You don’t wash your socks at all? Yeah, merino, but still? Gotta try it
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Since we are on an investment forum, quality shoes are an investment. Herring, Barker, Cheaney, Loake, Redwing, Tricker, Church, and so on. If you get yourself a three-shoe rotation from some sale, you’ll be set for over a decade in style. Or well, at least in a working-man style when it comes to Red Wings, for example. But even country shoes work here in Finland in almost every situation.
My rotation shoes are currently from 2014, 2018, and 2021. Even the oldest ones don’t need any replacement, just new laces and soles and they’re good to go. The ones bought in 2003 were discarded a couple of years ago.
For summer, you can buy white Air Max if you feel that your (mental) age isn’t yet 40+ 
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Partly inspired by this thread, I recently wrote a list of the highest quality products of my entire life before Christmas.
Tl;dr: included on the list
- Ultra Pro backpack
- Philips humidifier
- Genelec speakers
- Roborock robot vacuum cleaner
- Selected HOMME outfit
I defined that quality must meet two criteria: it is in heavy use (meaning it genuinely serves daily life and improves quality of life) and lasts significantly longer than the average lifespan of that product category (and I still use it myself).
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One thing must be said about Genelec speakers, however, which I didn’t think about myself when buying them. Because they are so-called active speakers, they reproduce sound exactly as it comes from the source.
The reason for the accurate sound reproduction is not that they are active speakers per se, but that they are designed for studio use, not really for enjoying music..
Nothing (not even stocks) is as interesting as speaker comparisons, so I have to include this pair comparison as well.. But it’s good to favor Finnish products..
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Genelec speakers are certainly top-notch, but in all honesty, I haven’t encountered passive speakers (I don’t know which ones were referred to) that would have broken down unless subjected to violence, rain, 10 years of outdoor storage, etc. I did manage to break some unknown 70s speakers by blasting them with powerful stereos as a teenager with the knobs turned all the way up, but even that was entirely my own fault.
Speaking of music gear, my Denon stereo failed; after “only” 34 years of use, the left/right knob started crackling when turned. Perhaps it could still be fixed somehow, as there’s nothing else wrong with it, but I decided to dig into my pockets and buy new ones anyway.
If you think about everyday items, 30 years is still a short time compared to, for example, a cast-iron pan inherited from grandma that’s been in active use and just turned 50 without much fanfare.
Roborock, an Electrolux vacuum cleaner, and a Samsung TV have all reached 15 years without complaints, but I don’t consider them exceptional yet.
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I personally have exactly “those Mannis” (the same KH 80 DSP) and I have been mostly satisfied 
But if you intend to use them especially for music, then these definitely require a subwoofer as a companion. The bottom end doesn’t turn into mush or anything traditionally like that, but simply the lowest frequencies are missing, as one can expect from small speakers.
Rieker leather shoes definitely belong in this thread.
Eight years ago, as a newly started entrepreneur, I was on my way to an important business meeting on the other side of Finland. I needed something smarter to wear, so on the way, I went shopping for clothes etc. at a shopping center. When I asked a clothing store about shoes, a young female salesperson directed me to the Click Shoes store. From there, I picked up a pair of Rieker leather shoes for just over a hundred euros. I had previously read praise for the brand on some forums, and the shoes were exactly the style I was looking for, so it was an easy choice.
Since that day, this pair of shoes has accompanied me everywhere in daily life and at work, except for snowy winter days. They are still stylish, presentable, and intact. I haven’t had to think about shoe matters.
That business meeting was also successful, and the business partnership continues to this day…
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Perhaps I can comment on this Genelec discussion with a couple of sentences, as it’s quite close to my own profession.
“Good sound” is a subjective concept. Some like a precise and crisp presence (where “words are clear”), while others prefer thumping bass. Both are right, which is why hi-fi equipment is manufactured to suit the preferences of many different listeners. In some cases, it also ventures into the realm of the spiritual: 1000€ speaker cables, Lego bricks on the floor to lift cables, or perhaps the worst of all, hundreds of euros for power cables. My own moral compass doesn’t allow me to say that users like the latter are “right” as in the previous example 
But nevertheless, satisfying solutions are available for them too.
Genelec’s philosophy for loudspeakers is actually quite different. They don’t specifically aim to please individual listeners, but rather to reproduce sound exactly as it was recorded on a track or workstation. From the perspective of an individual music or film consumer, it’s then a matter of taste whether one likes the precise sound as it left the producer’s or production company’s release channel, or if one prefers a sound that is colored/tinted in some way. For most consumers, this doesn’t even matter much. In professional use, with heavily colored listening, it’s not even possible to do work, reference use excluded.
I myself have used Genelec at work and at home for over 25 years, and I can no longer fully enjoy the listening experience if the soundstage is “messed up”. However, I also consume music, for example, in the car and sometimes watch movies with just the TV’s audio, and this is not a problem for me. Sometimes you can eat macaroni casserole, and other times you crave tenderloin. Both satisfy hunger, but you might enjoy one a little more.
However, I consider the product itself to be of very high quality. Spare parts and service are still available even for products 30 years old. They also don’t become obsolete with the release of new models. The resale value of older products is also high. In the hi-fi or audio world, not many similar examples come to mind; well, perhaps Technics 1200-series turntables in a certain way meet the definition of a similar standard, but even those are customized with preferred needles and cartridges. High-quality products, of course, they are too.
