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Ever sold everything and left? (1 Viewer)

Holadem

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2000
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Everything actually means my HT which is all I really have. I know my destination, I have friends there, I will be able to live rent free for several months while looking for a job.

How is life without HT? How long did it take to ge it back?

I am looking to hear some previous experience.

--
Holadem
 

Peter Kim

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 18, 2001
Messages
1,577
The human psyche and spirit are both incredibly resilient. Once you rebound from the shock, you'll find peace and perhaps even some relief without your HT possessions.

The irony is that once enough time has elapsed, you may not even ever want to replace your collection.

Best of luck with your reincarnation.
 

Jeff Pryor

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 5, 2002
Messages
653
In 1993 I left my ex-wife. In doing so, I let her keep my HT system I had at the time and just about everything else I owned except for my clothes, tapes and CDs. Why did I do this, you might ask? She was cheating on me and I just wanted out of her life really quick, so one morning I woke up and left. But, alas!, 4 years later I had a much better HT system, and now I have an even better one than that!

Patience, and you will eventually get what you want.
 

Scott McGillivray

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 20, 1999
Messages
932
Like others have said, don't take it too seriously. I recently sold my entire HT setup. I had a ton of stuff (200+ dvd's, huge Klipsch La Scala's etc etc) that probably cost be over $14,000.00 CDN. Problem is, selling you take a HUGE loss. Oh well. I sold it because I felt that HT was becoming an obsession. I was turned down for a mortage on a nice house because I had too much debt...pretty much all of it from HT. So I have adjusted. I still like to read about HT and to dream about possibly buying a HT again some day, but for me, the priorities got messed up. I was trying to buy happiness in the form of nicer equipment or that next DVD.
I know that as I bought this equipment, I really had hopes that others would be excited to come over and enjoy it with me. Not so that I could "show off" but simply to have fun watching movies with some great picture and sound. That did not happen nearly as often as I had hoped. Some came over and just plain resented me for having the system and others just didn't "get it". So...now if people come over to my place, it is just to see me...not my equipment.

That suits me just fine.
 

Patrick_S

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2000
Messages
3,313
I don't have any personal experience on the subject but I can say that selling the equipment is totally different then selling the DVDs.

Look eventually the hardware would have to be replaced so it's not a big deal to sell it and buy again later on down the road.

On the other hand if you do plan to get another system up and running some day you will probably want to have some DVDs to spin. In my mind there is nothing worse then buying the exact same thing twice.

You have already spent the money so it is gone and selling your collection will only recoup a small portion of the spent funds. On top of that if you ever repurchase the same DVDs you have basically paid more then you had to for the DVD. That just doesn't make sense in the long run.

Keep in mind this assumes that you don't need the money right now. If you do have a real need to raise funds then by all means sell away.

If you do sell, then perhaps you should set a side a small selection of discs that you really would like to keep and sell off all the rest.

Whatever way you go good luck on the move.
 

Jeff Kleist

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 4, 1999
Messages
11,266
It's obvious Scott has been abducted by the cult of reason and fiscal responsibility
Congrats on kicking it, how do you stand hanging around with we enablers? :)
 

Michael Silla

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 27, 2001
Messages
313
"I know that as I bought this equipment, I really had hopes that others would be excited to come over and enjoy it with me. Not so that I could "show off" but simply to have fun watching movies with some great picture and sound. That did not happen nearly as often as I had hoped. Some came over and just plain resented me for having the system and others just didn't "get it". So...now if people come over to my place, it is just to see me...not my equipment.
"

Whew, truer words have never been spoken. Felt the same way two months after my RPTV purchase. No one really "got it." I have a much more relaxed time around my set now. Funny thing is last weekend my good friend came over just to "hang out" with me. I couldn't have cared less about the TV.

Well spoken Scott :b,
Michael.
 

KeithH

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2000
Messages
9,413
You have to buy the stuff because you enjoy it first and foremost. You can't worry about what other people think. I've only had people over for demos of my systems that I knew were interested in the experience. I haven't tried to "convert" anyone. I've also had friends over for casual "movie nights", but there, the focus was on watching movies, not talking about the nuances of audio or home theater. I've always hoped that my friends have enjoyed their time over at my house. I could care less if they liked the gear. :)
If you have lost the interest in home theater or need money, sell your gear while it still has some value (i.e., before it becomes completely obsolete). You can always come back to home theater later.
Holadem,
Could you bring your HT gear to your friends' place? Would they be interested in using it? Perhaps they already have a system or don't have room for yours?
 

