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
. 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