Lots of great back stories. Me, I'm an attorney, 57, and just started up in this hobby about 2 years ago (though I did have an Adcom system in the early 90's purchased at Stereo Exchange on Broadway in NYC). Covid prompted me to find a stationary activity. Main system is now about 40k retail, office and patio systems about 5k each. However, I bought most of these pieces pre-owned after much research here and around the web. Couldn't have put together anything close to as nice as what I have without the knowledge and enthusiasm offered here. My family is only just beginning to suspect that this hobby may at some point require an intervention -- so far, all is good.
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...
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I have been working as a programmer in a huge database for many years. I am currently developing how to start an app like uber , for example |
@oldbear, it sounds like a fascinating life,indeed. |
P.S. I should add that health care in this country was and is broken and hard both for many people living in this country and for most of the people who work in health care as dedicated as most of them are and it takes a toll, I had some bad habits at times and struggled often with my own historical demons, leaving me with Type II diabetes, some heart issues, high blood pressure and long term dysthymia with intermittent major depression, My wife who was also a Family physician and has always been steadier and healthier(mostly) kept at it until last year and one of my kids is a Family physician. Best Regards, Old Bear, Craig |
Nobody has posted here for a long time, so I thought I would just sneak on in and maybe no one would notice. I turn 73 this year and am a retired Family physician (reading through the years of posts I noticed there were a few of us). I started collecting music when I was 12 and have never stopped. In 1972/73 while we were still undergraduates, my live with girlfriend (still my wife) decided that I needed something better to play my records on, did a little research and bought me a Sonographe TT for my birthday. She loves music but has never cared about equipment and these days is a little uncomfortable with how complicated and expensive it all is so she sticks to the Sonos system in the kitchen. We still hear a lot of live music, except for pandemic pause and this year have seen X, Dar Williams, Peter Rowan, Lord Huron, Oregon Symphony 4 times and see Beach House tomorrow and Fontaines DC in May. I guess at this point the living room system is somewhere between $45k-55K, but I continue to want physical discrete objects containing recorded music and I have around 14,000 pieces of vinyl maybe a little more and about 9500 CDs plus a handful of SACD. Now my wife, who is better at numbers limits me to 250 new CDs a year and my friend who is a contractor specializing in old homes when he isn't retired worries about the weight over our heads on the third floor. Kids 2 both in their 30s doing well in their own lives, the horses have all gone to heaven and we love our dogs, cat a little less so. I made over $100,000 one year of my working life and less than $75,000 most years but got to do something I loved in many different situations, Community Clinics (Zen Center of Los Angeles), free clinics, immigrant clinics at churches, self-owned private practice, Teaching in a Family Medicine Residency, and working for a large Catholic Health system. Encountered many characters, wonderful humans an a few but only a few I could have done without. I would have done it longer except for a head injury that put an end to it after 30years as a doc. Took over two years to recover as much as I was able which is good enough for me. Old Bear, Craig |
73 years old, custom cabinet and furniture maker, six systems are set up in our house, all connected through Bluesound nodes. Living room system - $90K. Family room system - $37K. Remaining systems - around $8-10K each. Racks of surplus equipment and speakers in climate controlled garage, including Heathkit, Luxman, McIntosh, Thorens, Everest DD67000, JBL 4350, L-300, Revel Studio 2, Probably forty pieces of electronics, couple dozen pairs of speakers. All totaled, a lot cheaper than the required amount of psychotherapy that would have been required. |
I just turned 71, and am retired from working in architect-engineer consulting for military clients. I got interested in audio stuff in the early 70s, had various systems over the years and then none at all for a while. Oddly enough this guy's web site... http://www.mother-of-tone.com/index.htm ...got me going again shortly after I retired in 2011, and now I've got a dedicated listening room, all the stuff you can read about on my system page, and have spent quite a bit of time and not too much money on room treatments. I'm in the process of gradually buying again all the vinyl I gave away years ago. |
