Thanks for the kind words!
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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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. |
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I used to work at Bendix Aerospace in South Bend. In the early 80s there were a few engineers at or just over 70 years of age still working. They had worked at Studebaker. They said that they showed up for work one morning at Studebaker in 1962 or 1963, can’t remember the year exactly and found the gates were locked. The security guards told them to go home and turn on their radios. They said that the nightmare unfolded over the next few days learning that the company had gone bankrupt, all assets being sold off and the company had used upped all of the pension fund trying to keep the company afloat. They learned that they had no jobs, no pensions, nothing. It was a sober lessen for me in my twenties at the time to take responsibility for my own future and save. Good thing as most pensions were frozen in 2008 and by 2009 most companies did away with their pension plans- of course existing employees were protected but only to the extent of the freeze date. |
pkatsuleas, I hope things work out for you. Without investing for myself during my years of employment I would have been in trouble. 42 years at a company that then went bankrupt. Lost my pension, health care etc. But my investments saved me and now I am sitting back enjoying retirement. Moral of the story, Never rely on any one company to get you to your golden years. You have a very good attitude and things will work out for you. ozzy |
Fun and interesting thread! I’m a plant guy for the last 30 years. Grower, garden center manager, now landscape designer/sales for the last 16 yrs. I’m 57 and was hoping to retire at my current position but landscaping is a crap show these days with nobody to work. So, my boss/company owner decided to pack it in early. Pretty bummed because I’ve just started making decent money the last few years, company truck, flexible schedule. Surprised but not shocked I guess. About 2 mos. to go and then I’ll be looking for something new. Maybe back to growing, I’ve always liked greenhouse work. Hopefully, I’ll be updating this thread with good news in the near future. Wish me luck! System is definitely nothing to brag about. Mix of SS and tubes, several amps and speakers to rotate and play with. Mostly used, maybe $15k total with all gear. Some room treatments. Quite modest but I enjoy it immensely!
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@ricmci I hear you... I started in a hospital at 18 and now 42 work on average 80hr weeks. Retirement of sorts is hopefully 2.5 years away. Music is mental health for me, and my budget is equal to what my wife's poor financial decisions cost us in life (joking) since I pay for them financially. My Hifi budget has infinite potential, but hopefully will be grossly curtailed. Proud Riviera Labs owner as of this week. |
@ozzy, no kidding...*takes off overcoat, disappears* (drink on table 'levitates', tilts...contents disappear into....?) Never could get the job I wanted....*sigh* Mammogram quality control and vaginal depth specialist was always just out of reach.... *drink refills, drains again...* First 'real job' was literally telling people where to go....gawd knows they can't figure That out for themselves.... Think 'bout it... Walk into the average hospital....left to yourself, you'd end up in a operating room where you'd get gowned and led into either brain surgery or an anal reconstruction of some nitwit that had an 'encounter' with someones' pet lemming.... *2nd drink is replaced by a 'suspicious cigarette', the smoke infills a vaguely familiar 'space' with very odd proportions.....dissipates...* ...had to keep moving around with that gig....when the Braille ADA nubs 'didn't match the visible legends', advising the reader to disrobe and engage the next person that touched them.... "I've changed my hairstyle so many times I don't know what I look like...." (Dave advised me to get invisible....so....) *gesture unseen; lucky you...* Been building 'playgrounds'....yeah, kidz stuf.....the 'adult versions' are more 'interesting', catering to y'alls' digusti....ah, 'varied prefs'. We'll let it go at that....semi-retired, now.....tripping up semi's on the Intersnakes... Listen to loud music to drown out the voices.....
Y'know....y'all'd look better skinned and pinned up like butterflies on the walls.... *Overcoat untouched, something is moving around the space.... ....too many fingers @ the top of your skull.... "This won't hurt....much...."
