Age and your satisfaction with your Main Rig

Congratulations.

Thanks, Interesting to watch your daughter embrace motherhood with such calm and grace. Brother Steve continues to do fairly well and is self sufficient in his own home with occasional help from my sister who is retired.
Regards,
Jim
 
Thanks, Interesting to watch your daughter embrace motherhood with such calm and grace.

Hey Jim it's such a life altering event and most guy's get thrown for a loop. Women just seem to embrace it as their brains must be wired for it.

Congrats to you and your family.
 
30, my main rig gives me great satisfaction. I have settled down now buying and selling gear and building up to the small rig I have imagined in my head. My level of content with my main rig has allowed me to start thinking about a secondary rig suitable for my wife to listen to her records and teach the kids and visitors how to operate. It just never ends does it? ;)
 
I am 40. I really like tweaking my gear, but I'm very happy with where I have everything right now.

EDIT: sorry for the double post!
 
I was very happy with my system but some deals came by you just don't find very often. It reignited things again but in a much lower key this time. It's more tweaking than outright pursuit right now.
 
I did a lot of system upgrading in the 1990s and early 2000s -- speakers, amp, preamp, DAC, and more. My oldest son went off to college in 2003, and since then I've had only one year (2013) in which I haven't had at least one child in college. It's a good thing that my main system gives me a lot of musical satisfaction, since the money isn't there to pay for any expensive upgrades.

I'll be 61 when my youngest son finishes his undergraduate program in 2018, and if all goes well I will be helping him with vet school expenses after he finishes his bachelor's degree. As heretical as it may sound, there are many things in life more important than the next big audio upgrade. Getting my son launched into his dream career as a veterinarian is one of them.
 
I have for some time been saving for a upgrade to my main system. Upgraded ARC Pre-amp and Power and upgrading my modified Magnapan MGIIIa's to MG 3.7i or better.
Last week I conceded that I can live with my main rig, as it sounds very satisfying to me and moved my upgrade funds to an investment for my eight month old grandson's education. I find it harder to make discerning distinctions in gear other than I know what sounds better to me, which is disappointing. The reality is my hearing while not impaired is certainly not what it used to be. Mixing sound for many years in the live rock genre has taken it's toll, but what a wild ride that was! So I do have mixed regrets.
Anyone else find themselves in this position? I will still work on my sources, but a windfall will be needed to move up the food chain in my main components. Have I conceded too soon or made a solid decision based on System satisfaction and concern for the rising cost of education for my grandson Tucker?
Regards,
Jim
Jim,
No-one can evaluate for you, just how you would be best to allocate funds between your personal enjoyment versus your desire to put something aside for your new grandson.

All of us live and work in order to derive some small bit of pleasure from the fruits of our efforts. No matter how modest or grandiose our ambitions along the lines of pleasure might be. Under the overall heading of pleasure, our dealings with our nearest and dearest assume a place within that framework. Just how to apportion what we wish to allocate to ourselves and what we wish to apportion toward our loved ones is a juggling act. Few of us have unlimited funds to eliminate concern about what to allocate where. The 'pie' is quite limited, so slicing it up does call for consideration of all the factors which are competing for that limited pool of funds.

I, personally would not be making any suggestions to you on this subject mainly because the subject of audio vs grandchild is very personal due to the fact that one of the factors being considered happens to be a living breathing member of your family. It has to be your decision alone based upon your desires alone. Not what we have to say.

There is no rush to come to an immediate conclusion, so consider the question deeply but take some time to give it that deepness of consideration . I have no doubt that you'll arrive at a conclusion that you will be deeply satisfied with.
 
All of us live and work in order to derive some small bit of pleasure from the fruits of our efforts. No matter how modest or grandiose our ambitions along the lines of pleasure might be.
That is sort of where I'm coming from. It's time for me to get a bit of pleasure from my system.

I've lived with 80s equipment for, well actually, since the 80s. Money for family this, family that, weathering Michigan's perpetually shyttie economy, taking care of everyone but myself and all the while not really enjoying my system. Yes I splurged a bit (I posted earlier here), but after all these decades it was "me time". Given I have a daughter going to college in a year in a half, this might be my last opportunity to do any appreciable upgrades. Selfish? Not in my opinion. I've bent over backwards for everyone else for decades, sacrificed a lot of myself in the process. It's time to make myself happy for a change and given our finite lifetime on this planet, I'm not planning on spending the rest of my years listening to something I don't like, and sitting there the whole time wishing I had upgraded when I had the chance. I have too many other regrets of missed opportunities and things I should have done, and have made it a priority to stop missing these things and start enjoying.
 