Ryan Wright

Screenwriter
Joined
Jul 30, 2000
Messages
1,875
. Not so that I could "show off" but simply to have fun watching movies with some great picture and sound. That did not happen nearly as often as I had hoped. Some came over and just plain resented me for having the system and others just didn't "get it".
Man, that is so true.

Myself, I'm a very social person. I like to spend time with friends, and when I obtain a new toy, my first thought is, "Which one of my buddies would be interested in this?" My HT was no different. "Hey, why don't we head over to my place to watch a movie?"

But something changed. As soon as I bought my gear, a few of my "friends" became anti-social. Suddenly, they didn't want to watch movies anymore. I don't think it could have been my obsession to detail, because I never tried to tweak the system while I had people over. I just threw the DVD in and away we went. Yet little interest was shown, and still is to this day. I can't tell you how often I say, "So, what should we do this evening?", only to hear, "Oh, I don't know. I don't want to watch a movie, though." This is from people who used to enjoy movies.

My personal belief? I think it's a jealousy thing. People are a little upset because you (we) have nice gear and a huge TV.

Buying big into HT, you find who your true friends are. I grew up with one of my buddies - we've been friends since the first grade - and he loves the HT. He's constantly remarking, "Hey, this movie would be killer on your TV. Want to watch it this weekend?" A few other friends aren't so gung-ho about it, but still enjoy it from time to time. It's only been a couple who have gone completely off the deep end and avoid my HT at all costs.
 

MickeS

Senior HTF Member
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Jul 24, 2000
Messages
5,058
I sold everything I owned except my CD's (about 500 of them, I mailed them here), golf clubs (mailed them too) and clothes (as much as I could fit in two suitcases) when I moved here from Sweden. I still have some old memorabilia like pictures, some comic books and other stuff left in Sweden, but that's it.
I didn't have a HT setup there, but I had a good stereo system and the other "household electronics".
It was actually a huge relief not to have much stuff anymore. When I first moved here, we didn't have cable TV, only the rabbit ears with a pretty crappy picture. I didn't have a stereo, I listened to CD's through the crappy computer speakers (and even the computer was old and slow), I didn't have a VCR, only a player for rented movies... and I must say, life wasn't worse than it is now, even though I have since bought new stuff.
I still enjoy my HT equipment a lot, but I am not spending a lot of money on it. I bought a cheap receiver and cheap speakers a few years ago, and they still make me happy, and I have no real desire to upgrade that. I want a new TV, but that's just because I still have the 20" Zenith I have when I forst moved here, and I would like something bigger. :)
The thing about watching movies with friends, I've never been into that. I don't have much desire to have friends over only to sit quiet for a few hours. Sometimes it can be fun to talk about a movie, but then I just suggest they rent it by themselves. :) I definitely would not spend the money on a big screen setup to have friends over. It might be different if I had kids though, I think they would have a blast watching with their friends (I know I liked that when I was younger).
So... eh... where was I going with this... oh yeah, it really feels like a cleansing experience to sell everything and start over, and there are VERY few things you can't replace if you need to. It's like when you reinstall the OS on the PC, all of a sudden you have 10 GB free space again,a nd you don't even miss the stuff you deleted. :)
/Mike
 

Holadem

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2000
Messages
8,967
Thanks for the replies. My initial post led you to believe that my concern was the HT... I was more looking for feedback on the thougth of uprooting all of a sudden and moving several hundred miles away with nothing except perhaps $4000, most of which I would get by selling the HT. Without it, it would be $1500.
A reincarnation is the perfect word for what I wanted to do, thanks Peter.
I am not so sure any more, as I took steps toward making things better here (spoke to my boss about his behavior toward me... I also lost sight of the fact that I am in this rare situation where they need me...) and got more support than I thougth I would. That wasn't the only problem, lot's of other personal stuff I wanted to get out of. Plus, I hate it here. Plus, my car is broken AGAIN. Etc.
But I am going to try to hang in here for a couple of months to see if things improve. If not, then I am REALLY outta here.
The thougth of leaving also came from the philosophy that so many people feel trapped in their lives, and don't do anything about it (well, they watch Fight Club :D), actually, they learn to not do anything about it. But then again dissapearing whenever problems arise isn't good either. Where is the line between a) having the courage to get out of a bad situation while risking it all and b) being a quitter? IMO, it is only when you have tried everything to improve the current situation that you can leave knowing you aren't quitting.
I was so close to packing up living, it was the only thing that made me smile (funny, coming from someone who a couple of months ago started a thread proclaiming his happiness :rolleyes:). I shall now wait and see if the step I took today will have any result. If not, I am bouncing. We will see... :)
--
Holadem
 

MickeS

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2000
Messages
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Clinton, I feel your pain. :)
Mark, it iss a duplicate thread that's locked. I guess Holadem double-posted by mistake.
 

