Where does it all go in the end?

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brad225

brad225

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From time to time my wife and I will have another couple over and decide to all go up to my listening room. Every one always seems to have a good time and we stay up much to late and have more wine than normal.

My wife doesn't spend time in the music room other than when friends are over as it is not really her interest other than its a social funcion. The thing that has come up a day or two after a listening session is, "What should I do with your equipment once your are gone".

I am only 65 and have no intentions of going anywhere soon, but I will always have an audio system. It is not asked in a morbid way. She just wonders what I would want.

Every thing we have is covered in our will and trust but nothing specific about my audio equipment.

We don't have any children but do have 11 siblings and 55 nieces and nephews. Even with that I don't think any have an serious interest in this hobby with the exception of possibly a niece that has just married into the family. She is an acoustic engeneer for Harmon International in the auto industry. She and her family live 1500 miles away and we have not seen a lot of each other since first meeting 2 years ago.

And, no I am not interested in adopting and of you. :-)

I've told my wife I'm fine if she were to give it to a family member or a friend that would put it to use or help them move their hobby along.

Have any of you thought of this and where will it go?

I don't mean for this to be a depressing thread but it's one of those unavoidable things.
 
brad225 said:
From time to time my wife and I will have another couple over and decide to all go up to my listening room. Every one always seems to have a good time and we stay up much to late and have more wine than normal.

My wife doesn't spend time in the music room other than when friends are over as it is not really her interest other than its a social funcion. The thing that has come up a day or two after a listening session is, "What should I do with your equipment once your are gone".

I am only 65 and have no intentions of going anywhere soon, but I will always have an audio system. It is not asked in a morbid way. She just wonders what I would want.

Every thing we have is covered in our will and trust but nothing specific about my audio equipment.

We don't have any children but do have 11 siblings and 55 nieces and nephews. Even with that I don't think any have an serious interest in this hobby with the exception of possibly a niece that has just married into the family. She is an acoustic engeneer for Harmon International in the auto industry. She and her family live 1500 miles away and we have not seen a lot of each other since first meeting 2 years ago.

And, no I am not interested in adopting and of you. :-)

I've told my wife I'm fine if she were to give it to a family member or a friend that would put it to use or help them move their hobby along.

Have any of you thought of this and where will it go?

I don't mean for this to be a depressing thread but it's one of those unavoidable things.
Click to expand...

Definitely not a fun conversation, but definitely an important one. Mark (MDP) and myself just went through this with David’s widow. David was a dealer in Texas and Mark and I were very close to him.

David’s wife ended up selling all the gear for about 30 cents on the dollar to a west coast dealer.

I’ve also witnessed this with a few others and what I found is that audiophile friends helped the widow get the most for the gear and music collection.


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Unfortunately it usually turns into a fire sale netting 30 cents or so on the dollar.
I've seen the same thing happen many times in the Ham radio clubs for a "silent key".
Even with club members and friends pitching in.
Perhaps there is an opportunity for a broker to liquidate such items from an estate. Providing a valuable service.
 
My friend Bart runs this site. Complete concierge selling service (he deals with all the hassle!).

https://playitagainaudio.com

This would be good in this circumstances, but also for those who don’t like dealing with the hassles of selling used gear.


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I have one daughter with little interest in the system. She appreciates the sound quality, but would never maintain a system this big and complicated. I’m only 56, but suspect I’ll downsize over the years so that she isn’t left with the burden of selling all this stuff (and likely getting taken in the process).

Now, what about my fishing reels? They’re built for the generations too and she has even less interest in them.


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Hounddog said:
I have one daughter with little interest in the system. She appreciates the sound quality, but would never maintain a system this big and complicated. I’m only 56, but suspect I’ll downsize over the years so that she isn’t left with the burden of selling all this stuff (and likely getting taken in the process).

Now, what about my fishing reels? They’re built for the generations too and she has even less interest in them.


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Click to expand...

I also have a daughter and I'm 57. She has a lot of interest in music growing up with me but not in the gear itself. She would be happy with a simple system.

I had a good friend who passed away just a few weeks ago now. His wife knows nothing at all about his gear so I offered to sell it for her. She of course is very happy about that and I'm making sure she gets what the gear is worth. This has caused the same conversation you are having now in that my wife has no idea what to do with my equipment nor what any of it is worth. I told her to contact a couple of my audio friends and have them help her sell it. Since she has seen what I'm doing for my friends wife it all makes sense to her now.

I think this is probably the best solution, give your partner the name of an audio friend and and give him a heads up. That way it is taken care of before you are gone and takes the burden off of the person left behind.

Greg
 
Very depressing topic. Maybe one advice is don’t keep upgrading as you age. :)


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Greg F said:
I also have a daughter and I'm 57. She has a lot of interest in music growing up with me but not in the gear itself. She would be happy with a simple system.

