Why do you like the hobby?

Christmas one year in the 70s i received a big white pair of am radio headphones, with 2 plastic ribbed knobs , 1 for station, one for volume, you may remember when people had nothing but things we needed in the home, fire wood for the stove, dads lunchbox, my only electric toy was a flashlight, black and white tv, used furniture and paneling, grocery shopping 1 time a week in the dodge dart, no color or sound in life that i only realize as i compare it to life today, just a bland atmosphere , no internet to look up your audio lust, or cars you dreamed about ,nothing, just school, and work, some of you know what i mean, i remember laying in bed as a child in the dark of my upstairs bedroom rolling the AM station dial with a thousand squealing static laden stations on my headphones , 100s of stations it seemed with news, sports, music, other languages, ,,,,,,,,it was my choice, in the dark , someone to listen to, a place to go. finally. What could the world be like outside of my small town with all this action and noise on my headphones.............
 
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Christmas one year in the 70s i received a big white pair of am radio headphones, with 2 plastic ribbed knobs , 1 for station, one for volume, you may remember when people had nothing but things we needed in the home, fire wood for the stove, dads lunchbox, my only electric toy was a flashlight, black and white tv, used furniture and paneling, grocery shopping 1 time a week in the dodge dart, no color or sound in life that i only realize as i compare it to life today, just a bland atmosphere , no internet to look up your audio lust, or cars you dreamed about ,nothing, just school, and work, some of you know what i mean, i remember laying in bed as a child in the dark of my upstairs bedroom rolling the AM station dial with a thousand squealing static laden stations on my headphones , 100s of stations it seemed with news, sports, music, other languages, ,,,,,,,,it was my choice, in the dark , someone to listen to, a place to go. finally. What could the world be like with all this action and noise on my headphones.............
What? No toys with friction motors? Seriously? Sheesh!!
 
Difficult to quantify for me. I love music. I enjoy minor tinkering, occasionally. I have a fetish for "vintage" things. I have found that my personal sense of style is rarely satisfied by things designed within the past twenty years (although there are some few exceptions). I am also somewhat of a contrarian, needing somehow to step away from the mass hysteria of ever moving fad and novelty as much as possible. That didn't come out right. Hmm... I just like cool old stuff. That's better.
 
Difficult to quantify for me. I love music. I enjoy minor tinkering, occasionally. I have a fetish for "vintage" things. I have found that my personal sense of style is rarely satisfied by things designed within the past twenty years (although there are some few exceptions). I am also somewhat of a contrarian, needing somehow to step away from the mass hysteria of ever moving fad and novelty as much as possible. That didn't come out right. Hmm... I just like cool old stuff. That's better.

To me, that came out just fine.
 
Working on and collecting audio equipment is probably a hobby for most. I dont do that much of it. A little, but not like many here do. Collecting and listening to music however is more of a pastime, at least for me.
 
The best thing about this hobby if you want to call it that is that .It gives you back more enjoyment then most others
I listen to my system at least 3 hours a day every day try to do that with a car or boat . The sound of a great system is therapeutic .
Audiokarma at its best !
 
It's allowed me over the years to experience hundreds of different conponents . Receivers , amps, pre amps, eq's, turntables, speakers, ect....Build a few really nice systems . All from estate sales , garage sales , flea markets , thrift stores..Plus selling off the excess puts money in my pocket for other things .I do think this could be considered a hobby in a lot of ways. For one the collecting part . I have enough gear that I'm keeping for at least 5 complete systems. Love having it around me ,looking at it ,playing around with it . Trying different combinations . Then being able to use decades old equipment , most that has had no work done to it . To produce music.
 
I have several hobbies. Audio is the least messy of them. You can play an LP in a coat n tie. Not a good idea to do Airbrush painting, or laying ballast gravel on some HO track in a suit.
 
Hearing new things on familiar recordings just tickles me pink. It makes me feel as if I've accomplished something, too. Not to mention that being able to follow players and singers individually gives me more insight into the music. And music gives me relief from the chatter and business of the day, and frees my mind from the nearly constant preoccupation that characterizes so much of modern life.
 
I used what I was given by my parents. I grew up in a household that didn't have a record player or anything more than an AM radio circa 1967.

I was lucky. My dad bought a Sears console in the 60s - the long, low kind. Had a four-speed turntable 16, 33, 45, and 78 rpm. And am/fm, of course. Sounded great to us at the time. I would upgrade them greatly in '78 - traded 'em in for all-new parents. No, lol, upgrading them wouldn't have been possible, but I did upgrade their audio. To their surprise, they loved it. Pioneer SA-5500 II integrated, matching tuner and HPM-60s, with a Technics quartz-lock sporting a Stanton 681EE-S. And matching cassette deck. With a nice cabinet I built. Mom still has TT, amp, speakers and cabinet. The tuner went missing somehow, but she has a Yamaha I gave 'em later.
 
Music - First and foremost This is what brought me to the "hobby" since I was 7 years old spinning record son my portable I my room.

The Hunt - I enjoy looking for that awesome score on gear and/or records

Gear - I'm not a repair guy but appreciate great sounding gear and enjoy doing minor cleaning and maintenance. I like comparing the difference in various equipment combos.

Nostalgia - It takes me back to when I was a teenager and had the MCS (Technics) gear in my room spinning records. Wish I would have kept all my stuff.

Discovery - I find learning about music history through listening and looking at records interesting as well as discovering music and new to me artists.
 
Music - First and foremost This is what brought me to the "hobby" since I was 7 years old spinning record son my portable I my room.

The Hunt - I enjoy looking for that awesome score on gear and/or records

Gear - I'm not a repair guy but appreciate great sounding gear and enjoy doing minor cleaning and maintenance. I like comparing the difference in various equipment combos.

Nostalgia - It takes me back to when I was a teenager and had the MCS (Technics) gear in my room spinning records. Wish I would have kept all my stuff.

Discovery - I find learning about music history through listening and looking at records interesting as well as discovering music and new to me artists.
You summed up my reasons, except I'll add repair to my list. I enjoy repairing speakers and am currently trying to learn my way through other repairs.

For me the nostalgia is mostly second-hand but it still takes me back to an era of days past.
 
I consider listening to music a basic need much more than a hobby. I have always listened to music and cannot imagine life without it. I love the gear, but it's a means to an end...producing clean, clear, glorious music.
 
One of the few hobbies that if practiced correctly is self-sustaining. Many of us have built fantastic collections trading up and up and up.
Don't know about trading up and up, but my music collection certainly has grown over the years as I've been exposed to a wider range of genres.
 
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