Happy Pre-Halloween...J |
Business Owner I end up working 12 to 15 hrs a day, 6 days a week some months and it sucks elephant-ass. I plan to retire early and teach music. I have been playing a piano & violin for 30+ years. I picked up the sarod later in life/playing it approx 10 years (opened my soul to music from the eastern part of the world). |
Right out of school for EE (never finished my degree), I was a technician at tech companies in Chatsworth Ca. I then went into retail management in the audio industry for about a decade. Worked at one of the most high end car audio shops in LA (in Santa Monica) during the heyday of car audio. Went back to school for IT, when I saw the writing on the wall for car audio. Now working in IT at Amgen (biotech - AMGEN) in Thousand Oaks, Ca. I work in the labs configuring and troubleshooting the computers and the lab instruments they control (mass specs, titrators, cell counters, DNA sequences, etc). Still no college degree (I got them all fooled😉). Still don’t make near enough to afford the type of gear I’d like to own. The only reason why my system is quite high end, is due to solid DIY skills. |
I stumbled and fell into a career in audio after the economy shouted outloud that my pursuits of "an architect in training" ambitiion was over. 51 years later, I hit the eject button, and here I am. I figured out, early on, that’s it better/cheaper to buy real estate for my location(s) than lease it. My career as a commericlal property manager was much more lucrative than "audio guru." I did manage to receive a speaker patent in 1990. Today, my tech of 25+ years and I spend one day a week trying to keep good audio gear from going into the dumpster. It’s what I call my "involuntary not-for-profit organization", but the look on people’s faces when equipment they have a strong emotional attachment to come back to life is very rewarding. I founded YOUniteUSA a few years ago to indentify, acknoweldge and celebrate our comment links and connections. I am involed with a number of "unite" and "depolarizing" groups. Was a delegate with a group of 600 (equal number of "reds" and "blues") who met in Gettysburg in early July. Learned something(s). Most of my quality time is spent trying not to disappoint my kids/grandkids, and keeping the continous love story between myself and wife of 30+ years a major attraction. |
Retired Dental Technician found work all over the world quite easily and ended up in SE Asia where I was General Director of a large 1200 man dental lab in Vietnam. I retired at 55 and do part time baking for the local expat community. I have two daughter 5 & 6 and I take and pick them up from school daily with English classes on weekends. |
I'm a lawyer and have spent a lot of time in private practice as well as in government. Served as a state prosecutor and US Attorney for seven years. I currently run the agency that houses the prison system, state police and other criminal justice agencies in my state. I'm 66 and at least semi retirement is on the horizon Bought a decent system many years ago when I was young and single. Just standard (cheap) consumer stuff during the kid years. Got back into hifi a few years ago- kids raised and house to myself. I've put together a system that I enjoy and make it a point to spend time with it every day. |
Software Engineer. My first stereo system I owned was after the summer of my junior year in high school. Used my hard earned summer job money to buy a 3 pieces stereo system consisting of a receiver, turntable, and a pair of speakers for around $500+. It was all Pioneer gears. I later added a top of the line Pioneer cassette deck for close to $500. Looking back, I wish I didn’t throw them all away. Would love to have my Pioneer cassette deck. Since then, I’ve gone through quite a few Home Theatre "do it all" systems, including music in stereo. Like receivers from Yamaha, Sony, and finally Maranzt. I never considered myself a hobbyist until the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Since then, I’ve spent probably around $50K for speakers, stereo pre-amp, amps, home theatre processor, network streamer/DAC, turntable, cartridges, subwoofer etc... A lot of them were purchased from reading and recommendation of this forum. They were paid mostly out of my vacation budges since we haven’t travelled since the pandemic. This is no doubt an expensive hobby, but I guess cheaper than collecting cars 😀 Cheers! |
I went from handyman, to assembler, to Engineering Failure Analysis, Quality Engineer, Field service, Systems admin, Systems Engineer, Data systems architect, procurement manager, program manager, and Office chief. Retired from the DoD, so my entire system does not cost 5K. That is why I use SCIENCE to exclude magic and upgrade things that at least could make a true difference sonically, not just hearing interpretation of what we wish big bucks did. |
3 year update: uh, still an Associate Dean, but now at an Ivy. I suppose this is progress of a sort. |
could you pls pm me with your porsche repair shop info, my good friend, fellow porsche gt car owner and track buddy is moving from san fran back to boston, i think he would benefit from being acquainted with your shop thx you know the rule in showbiz, we need pictures or screen captures, or it never happened... 🤣 |
50 year-old brain surgeon, which means I spent 17 years after high school living like a college student before I could afford "high end" purchases. No money in college, definitely NO money in medical school, very little money in residency (7 years), but that never prevented me from having a decent system that I used the hell out of. I worked as a paperboy in grade school and saved for over a year to buy a used Marantz receiver, Technics turntable, and some JBL L100s... had them all the way through college, and never felt deprived. Even today, with a very solid income, I’m still frugal. I never buy anything new, especially cars or audio equipment; I’m eternally grateful to those out there that pay the massive depreciation associated with new stuff and then pass it along a couple years later for half what they paid for it. Living on ramen and Kraft dinners for the better part of 2 decades will do that for you, lol. My current system consists of Audio Research preamp, Pass Labs 250.8, Wilson Watt/Puppy 8s, two SLS SV4000 subs, and an Aurender streamer, which all together set me back a little over $25k, which is considerably less that the $29k retail on the Wilson’s alone when they were new, and I’m VERY happy with what I have. You don’t have to spend $100k on a system, even if you can "afford" to...just take your time, do your research including auditioning components, then save and search for what you really want used. Thank you Audiogon! |
