He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable

[jeff1225]

When I built my dedicated room, I made it part of a larger remodel project where I expanded my daughters room by 40%, gave her a bathroom, and built my wife a huge master bathroom with deep soaking tube. Everyone got something. I wanted my room to be associated with positives for the family, not one man’s white whale.


These stories are quite common with a father’s boat, golf club, or vintage car becoming an all consuming obsession.

 

[PeterA]

When I built my dedicated room, I made it part of a larger remodel project where I expanded my daughters room by 40%, gave her a bathroom, and built my wife a huge master bathroom with deep soaking tube. Everyone got something. I wanted my room to be associated with positives for the family, not one man’s white whale.


These stories are quite common with a father’s boat, golf club, or vintage car becoming an all consuming obsession.

Jeff, your project was wonderful and it is great that the whole family benefitted. That is an ideal approach and outcome. Perhaps the stories of isolation and obsession are common but in my experience they are not the norm.

Boats are generally shared with family and friends. I just came back from a sailing vacation with my family in the Caribbean. We met friends down there doing the exact same thing. My wife and kids want to know when we can do it again.

Many clubs are also family oriented and even encourage multi generations. But I used to play squash at a wonderful old club in Manhattan that had a “Strangers Room” for guests waiting to meet members as they left the building. It was for mothers wives sisters and daughters.

 

[John T]

He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable.​

I saw the article headline above in today’s Washington Post and had to read it.

In some ways, I wish I hadn’t.

[I’m including the link here at the bottom of the post. I copied as a gift so that hopefully others can read it. Note: There’s an earlier related forum thread here on WBF “One Man's Dream - Ken Fritz Documentary” that describes in detail the construction of the system/room”.]

The article focuses in part on the underbelly (sadness and regrets) of Ken Fritz’s project. Sadness for ALS taking away Mr. Fritz’s ability to enjoy the fruits of his system longer.

But also the sadness and regret of the alleged “unfathomable cost” of the failed relationships with some of his family, especially his sons.

His obsession with his audiophile project meant little time for vacations or family time on weekends. And his sons being forced to work interminably on the project.

As Fritz himself says “‘I was a father pretty much in name,” Fritz told me. “I was not a typical father or a typical husband.’”

“The big blowup with [his estranged son] Kurt came in 2018, about two years after Fritz had declared that, at last, the world’s greatest stereo and listening room was complete. Kurt, on a visit home, decided to ask his father for a couple of family heirlooms: his grandfather’s 1955 Chevy and an old Rek-O-Kut turntable.

“It wasn’t the size of the ask. The record player wasn’t worth more than a few hundred dollars. But the tone of the demand set off Fritz. He heard in it a sense of entitlement.

“It could have been a monkey wrench, the way he told me,” Fritz recalled later. “I told him: ‘Not going to happen.’”

“It was past 1 a.m. when Kurt, with a few drinks in him, told his father he was going to stay up later and listen to some more music. All the work he had put into building that stereo system — pouring concrete, painting the walls — now Kurt wanted to enjoy it.

“But Fritz hit the off switch on the Krells. And Kurt delivered the words the two of them could never come back from.

“I need you to die slow, m-----f-----,” he told his father. “Die slow.”

“His meaning was coldly clear to both of them.”

Although Scott [the son, who made the video referenced in this thread,] and Fritz had a special bond, they “clashed over the years and occasionally stopped talking. Scott didn’t like how his father sometimes treated people… And Scott hated how his dad acted toward [Frtz’s other son] Kurt.

“He definitely taught me my work ethic,” Scott said. “But I don’t need to spend time with people who behave like that.”

Near the end of his life, his estranged son “called and tried to talk to his father. Betsy [his daughter] urged him to take the call. Fritz refused. In the end, they never spoke. .

Sad.

After his death, the system was sold in pieces to different buyers for a fraction of its original cost.

“Fritz’s stereo system may as well have been a load-bearing wall. His dream had been woven into the actual structure of his home. They were virtually inseparable.And who would want to buy a stereo that cost more than the house…Anybody that’s got that kind of money,…doesn’t want to live there.”

So sad, if true, in so many ways.

As someone else pointed out - “a cautionary tale”.

A link to the WP article:

https://wapo.st/47ErwZI

Thank You for sharing this...I would have never otherwise come across it...

 

[joey_v]

He never spoke to his estranged son even when he reached out. That’s harsh. Guy seemed to be stubborn.

