With the increasingly high priced items people own and are selling, I'm curious about the line of work people do or have done. I thought my $5k integrated was a massive investment, but seeing users searching for $100k speakers or $75k SET amplifiers has me curious about the varying lines of work people do to afford these items.
Hello @rocrayI won’t say congratulations just yet then; but good for you. Been retired almost 32 months now and loving it. Funny thing is, the only time I’m really relaxed is when I’m listening to music- just like when I was working.
I spent a lot of money in my first year of retirement. Be prepared for that. A good part of that was on the stereo. But I had a grand time doing it. The hardest thing for me was writing the check for my speakers. That was a lot of money. Once I heard them in my room all that stress was forgotten.
I just revisited this thread. I saw my post at the top of page two. I am down to three months before I’m retired. I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel.
Worked with family excavating business from age 14 to 24 running heavy equipment. Got out of college in 1981and moved to Colorado and worked in an Industrial Engineering group doing flunky work at a facility that produced the component that goes into our nuclear warheads that produces the nuclear reaction (explosion). Around 1995 I transitioned to Software and have been a database administrator for 25 years. Always had some kind of system since high school. My first ribbon tweeter was around 1976 Infinity speakers. Damn things would fail on a monthly basis.
@jjss49 I know right. It's been fun to go back through these and read about they different life experiences. Interesting change in my cost perspective over the the past 3 years!
Mechanical Engineer, retired from a large Aerospace firm as an engineering manager at the beginning of 2021 at age 62. Built my dream hifi system and listening room. Nothing more relaxing and satisfying than some good music. Haven’t taken blood pressure pills since February, 2021- and doing great.
I revamped my entire system- new amps, preamps, turntable, phono cartridge, DAC, transport, streamer, speakers, power conditioner and cables. Installed dedicated circuits to the front end and the amps. Installed a hardwood floor. (Ended up doing it myself). Added room treatments incrementally. Worked on the digital side with various Ethernet configurations until I got streaming to sound as good as CD. (Hi res streaming is almost as good as hi res files. It’s very very close now.)
I built my first dedicated listening room in 1994 with room treatments and dedicated circuits. I progressed from DYI modifying hifi gear for a few decades to buying hi end gear about 21 years ago. Changing out drivers, capacitors, resistors and wiring is a fun side of this hobby but I keep getting back to wanting to enjoy the music not the gear. I spent about 6 months researching streaming before jumping in. I found it frustrating having to stop and start over a few times. I do not consider streaming a mature technology yet. Maybe if I had $50k to spend on a streamer it might be plug and play- ie. I could just plug it into my router and it would sound perfect. As is, I’m very satisfied now with streaming.
I repair and install medical instruments, microscopes and diagnostic stuff.
My obsession started around 15 when I saved up all my paper route money and bought a Sansui AU 9900 locally. Out of the WantAdvertizer weekly .
Then I picked up a pair of Altec Lansing speakers and Technics TT. Not too long after that I bought my first CD player, actually THE first player , a Sony CDP 101
Recently retired attorney. Loved music since youth, some classical training in early youth, discovered jazz, played in various small jazz bands in high school and college.
Union plumber, nearing retirement. An audio enthusiast since i was 12. Married almost 39 years to a very understanding woman. Three daughters are grown, put through college, and out living their lives. Two weddings down, 1 to go.
Audio is not my only interest, I play some golf, enjoy photography, have a 50 year old Camaro out in the garage, play guitar, and average about 2000 miles a year on my bicycles.
