Who R U?

Kelly:
Nice to be joining you. When my partner and I started the company we wanted our name to do three things: 1)be memorable; 2)reflect that we would specialize in pre-owned, vintage and collectible items; and 3)be broad enough to cover multiple industries. I'd hoped to add a new department every two years, and so far we're on track. When we are seen in specific arenas the name is well received. Readers of Stereophile, for example, are clear on what we do. For regular consumers on the street however, our name can cause a bit of confusion. Nothing a few million in advertising can't clear up! :~) In addition to hi-end audio and theater we have a stringed instrument department (primarily those which are plucked or strummed, rather than bowed) and a watch department. The watch department specializes in Swiss and German mechanicals, but we do have some better quartz's as well. The store is a reflection of my belief in the old adage, "The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys." Dealing in a variety of highly specialized items has proven to have its challenges, especially since the market has rarely seen it attempted. But I figured if Sears could sell underware, tools, eye glasses, jewelry, insurance, car batteries, etc., etc., we could certainly give this a shot. Sorry for the long winded answer, and thank you for asking.
Mario

I'm 27, and I've been in school for 9 years (M.A., political science, J.D.). When I got out, I was supposed to have a reasonably lucrative job lined up. Right after I signed a lease in DC (for $1100 a month, fairly modest by Washington standards), I got laid off from the job, before I even started it. So, I sold all my audiophile gear to get by. I had a respectable rig, too...Theta Data Basic II transport, MSB Gold Link III, Adcom GFP-750, cables, power cords...everything, gone. Oh! I did keep one thing. I'm the only dumb SOB on earth who has a one meter pair of Kimber Select 1030's running from his digital cable box to his television. But hey, that'll be my one building block when I can afford to get back in the game.

No you're far from dumb, Thedautsch! Your Kimber Select will be well broken in, once you restart building a system. May that be soon and the best of luck to you.

You're in good company Thedautch. I had a wonderful Accuphase system many years ago when I was in college (and about your age) and had to sell it as well to pay rent and eat. While I don't regret having to get rid of it given the circumstances, I do wish I still had it.

Ken

I guess I should post a bit about myself as long as I'm responding to other folks this thread. I'm 43, single – no children, and living in Silicon Valley. I've worked in the software biz since getting out of school and in my current position I'm managing a user interface development team at a down, but not quite out dot-com company. Lest you think that Silicon Valley startups are (were) a sure fire recipe for success, I’ll be happy to set you straight ;-).

During my time at college (2 stints, 2 degrees), I supported myself selling audio equipment at several mid-fi audio stores in L.A. and Santa Barbara. I'm not sure I can say that sales was an especially good fit for me, but being able to spend that much time with music that I loved was absolute heaven. Very often, when I’m looking down the barrel of a high stress, frantic production schedule, I think back on those days with a great deal of fondness.

Over the years, I’ve had a number of reasonably modest, nice sounding audio systems to support my love for music. A couple of years ago, thanks to an extraordinarily generous Nasdaq, I was able to manage a full upgrade to my audio system, which not so coincidently, was about the time I started conversing with the great folks here. I enjoy a pretty wide variety of music, which in recent years has included a lot of classical, jazz and folk, and every now and then a bit of good, hard edged rock (I've mellowed a lot with age, but not completely).

Cheers,
Ken