What do/did you do for a living?

When I was young and a skilled factory worker (offset printing) I could afford budget gear like NAD 3020 amp, Boston Acoustics A40 speakers, Dual TT with Grado MM cart, Heathkit tuner, and I splurged on a Pioneer RT-707.

When I was in my prime earning years (computer programmer) I spent money on PRO-AC and Ref 3A speakers, OTL Tube amp, Class A SS amp, McIntosh Tuner, Benchmark DAC1 preamp.

Now that I am retired I am enjoying also some of the new budget giant killers, for example ELAC DBR-2 Reference speakers, FIIO preamp/dac and AIYIMA A07 Class D amp.

The quality of budget gear - if you were knowledgeable - was pretty great in the 70s, took a dive in the 80s and 90s (like just about everything else except Toyotas) and has seen a resurgence of great value items in the 2020s, IMHO.

I work for the NYCTA./  MTA  - TWU Local 100. Been there 33 years and I’m 57 yrs old.  I am a track worker / Welder burner. I do major construction on the subway tracks. Total track replacement. Including all Switches,  Turnouts , rails , plates and ties. Jack hammer concrete chip outs. Payloader bobcat ballast dugouts in the subway tunnels. Replacement of track panels on the structure. Unlimited OT if wanted. 

I own and operate a Porsche service and repair facility outside of Boston. I have been doing it for well over 40years. I turn 66 next month and staying busy trying to keep up with my  5.5 year old daughter...System is made of up of Magico/Octave/Basis/My Sonic/Emm labs....I must admit..life is very good these days.

Retired maintenance technician for the USPS. I worked on the various mail processing machines used to sort mail. I invested during my entire career in the federal version of a 401K called the Thrift Savings Program, so I retired with a nice nest egg along with SS and a pension. Wife is a retired executive level employee of a major financial institution, so we are very comfortable in our golden years. She couldn't care less about my hobby but does enjoy the music!

My adventure into the wonderful world of audiophilia started in the mid 60's and I have been actively involved with it since then. I probably have about $25K in my current system and am pretty much done tinkering with it, because I'm very happy with the sound of it. Although my purchases have always been regulated by specifications and reviews rather than price tags, I've been lucky enough to arrive at my current system without ever spending more than $6K on any one component. 

Just retired commercial artist. Working mostly with Disney the last 35 years. Freelance. I’ve painted for all the movie companies, VHS + DVD covers, movie posters, etc. If you’ve had kids, you’ve probably had my art on your shelves.

House in the woods paid off years ago. I always seem to be in the right place and time to find audiophile level equipment. I can’t imagine a system sounding better than what I’ve ended up with. It was just dumb luck how it came together. Total investment, around 25K for main system.