I had a good friend who passed away just a few weeks ago now. His wife knows nothing at all about his gear so I offered to sell it for her. She of course is very happy about that and I'm making sure she gets what the gear is worth. This has caused the same conversation you are having now in that my wife has no idea what to do with my equipment nor what any of it is worth. I told her to contact a couple of my audio friends and have them help her sell it. Since she has seen what I'm doing for my friends wife it all makes sense to her now.

I think this is probably the best solution, give your partner the name of an audio friend and and give him a heads up. That way it is taken care of before you are gone and takes the burden off of the person left behind.

Greg
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear of your loss.

I think you handled it best.
 
My son and daughter are both interested so no issue there. What my wife every so often asks me to do is catalog my LP's and include how much each one is worth. She said she wouldn't know if the LP is worth $1.00 or $1,000.00. I have to admit it is a good idea but to look at cataloging a few thousand LP's is daunting to say the least.

I might just start with the collectible ones.
 
I told my wife she should sell what she could. My son would take care of it butI'm not sure how deep his interest is. I'm hoping maybe a grandchild or one of my daughter's might show some interest before the issue comes up. If no one to really appreciate it, liquidating to cash seems the next best option for a survivor.

Then I'm thinking, how long would something like a 70+ pound amp sit at Goodwill, LOL How long would it take for someone to recognize what it was. Could you imagine a set of MBL speakers at Goodwill? What the ...... are those

My youngest daughter is 7, she will sit and listen if I we take turns selecting tracks, so maybe some hope. My grandson plays trumpet in school, still seems more interested in video games than good sound.
 
Alectiong said:
Very depressing topic. Maybe one advice is don’t keep upgrading as you age. :)


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Click to expand...

That is actually what I plan on doing. I turn 60 this year and in 7-10 years I will down size my system to a Integrated amp and smaller speakers.
I am lucky in that my son is into audio and has all my hand me down gear and he will inherit a great system.
 
I just turned 74 so I am dealing with lots of material things that need to go away before I croak. My main focus are shelves of items I have not touched in years. My estate is willed to a University. I guess I have come to the decision to not obsess over where the items I cherish go.
 
Audiophilehi said:
My son and daughter are both interested so no issue there. What my wife every so often asks me to do is catalog my LP's and include how much each one is worth. She said she wouldn't know if the LP is worth $1.00 or $1,000.00. I have to admit it is a good idea but to look at cataloging a few thousand LP's is daunting to say the least.

I might just start with the collectible ones.
Click to expand...

I’m slowly trying to catalog my collection via Discogs (they have a bar scanner function for those pieces with a bar code). I likely won’t finish any time soon, if ever.

Love the idea to leave the name of an audio buddy to help sell it. Revealing what the stuff costs when new is ... not an option.


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In the event that I should pass away before Marlene, I have left her a list of individuals who may be interested in my audio gear. She will most likely leave the living room system intact to maintain the look and feel of that room. The recording studio equipment, two channel studio sound system, and the home theater system represents money in the bank for her if she wishes to liquidate it. She can make that decision when the time comes.

My prayer is that I outlive Marlene so that I can continue to take care of her through her final day. She can no longer drive due to macular degeneration. I have been her chauffeur for the past five years due to her gradually failing eyesight. In addition, I am considerably more proficient at taking care of business and finances, maintaining this home and property, and handling any necessary repairs. It would be beneficial for Marlene that I outlive her. Either way, the inevitable faces all of us.
 
I have an idea !! How about we , "pair up" with people and have a first to die beneficiary. I like the Accuphase gear a few posts ago. If I die first, he can have my set up, if he goes before me, I inherit the Accuphase.....Spooky , but at least we'll know the a fellow enthusiast will get and appreciate our gear!!
 
When I retired a decade ago, my wife's concern was my record and tape collection. So I did something about it. I posted this a few days ago explaining what I did with my 15K+ records and 1K+ tapes.

http://www.audioshark.org/showthread.php?t=14365&page=12&p=242888#post242888

Equipment is another story. My daughter and son-in-law could take some of the choice pieces, but they would need a bigger house to fit anything substantial (like my Avantgarde speakers.). We also have two grand pianos!

Larry
 
I spoke with my adult children about this two years ago. I'm 59 now and my living trust states to contact my friend who's an local audio dealer to sell my gear if I should die. I told him also. Neither of my kids has the room or desire for my system. Knowing my daughter she'll keep my music collection. I did the opposite when retiring and went for an all out dream system. I will not deny myself the pleasure of music on good equipment now. I downsized once years ago when I divorced, never again.
 
I'm going to be buried with my destination system to enjoy my favorite music for eternity. ;) Just have to arrange for the dedicated power lines! :audiophile:
 
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