Who R U?

hi all, i dunno how i got started in this hobby - musta been that li'l transistor radio i got for my 6th b-d, back in 1962! i played it to *death*! then, when 11, i had saved up enuff allowance & paper-route money to buy my 1st stereo - a panasonic receiver w/matching speakers, cassette deck & turntable, all for $129 (my cheapskate tendencies also took hold early - i remember selling this set-up in a garage sale four years later, for $100!). then, back in '69, at age 13, i bought my 1st *serious* stereo - bose 901's, a dual 1229, & a pioneer sx828 60wpc receiver. this system got me thru college. dunno where i got this music-bug - no one in my fambly gives a hoot about music. i'm also into cars-n-motorcycles in a big way, & no one in my fambly understands *that*, either. oh well... i was born-n-raised in washington, dc; which may explain my *political* tendencies - i was handing out leaflets for eugene mccarthy's presidential bid back in '68! ;~) my liberal arts degree was obtained in ann-arbor, mi (8hrs from a forestry degree, garfish - i refused to take woody plants 1, & organic chemistry!) moved to portland oregon back in late '79, to go to lie...uh, i mean law school. when lie-skool confirmed all my expectations, i quit in the middle of my 2nd year. i wanted to remain in oregon (god's gift to n. america, imho), but reaganomics forced me back east in '83. i'm currently residing in a bucolic setting west of frederick, md, wery close to harper's ferry, wva. i commute down some lovely back-roads in/on one of my alfas/pantera/buell/ducati, (*no* toons in the cars, btw!) to the nih in bethesda, md to practice arch'l/engineering/construction project management, keeping all the dr's & researchers in their *sota* research labs. (no, i'm *not* loaded, the cost of *all* my wehicles combined woodn't be enuff for *one* m5 bmw!) enjoyin' life, listenin' to toons in the 25x38 living room, w/the wife, 9-yr-old daughter, & 5-yr-old son. the daughter likes to sing along w/me on my poor renditions of the likes of neil young, frank zappa, doc watson, & ??? :>) regards from doug in fredneck county, maryland

I'll bite. I'm 50, and a corporate finance/general corporate lawyer who works in downtown Manhattan and commutes from NJ. I got into this hobby through my love of music--I was in a rock band in high school, switched to folk in college at the University of Michigan in the late 60's (and when Hendrix, Clapton and Page made rhythm guitarists scarce), where I played in a number of coffee houses and folk festivals, and now I sing in some very good church choirs and, from time to time, a harmony quartet. Interesting how the musical tastes change over time. I'm married (29+ yrs) with a son who just graduated from Ithaca and has now joined the ranks of unemployed cinematographers. Although my dad had pretty good equipment while I was growing up, and I always had some decent stuff, I really didn't get into this hobby until the mid-80s, when I heard a pair of Duntech Sovereigns driven by Rowland and ARC electronics at my local dealer. Since then I've gone through successive upgrades as my finances would allow, mostly involving solid-state to hybrid to all tube electronics, but I tend to hang on to pieces of equipment I like for quite a while and build the system around them. My interests outside of music are more pedestrian than some of the prior posts, principally sports, particularly golf, bowling (my partners laugh at that one), baseball and hoops.

My name is Aldo, I go by Skip. I'm 43 and have been married to a wonderful woman for 22yrs. We have no children ( as we elect not to) but do have two dogs and a cat. Was born in 57 and lived in N.J. until 65. In 65 we moved to the hot, humid, and bug infested state of Florida, where I grew up. In 78 our lovely Uncle Sam was kind enough to let my lovely wife and I see the country of Germany for two years(where we first got our start into the world of stereo reprodution. After moving back to FL., after the military, Florida Power & Light was looking for apprentices for high voltage lineman. After my four year apprenticeship was complete I was now qualified to work on voltages from 120v. to a lightning bolt. Well that's what they told us, actually up to 500KV. Stayed with FPL till 95, when we'd had enough, and packed our bags for the beautiful state of Idaho. My wife and I wish we had made the move to Idaho years ago. Can't dwell on what ya' shoulda' done, just go forward from here. Ended up working as a Power Lineman for the beautiful City of Idaho Falls. Bought a restaurant/bar called The Frosty Gator. "The Best Tail in Town". We actually sell gator tail from FL. So now I have two full time jobs with little time for my hobby(my stereo). I have just started to upgrade our system and am really enjoying all the comments this forum brings. Have recently gotten back into the vinyl scene and am enjoying it. Am also pursuing going back to college at Idaho State. Want to pursue my degree in electrical engineering, might be tough on this 43 year old man, but what the hell. How old am I going to be if I don't get my degree is the way I look at it. Well, that's the short version of who i am. I'm done now.

Rayhall; nice to meet you on this thread. As a result of yours and Redkiwi's influence, I now have a Shirley Horn CD (re: Redkiwi). BTW she has a fantastic voice and I now understand where Dianna Krall got her "style". I also have 2 Ella Fitsgerald, and 4 more Shirley Horn CDs on order. Sedond-- organic chem. is a bitch anywhere, but plant physiology just about "did me in". I seem to be the "old coot" in this forum, and age gives me a somewhat different perspective on HQ audio I think. Cheers Guys. Craig.

Garfish- Its scary, two soil scientists on this site. I'm a 48 year old wetland/soil scientist; self-employed. I make my living digging holes and then tying little flags on trees (where the wetlands are, hence my screen name. I live in central CT w/ my spouse of 25+ years (some married and more not). A child of the 60's, put together my first radio shack system as a freshman in college. Sometimes get too hung up on the gear side, but with my own business to run and an 11 year old son, sometimes not much time for listening. Found this site last Winter, and got started buying some gear to replace my 80s vintage Yamaha C1a/NYAL Moscode 300 system. Love the threads and am real happy with the (nearly) new gear I've bought from people on this site. I like rock, bluegrass, folk, blues and a little jazz music. Really don't like the personal attacks and one-upsmanship I started seeing here late this summer. Hope this thread succeeds in establishing more of a community. Thanks for all your ideas and the great gear I've bought.