Sean Conklin

Screenwriter
Joined
Oct 30, 2000
Messages
1,720
I move quite a bit, I finally am done, and I always go through the trouble of finding a house with an extra room for a dedicated Home Theater room.

The equipment I could part with if necessary, but not my 200+ DVD's, no way!

Some will not be replaceable.

I prefer not to go without my HT, I will go to extra lengths to ensure I am equipped with my little getaway.
 

TheoGB

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 18, 2001
Messages
1,744
Holadem, I think you'll be fine if you were to leave to live around friends. To me this is the biggest reason I can't see myself trying to leave to live somewhere else - my friends are my life. I guess when they begin to move on I will too...


And about giving stuff up...Before I went to Uni I was an avid TV watcher. Just about anything was grist to my mill and it would just be on all the time really. At Uni I was in a flat with 9 others and I didn't get any time to watch the TV. It took a couple of months and then I was totally over it. I've not been able to really watch 'crap TV' since. Even normal broadcasts pass me by...thankfully I catch up with DVD.

If I had to sell my DVDs tomorrow I would...all except my Fight Club as that's been deleted and it's the only one I would really miss.
 

AaronNWilson

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 28, 2001
Messages
451
I am currently thinking about selling all of my hometheater equipment, not because I'm sick of it, I love the equipment but I just find that most movies really do suck. I bought the equipment because I liked the equipment, it wasn't really the movies that got me excited :).
I don't even use my speakers for listening to music because no one else appreciates my listening volume so I never get to use my speakers except for watching 1-2 dvds a week. I also don't get to use the projector for watching tv, well because analog cable quality sucks on a 122" screen.
Then there is also those times when you want to buy something like a jetski and you think dang, the money I spent on the hometheater would buy me a jetski :).
 

Don_Houle

Stunt Coordinator
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Mar 26, 2002
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Holadem,

I moved from Worcester, Massachusetts to New Jersey in 1994. My company "downsized" and closed the majority of offices in the northeast. I had 3 options, take a very crappy severance package or move to Atlanta or New Jersey where I was guaranteed a job. We had about 3 months to decide what we wanted to do.

Since I wanted to stay relatively close to my family and friends, I applied for jobs in NJ with my company and got an offer. The catch was that I had to start in about 3 weeks! Luckily, I was able to find a room for rent in the area with very little notice.

I had a nice big place in Massachusetts - two bedroom townhouse, fully furnished. I pretty much gave everything to my roommate and took only what I was going to be able to fit into my new "place". That was not much stuff. Mostly clothes and CDs, plus my guitar and TV. Due to the space limitations, I didn't even have a bed in the new place. I slept on an air mattress.

I wasn't worried about it that much, actually. It was an adventure to me. I was single and I was leaving behind everything that defined who I had been for the last 22 years. I could be whoever and whatever I wanted to be from that point on! It was very freeing. I would say that if you have a chance to make this kind of move and you think it will be a positive step in your life, then go ahead and don't look back!

Good luck!
 

Jeff Savage

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 21, 2001
Messages
386
10 years ago I picked my stakes and moved from Rochester, NY down here to TX. I sold everything I had except for clothes, CD's and my Dead bootlegs (always need the music man :)) I had one friend down here that I lived with for awhile which made it easier. Bottom line is that if you move and you don't like it you can always move back or somewhere else.
Was it scary yes it was but it was also an eye opening experience. Getting to start over and what not can be fun. After you do it once then you find it is not such a big deal and the next time you have to make a big move it won't be such a big ordeal.
As for the HT stuff sell it if you need the cash (I would keep your DVD's though). On thing is for certain, you will be able to get the same quality for less as time progresses.
I paid cash for all my HT stuff and did not carry any debt to get it so I guess I may be in a different position then some of the others here. I would not give it up (unless I was moving, lost my job etc.. and had to). Music is such a large part of my life and and a huge stress reliever that I could not live without it. All the HT stuff is icing on the cake but being able to watch movies is awesome. I am really beginging to like that as well.
Klipsch Out,
Jeff
 

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