Audiophile Moment - When did the passion strike?

joseph2000 · « **Reply #20 on:** 1 Jun 2020, 05:21 pm »

May I introduce myself ; I am an electronics engineer retired from government firm. I am in fond of European Vintage audio systems especially German made. It is a hobby for me to collect European vintage audio systems. Especially open reel recorder.

Joseph

bonsiguy · « **Reply #21 on:** 3 Jun 2020, 03:34 pm »

wow 40 plus years ago in my early teens when my mom bought a H H scott integrated amp and after she shortly passed away after that i took it and started to play and upgraded and put all kinds of combos together with whatever i could scrounge up. I'm back into it hard now that I'm a empty nester and can treat myself to some toys .

nilopmas · « **Reply #22 on:** 4 Jun 2020, 11:42 pm »

My passion for Hifi was ignited after I bought a Sony MDR-EX450B headphone with a slider for extra bass. It was the first thing I listened to that did not have a veil of blurriness.

gger2000 · « **Reply #23 on:** 6 Jun 2020, 05:18 am »

Hi! I have been a huge fan of listening to music since my teenage years. However, I just recently discovered the beauty of audiophile equipment, although at its very entry-level. I feel I enjoy music no more than before, trying to discover a wider range of music genera that satisfy my appetite for music. I'm in the process of building a headphone entry Hi-Fi set up and having fun with it. I look forward to learning from and participating in this forum.

JohnBooty · « **Reply #24 on:** 9 Jun 2020, 04:36 pm »

For me, it was listening to music on my Walkman as a kit at night when I was supposed to be sleeping.

I enjoyed listening to radio and my cassette tapes on my terrible little boombox. It was fun. But when listening at night on my cheap K-mart headphones, there was so much more music there. Amazing little details. Better bass. Better everything.

Was there more? How deep did this rabbit hole go? It was fascinating.

So, I have always liked to dabble in this hobby. It's fun getting new and improved equipment and rediscovering your music. People come and go, but music's always there for me!

CKENR · « **Reply #25 on:** 13 Jun 2020, 12:31 am »

Unintentionally in 1995. Until then, my familiarity was limited to what was available at Sears and I did own a set of Pioneer separates purchased there for around 200 dollars of that era. In that year, Bob Carver went out of business and his products became available through Costco, Seattle. I bought a 5-CD changer, a tuner and a 60wpc amplifier with, ahem, sonic holography, costing 4 times the Pioneer. I added a pair of Klipsch purchased half priced at Circuit City grand opening! So they say, "the rest is history!)

Jgc12 · « **Reply #26 on:** 15 Jun 2020, 03:49 am »

Hearing Supertramp’s “Crime if the Century” album for the first time through my uncle’s Advent speakers, c. 1975

Pete S · « **Reply #27 on:** 19 Jun 2020, 02:44 pm »

I bought my first audio system when I was in seventh grade, with money from my morning paper route. That was 1978. It was a Kenwood receiver, Technics SL-3300 turntable with AT MM cartridge and a pair of Becker speakers. Eventually I bought a BIC cassette deck. I upgraded to a Denon PMA-737 and Proton tuner a few years after that. Then I fell into an audio abyss for several decades.

What got my interest in good audio equipment restarted, I forget exactly, but in early 2016 I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 600 headphones, a Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC and Schiit Valhalla 2 headphone amp, driven by a Mac Mini running iTunes and Bit Perfect. That was a pretty incredible sounding combination. I realized what I had been missing.

I now have a 2-channel system that I would say is mostly nearing endgame stage for me, for a long time. I can't see myself changing out my speakers or power amps, unless I moved to a much smaller space, where the speakers wouldn't be appropriate. In July or August, I'll be doing a three-way comparison of my Schiit Freya (original version) vs. the Freya S vs. the Freya+, and I expect that the winner of that will be my preamp for a long time as well. I recently purchased a used Freya S, so now I'm just waiting for Freya+ to come off backorder (caused by parts shortages).

-Pete

DonJoe · « **Reply #28 on:** 21 Jun 2020, 04:21 pm »

Hi All,

My father was in the military in Europe in the 70's and they used to have amazing on base hi-fi shops back then. It was a treat to go with my father to listen to all the gear and some amazing recordings. One of my favorite memories was being able to sit down in front of his rig for 30 minutes every night before dinner listening to whatever vinyl or reel to reel he selected.

Bottom line is that once the hook was set, it was there for good and have continued to learn over the years.

Now I hope to pass that on to my kids. They clearly don't love music or the hobby like I do but we will see how it all plays out over time.

Cheers!

cubiclecrush · « **Reply #29 on:** 22 Jun 2020, 06:01 pm »

I was never fussy with audio. I had some of those terrible all-in-one phono/radio/cassette units in the 80s! But I loved music. I liked to write down the lyrics - stopping and starting the tape to get it - before everything was published on these inter-webs!

I went to school in 89 for Mechanical Engineering. Promptly failed out. However, got to see my first electrostatic speakers and met the first crowd of people that got me thinking about really listening to the music - and expecting to hear every nuance.

