How serious are you?

Listening to music an 8 to 10.  Equipment about a 2.  Equipment setup around a 5 to 7.

I'm serious to a 10. But I'm not obsessed, it's just that music and audio have always been important. It's a lifestyle. Some guys care about sports or big trucks or fancy guns. Those things mean nothing to me. I'm into music.

My "interest level" has ebbed and waned over the 42 years I’ve been doing this...I’d guess somewhere between an 8 and 10, depending on what’s happening in life. I prefer to call it a passion more than an obsession, because it’s simply my activity of choice most of the time. I’ll admit it was more of an obsession early on, and I didn’t enjoy it as much until I finally got a system that took me where I needed to go. I’m much happier now, use it daily, and enjoy it immensely. 😎

When the kids were younger I obviously couldn’t spend as much time or money. Now that they’re older, I definitely spend more time on it, but since having a very small working budget from the start, that’s pretty much remained my mantra...."poor man’s highend". It takes more time to build or modify gear than to buy a new piece, and takes patience and time to buy the right used gear. So, yeah, I still spend on a lot of time listening and plotting and scheming my next move, and that’s what keeps me interested.

My interests are broader than hi-fi and records- which activities wax and wane depending on a lot things. There have been periods where I didn't set up a system; others where I'm crawling around on the floor troubleshooting, doing album shoot-outs or tube rolling. 

My career was as a copyright lawyer and I did a lot of catalog deals so I know how the industry was structured. A lot has changed.

And my real interest is the history of the technology and the changes in music over time. So I've been beefing up my chops on archival/preservation and am going to try to go back to school- I would be 70 years old by the time I start the program.

I'd say it has consumed a large part of my life but not just as an "audiophile" or record collector. 

I listen to my system pretty much every day and evening so in terms of use/music listening a 10. My interest in gear seems to come in spurts but after my latest upgrades has dropped to say a 4.