An update to my previous post. I seem to have over stated the good stuff, but my body has has slightly less metal in it than my TT platter (10kgs). Virtually every joint and rods and screws up and down my back. I am having the time of my life. Yes. Living on Oxy at high doses plus more. Pain is 10 every day but it is just normal. My lovely wife fell and snapped the right shoulder humerus from the joint ball. 2 days ago had a plate and numerous screws (8 I think) and will be in a sling for 6 weeks. Night before I was to drive her to the hospital I fell and dislocated my hip, a metal one. Not good for both of us. Then there is cancer... I have a good system, we love it, and we have diverted our down time to music we love. We live in an nice place and are blessed for it. I just wanted to show that there is a back story to all of us that we are not aware of. It’s not how big our stuff is, but how we as people, but appreciate life and get the best out of the time and lives we have left. Cheers and prayers to everyone. A 🇦🇺 |
Update on my profile, forgot to add in my journey into audiophile. Began in the 70;s, Small Marantz, Dual turn table, ,, then Philips 2 way speakers, which i thought were the best fidelity,,,next to my Thors they sounded like crap,,so i sold them off for $50..,,amazing how we thought we had great sound. Now i am finishing upa long modification in my system,. new caps, new IC's, havea old jadis preamp arriving tomorrow, has some issues, but will upgrade all the 30 yr old parts. Anyhow sadly audio world has turned downwards, no more retail shops where folks can actuallu hear the components . A good teck geek , not easy to find, making it very risky to buy a expenisve component. Things do not look bright for audio futures,, and that is a shame. Music is high art, and is the one way we connect with the soul, our minds need good music for health and pleasure. Head phones won't work. Has to be a speaker set up for the real experience. I am into all classical, 20th C is 99% of my collection. anyway, glad to read some bios here. I see many others in the 60's, like myself, and still involved in this wonderful hobby. Great to meet you guys. |
I’m 51. I’ve been in the energy space for several decades. Think Enron (non regulated) and local electric utility (regulated). I didn’t work for Enron, but I transacted with them. Now I buy fuel for power plants. My system is modest - $5k-$6k - but music is my love. I don’t care if I’m listening on my rig, cheapie earbuds or a Bluetooth speaker. It’s all good. 70s, 80s, 90s & 2000s rock; Jazz (thanks pops); a smidge of classical now and again. Lots of CDs and a decent LP collection. Most of my pieces were bought used...amp, speakers, digital player. Turntable was purchased new in ‘01. Big fan of Maggie’s, but I’m curious about horn speakers. Happy listening everyone. Be safe. |
I’m 68 and started out as a child. In 1956 my dad built a Knight-Kit mono amp and a speaker cabinet from Electro-Voice Aristocrat plans which housed a University 6201 co-axial speaker (I still have the plans, I wish the speaker still existed). In 1961 he brought home a Voice of Music stereo tape recorder. At 10. years old I was hooked. Dad’s systems after that always included tape and he liked the Sherwood amps and receivers. For me a 45+ year career in broadcast, primarily TV production audio. I’ve had systems until about 15 years ago thanks to illness. Retired now and rebuilding a music system. It’ll be mid-fi as my hearing is ‘assisted.‘ All told I’ll be making about a 6K investment, with the majority going to a turntable and speakers. Fot me it’s all about the music. |
Trained as a singer, and conductor of choirs and orchestras, and have spent about 2/3 of my career so far in church ministry and about 1/3 of my career in higher education as a music professor. Not being in a lucrative field has taught me the fun and adventure of improving my system as inexpensively as possible. The majority of my gear was purchased used (sometimes as much as 20 years old when I bought it), but it sounds wonderful to my ears. I'm 58. |
Wooo I'm 74 can't hear, see, or walk to well after playing sports(7 days a week) my entire life including; minor league baseball, USTA 5 tennis, 7 handicap golf, thrown in soccer, basketball, kayaking, and biking and hiking the national parks, and many surgeries including five joint replacements and a 6th in the offing. Play was my career. However, the advocation that paid the bills was in social work administration. My system is worth +- 9 K I'm Scottish so it is mostly used gear. A family and career later "I can't run but I can walk much faster" I'm here or is it hear tuning in turning on and sitting down to jazz, classical, and blues as well as revisiting my musical roots. |
