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Monday, January 23, 2012

The LIST

I'm 43.

Doesn't seem too old, now that I'm here, even though I know better.  I think, gradually, I am becoming an adult.  Perhaps my current employment is forcing it on me, but we won't get into that now. As a result, I am starting to realize that money has some purpose other than being exchanged for beer, and stereo equipment.  So the natural question one asks oneself is:

"Over twenty five years, how much could I have POSSIBLY spent on stereo stuff?  I mean, it's not that much, is it?"

Well I decided to try and find out.  I sat down over the weekend with a box of receipts and manuals, and put together an Excel sheet that tries to document all of the gear I have owned at one time or another.  The only rules:  To make the list, an item has to have been hooked up at least once and listened to with the intent to keep it, and speaker pairs count as one entry.  We now know how long that intent lasts.  Could I be successful at compiling such a list?  So far, so good.  It helps that I have a strong obsessive-compulsive streak.    I've got 102 entries dating back as far as 1987, and the total cost is $21,172.88.  I still need to find prices that I paid for 22 items, so that total is going up.  I figure a safe bet is that I have been averaging $1000 spent annually over the last 25 years. What would a golf habit have cost me over that time?  Put that way, it doesn't sound so bad. Ultimately I have sold off most of the things I've had in the past, so I ought to try to figure out what I actually paid for the period I owned a particular piece.

I was able to include columns for MSRP (need a lot of work there) and place of purchase, which includes a lot of places some of which no longer exist, like Silo and Lechmere in Western New York, or Square Deal on long Island.  Some places are still in business like Audio Den, Speaker Shop, Chips Unlimited, Stereo Chamber and the online folks like Music Direct.  I'm also going to try to account for repairs or upgrades done at In House Stereo Repair in Setauket.  More work to do, but the next step is to get the PDF uploaded so that it can be seen here on the blog.  I'll have to look into that.  In the mean time, if anyone is interested I'd be glad to send it via e-mail.

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