[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Well, let's see: I was born in Houston and have lived in the area most of my life. Been married to my first wife, Donna, for 26 years. We have three kids, Sean, Ryan and Michelle. We’ve lived in Katy, a far-west suburb, for 18 years.

Sean’s in his late 20’s and lives in Dallas. He’s a lead installer for a company that does home theaters and professional audio/video installations. His wife Jennifer is in the Air Force reserves and their two-year-old daughter Isabella is all over the house.

Ryan’s in his early 20’s and lives in Corpus Christie. He recently graduated from Texas A&M’s Corpus Christie campus with a bachelor’s in communications. His wife Amanda, got her degree at the same school.

Our adapted daughter Michelle is 15, the only one still at home.

I've been an audio buff since I was a teenager back in the 70s. I guess it grew from my love of music, which has been a part of my family for generations. One of my most cherished possessions is a violin that my g-g-g-grandfather brought here from Germany; reportedly he spent a lot of his spare time writing music. My mother was a church pianist for over 40 years, from the age of 12.

I exhibited an interest in music at a young age, so Mom signed me up for piano lessons when I was in kindergarten. Sure wish I had pursued that further! Unfortunately, she started me too young, and I was more interested in playing cowboys and Indians than practicing scales. Later in junior high and high school I played drums. I would have loved pursuing that, but Mom and Dad politely ignored my requests for a full-blown drum kit. (Gee, wonder why? ). So I picked up the bass guitar when I was 13, and it's been my primary instrument ever since. My parents sprung for my first bass rig from Sears; I imagine they liked it because it had a volume control.

Being a musician, I naturally wanted a wife with some talent. Donna was a music major in college, and in high school choir she was #10 in state and collected a shelf full of solo and sight-reading awards.

Our kids are talented musically as well. Ryan is an excellent drummer. Sean is a guitarist/vocalist/writer/arranger/ad nauseum. He can also play piano decently, bass and drums very well, and played trombone in jr. high and high school. Makes you sick, doesn't it, the way some people seem to get more than their fair share? His band Boy Caught Dream is getting some attention in and around Dallas (he’s the one with the beard).

Together, we're like the Osmonds, only not as photogenic.

I guess my love of music naturally led me to becoming an audio buff. I remember when I was a teenager my younger brother picked up a budget top-loading component cassette deck and a pair of headphones. They really weren’t much to write home about, but the first time I heard stereo through the ’phones, I was completely and utterly floored! The vocals in the center of your head, the sounds on the left and right - I was hooked!

Being a musician naturally led to an interest in pro audio and PA systems, ‘cause you don’t get heard in an auditorium without them. Along the way I spent a few years in the early ’90s as an installer for a respected local pro audio company, LD Systems. I got a chance to resurrect the old skills a few years ago when our church decided to build a small recording studio. I did the complete audio and electrical wiring, including all terminations.

Much of what I learned as a pro installer transfers nicely over to my "first love," home audio. Over the years on the home theater forums I’ve been able to pass along tips on configuring audio-related electricity, suspending and hanging speakers, fabricating, room tuning, making all kinds of custom cables, recording studio-style construction and soundproofing, etc. You truly have to be a jack of all trades to be a pro audio installer.

Haven't done much professionally on the home theater front, other than a few speaker wiring gigs here and there for some Forum members, but I did fully install the system in our last home, complete with two dedicated electrical circuits. I've also installed a few DSS systems for friends and relatives.

We moved into our current place in February 2005, so naturally there's a new installation in the works, converting a useless wet bar into an equipment rack, and maybe an infinite baffle or built-in LLT sub. Hopefully the house will still be standing after it's all said and done.

Aside from home theater, my second interest is ’60s and ’70s muscle cars, particularly Trans Ams. My current toy is a low-mileage 1979 10th Anniversary Edition with a 6.6 liter 4-speed. You can see a picture of it here.

Other interests include genealogy, photography, and writing (ya think? ). I’ve had letters published in just about every publication I’ve ever subscribed to – High Fidelity, Audio, Stereo Review, Car Stereo Review, Car Audio, Car and Driver, Houston Chronicle, High Performance Pontiac, etc. I’ve probably forgotten some.

Regards,
Wayne