Semi-retired business executive and investor. Started in audio as a high schooler working in a record store in the 70s. Loved music, played guitar, family had a crappy Zenith system. Heard good system at PT job. We stocked the record section for the top high end store in town and the owner took a liking to me because I was interested in classical and jazz and was hungry to learn about music and business. He would sell me at cost +5% but I didnt have extra money. Still I took good care of his department and made him money. When I graduated HS in 76 he and the record store owners gave me my first system, McIntosh MA5100, Bose 301s, BIC TT. (Yeah very generous) I bought a TEAC tape deck and that started me down the path. Mid way thru college record store went down but an audio rep supplier hired me to sell for him giving me access to wholesale priced Marantz, SAE, Shure, others. I handled military stores but also bought and sold gear flipping stuff to friends for a gain after trying them for 3-6 months. Rep firm didnt really care as long as I wasnt selling to GIs. Final year in college learned a history degree got me nothing other than full time at the PT job. Boss suggested to a masters or law degree. Did an MBA and MA and started PT law school but bailed after a year going at night and spent the next 30+ years working in finance, marketing, strategic planning, running a few mid size companies and starting and running a consulting/investment firm. Had the same system other than rotating SONY ES CDPs in that period. Retired in late 40s and was bored after a year so I started a new gig helping non-profits learn marketing. At about 50, I wandered into a Overture Audio in DE where in-laws live and got sucked back into the hobby. Since then, I have upgraded EVERYTHING multiple times with a focus on new and restored vintage systems (3) with McIntosh, Marantz, Kef, Ohm, Spendor, SONY ES, Acurus, etc. 10+ years in I have found much improved sound but not achieved Nirvana. Retired at 55 which has given me more time to listen but less money to spend. Sucked at golf and skiing, soccer and hiking killed my knees and back so this is IT along with playing mediocre jazz/blues guitar and drinking Scotch and bourbon. Looking to research a then buy my BIG FINAL SYSTEM sometime in the next few years which is conceptually appealing and seems like it would be fun but on hold due to Covid. Hopefully we make it to do it. Be safe everyone.
@scubapuppy My first job was house painting for my step-father. I loathed they guy, because he was a determined drunk with tendencies toward rage, but I really liked painting houses, even caulking and glazing. I think I just resonate with hands on work. The $4/hour cash he paid me helped me buy my first good stereo at age 13 (really improved on the crappy piece I had from my paper route money - - nothing close to a real job, given the poor financial reward that offered!).
Since 19 years of age, I have been involved in manufacturing mechanical rubber goods. I started as a line worker molding stuff on the 3rd shift to get my way through an expensive college, but later ended up in the Lab doing physical testing. Out of boredom, I started reading up on rubber formulation design, and I started fixing a number of the problem materials we molded out on the floor. Turned out, I was pretty handy at it. I added a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a Material Science emphasis to my resume, which helped marry science to decent intuition and problem solving skills. I eventually got recruited to another company, and after 15 years there I bought it from the 2nd generation family owner, and have been running it for 20 years now. All along, all of my bonus money has been fair game to put toward audio equipment - - how's that for an understanding spouse!
Still doing the rubber thing, and still enjoying it. But retirement is getting close, with a likely long taper-off doing formulation consulting for the firm after selling it to another young buck engineer.
Great thread! It's so heartening to see all the different types of jobs. And incomes. Sometimes it feels like everyone out here can casually plunk down *big* money on equipment. The site can feel a bit exclusive. (Someone asking advice on 100k speakers? Really?) As we all know, it's all about the love of music and the pursuit of an aesthetically pleasing sound, whatever the budget.
That said, college professor (some days virtual, others masked in the classroom!).
I'm a global product manager for a cutting tool company. Been in this business for well over 20 years.
My audio interested started at young age where mom always played guitar, piano, organ and sang in a choir. Started to play guitar myself and eventually ended up owning a recording studio that I sold when I moved to US.
The stereo has evolved over the years; something morphing into a HT, sometimes into a pure 2-ch setup. I'm now fortunate enough that I have a dedicated stereo and a dedicated HT. No idea how much I have spent over the years, and quite frankly, I don't think I really want to know either. :-)
1972 started working in an audio/home appliance store. 1985 left the audio business to work for a maintenance company in Section 8 housing. 1990 I began working for a local school system as an engineer. I got my degree in Electrical-Mechanical engineering in 1977 while working part time at Audio Store. In 1995 the School Committee eliminated all the engineer jobs and being in the union, bid on a job as head custodian at the elementary school I went to school in as a child. I stayed there until my retirement in 2017.
During all that time, went through a lot of audio equipment, some good and some bad. When I retired, I had 2 very nice systems. I cashed out all my accumulated sick and vacation time over the course of my 27 years with the school system upon retirement and spent about 30K of it on finalizing my 2 systems. I am very happily retired with my wife who also retired in 2017, house and cars are paid for and we are living the good life although we are a bit more careful with our money now. Thank God we both have good pensions and Social Security.
I've had my own small business since 2009. I'm in the industry of destroying peoples lives. Not really but often it feels like it. I'm a process server. I get summons and complaints, subpoenas etc. usually from law offices and I serve the paper on businesses, entities or individuals. I like making my own hours. I like that I created it from nothing. I don't like impatient and demanding lawyers. I also don't like serving divorce papers. I hate it, but a client is a client and more often than not it's already been discussed between the parties. When it hasn't and I'm a surprise...that is awful.
