase, a Cisco 2960 switch (£55), has thankfully a very low NAIMEE quotient, big smile for very little expenditure. Ah, that gives me an idea of how we can measure the enjoyment experienced - simply measure the width of the smile induced by the component in question.

Enough maths, my brain hurts now, I'm going to listen to something relaxing.

Haim Ronen posted:

It is simpler not to factor the resale value and to know exactly how much the music system had cost you so far. In my very modest case the purchasing price plus maintenance (transport replacement, recap, dedicated circuit) divided by ownership time (17 years) comes to… $49.02 a month. In comparison, I spent almost double that monthly amount to acquire music.

Pleasure (unmeasurable) comes first but cold numbers could be a wake up call to some who live on the extreme.

Yes, looking back is a good idea. About 6 years ago I bought a second hand CDS2/XPS for £2100, paid £200 to have the XPS serviced. Sold it 3 years later for £2000. Cost of ownership, £100 per year.

Bargain.