Besides Audio, what other ''passion'' do you have?


I have often wondered what other interests other audiophiles thrive on. Cars? Wine? model plane building? Baseball cards? Camping? Let's hear it ! As for me, it's mainly kept in the ''audio'' family. Piano and guitar (accoustic) although I am finding myself surprisingly interested in electric guitar magazines, and finding out that ''every guitar and amp combination has a tone, and that the pursuit of ''tone'' is the ultimate quest, not unlike our never-ending quest for the perfect sound I guess, as an audiophile. Interestingly enough, I'm also finding out that most self-respecting guitar player will use a tube amplifier, while the solid state camp will use solid state in ''modelling'' amps, amps that duplicate the sound of other famous amplifiers all in one ( Vox, Marshall, Fender and more). Now there's a community where the tube vs solid state discussion doesn't last long, in fact it's no contest... What's YOUR other hobby or interest ?
sonicbeauty
Woodworking, sketching, sculpting, home improvements...
Nothing real musical, but all very hands-on type of stuff.
I work in a corperate office enviornment, i think that is one of the reasons i like building or creating things. It balances out my lack of physical activity at work and allows me to actually see and feel a finished product.
I enjoy a number of other interests.

Wife and family have to come first.
Then, in no particular order:
Cycling (I did a three hour ride today)
Brewing beer, wine and mead.
Drinking the above products ;-)
Photography
Motorcycling
1. Alpine skiing (read steep and deep and in the trees and bumps)
2. Ocean kayaking
3. Sailing on my 24' tri.
Custom hardwood furniture building. I have a dedicated shop in the basement. I build everything from shaker to mission styles, from kitchens to bedrooms. I'm pretty much only building for me right now, I get in one or two projects a year. I just started a cherry dresser for my wife today, hope to have it complete by Christmas.
Mijknarf, you and I have a lot in common. I'm into wood working hard core. I've designed and built every piece of furniture in my apartment including the stands for my signature 805's. My taste ranges from mission to shaker and everything in between.

Besides that, I'm also into jet skiing, mountain biking, watches, cars, trucks, anything with an engine including gas powered R/C/ cars, and custom home building.
1) Tennis/Basketball/Golf/Road Bike Riding.

2) Determining if the Sports Books in Vegas and others have the spread correctly identified. (sm!)
Gambling, recreational pharmaceuticals, bad girls, good spankings.

(Just kidding. I've reformed.)

Regards,
Seth,
I'll send you some pics of my most recent stuff. Like you, I built almost all the furniture in our house. I'm finding it more and more difficult to spend time in my shop when my system is calling me for a listening session!
Cooking (3 degrees), pastry, Computers (MCSE, MCSA, A+), audio and music (of course), woodworking, reading, movies, home improvements, gardening, camping, digital photography and photo restoration/editing, technology and science, tall ships and concerts.
My wife & 2 boys. 2 & 1/2 year old Jake and 3 month old Tanner.

Can't get enough of them! Jake already has some simple songs memorized and jams on our piano- looks like he's immitating Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder. Don't know where he got that from- puts a TON of body english into it.

other than music & family I just don't seem to have time for anything else, other than work that is!

Hope there are plenty others here who feel the same way.
cheers!
Golf, tennis, wine, single malt, food, music, custom woodworking, guitars (down to 2 from 35), boats, and of course, my wife (once in a while)!
Would you people believe I am a butterfly collector?
It is a hobby rarely practiced by adults these days.
On the other end of the spectrum I am a WWII armour nut.
I love german tanks and am an avid 1/35 scale modeler of armour kits.
I used to be a fine artist and graphic designer for about 17 years, now going thru my midlife crisis. Audio and collecting records is one of my escapes.
Photography - on land and undersea
Scuba diving
World travel
Whitewater canoeing
Telemark skiing
Xiekitchen,

I built quite a few of those WWII models in my youth. I liked the ones that were a "scene".

1) Golf
2) Hockey
3) Tweaking cars ('89 Supra Turbo, 01 Acura 3.2 Type S)
4) Hanging with my three kids, taking them to their sports
5) Drinking single malts, beer, good wine
6) Reading
7) Sex
Watching the O's and Maryland Basketball. (And sometimes football)
Wine and fine spirits. (Though it's my job)
My Lord (Jesus)
My wife ;-)
My children
NFL - Arizona Cardinals
NBA - Phoenix Suns
Boat, fishing, whiskey, cognac, beer, pot at times(luv to have some laughs he..he..), strategic computer games(often combined with non-critical listening sessions), card games, chess, billiards, my lady's S etc...
1) Alpine Skiing - When it gets hairy you get a new appreciation for life. Summer is what God gives you for your knees to heal.
2) Acoustic and Electric Guitars - only three, but let's see what happens there.
3) Kayaking - fresh and salt water
I noticed others who mentioned alpine skiing - anyone in the Northeast? It wouldn't be the worst thing to discuss components while taking the chair up.
Anyone with a house at Vail, Arapahoe, Park City, Whistler or anywhere else out west is also heartily encouraged to respond. Let me know.
Les
My wife and family foremost. My lesser passions include; my career in science, playing music (percussion instruments), listening to live and recorded music, martial arts (Aikido), reading for pleasure, electronics, cooking, and gardening.
Flying: Power & sailplanes
Cycling
Shooting pistol & bow/arrow
Trumpet & guitar
R/C model A/C building & flying
Woodworking
Fine wine & food
Candy M. My day does not feel complete unless I have at least spoken to her on the phone. When I see her, I just do not how to explain the feeling I get. She is easily my best friend and a person I love without reason or qualifications. My godson,Nicholas-he knows everything, is a genius and tyrant, and I am in awe of most everything he does. Then, there is music and histories, which somehow seem intermingled in the way I relate to them.Audio is not really a passion for me as much as something that puzzles me. I love its designs.I love that it does not work without the human element. I wish my greatest passion was being humble, asking questions and really pausing to listen. This is something I have to actively work on though
I love reading(politics, management....no fiction thou), computers, tweaking my car, and watching movies.
I'm a crew member of a race team and we race late model chevy on a 1/2 mile circle track every sat night.Also have five muscle cars that we show. The wife is into this which makes it more of a family thing!So pretty much audio and racing cars is our thing.
Playing electric bass and guitar, as well as recording msuic. And you can count me as another one of those guitarists who uses tube gear in the home audio system...
Kickboxing (although being 53 I've cut back on sparring and heavy pad work by maybe 75%) and Latin & ballroom dancing with my wife.

Believe it or not, I can out-last and out-wind 80% of the young guys in our boxing group but, of course, I've simply learned over 30 years how to conserve energy and stay relaxed in there.
Sushi, walking, cities, fine hotels, movies, red wine, malt scotch, fine art, my wife.
Basket weaving,ballet dancing,square dancing and bird watching.I don't think I miss anything.
Cheers.
- Listening to acoustic Jazz
- Spending time with my son, who has grown into a wonderful young man (3rd year at university, and off to Scotland in a few days)
- Any activity with my wife (luckily, I married the woman of my dreams)
- Non-partisan discussions about current events, politics and democracy (unfortunately, despite greater availability and access to information, most folks are chosing to inform themselves by consuming the talking points spouted by party flunkies on TV, and offering it up as "discussion"), this one appears soon headed for extinction or my own disengagement, whichever comes first.