For most of us, I think it may take a good 2 or 3 decades of familiarizing yourself with the market in this hobby to get to a reliably good enough level of experience with which you can feel good about your chances of success at downsizing and getting away with it. It takes that long for most of us to become familiar with the width and depth of the market and it may not come at all unless you’ve made a number of purchases, for both good And ill, and have lived with the results for a long enough while.
But, just remember: having gone down the slippery slope, every time some audiophile proclaims their rallying cry in print that the paying of the exorbitant prices is ’unquestionably’ the only way to go, there’s another manufacturer that says to themselves: "See that? More proof that if I introduce a new product to the market at a temptingly competitive price that I know I can still make a profit at, then I know it won’t be taken seriously by anyone unless I price it 2-4 time higher". This is how the industry is pricing itself out of existence.
Of course, the original problem was created by the makers, pressuring us whenever possible in subtle and in not-so-subtle ways to spend more than last time. But, it’s a runaway train and about everybody is at fault.
I would suppose the only sane thing to do for both our own And the hobby’s sake Is to learn how to downsize from the top...or maybe better yet, to finally put in the time it takes to learn how to never actually go down the all-out-assault path to begin with - or at least not without extreme care - surely a tricky and time-consuming thing, particularly if you’ve ruled out all expensive purchases from the start.
OK everybody, now relax and just enjoy the music...if you still can. :(
But, just remember: having gone down the slippery slope, every time some audiophile proclaims their rallying cry in print that the paying of the exorbitant prices is ’unquestionably’ the only way to go, there’s another manufacturer that says to themselves: "See that? More proof that if I introduce a new product to the market at a temptingly competitive price that I know I can still make a profit at, then I know it won’t be taken seriously by anyone unless I price it 2-4 time higher". This is how the industry is pricing itself out of existence.
Of course, the original problem was created by the makers, pressuring us whenever possible in subtle and in not-so-subtle ways to spend more than last time. But, it’s a runaway train and about everybody is at fault.
I would suppose the only sane thing to do for both our own And the hobby’s sake Is to learn how to downsize from the top...or maybe better yet, to finally put in the time it takes to learn how to never actually go down the all-out-assault path to begin with - or at least not without extreme care - surely a tricky and time-consuming thing, particularly if you’ve ruled out all expensive purchases from the start.
OK everybody, now relax and just enjoy the music...if you still can. :(