What's your profession? Age?

musician - to be traced through my user name, if anybody cares :-)
my system needs to satisfy for monitoring as for fun, worth?? Well, lets put it this way: Less than my fiddle, but more than my car - but then I drive a lovely old Saab ;-)
Simply amazing..

Retired securities analyst, age 49. I started into the audiophile thing way, way back before my financial ship came in. My attitude about audio systems has always been to not look back and to not look forward, i.e., to enjoy the hell out of what I have at the time. But this system is the first one that I'm actually going to reconfigure my house for.

Here's my internal contradiction:

One one hand, I wish that I had the $$$ to spend on the big dollar, super cool, brand name equipment, as opposed to being dependent on performing my own repairs and modifications, as well as undertaking DIY projects.

On the other hand, there is a cynical comfort that comes along with knowing that the laws of physics do not apply to fashion, aesthetics, or prestige.

I guess I somehow deleted the part where I stated my age, and what I do.

27. Physics undegraduate student.

I am 34 (but VERY close to 35...the end is near!). I started out life as an engineer then got my MBA and changed to venture capital/finance. My system retails for around $55K (Don't tell the wifey!), though through shrewd negotiating and buying used when possible I probably spent around $28K.