Recently turned 60. My interest in stereos and music predictably go back to my teen years- first heard of AR, KLH, Dual etc. around 1974. Cobbled together a system in 1975 or 1976 out of old bits and pieces. By 1977 I bought a basic system - receiver, speakers and turntable- in 1977. I was already aware of the likes of McIntosh, Rectilinear, etc by then. By 1978 I heard of Dahlquist and others. First trickle of hi-end interest was in 1982 or 1983 and my first hi end purchase (ie, non mass market gear) was a Thorens table in 1985. By 1989 I had Adcom electronics and magneplanar speakers. I am an attorney; I’ve also worked in a factory, retail sales, and a pro photographer. |
I'm in my late 60's and am blissfully retired. I made my living at a couple of major Hollywood film studios in what is euphemistically called "development." Ya know the old insult that goes "who's the idiot who told them to make that movie?" Well, it was me. I have my share of hits, as well. Some I'm proud of. Some of which I'm still amazed they pulled in so much money. Academy Award winners? A handful. My audio system, btw, cost me around the five figure mark. |
Retired, 64 yrs old. worked in scaffold Brand Energy/Brock here in New Orleans area starting in 2013-2018, waking up at 3-4 am driving 1 hour + to get to refinery, sleeping 45 minutes before work time,,now finally retired in 2018. also am a chef and gardener. Finally put my system together,, had the Jadis sitting quiet for 8 years, as i had no cash fora good preamp...Finally up N running Tjhis year. That was a 12 year wait to hear the system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Y9WRTjl9c&t=447s |
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How neat has this thread been... Initially posted here in 2001. Update! Am now a "Retired" Journeyman Lineman and lovin’ the bum life. I can now use "Retired" as part of my professional title... Ain’t it cool? System is @ 20k and on my last TT purchase. Time to sit back, reflect on what an awesome journey it has truly been and enjoy the fruit. Think I’ll have another frosty beverage... Hope this finds all posters mostly still vertical and breathing... Carry on, nothing to see here :) |
96+ years old. Retired Air Force officer, Retired hi-tech company VP. MBA ,MA History., Trained electrical engineer. When completely retired, working vocabulary decreased to two words, viz., "Yes, Dear!" Began this hobby right after WW11, DIY preamps, amps and speakers using the old Audio magazines for inspiration. Began listening to classical music in the early 1930s via a wind-up Victrola playing RCA Victor Red Seal records. Went through the gamut of 78's, 45's, Lp,s, reel-to-reel and finally CD's. Extensive collection of classical CD's. Refuse to stream. 2-channel Stereo with Thiel speakers, Bryston electronics and Sennheiser cans. Understanding neighbors. |
#591, reporting...*L* 68+, 'semi-retired' co-owner of a playground design/fabrication/installation company. Previously, have been in 'n out of the commercial signage/graphics field. Mostly, the fancy stuff....directories for lobbies, 'identity graphics' (the name over/on/next to the entry), hospitals, office buildings....'anywhere someone needed to be told where to go', and perhaps Why. *L* Some 25ish years of that honor....;) (It was a good cocktail party joke, BTW... "What do you do?" "Tell you where to go...") Got an enormous amount of 'hands on' experience with any material one could consider using for that endeavor, and the machinery to work with it. Current equipment is priceless, as in old, new, bought, given...everything but stolen. *L* To replace it?....*hmmm* maybe $4~5K, if all new. I get the most pleasure out of my efforts at DIY'ing Walsh speakers; not the Ohm variety, but back to a variant of the original Lincoln Walsh/Ohm speakers of the '70's. ...and that's my story, and I'm sticking (or stuck) to it....;) Play Loud. ^5's |
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Daytime: Software Engineer; Other time: Vintage Audio repair, Running record store, Reselling estates, System worth around $4k, record collection about $25k Collect and re-sell records since early teens. Play accordion, electric bass, string bass and love classical music, jazz and progressive rock. Prior started with being salad boy at Tribeca Diner NYC, than auto-mechanics, private servant-chauffeur. |
