Audiophile Moment - When did the passion strike?

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #80 on:** 25 Feb 2021, 02:57 am »

Oh nice, you remember me the great Syd Barret
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H6ci4pAYiUw

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7c0EDM-Yu9o

laffy · « **Reply #81 on:** 1 Mar 2021, 06:35 pm »

When I got tired of buying 9 volt batteries and bought a bigger radio with an AC cord in 1964.

RDavidson · « **Reply #82 on:** 1 Mar 2021, 08:29 pm »

I think it was probably the Sony Walkman that got me started. There was a clear difference in quality between cheap portable cassette players (and headphones) versus the better Sonys. Yeah...that was probably my very first foray into chasing better sound. I was just a kid. Fun memories of a simpler time!

Tonyeezy · « **Reply #83 on:** 4 Mar 2021, 07:52 am »

Music had been a passion of mine for a long time, leading me eventually down the path of learning to play the bass guitar, but the high-end audio bug struck me when I first began to try and record my instrument in a home studio setting. Realizing how... poor... my amateur recording attempts sounded like made me fully grasp the extent to which attention to detail in the process of recording, mixing, mastering, etc. makes the world of a difference in how a song sounds, in how it resonates with your body and soul when you hear it. Naturally, that made me appreciate the reproduction of audio all the more and here I am today.

keichan56 · « **Reply #84 on:** 16 Mar 2021, 07:22 pm »

For me, it all began as a teenager (late 60's) and cash has always been a restricting factor...but I did start out with a Naim amp, B&W speakers (terrible mismatch in regards to power capability/need!) and a Rega Planar 3 turntable with a Grace F9E cartridge - one of the few that could track the Telarc 1812 vinyl! Today, I'm in search of good bass, as 20kHz tweeters are almost unnecessary now!

Vinyl Rules! · « **Reply #85 on:** 20 Mar 2021, 03:58 am »

Quote from: harrymax on 28 May 2020, 05:22 pm

Hello Audio Circle friends,

Do you recall when the passion struck? Was it a single bolt of lightning or a slow reveal through multiple moments? Where were you and when? What type of music were you listening to? When did you become conscious of the fact it became a hobby (version a simple interest) ...or an obsession.

I thought answering this would be easy, but now realize that for me, it was a slow reveal with a lightning strike in the middle, which is when I was in London in 2011 for work. I went to Bond Street to look at watches (purely for fun) and to an audiophile store of which I can't remember the name. It was there that I got to listen to Big Love from Fleetwood Mac on a set of STAX SR-009.

That was it. I still love my Thiel speakers, Eagle amps, etc., but now I'm a headphone guy. Boom.

When I was a wee lad my grandfather had a 1940’s home entertainment console that contained an AM and shortwave tuner, a turntable, and a single large coaxial speaker. I would take every opportunity to listen to it, as his home was only a few hundred yards from mine. I am guessing I was 4 or 5 when I started and I delighted in pulling in foreign broadcasts on the S/W radio, particularly after sundown..

I think this interest in logging foreign broadcasts when I was a wee lad led to my working for the NSA later in life, but that’s another very long story.

Cheers

Vinyl Rules! · « **Reply #86 on:** 20 Mar 2021, 04:15 am »

Quote from: harrymax on 28 May 2020, 05:22 pm

Hello Audio Circle friends,

Do you recall when the passion struck? Was it a single bolt of lightning or a slow reveal through multiple moments? Where were you and when? What type of music were you listening to? When did you become conscious of the fact it became a hobby (version a simple interest) ...or an obsession.

I thought answering this would be easy, but now realize that for me, it was a slow reveal with a lightning strike in the middle, which is when I was in London in 2011 for work. I went to Bond Street to look at watches (purely for fun) and to an audiophile store of which I can't remember the name. It was there that I got to listen to Big Love from Fleetwood Mac on a set of STAX SR-009.

That was it. I still love my Thiel speakers, Eagle amps, etc., but now I'm a headphone guy. Boom.

I “thought” I had a good system (AR receiver/AR 3a speakers/AR turntable w/Shure V-15 Type 3 phono cartridge) until I heard “Tubular Bell’s” on a ………

Audio Research SP-3a/Audio Research D-75’s/Magnaplanar Tympani 1-D speakers in in a Sound Approach audio store in Norfolk, Virginia in 1972.

I was gobsmacked by this demo and life changed for me.

Cheers 😎

akadrhouse · « **Reply #87 on:** 26 Mar 2021, 03:41 pm »

I had just started high school and my father bought me a Sears Rack system (100 WPC!!!!

