I am a credit risk manager for several credit card portfolios. I am 37. I am closing fast on a $70k system; but have learned a lot over the last 15 years I have been in the hobby. When I started, I was giving all my friends all the great deals as I upgraded my system. Now, I have Audiogon and pretty much refruse to pay retail. But, I read a lot about the systems and have a pretty good idea what I want. If I was starting out new and buying used, I think you could shop around, get good deals on equipment, and later on sell it at a minimal loss. That is definitely the way to experiment your way into a killer system. Oh, my last bit of advice is get a spouse that is either into the hobby or won't mind it. My first wife never got into it. My wife now is EXTREMELY tollerant!
What's your profession? Age?
Just thought after the "how much is your system worth" post that it would be nice to see what all these people do to get $80K systems, and perhaps how long it takes. I'm a 29-year old economist for the gov., just completeed my Ph.D. last month, and my system is at about $10K. Just a pup hoping to keep upgrading...