One of my hobbies, and a serious one at that, is audio equipment.
These pages are almost exclusively documenting restoration, re-veneer, or refinishing of speakers:
How much does it cost to restore a pair of Klipschorns?
Zebrawood Klipsch Cornwall Speakers
As a 14 year old, I spent many hours listening to music in my room. I took an interest in the equipment that reproduced this sound and soon became very interested in "Klipsch" speakers. I sold my dirtbike, football card collection, and my current stereo to buy a $1,000 pair of used Klipsch La Scala loudspeakers. I dragged the big black bohemoths down into my cellar bedroom, but I had no stereo to hook up to them! That didn't matter much to me at the time, but eventually my mom felt bad and helped me get my first McIntosh piece so I could listen to music again. I bet she wishes she hadn't done that though, because the pounding from my bedroom, right below the living room, just about drove her nuts.
It wasn't long before I figured out that I could use these speakers to D.J. at high school dances. "The Rock and Road Show" was my first business venture, and at 16, I was making more money in one gig than my best friend made after school at the gas station in two weeks.
I spent many of my young adult years working as a live sound engineer before becoming a house-builder. The travel, late hours, and time away from home was ultimately too much for me to continue doing it, so in 1994 I finally quit. I miss it though. The power of thousands of watts coming through a big stack of horn-loaded speakers, and the control over the entire sound coming from the band is really exciting to me.
Now my obsession with Klipsch speakers and audio equipment in general takes on a different form. I enjoy combining audio and woodworking together when I refinish an old set of Klipsch speakers, and I'm usually able to make enough money doing it to make it worthwhile. In fact, over the last few years, I've been able to buy audio equipment locally and sell it on ebay for a handsome profit. Enough to support my "habit".
Of course there is music involved too! I enjoy listening to rock and jazz based rock, blues, and some jazz. My lovely and tolerant wife allows me to usurp two of the corners of our living room for a pair of Klipsch Khorns. These speakers are so efficient that just a few watts of power will fill the room. I use two custom-built mono tube amplifiers that put out a whopping 1.8 watts of power each. Yes, that's one-point-eight! The sound is sultry smooth and bigger than life.
Like most of us in this hobby, I have way too much equipment, But it sure is fun!