At age 64 , I realized I can shuffle a few things around in my business and make a $1k a day working only 4 to 5 hours a day .Only problem is , I only have work for about 12 days a month.That's pest control for you , been good to me .Also have 1 Airbnb and two long term rentals that bring in about $5k a month .Do the math :)I know this thread is " what do you do" and not "what do you make ".I had to shuffle things when my only employee of 12 years died in Feb .So , now I am semi retired Last year , sold my motorcycle and bought hifi stuff right when my hearing loss happened , lost 5% , I guess . Ringing in the ears , hissing and other sounds
@trentmemphis - I trained as a mainframe-programmer and spent most of my time fixing other peoples screw-ups and installing software packages from third-party vendors. Large companies don't want in-house developed software because the people responsible for the systems are too lazy to determine what they actually need and don't want to spend the time laying out the specs. Also, if things go south with their "almost what I need" turnkey system, they want a fall-guy to point the finger at. Spend 10 times the money to get half of what they want.
As for me:
Jobs I have done: 1. Movie theater Usher 2. Laborer in commercial laundry 3. Assembled large pull-down maps for classroom use 4. Machinist in shop that made computerized machine tools 5. Punch-press operator making transformer laminations 6. Wall-to-wall Carpet installer 7. Lead assembler on line making test machinery for textile ind. 8. Stock room clerk 9. Commercial interior painter 10. Box kicker for UPS 11. Assembled UPS equipment for Telecom industry in Southwest 12. Technician in Hollywood duplication studio 13. Cable TV installer 14. Faculty assistant at technical school 15. Programmer/Analyst, System designer, System engineer 16. Transportation Security Officer, McCarran Airport, NV for TSA.
I’m a quality technician for a blood analyzer company. My audio budget has always been fairly modest, but I’m very proud of what I consider to be a very respectable poor man’s high end system for the grand total of $2300 over 30 year span (not counting errors!).
I’m happy every single time I fire that system up now (not always the case!) Having a couple of world class mentors, some fortunate purchases, some wheeling and dealing, and a lot of DIY projects have helped me get more bang for the money spent than I would have ever thought possible.
Most of my life I worked at Taco Bell as a service professional. Last few years I've been a hit man for... I can't say who? Wayy better money and I can finally afford the finer things in life! Good times..
After HS in a small town, spent a decade in the RDu/RTP NC area; then several decades in DC Metro. Computer & network guru/consultant to a number of major law firms, associations, governmental departments and a few VIPs. Special events photographer on contract to a number of embassies in the DC area. Got to socialize with all the right people and the food was out-of-this-world. Now back in the small town and bored to tears twiddling thumbs.
I didn't get through all of the responses, but I noticed many noted their national location as TEXAS. I too am from The Great State, and retired from retail audio sales and bustin my knuckles on Luxury Automobiles.
In hindsight, I wish i'd have gone into audio engineering.
@mirolab
I often think this, but then I realize how truly difficult high end audio sales are, and how rare it is to find a startup that goes on to last more than a couple of years.
I think for me, this was better as a hobby than a craft.
I fly satellites.... for 34 years now! Official job title is Orbital Analyst. I've been an audio nut since my early teens. In hindsight, I wish i'd have gone into audio engineering.
I was a financial institutions lawyer with an emphasis in troubled loan workouts and liquidations. I've been retired for six years now, and spend a great deal of time listening to my system and my music. My system is modest by Agon standards. I have had an interest in both music (of all kinds) and electronics (an amateur radio operator) for nearly 57 years. My frustration with the hobby these days is that manufacturers and designers spend way too much time and effort creating "cost no object" components which the majority of us will never buy or enjoy. I think the real challenge is designing and squeezing out the maximum performance for the least cost, but that is not the trend. I choose not to pursue six figure audio systems, but rather cobble together components that give me a pleasing sound. Thank goodness for the secondary market.
My son is a software engineer and formerly a classical violinist. He has no interest in stereo equipment and questions my sanity when I purchase and upgrade equipment. He is like many his age, he is satisfied with computer speakers and streaming with Spotify. I do not see many his age entering this hobby. Just like ham radio, when I attend a stereo show, all I see is other white haired old guys like myself. At this point in life, I am trying to make plans for liquidating all of this electronic equipment I have acquired so my wife won't be left adrift. It's hell getting old.
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