That is sort of where I'm coming from. It's time for me to get a bit of pleasure from my system.

I've lived with 80s equipment for, well actually, since the 80s. Money for family this, family that, weathering Michigan's perpetually shyttie economy, taking care of everyone but myself and all the while not really enjoying my system. Yes I splurged a bit (I posted earlier here), but after all these decades it was "me time". Given I have a daughter going to college in a year in a half, this might be my last opportunity to do any appreciable upgrades. Selfish? Not in my opinion. I've bent over backwards for everyone else for decades, sacrificed a lot of myself in the process. It's time to make myself happy for a change and given our finite lifetime on this planet, I'm not planning on spending the rest of my years listening to something I don't like, and sitting there the whole time wishing I had upgraded when I had the chance. I have too many other regrets of missed opportunities and things I should have done, and have made it a priority to stop missing these things and start enjoying.

I don't blame you a bit, and the only thing making my decision easy was the level my main rig has attained, coupled with my decreased hearing due to age. I play music every day, and will continue to do so, so my sacrifice is minimal at this stage.
Regards,
Jim
 
Jim,
No-one can evaluate for you, just how you would be best to allocate funds between your personal enjoyment versus your desire to put something aside for your new grandson.

All of us live and work in order to derive some small bit of pleasure from the fruits of our efforts. No matter how modest or grandiose our ambitions along the lines of pleasure might be. Under the overall heading of pleasure, our dealings with our nearest and dearest assume a place within that framework. Just how to apportion what we wish to allocate to ourselves and what we wish to apportion toward our loved ones is a juggling act. Few of us have unlimited funds to eliminate concern about what to allocate where. The 'pie' is quite limited, so slicing it up does call for consideration of all the factors which are competing for that limited pool of funds.

I, personally would not be making any suggestions to you on this subject mainly because the subject of audio vs grandchild is very personal due to the fact that one of the factors being considered happens to be a living breathing member of your family. It has to be your decision alone based upon your desires alone. Not what we have to say.

There is no rush to come to an immediate conclusion, so consider the question deeply but take some time to give it that deepness of consideration . I have no doubt that you'll arrive at a conclusion that you will be deeply satisfied with.

Theo,
Thanks for the thoughtful reply, as always my life is flexible and fluid to what happens around me. I am comfortable with my current thought process on the matter though. We will eventually downsize our dwelling and then will come a major audio decision as a smaller place will not accommodate the Magnapans more than likely.
Regards,
Jim
 
Jim, I applaud your selflessness towards your grandson, as it has been mentioned, only you need to be content with your decision of investment.

From what I have seen over the years of your character, there is no doubt in my mind that you will and have made the correct decision. :thumbsup:
 
I'm 45, divorced for 20 years, no kids/grandkids. I've finally cobbled together the vintage system I've always wanted - and to my hearing, it sounds great. I'm sure there are tweaks that I could make to improve the sound, but I doubt I go searching for them. I'm blissfully ignorant in my enjoyment of my current setup. I just want to make sure that I keep it in good shape.

With that said, there are some improvements that I would like to make, but they cater more to my visual sense (such as wooden cabinets for my gear).
 
I am 53 and def an earner and a consumer. ugh. I can live with what I have but a nearly 5 digit tt would be NICE.
 
I am 34 years old, and satisfaction on my stereo is about a 7.

Going to order an amp and subwoofer and I should be at a 9 or 10.
 
Hobbies like audio are addicting in that the urge to improve is always there. Being content is a blessing.

My main rig sounds amazing to me. It's built from odds and ends I've accumulated over the years, the heart is a 35 year old receiver. I'm 58 and thanks to AK, I am enjoying music more than ever with a rig that was a "dream" in my younger days.
 
This is a really nice thread, very personable. I am 50 yrs no kids of my own, my partner, Lana, also no kids, lives separately from me (to avoid the chaos) plus it has given us the opportunity to compete on everything from gardening, house decorating, cooking and who is the better 4WDer - for the record (but don't tell Lana I said this ;)) but I win on all counts hands down :naughty:. I stopped full-time work in 2002 and fortunately financially secure, but I still try and do a bit of consulting from home just keep the brain ticking along. I also opened a couple of stores importing unique new and antique furniture and homewares in 2005 to 2009 but the international travelling to keep 2500 sq meters of retail and warehouse space full was not fun and took its toll. My life is now filled with gardening, cooking, interior design, camping & 4WDing, riding the motorbike, I collect old meccano, art, residential property, working with wood - mostly furniture restoration, music & audio gear and I do full-time foster care.

