The rarity of privilege....

[Rodney Gold]

I consider myself a very lucky audiophile...

I listen to at least 6 hours of music a day
I am able to afford relatively good gear (tho my G1's and Devialet stretched me quite far)
I have my own 8m x 6m dedicated purpose built and fully treated music room and can play as loud as I like at any time of day in it
I have a wife who , albeit is not interested in my hobby , just lets me get on with it , understanding it keeps me home and she also understands that hifi spend takes nothing away from her lifestyle and pursuits. She loves what I have done with my room too..
I have an 18 year old daughter who loves music listeng ALL day long , even my old stuff and her 20 yr old BF is a vinyl hipster (was quite a surprise)
A 100mb fibre line for Tidal...
Yearly visits to audiologist confirm my hearing is still up to snuff , tho my upper limit is just over 15khz..


The downsides : Well I live in South Africa.. where its not easy to audition whats best out there.
Very poor $ exchange rate making imported stuff prohibitive
Crime is bad.. my home security is more extreme than most high security prisons..

 

[amirm]

Life definitely seems good it seems other than the crime bit and equipment availability. It is great to be able to enjoy one's hobby that much.

Is there much high fidelity music produced in South Africa?

When I moved to San Diego, I heard only two places in the world have perfect weather. San Diego and Cape Town! True?

Of course the day we moved into our house in San Diego, it reached 112 degrees F.

 

[NorthStar]

I live in paradise here...the planet looks splendid from here and the music is constantly playing...about 12 to 16 hours a day on average.

Very very very peaceful too, total ecstasy. /// Sex aplenty.

 

[Rodney Gold]

There is a lot of music production here , but nothing to my taste.. mainly pop etc..
cold wet winters.. no snow.. amazing summers here.. its a very beautiful city , I live on some hills overlooking table mountain , next to a wildlife sanctuary so we have a lot of birds and other animals around. (no lions
Luckily my speakers are made here in SA and cos we local , we get a good price break on them..

The thing is , I look at a lot of serious audiophiles here that cant or wont dedicate a room , most have a WAF thing to consider - they all "sneak" purchases in etc.. I count myself lucky to have freedoms they dont..

 

[Ron Resnick]

Congratulations Rodney! I am happy you have found audio contentment.

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key
"Already Gone" by Eagles

Tell your audiophile friends to break free of the domestic tyranny!

 

[es347]

I live in the flyover Midwest...no mountains, no oceans but plenty of corn and soybean fields. Hot humid summers, great Fall time and unpredictable winters. Most folks here dread February as cabin fe aver sets in. Me? Throw me in that particular briar patch...it's the time of year for extended listening sessions...no yard work...yeah baby.. Life is good!

 

[RadioWonder]

An understanding wife is a blessing in itself...

 

[Bruce B]

An understanding wife is a blessing in itself...

My wife helped me build the studio, goes to almost every show and knows when something is not right with the system. She even threw away her iPod because it wouldn't play hi-rez files! Now she wants a hi-end system for the living room with one of Greg's tape machines! I have found a gem......

 

[Rodney Gold]

I too thought it would be great if my wife was involved.. however I soon realised we would fight over who sat in the sweet spot

 

[c1ferrari]

When I moved to San Diego, I heard only two places in the world have perfect weather. San Diego and Cape Town! True?
Of course the day we moved into our house in San Diego, it reached 112 degrees F.

Amir, do you still have a presence in San Diego?

 

[c1ferrari]

Fantastic partner here, too!

 

[SCAudiophile]

Rodney: You are fortunate indeed in many ways,...one of the guys I work with is from Cape Town, another from Jo-burg (as he calls it); both speak very highly of the country and life there but also the need for security systems, etc...on their homes so you are definitely not alone. Your system looks beautiful from what I can see in the small inset photo. Do you have more/larger photos posted anywhere here on another forum; it would be great to see them.

NorthStar: Victoria Island, Vancouver and BC in general are amazing....great place to live from what I hear and visits there have been an amazing time; quality of life seems very good indeed. BTW...love the cellist in your profile/avatar photo. She's very distracting

 

[Rodney Gold]

Zephyr .. thanks for the kind words. Cape town is one of the most beautiful places on earth.. and now with the Rand collapsing against the $ , a marvellous place to visit.

Here are some pics of the room I have done some minor changes , the pics are a few months old

 

[SCAudiophile]

Outstanding(!)....love the artwork on the wall and carpets too! It looks like a beautiful space (and sounding too) haven for work and for listening. Thanks for posting the pics so quickly...have a great day!

 

[Folsom]

Is that you and a Camaro on the wall? Now we see your power station for posting on WBF !

 

[Ron Resnick]

The room looks fantastic Rodney!

 

[andromedaaudio]

Yes looks great , it is indeed a wonderfull place capetown , one of the best views for a house period was at camps bay overlooking the atlantic

 

[bonzo75]

Wow

 

[Lee Henley]

What a fantastic room you have, very tastefully decorated

I went to Cape Town in 2006 to play golf, stayed in Camps Bay for 2 weeks, I must admit Cape Town is a beautiful city with some wonderful golf courses

 

[NorthStar]

Great pictures of your Room Rodney with the art works; very relaxing/inviting ? music listening room.