How serious are you?

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.

Interesting stuff!

Covid's period of total isolation is done, 3 systems overhauled during that period, inherited 4,000 lps, all done.

health issues keeping me home a lot, but home theater, pre-recorded shows, streaming shows is happening much more than listening.

back to acquiring a bit of 'new to me' music and listening, by myself a 3, with friends say 6  regarding interest, but frequency of that down, everyone busy, glad to be out and about, outdoor weather ....