High End Audio is a Community

I used to make music.  Now I listen to it.

The love of anything can tie a group of people together.  With my most recent infatuation with excellent-sounding audio, I immersed myself in a community of like-minded individuals.  The audiofools are a little more obsessed with the pursuit of perfect sound reproduction than I, but share that same drive to make their respective systems as nice as possible. with budgets ranging from a couple hundred bucks to tens of thousands of dollars, some (like myself) hunt down bargains that lean toward vintage fixer-uppers, while others spend more on cables than I have invested in my entire system.  I simply wanted to have a retro stereo for the cool factor, but have been sucked into "chasing the dragon" in my search for sound.

My favorite community watering hole is the internet forum Audiokarma.org, where advice and knowledge are freely bantered about.  I also frequent the local high-end audio store, Reference Media, as the sales staff are more than enthusiastic to have me listen to $30,000 speakers though the staff understand I could never spend that kind of dough on speakers.

Not surprisingly, there are differences of opinion which sometimes get out of control as audio quality is pretty subjective beyond a certain point.  I've even heard many a heated debate about which multi-hundred dollar RCA cable "sounds better" than the other, though I can't hear a difference between a $15 cable and a $200 one.  Despite these arguments, everyone seems to get along and respect others' gear.  After all, at the end of the day, aren't we all just taking different roads to Chicago?

Capital One IS in my wallet, but only from time-to-time

If someone were to ask me, "What's in your wallet?", I would probably respond in a manner inappropriate to this assignment.  However, because this is for science, I shall oblige you. 

Currently, my wallet contains:

1.  Two debit cards
2. A credit card
3. My driver's license 
4. Two outdated pictures of my son, a photo of my deceased grandmother, and a photo of my parents and I
5. An expired free haircut card (which is now in the garbage)
6. A business card from "shooting Sports Northwest"
7. A business card from "Reference Media", a high-end audio shop
8. Three Value Village discount stamp cards, two of which are filled out (Where do you think I REALLY get my audio gear from?)

 There!  Are you nosy people satisfied?  No?  You want to know what these trinkets have to do with me, and what may be missed from a casual perusal of my wallet's contents, huh?  That seems a little demanding, but I will acquiesce to your requests.

My bank cards show that I am prepared for financial situations while gallivanting 'round town, yet because the debit/credit ratio is 2/1, hints that I may be a good user of credit.  I am not.  My driver's license shows me to be a licensed driver (duh!), organ donor, mid-twenties, tall, and most notably, a rather attractive fellow.  the pictures in residence give up the fact I am a sucker for family, and hold these persons very dear.  The haircut card and thrift store discounts prove I am a cost conscious person, and lead to the fact I sometimes love hunting for treasure.  The range and audio shop cards point to some of my hobbies- shooting and vintage stereo gear.  What's missing, however?

The biggest piece of me that is missing is a picture of my long-time girlfriend.  She is part of my everyday life, and the reason I most look forward to coming home.  In addition, other qualities which comprise the "Jon" are missing.  I am a handy guy, a jack-of-most trades.  I play guitar and fix things.  I will break my back to help a friend, and the people I consider friends will do the same without question.  Though you can guess I have a son, you will not know I have a sister, because there is no photo of her.  Oops.

In the end, there are a myriad of conclusions someone can draw while looking through a stranger's wallet.  Some may be right, some may be wrong, some evidence may not be in residence.  After looking through my own and asking the prerequisite questions of the week, I've come to realize one thing-  A person's wallet may offer a snapshot deep into who he is or what he holds dear, but only the owner of the wallet will be able to truly reveal the stories and meaning of the objects.

Whoops- late addition!  A guitar pick just fell out!