 

[John T]

Being obsessive over a passion is one thing. To be intentionally obstinate or dismissive is another. His personality sounded as if he had some troubling traits...

 

[Zuman]

To me, this isn't really a story about passion, love of music, or even audiophilia: rather it's about selfishness and self-centeredness. We all have to determine how much of our lives we want to live for ourselves, and how much we will live for others. While there is wide variation in peoples' altruism - driven both by philosophy and assets - I feel comfortable in saying that most people are willing to sacrifice many of their own self-interests for those of their spouse and children, and I suspect that most cultures and faiths respect those who do. Love for people is far more laudable than love for stuff and self, and true obsession is seldom something to encourage.

 

[John T]

The story is obviously about a disturbed troubled man. It goes without saying one doesn't place possessions in the forefront of life along with family. The fact he had several issues doesn't take away that he was passionate about audio/music. Some of the greatest artists in the world had serious issues, this does not dismiss their passion. You can still be passionate along with hosting an abundance of flaws...

 

[joey_v]

I was always under the impression that he built a listening room away from the house

but it appears from the article that he extended the split foyer and living room. Which meant that was probably the family room for the family. That’s a big commitment.

 

[John T]

Yea I don't think he cared too much about family.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...I ended up with a very different take from the article than I had from the original video posted a while back. The video "read" more like "super-passionate audio nut." The article reads more like just "nut" to me. Or more charitably: troubled fella.

 

[marty]

This was a beautiful but sad story of a man in which the sound was probably somewhat secondary. Fritz' life in this hobby was all about the journey, not the destination. It's not exactly the way many of us see it, but it obviously is what made his life rewarding for him. How one could possibly estrange a child in that scenario I simply do not understand.

 

[Tbzc]

Reading the WP article made me sad. But the more I have been thinking about it and reading all the comments, the more I am convinced that most of the conclusions are based on simplification and generalization. Probably also biased writer. I am not convinced all his life, relationships and issues can be explained by his high end audio obsession. Life is far more complex. And relationships are two way street.We were given only a small insight in his life. Really enough to judge and draw any meaningful conclusion? Any man or woman can be presented in many ways. Storyteller usually defines the narrative. Let the man rest in peace.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...I will say, I too was very aware of the narrative in the WaPo piece. Maybe it was accurate...but who knows? A thought provoking piece, which is good, I think.

Understandably, the piece resonates strongly with this readership, and stimulates introspection, sadness, etc. Whether true or almost-true, it might still be useful...like a yoga-story: food for thought.

 

[ssfas]

There was a book about 15 years ago, written by Paul Torday called "The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce" about a man who becomes very successful at young age, and then gradually becomes obsessed by wine, which he pursues at the expense of all of his relationships and money and ends up dying a solitary drunk completely lost in his own self-delusion. And it turns out that his wine collection was all worthless cheap booze. Fritz seems a case of life imitating art.

 

[thedudeabides]

I bet the system didn't sound better than a $50K system with room correction and room treatment

HUH? You cannot be serious. In case you missed it, this is a tragic story of forgetting about what is important in life.

 

[astrotoy]

Nick Doshi introduced Ken to me in 2018. Nick said that Ken was a customer and interested in selling spare parts and one or more of his tape recorders. Being on opposite coasts all of our interactions were by telephone. We both had Ampex ATR-102's, I think Ken had 3 and I have two. I was looking for some spare parts as were two of my friends who both also had 102's. What started as a quest for a few relatively expensive and rare spare parts for a decent discount from retail (Ken had bought his machines from ATR Services along with a host of spare parts), led to several hour long phone calls where Ken talked about building his system. He started explaining that his listening room was 50 feet long (I asked him to repeat that, since 50 couldn't have been what he said) and custom speakers of gigantic proportions, and a similar huge turntable - all pictured in the article and in a documentary that should be on youtube. We had several long, rambling talks over about a month long period.