Music and audio are in my DNA, my first transistor radio at 7, first 3 in 1 stereo at 12, first real hifi and dedicated audio room at 16. Worked Friday nights and Saturdays mornings selling department store hifi while in school (1981) and when I finished school at 18 I was poached by a hifi specialty store and within a year was managing the shop with 3 staff. At 21 my professional life changed and although I maintained a nice hifi I really only kept up with my music collecting till the early nineties when I could no longer find new vinyl to buy.

In 1999, I decided to buy a new sound system; Denon PMA 1500ea, 2 x Sony 400 CD stackers, 2 x Sony 300 CD stackers, Jamo D590 speakers and kept my Technics SL 1200k11 with an Audio Technica AT125lc cartridge at the time - since up-graded to an Ortofon Bronze. All my old hifi gear was still boxed from moving around since 1995 and I just decided to leave it boxed. In 2004, on a whim I bought a pair of B&W804's that when I got them home I never unboxed till 2011. Unfortunately, major depression was and still is from time to time an issue which undermines my life, but fortnightly counselling, strong medication and a busy life with foster caring, my partner and music/audio really making a big difference to keeping the black dog in the kennel as much as possible.

It was not till 2011 when Lana and a friend (John) were helping me get back on my feet again after a long depressive state I re-connected with audio in substantial way. John had brought some photos of us in our youth and in the back ground of one of the photos were these AR94's John had bought from me back in the day when I was retailing. He had long since lost them in a separation, they were a nice speaker which we both missed him owning. We wondered if people actually sold their old audio gear, was there a market for secondhand speakers or even electronics? We sat at the computer and for the first time ever registered with ebay and Lordy Lordy were we surprised. Within a few weeks I owned a pair of AR94's and discovered there were whole online communities dedicated to vintage and modern audio. I lurked around Audiokarma and finally decided to join in 2013, apart from ebay AK is my first and only online participation.

It had never occured to me the notion of collecting audio - I guess well collecting new audio would be cost prohibitive - but collecting a combination of new and vintage well that was definitely do-able. Although I have bought about 20 CD players and around 10 or more amps and receivers; that part of my collection is only just now starting to get interesting. It has been my speaker collecting that has given me the most joy to-date; JBL L15, Infinty RS7b, Wharfedale W30, Wharfedale E70, JBL 80lt, Kef 104ab, Infinity Kappa 7, AR 94, Celestion Ditton 66, Yamaha NS200m and recently sold my B&W804's hoping to upgrade to 801's and also sold a pretty battered pair of NS1000 to replace with either NS1000m or maybe 690II's. Plus on the hunt for some JBL L96, AR9 or 90's, Kef 107, something IMF and set of Maggies would be nice too.

The young fella who has been living with me full-time for 4 years, he's 9 now and just loves audio as well. We regularly rotate source, amp, speakers and cables into his bedroom and he loves my audio sessions of just sitting and listening or pulling things apart to try different combinations and hear the differences/synergy just as much as I do. Every night just before bed we sit and go through all the audio ebay listings for that day and decide together what will go on the 'watch list' a ritual if I did on my own I would never be forgiven for.

There are always competing priorities and expenses - for me/us I/we still have a lot to listen too, I am not ready settle down with one system just yet - to many fish in the sea.

Thanks for all your wonderful stories and perspectives on this thread.

Rob :)
 
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51, and I hardly ever use what I'd consider, or perhaps used to consider, my main rig.

These days I spend more time in the back room twiddling with tube amps and odds and ends.
 
I am 40. Just a few months ago I picked up a Marantz 8b. It is still hooked up the same as it was when I first got it home, slipshod with a mac preamp and lamp cord to my Cornwalls. I am satisfied with it although I have plans for real restoration. I haven't done anything with it recently because I am involved in a 2-month build of a playhouse/slide/swing-set in our backyard for my 2 and 4 year old. I would much rather listen to the smiles and laughter of my kids than any record.

My family is my career, music is just an occasional bonus that tops off the salary of happiness that my family pays me. ...and going to work is just a way and a means....
I have much respect for everyone here that speaks of a good caring balance!
 
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