Mike_in_nc, I'm also in NC (I'm assuming your NC is North Carolina - or it could be New Caledonia).
I'm putting together something that may be serious stupidity on my part, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm recreating the past. I have had little more than a table radio alarm clock since the mid-'80's when my -- at that time -- very high-end audio system was stolen with no insurance to cover the loss. Retired and bored with being to some degree shut in because of the pandemic, I've begun to recreate in spirit what was lost.
I'm pretty sure that many of the audiophiles who frequent these fora will think me somewhat out of my mind. And I'm sure that there are better choices among today's equipment for some of the components I've chosen. That doesn't really matter to me. The items I've already purchased and those I'm still hunting were easily among the top 1% in their day, and I suspect that they are still within a few percent of the best that is current.
I've over-paid on a couple of items because of my nostalgia (I've created a virtual system under that name), however, in other cases, I've gotten significant bargains. I'm going to have to spend some money refurbishing some of the equipment -- some of which I will do myself (having built Knight, Heath, Dynaco & Hafler kits aplenty back in the '60's & '70's) and some I will farm out to the experts. In the end, I'm having fun and that's what it's all about.
I'm putting together something that may be serious stupidity on my part, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm recreating the past. I have had little more than a table radio alarm clock since the mid-'80's when my -- at that time -- very high-end audio system was stolen with no insurance to cover the loss. Retired and bored with being to some degree shut in because of the pandemic, I've begun to recreate in spirit what was lost.
I'm pretty sure that many of the audiophiles who frequent these fora will think me somewhat out of my mind. And I'm sure that there are better choices among today's equipment for some of the components I've chosen. That doesn't really matter to me. The items I've already purchased and those I'm still hunting were easily among the top 1% in their day, and I suspect that they are still within a few percent of the best that is current.
I've over-paid on a couple of items because of my nostalgia (I've created a virtual system under that name), however, in other cases, I've gotten significant bargains. I'm going to have to spend some money refurbishing some of the equipment -- some of which I will do myself (having built Knight, Heath, Dynaco & Hafler kits aplenty back in the '60's & '70's) and some I will farm out to the experts. In the end, I'm having fun and that's what it's all about.