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In home use, room acoustics spoil the speaker’s sound anyway, meaning a 20k speaker can be made to sound worse than a 1k package where room acoustics have been taken into account. Genelec has a SAM correction package with which this problem can be tackled, but even so, just as a gut feeling, I would trust directional speakers more, e.g., the domestic Gradient 1.4, if you want the absolute best, especially for an apartment building, where I fortunately don’t live
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Today I picked up Iron Ranger boots made by Red Wing Shoes from Pinkomo. Breaking them in will likely take some time before the footwear molds to my own foot, but after that, they should be excellent. They get better with age.
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Genelec, even though it’s a quality brand, hasn’t invented hifi or even acoustic design regarding sound reproduction.
The fact that a speaker reproduces a flat front response in an anechoic space doesn’t make it a good sound reproducer in a typical room.
Every now and then, one encounters this setup: pure Genelec vs distorted other speaker brands. And I’m not directly referring to your writing now.
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Yes and no. A speaker’s ability to reproduce sound is one thing. Room acoustics are another. And thirdly, there are these generally automatically calibrating systems that attempt to compensate for poor room acoustics, which, in turn, should primarily be addressed by solutions that improve acoustics, rather than electrical corrections. These, in the wrong hands, can do a lot of harm to sound reproduction. Generally, a speaker that reproduces a flat response also “tolerates” such electrical correction better than a speaker whose response is already colored.
As I said, there are many needs and at least as many solutions. But now we’ve gone well off-topic for this thread
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I have had Genelec 8030s as desktop speakers for a long time. Of course, there can be many different preferences regarding sound, but if a flat-response studio sound appeals to you, then Genelecs are precisely the products described in the thread title. Mine needed servicing after 15 years; it wasn’t expensive or difficult to send the speakers to Iisalmi, and after a couple of weeks, I received my repaired, serviced, calibrated, and cleaned speakers back, looking like new.
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I visited the Oulu Housing Fair, and genelwc was represented there. I asked the salesperson how much the system costs, and for 20,000e you could get the system for the house. Speakers for the room, acoustic design, an application with which you can define room-specific decibel limits, what is heard where. Quite an awesome package, and in my opinion, an OK price. Compare it to a new house with various luxuries, and then high-quality sound reproduction for the whole house, which is designed already during the construction phase.
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The speaker reproduces a response consistent with its characteristics in any room. The characteristics of the room and the listener then affect how the sound reproduced by the speaker is transmitted from the speaker onwards. “Good sound reproduction,” as I noted, is a matter of taste. “Bad room acoustics,” as a concept, is easier to define, but the threshold of tolerability is again a matter of individual preference.
It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation, and we’re already going so far off-topic that I’ll only continue this in the coffee room at most, if even there
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Well, not quite like that, because a speaker has other characteristics than just a direct/neutral frequency response in space or in a room. For example, a 1000L speaker with a front panel size of 1m2 will reproduce sound at least differently than a SAM-corrected boxing glove-sized (Genelec).
Dynamic range reproduction and room pressurization are significant factors on which room correction has almost no effect.
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By the way, the front panel of Genelec’s top model 1236A is over a square meter in size. The volume, however, is only about 700l.
These are designed to be flush-mounted into a wall, meaning the room is usually built around the speakers, so to speak.
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For passive speakers, I’ve been happy with English KEF speakers, if you can get them at a good discount. Damn expensive devices, but they sound and look good For headphones, Sennheiser HD600 used to be the “gold standard” and are still quite capable today. They are durable and, as far as I know, spare parts are available.
Regarding computer hardware, I’d also like to highlight Apple laptops with M-chips. The M1, which has served for almost five years in basic use, is still overpowered and the machine shows no signs of slowing down otherwise.
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I’ve been using old Caterpillar socks, which work well for everyday wear and outdoors. They weren’t cheap, but they’ve paid for themselves as they have stayed in good condition for an exceptionally long time.
I recommend them because they are comfortable and durable. Of course, there are probably different types of Caterpillar socks nowadays, but I have the basic model, i.e., the classic Cat work socks.
Do any of you have experience with modern-day Cat socks or, for example, the brand’s sports socks?
Thanks in advance for your comments!
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Ever since I discovered CAT’s black business socks about 15 years ago, I haven’t used any other socks (except for wool socks at night). These work in safety shoes, for sports, and for everyday wear. They don’t slide down, they last exceptionally well, and they are also available in many stores, e.g., Tokmanni, Motonet, and Puuilo. Sometimes on sale, you can get 5 pairs for well under ten euros. Definitely worth the price! I wear size 44 shoes, but I prefer these socks in size 39–42. Size 43–46 has too much length in the leg. One of the best feelings is slipping these brand-new Cat ‘foot-rags’ onto sauna-fresh paws 
Another almost as charming product is Sievi Footwear (Sievin Jalkineet). They fit my flat feet like a glove. In addition to work use, a large part of my casual shoes are now from this brand, e.g., Sievi Boot Winter. They’re suitable whenever I’m not wearing sandals 
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