When did you realize that you had a problem?

[Ricci]

For me it was when my girlfriend asked if i really needed to buy another amp(crown CE4000) when I still wasn't using the first one. It was then that I realized that I have...

2 5.1 surround systems, 2 drum sets, a room full of band and PA equipment, a system in my car, a small 2 channel monitoring/video game system, 3 pairs of bookshelf speakers sitting unused, an old 5.1 Sony reciever just collecting dust, subwoofers still in the shipping boxes that are supposed to be for DIY projects, I gave away a crappy HTIB system to my sister, and I'm still planning on upgrading nearly everything with time! I'm definitely bad. I have a problem. Is there a 12 step group for this kind of thing?

Anybody else feel like this sometimes? Just step back for a minute and take stock of what equipment you have...

[tonyvdb]

LOL, SO true. I have to stop and count myself blessed with what I have and stop buying any more equipment. My wife has had about as much as she can take from me and I need to stop.

We need a group on here that will keep us accountable for our purchases

[Mike P.]

I have about as much eqipment as you, either in use or boxed away in a storage room. The only steps I take are the couple of steps back to admire what I have.

[Ricci]

STEP #1
Admit that you have an obsession with collecting, producing, or otherwise upgrading electronics, speakers, and possibly gadgetry and will in no way tolerate bad or even mediocre performance from your gear, or "system".

[mechman]

My problem isn't in audio. It's video. Projector screens to be specific! And I realized I had a problem when I spent well over 6 months wading through the massive amount of disinformation elsewhere, believing it, and finding out the majority of it was junk. I've been tinkering with screens now for over two years and I just can't seem to shake it! I even went out and bought a spectrophotmeter to read paint!

Support group anyone!?!?!?!

<----- HTS - Home of the dance banana!

[OvalNut]

When I hired a guy who flew in from New Jersey to calibrate my new 'perfectly fine' RPTV.

When I pulled up to the house with the minvan stuffed to the gills with bass traps and acoustic panels, and got the huge eye roll from my better half.

When I bought a sub that looks like a fuzzy water heater because it can accurately reproduce sounds that I actually cannot even hear.


Tim

[JDRoberts]

OvalNut wrote:

When I bought a sub that looks like a fuzzy water heater because it can accurately reproduce sounds that I actually cannot even hear.

when I spent a few bucks and a couple weeks Building a black fuzzy water heater that will make sounds that I cannot actually hear.
or the week after that trying to get the EQ just so.....

or the coming week when I start building the 2nd fuzzy water heater(just because I already have the sonotube and the driver )

[Sonnie]

Do we have any volunteers for Shack Psychiatrist? Upgrade Counselor?

[drf]

When I realised that I was starting to equate the cost of everything (hospital bills, house, food, petrol etc) with how much audio gear it could buy. If I didn't eat for a month I could afford a new set of speakers.

[mdrake]

When I realised that I was starting to equate the cost of everything (hospital bills, house, food, petrol etc) with how much audio gear it could buy. If I didn't eat for a month I could afford a new set of speakers.

Wow, and I thought I was the only one that did that.

My dad says I have had a problem since I was old enough to crawl to his receiver and play with the buttons. I am 34 now and the problem has only gotten worse through the years.

Matt

[John N]

I can remember being about 12 , walking into an audio store and knocking over a glass table (did not break) because my eyes were fixed on all the equipment... It was at a mall and they had some pretty nice stuff , at least better than my first receiver ,turntable and speaker system . ($299.00) I had a few used "turntable in a suitcase " systems before that. (late 70's)

[Blaser]

I hate owning equipments and not using them. This is a lack of efficiency in spending money Having upgraded to dual 18" subs, I had removed my older 12" sub out of the HT. Then I couldnt stand the idea of having it sitting there without any duty, therefore I have integrated it back again in the system and I have managed to find a use. It now helps correcting some cancellation I have in my room....

May I dance like the others??!!

[fibreKid]

I think I have mechmans problem. As I learn about something which doesn't give me expected results, I start focusing more time, energy and ..... money on. Time and energy are somewhat fixed but the credit card nevers says no on my web browser.

I have to work hard to moderate it's easy use which means I still spend the money, I just spread it out over a longer period of time. There I said it. That's my problem.

No I don't feel better and it's not going to fix anything

[mechman]

Sonnie wrote:

Do we have any volunteers for Shack Psychiatrist? Upgrade Counselor?

I've found a reasonably priced one that will save you money in the long run so that you can spend it on your obsessions! Here she is:

[thxgoon]

Lol!!! Good to see we're all in good company. Should we start a sticky thread for Audio Systems Anonymous group?

Well I should've known better when I was 13 and riding my bike to Best Buy and Sears twice a week for an entire summer with every CD I owned to compare boomboxes. After I'd saved enough paper route money I finally bought a Panasonic that I still use.

It became a problem when I built subwoofers taller than me that I had to bring to the basement in 2 pieces...(or was it when I started bringing a decibel meter to the movies with me?)

[southsound]

I prefer to live in denial rather than admit to the extremely rare possibility that my love of home theater is a problem. I use thoughts like, "I'm not as bad as Fred - he paid more for his cables than I did for my receiver" or "Do you have any idea how many subs you could buy for the price of those hydraulic lifts on Jim's truck?. We have an intense personal need - much like eating and sleeping. Would any of us actually skip eating for a month because some might find the cost of food too great? Or decide to sleep only 3 hours a night because sleeping more seems like a waste?

On a more serious note - we made a modest investment in building an addition to the house and filling it with some gear that carefully researched on this and other forums. We are not big fans of the commercial theater (our last trip was to see Jurassic Park when it was running the original). The cost of tickets, the inconvenience of driving 30 miles to get there and back, the anoyance of having someone talking right behind you, the problem of needing to use the rest room but the projectionist refuses to stop the movie for you - all of these things make the movie house pretty unatractive to us. But just walking down the hall to our own HT with a great picture, wonderful sound, and a pause button I control: priceless! Instead of watching an occasional movie on our living room TV, we have watched nearly 90 DVD's in our theater since December. The theater is one of our best investments.

[Ricci]

I just bought another gigantic subwoofer

Is the doctor in? I need an appointment...

[superchad]

I think when you have been around in this or an audio focused hobby after awhile you evolve and trim things down............atleast I know I and a couple friends did just that,
Close to 2 years ago I sold off everything I was holding onto for no reason, 2 tone arms, DAC, DIP, 2 amps, CD players, headphones and battery powered amps, I gave away 2 turntables, a DAC, a bunch of cables and a couple carts to young guys starting in audio, gave away a 36in SD TV to a helpful neighbor, a sub to a friend, sold a Onkyo TXNR901 unit for $75 to another guy like me on fixed income, and gave accoustic panels not being used to my father and surround speakers to my brother. I made a good amount of cash, helped some friends, needy strangers and family out and cleaned house. I still cant give away a Harmony 1000 remote (I guess its rep was so bad nobody wants it) and right now I have a pair of Electrostat speakers for sale and I kept a backup upsample DVD player but atleast I am cleared out if dust collectors and both heped others and payed off a credit card. I did have enough extra gear to put a 5.1 wife system in living room but its in daily use so that doesnt count.