He shared that he got into tape recorders when one of his sons expressed interest in becoming a professional musician and Ken's idea was to build a studio for him. That never happened but the big 102's were purchased along with boxes of spare parts. Finally my friends and I got together a list of things we wanted from his inventory of spare parts, and even one additional ATR-102 which he had for sale. We made an offer which was somewhere in the middle of full retail and bargain basement. He was always friendly, wanting to continue to talk (after reading the article, it could also have been a touch of loneliness) and said he would study the offer and get back to me soon. When the reply didn't come back, I decided to give it more time, since none of us were desperate for the parts - more nice to haves than really need. Life went on and I forgot about it until a couple years later when there were a couple of stories about his system in the audiophile forums, with the important point that he had been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig disease) just about the time of our bid. He never mentioned having the disease during our several hour long talks. So it made sense that the diagnosis came then and thus why he didn't reply to the bid.

Larry

 

[Republicoftexas69]

He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable.​

I saw the article headline above in today’s Washington Post and had to read it.

In some ways, I wish I hadn’t.

[I’m including the link here at the bottom of the post. I copied as a gift so that hopefully others can read it. Note: There’s an earlier related forum thread here on WBF “One Man's Dream - Ken Fritz Documentary” that describes in detail the construction of the system/room”.]

The article focuses in part on the underbelly (sadness and regrets) of Ken Fritz’s project. Sadness for ALS taking away Mr. Fritz’s ability to enjoy the fruits of his system longer.

But also the sadness and regret of the alleged “unfathomable cost” of the failed relationships with some of his family, especially his sons.

His obsession with his audiophile project meant little time for vacations or family time on weekends. And his sons being forced to work interminably on the project.

As Fritz himself says “‘I was a father pretty much in name,” Fritz told me. “I was not a typical father or a typical husband.’”

“The big blowup with [his estranged son] Kurt came in 2018, about two years after Fritz had declared that, at last, the world’s greatest stereo and listening room was complete. Kurt, on a visit home, decided to ask his father for a couple of family heirlooms: his grandfather’s 1955 Chevy and an old Rek-O-Kut turntable.

“It wasn’t the size of the ask. The record player wasn’t worth more than a few hundred dollars. But the tone of the demand set off Fritz. He heard in it a sense of entitlement.

“It could have been a monkey wrench, the way he told me,” Fritz recalled later. “I told him: ‘Not going to happen.’”

“It was past 1 a.m. when Kurt, with a few drinks in him, told his father he was going to stay up later and listen to some more music. All the work he had put into building that stereo system — pouring concrete, painting the walls — now Kurt wanted to enjoy it.

“But Fritz hit the off switch on the Krells. And Kurt delivered the words the two of them could never come back from.

“I need you to die slow, m-----f-----,” he told his father. “Die slow.”

“His meaning was coldly clear to both of them.”

Although Scott [the son, who made the video referenced in this thread,] and Fritz had a special bond, they “clashed over the years and occasionally stopped talking. Scott didn’t like how his father sometimes treated people… And Scott hated how his dad acted toward [Frtz’s other son] Kurt.

“He definitely taught me my work ethic,” Scott said. “But I don’t need to spend time with people who behave like that.”

Near the end of his life, his estranged son “called and tried to talk to his father. Betsy [his daughter] urged him to take the call. Fritz refused. In the end, they never spoke. .

Sad.

After his death, the system was sold in pieces to different buyers for a fraction of its original cost.

“Fritz’s stereo system may as well have been a load-bearing wall. His dream had been woven into the actual structure of his home. They were virtually inseparable.And who would want to buy a stereo that cost more than the house…Anybody that’s got that kind of money,…doesn’t want to live there.”

So sad, if true, in so many ways.

As someone else pointed out - “a cautionary tale”.

A link to the WP article:

https://wapo.st/47ErwZI

I truly think he had a obsessive dissorder and even if the hobby was say collecting cars, he would have been over the top.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

HUH? You cannot be serious. In case you missed it, this is a tragic story of forgetting about what is important in life.

Audiogod @Audiofile truly is only here to stir the pot.

 

[cjfrbw]

I guess not very many people heard the full system. Certainly, nobody seems to have ever commented that it was the end all and be all, except as a visual icon of devotion. One would have thought that it inspired pilgrimage fever.
I followed his construction of it through Audiogon in the earlier days where he documented it. I wasn't really fond of the idea that he mainly used Krells. I think he eventually put some other type horn speakers in there to use as an additional system to the ribbons towers.

Maybe it was more an audio edifice architectural project as opposed to sonic. There are quite a few of the well heeled types that are into the same paradigm, the splendor and the shine.

 

[thedudeabides]

Audiogod @Audiofile truly is only here to stir the pot.

Oh. It is Audiogod again. That explains everything.