Budget: $500. Well $50k is close enough.

[RWD]

This guy originally wanted help in choosing a $500 subwoofer. Then proceeded to spend $10k+ in AV equipment over the next couple years. Now he is considering an additional $50k+ in upgrades.
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-diy-speakers-subs/2950430-you-guys-ruined-me.html

That's a lighthearted thread, but certainly highlights how the Diderot effect can spiral out of control.

[dcheesi]

As a former audio perfectionist, I can say that I'm almost grateful for the day when I figured out my hearing was (relatively) shot. While I was never as spendy as this person, I did spend wayyy too much time obsessing about A/V stuff, including a lot of time spent on that forum! Realizing that I couldn't hear that last 0.00001% of audio fidelity that I was chasing made me a whole lot more relaxed about the whole thing.

[jinga nation]

Now you done it @RWD .
For years AVSForum has been a source of hilarious laughs. I had never thought of sharing with y'all.
Did you read the one where a guy spend 6 figures to build a home theater in his basement?
Some of them have actual cinema doors for their home theater.

[GuitarStv]

As a former audio perfectionist, I can say that I'm almost grateful for the day when I figured out my hearing was (relatively) shot. While I was never as spendy as this person, I did spend wayyy too much time obsessing about A/V stuff, including a lot of time spent on that forum! Realizing that I couldn't hear that last 0.00001% of audio fidelity that I was chasing made me a whole lot more relaxed about the whole thing.

To be honest, I'm not convinced that many of the people who buy very high end audio stuff can hear that last 0.00001% of audio fidelity difference.  An awful lot of the industry is consumed with hand-wavy and anti-scientific emperor's new clothing-type discussion.

[RWD]

Now you done it @RWD .
For years AVSForum has been a source of hilarious laughs. I had never thought of sharing with y'all.
Did you read the one where a guy spend 6 figures to build a home theater in his basement?
Some of them have actual cinema doors for their home theater.

If there's anything I've learned from that forum it's that there is always a more expensive solution.

[Phenix]

I am so glad I learned my lesson back in high school.  All of my friends were into having the loudest subwoofers and kept the crappy stock speakers.  That wasn't good enough for me, I wanted the complete system.  So I would save every tip I got as a grocery bagger ($50-$75 a week) and put it toward stereo equipment.  When all was said and done, I ended up putting $2,500 worth of stereo equipment in my $2,500 Cavalier.  Honestly, I can't say I enjoyed the music that much better during my 5 minute commute to school or work.

[TempusFugit]

I started my career doing digital design for an audio company.  It was right about that time that everyone shifted from absolutely having to have 18-bit digital conversions to ensure that even the rodents in their home could pick up every nuance in the music to suddenly accepting that MP3s are good enough because I can carry 10,000 songs in my pocket. 

[GuitarStv]

I am so glad I learned my lesson back in high school.  All of my friends were into having the loudest subwoofers and kept the crappy stock speakers.  That wasn't good enough for me, I wanted the complete system.  So I would save every tip I got as a grocery bagger ($50-$75 a week) and put it toward stereo equipment.  When all was said and done, I ended up putting $2,500 worth of stereo equipment in my $2,500 Cavalier.  Honestly, I can't say I enjoyed the music that much better during my 5 minute commute to school or work.

Well yeah . . . good audio is all about the nuance and subtle detail that you can pick up in music.  Nuance kinda gets drowned out by engine, wheel, and wind noise from driving around in a noisy-ass car!

[NoVa]

Now you done it @RWD .
For years AVSForum has been a source of hilarious laughs. I had never thought of sharing with y'all.
Did you read the one where a guy spend 6 figures to build a home theater in his basement?
Some of them have actual cinema doors for their home theater.

If there's anything I've learned from that forum it's that there is always a more expensive solution.

"This project is only limited by your bank account and my imagination."

[Just Joe]

I am so glad I learned my lesson back in high school.  All of my friends were into having the loudest subwoofers and kept the crappy stock speakers.  That wasn't good enough for me, I wanted the complete system.  So I would save every tip I got as a grocery bagger ($50-$75 a week) and put it toward stereo equipment.  When all was said and done, I ended up putting $2,500 worth of stereo equipment in my $2,500 Cavalier.  Honestly, I can't say I enjoyed the music that much better during my 5 minute commute to school or work.

Well yeah . . . good audio is all about the nuance and subtle detail that you can pick up in music.  Nuance kinda gets drowned out by engine, wheel, and wind noise from driving around in a noisy-ass car!

Or your kids chattering about kid stuff in the backseat. I long ago gave up on fancy sound systems for reasons like this.

If I put on my headphones someone will want to talk to me.
If I turn up the movie (feeding through my ancient stereo) someone will want to chatter about something happening in the movie.

I predict if I went home on a school day early to "hear" a movie, the Mormons would ring the doorbell or the robocalls would start ringing our landline every 25 minutes. ;)

Last weekend on the highway. Kids want me to turn up their favorite song on the car stereo. 35 seconds into the song, our kids are happily chattering about something else so I roll the volume back down and they never even noticed.

[partgypsy]

My older brother at one point in his life, seemed to spend all his money (spare and otherwise) on sound equipment (80-90's) which I thought was nuts. Granted he was in a band, but a lot of it was just to listen to music. Ditto for seeing live music.   

[Just Joe]

Depends on how you do it I suppose - buy the stereo once and then keep it forever or replace it every year with the next newest thing.

[PloddingInsight]

This conversation reminded me of something.  It took some googling but I found it...

http://achewood.com/index.php?date=11162005

[FiguringItOut]

Not this bad, but I have a story.

When my exH and I got engaged and moved in together money was tight.  His birthday was coming up and I "budgeted" $50 for his gift.  Budgeted in quotes because we didn't really have a budget.  We were just starting to merge finances and I knew that his finances were even tighter than mine in terms of cash available.  He preferred to live on credit cards though. 

Anyhow, I budgeted $50 to buy him a photo camera.  That's what he wanted, a camera.  Somehow, it became an $150 camera that he picked.  Then he wanted a $225 camera.  We ended up buying $800 SLR camera.  This was in 2001, so it was an expensive camera.  Especially for a couple just starting out. 

There were so many red flags in that relationship, not just financial, I can't even count them all.  Took me 15 years to see the light and get out. 

Oh to be young again and do it all over.