I feel your pain. Am 60 and have been a hospital based physician for 8 years now, after practicing traditional internal medicine for 17 years. Worked seven straight months on COVID unit pre-vaccination. Don’t see myself retiring before 67. My Audio Research gear was bought used 10 years ago. Bought new Focal 1007Be and stands for ~$3500 on a good deal from Music Direct at that time and they remain in my main system. |
i should add mine education in electrical engineering and then business administration high stress high travel corporate first career, till my early 40’s, then got into real estate development in the san fran bay area (first as a sidelight, then got serious about it), from which i recently retired, and i also empty nested at that time (have two grown sons) |
I am a retired engineering geologist. 30 Years in foundation exploration, geotechnical instrumentation, groundwater clean up etc. Worked another 10 years as a sub-surface geophysical tech doing ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity surveys, some seismic work etc. I have always been an audiophile even before I even knew what it meant. Built my first system in the air force with a Knight kit tube amp, some home made speaker cabinets and a Thorens TD 101 tt I got at a pawn shop. It has been uphill ever since as time and funds allowed. Listen mainly to jazz and classical. |
@jjss49 Yes. When I saw this I felt that I may have added to it. After a quick look it seems that it escaped me. So in correction.... I was a Researcher/Professor of Plant Breeding until I retired in 2006. Became a Audiogon member in 2011 as part of reuniting with this audio hobby. Will now need to go back and revisit this thread.
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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. |
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. |
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.
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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. |
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. |
Retired. These days I am papa. Traveled around country, talking to people about how to humanely and ethically support individuals with co-occurring intellectual disabilities and mental illness outside of institutions. Ended my career working pretty exclusively in New Mexico. Serious system upgrade, the Vandersteen 7’s and the Supratek, funded by the interest from a settlement after a truck hit me while I was cycling. Generates almost $40K annually that my wife and I use for play money. She’s going to bicycle from coast to coast next summer. I’m going to be looking for a new DAC. Fun to have the money to play around with, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The accident was almost 4 years ago and I’m still not back on the bike. Nine bikes, including two high-end tandems, hanging in the garage. I have a lot of time to listen to music though. Nice to have a dedicated room far from the bedrooms and the one’s office. |
I'm in Aye Tea business for over 30 years already. Don't plan to retire. I can do that even if I'm completely measurable and deeply old. As part of hobby and other source of income, I'm a garage sale junkie and prefer old school finances such as investments into valuables that includes jewelry items and firearms. On my hi-end audio I've completely stopped upgrading and repair if anything breaks till I see my personal end. I only add or change music I'm listening to. |
Silicon Valley’s high tech finance and real estate investments. I’m retired in my sixties and about finished constructing my first analog+digital audio chain, but home remodeling has prevents me from setting it up yet. My triplets are in college and am waiting for my wife to retire hopefully in December when her stock grant gets funded, but giving up her benefits which includes dental/medical/vision which covers me and my kids is daunting. |
In my mid forties Got my degree in electrical engineering … but have never worked a day as an engineer Have had an incredible career in food / restaurant / hospitality operations that, despite the difficulties that can and do pop up, I wouldn’t trade for being an entry level engineer in my 20’s and 30’s. That said, not sure it’s something I want to do into my 50’s. Oddly enough, I’ve gone back to relearning and re familiarizing myself with some of my old coursework and EE interests in the last couple of years. (Since Covid) and since falling back into hifi. Have taken a couple online courses and am considering going back to school …potentially for a masters in EE. Not sure I could swing it at this point … but it is starting to be more attractive . I grew up with an audiophile dad who was more of a music-first rather than gear-first person. He was a jazz person and I grew up in a house with far-outside free jazz playing morning, noon and night . His system starting in the early 80’s was a Carver MXR-900 receiver, Nakamichi BX-300 tape deck, Denon DCD-1500 cd player (with an r2r chip in it) and a direct drive Denon turntable (can’t remember the model)… played through ADS l-810 speakers. |
I always loved this thread. I agree, I’m happy to see this thread resurrected. Best job: Working at Tower Records in Honolulu during college. Worst job: Working in a cannery in Ekuk, Alaska between college. Current job: Medical social worker/therapist working with pediatric and adults with a chronic life-limiting illness in a subspecialty clinic at a children’s hospital. Future job: I’d like to start a small practice dealing with pet bereavement. |
@tonywinga, beautiful room,and system. Thanks for the encouragement. Over that last handful of years, I have slowly been upgrading, getting ready for this phase of my life. I have to say,physically and mentally, I am ready for this. I turned 60 in May, and consider myself truly blessed. While I’m not going to be vacationing in the south of France every winter, I will be able to enjoy a small indulgence from time to time. |