I could never afford hi-fi, so I became a mid-fi guy and a budget-hunter. And I was happy. 30 years or so I was happy.

Then I had it in my head I wanted a Reel-to-Reel. My dad had one, I found someone who was willing to repair it, and I started interacting with him. One day he let me hear his r2r through a McIntosh amp and DynAudio speakers. I regret to say I can't remember the specific gear because I was too busy quaking under the nirvana of the ear-gasm I was having.

I heard real "detail" for the first time. I think that's what I'd call it. It was so crisp, so clear.

And now I'm trying to squeeze every ounce out of my mid-fi gear to try and recreate that moment!

Yaoone11 · « **Reply #30 on:** 28 Jun 2020, 03:46 pm »

Going to a Yes concert in Miami Baseball Stadium in the 70’s and wanting to relive that sound in my home!

SteveFord · « **Reply #31 on:** 28 Jun 2020, 04:41 pm »

We always had music at the house (piano, guitar, clarinet) and I had a cruddy little Sears Silvertone suitcase type doohickey with a turntable and detachable speakers for true stereophonic reproduction. I used to lug that thing all over the place until it broke and then it was back to Sears to get it repaired which would take months. Did that several times, it was a real piece of crap but I loved it when it was working!

However...

Hearing a pair of JBL L-100s and a Dual 1229 and Sam Goody's when I was in junior high school.
They had it cranked and it was WOW!
ME WANT!!!

It's been all downhill from there.

Elizabeth · « **Reply #32 on:** 29 Jun 2020, 03:01 pm »

1964 I was in a electronic parts store with an almost boyfriend (tagging along..) and saw a Garrard LAB 80 turntable. I was transfixed. and had to have it. with no previous stereo anything, no previous interest in it at all. but that TT was like alive and glowing..
So after awhile my parents helped me to by a stereo (including the LAB 80) I had it for 15 years and only sold it all to 'see the World'. But Iwas hooked on listening to music.

ricmon · « **Reply #33 on:** 29 Jun 2020, 04:48 pm »

Summer after freshman year. Saw John McLaughlin with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Billy Cobham on the same bill. Bought a Yamaha integrated amp, a pair of BIC bookshelf speakers and a turntable with some Monster cable.

Ric

jbiswas · « **Reply #34 on:** 29 Jun 2020, 04:50 pm »

Stood in line during college days for a Black Friday sale at 6th Ave Electronics...a costly mistake...should have never been there

WGH · « **Reply #35 on:** 29 Jun 2020, 06:42 pm »

Sometime in the early 1960's listening to a Grundig radio console in our basement rec room, there was magic in that box and it sounded great.
We used to play Chubby Checker and Cha Cha records on the turntable and have dance parties when my cousins came over, they were Chicago girls and terrific dancers.

simplepleasures · « **Reply #36 on:** 30 Jun 2020, 08:25 pm »

Hi there,

First post here and have been into Audio gear since the start of the 80's and have off and on worked in the sound industry. High end and Studio gear.
Love vinyl and Digital and all kinds of funky speakers are a big fave of mine. Have way to many records. (Over 10,000.) Love turntables and pre-amplifiers too.

Nice to be here.

D.

TikiGuy · « **Reply #37 on:** 6 Jul 2020, 07:48 pm »

My Dad was a drummer with the Air Force band. One dayI came home from school and he was listening to Fire and Rain by James Taylor writing down the music. I've been hooked on hi fi and James Taylor ever since.

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #38 on:** 7 Jul 2020, 01:21 am »

I got the BUG!!! about 68 years ago when I was 20 years old.

Cheers
Charlie

eduke55 · « **Reply #39 on:** 16 Jul 2020, 12:41 am »

Well, like quite a few here I was a gadget kid and my dad loved listening to music. First on a phonograph with one speaker, then on a stereo console by magnavox. I thought it was cool seeing records piled on the turntable, and relished the task of flipping them over and putting them away. When I became a teenager a young man who was a electronics tech showed me his setup. McIntosh tube gear, 240 amp (which he had me "hold" for him when he was in some financial difficulty, so he said), tube preamp and tube tuner. He also had a reel to reel deck that I think was a Tanberg. His speakers were AR-3s and to my ears at the time all sounded great. My electronic tech friend told me to scour for used gear as a start and I went to repair places and stereo stores and put together a system. Harmon Kardon Citation 11 pre-amp, Citation 12 amp, AR 4x speakers and a year later a pioneer TX 9100 tuner, which I still have! I recently had it updated and upgraded by Mike at Radio X Tuners, who did a great job. Love this hobby and current setup is Bel Canto E1X int, VPI Scout 1.1 w/Ortophon Cadenza red Cartridge, Pioneer tuner, Modwright 9.0 phono(terrific by the way), Marantz ND 8006 CD/player-streamer and Auralic Altair G1 Digital Audio Streamer. The Marantz is used as a CD transport now and soon I will replace Bel Canto with Modwright KWH 225i integrated w/phono.