) for my birthday and a friend bought me So by Peter Gabriel. Near-field loud listening in my room was Nirvana and about as good as other discoveries of the time

. Starting joining Columbia House over and over again and recording albums to tape.

Dr Pain · « **Reply #88 on:** 4 Apr 2021, 05:52 pm »

Started when I was 8th grade. I skipped school to hear a friend's Rotel amp and Jensen speakers. He and his older brother had purchased the system together. I do not remember what turntable he was using. The bass was so powerful and the Jensen's moved so much air I could feel it in my chest and my pant legs moved. Wicked cool for a young kid who had never heard any music beyond what was on TV. I was poor and could not afford to buy a system, but I had a paper route. I spent the next year delivering papers and scrounging for old consoles, speakers, cassette players anything I could find on trash day. I cobbled together a turntable with washers and bolts for counter weights, a cassette deck I rigged up to serve as an phono / amp, and Zenith speakers ripped from several consoles, connected with lamp cord. It did not sound great, but it stirred a passion and addiction for audio and tweaks.

mwstewart01 · « **Reply #89 on:** 11 Apr 2021, 05:31 pm »

18 year old me was driving down the road with my father by my side, when I spotted a small Hi-Fi store. We stopped by and met the owner of 40 years. Since we had time to kill, the owner was kind enough to demo some Maggie’s. I was blown away and I knew I then wanted to replicate that experience. 2 years later here I am. Diving headfirst into the audiophile world

musicman29 · « **Reply #90 on:** 13 Apr 2021, 10:40 pm »

Hi - New to this site. The bug hit me when I was very young. Along with my 2 parents, I am the youngest of 6 kids. We always had a stereo in out LR and we all somehow took turns playing the music we liked. My dad played his swing and big band 78's, my mom listened to opera every Saturday, and my older siblings introduced me to anything from Metheny to Zappa to Tull to the soundtrack to American Graffiti. It was years before I developed my own tastes and built a system in my won room, but that's where it all started. I miss those times.

eslheadphone · « **Reply #91 on:** 15 Apr 2021, 02:30 pm »

Whe I was a teenager my father built a Heathkit. His success sparked my interest. I watched him build speakers , amplifier, FM tuner and an add on stereo multiplexer. That was over 40 years ago. Still hooked.

fre11111 · « **Reply #92 on:** 6 May 2021, 08:04 pm »

Frederick here. Mine Started back in school in the 90s reading my first Car Audio Magazine.

Desertpilot · « **Reply #93 on:** 6 May 2021, 08:55 pm »

Mid 60s began the passion. Mom was an opera Soprano and practiced all day long. Dad bought her a huge console LP player which I immediately took over for Beatles albums. Of course, Dad chased me off it by buying me an all-in-one record player. But, I loved that portable player. All grown up now and I am almost all classical with some jazz.

Marcus

Scroof Neachy · « **Reply #94 on:** 6 May 2021, 09:33 pm »

When I got my first and only system - pictured below.

gmfisher · « **Reply #95 on:** 12 May 2021, 03:50 pm »

I remember well my realisation that sound quality was important to me.

I was finally buying my first "real" system, as in not a boom box!

Went to the store armed with a wide cross section of CDs with the various genres I listen to and a budget.
The sales rep eventually left me alone as I listened to each CD on every system at or around my price point.

Eventually went home with a Yamaha separate system, which was neither the most expensive nor the loudest nor the "boomiest" (?).
But the clarity of the sound was fantastic.
As I learned and evolved, that system grew with me.
Had my listening room setup *just* right so that with the right recording, I got surround sound effect from the 2 speakers.
Absolutely loved it.
To this day, clarity over cost and loudness continues to be my theme.

Rmbottojr · « **Reply #96 on:** 31 May 2021, 08:49 pm »

As far back as I can remember I’ve always been fascinated with audio. It transitioned from listening to creating, and now it’s been a mix of the two. More stereo listening to vinyl since lately, and been bit hard by both.

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #97 on:** 1 Jun 2021, 04:16 am »

1976, my first year in college when I heard an all marantz system. Although it could be a few years earlier when my father built an all tube Heathkit tube amp, preamp, tuner and TT. He was an electrical engineer so it was a piece of cake for him.

rollo · « **Reply #98 on:** 1 Jun 2021, 03:28 pm »

50 years ago. Still trucking.

charles

Donnie Mulligan · « **Reply #99 on:** 4 Jun 2021, 08:23 pm »

My most resent bolt of audiophile awareness came from my DIY Speaker build. I paid about $270 for a DIY speaker kit, put it together very quickly and haphazardly and it out performed ALL of my previous store bought speakers. Some costing nearly 10 times as much. This lit a fire in me to step up and do better. Better quality sound does not have to cost more.