Custom cabinet maker with niche business working for uber big shots. Never made much because I hold the title, “World’s Worst Businessman”. Everything went to private schools for the kids, so we never had anything to spend on fancy audio. But I had built Heathkits and bought a used Thorens and JBL L150s before the kids arrived so we enjoyed music in our home for hours every day. Drove ghetto cars, wife dressed in her sisters’ hand-me-downs, kids’ fashion shopping was done at thrift stores, and I fixed every auto and appliance so we didn’t have to buy much. Turns out, those were great habits to cultivate - if you don’t spend much, you don’t have to make much. After the kids left for college with generous scholarships, we suddenly found ourselves with surplus income, including selling our home for 16X what we paid for it. We still live the same lifestyle but now have multiple systems throughout the house, almost everything bought used. The Thorens is still in use (after completing rebuild by Vinyl Nirvana), and we still have the JBL L150s. Fourteen pairs of speakers are set up inside and outside the house. Electronics from Heathkit, Onkyo, Dynaco, Luxman, Oppo, Denon, Lyngdorf, Elekit, McIntosh. Speakers from JBL, Altec, Dynaudio, Tannoy, Revel, BMR, Ascend Acoustics, and Heathkit. Closest neighbor is a half mile away so we play music throughout the house, inside and outside (courtesy of Bluesound Nodes), and so we are immersed in music as we go through the days, doing chores, reading, preparing meals, hosting kids and grandkids and nieces and nephews. It continues to be an extremely satisfying hobby/passion.
What do/did you do for a living?
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.
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