What's your profession? Age?

I'm a 20 year old entrepreneur/college student. i currently am in my 2nd year at California State University, Long Beach which i attend full time, and i also started a business with 3 friends (Pacific Coast Acquisitions, LLC.) in which we purchase properties that are in foreclosure, do a little handy work on them and then sell them on the market for the going rate. right now we're in the middle of our second year and we have 13 properties in our possession and growing. my system is only worth a piddly $7-10k, but i only paid around $5000 for it. its in the virtual systems under my moniker if you're interested in checking it out.

DVD manufacturing engineer, author. Five-Ohmygod!

Iam a IN-HOUSE dental tech. Been going on for 21 yrs now and still love what i do. Iam 39 now and been involved in this hobby for 12yrs.
steve

Retired actuary, 51. Retired residential landlord also(lots units). Two systems, cost me about $35,000. New about $75,000. Being old ain't so bad. Being almost old's mayby even better.

Bill E.

I am a credit risk manager for several credit card portfolios. I am 37. I am closing fast on a $70k system; but have learned a lot over the last 15 years I have been in the hobby. When I started, I was giving all my friends all the great deals as I upgraded my system. Now, I have Audiogon and pretty much refruse to pay retail. But, I read a lot about the systems and have a pretty good idea what I want. If I was starting out new and buying used, I think you could shop around, get good deals on equipment, and later on sell it at a minimal loss. That is definitely the way to experiment your way into a killer system. Oh, my last bit of advice is get a spouse that is either into the hobby or won't mind it. My first wife never got into it. My wife now is EXTREMELY tollerant!