[gagelle]

Hello All,
i've been an audiophile for most of my life. In my late teens, I was constantly reading julian Hirsch's columns and eventually purchased my first high fidelity system. It was based on his review for "The Best Economy System." It consisted of a Lafayette receiver, KLH 6 speakers and a Dual turntable. (I don't remember the model.) After to listening to the cheap compact music systems that were popular at that time, I still remember the astonishing emotional impact of hearing my first high fidelity system. Nobody I knew at the time had any interest in quality audio equipment, but within a few months, my listening room (my parent's basement) was usually filled with people who wanted to hear their favorite albums in real high fidelity. At that time, there were no standards to compare equipment. Many expensive systems, when tested by Julian Hirsch, did not have the specifications needed to produce high fidelity sound. For those willing to study, Mr. Hirsch educated a whole generation of young people who wanted to experience music on a higher level. Older people could just write a check for McIntosh or similar high end gear. But young people, like myself, had to learn about the specifications necessary for something to be true high fidelity. Since that time, I have gone through many different components. But I still wish I could find my original system in pristine condition. I may be looking at the past with rose tinted glasses but I long for the sound of those KLH 6 speakers. They have a certain sweetness that, IMHO, other KLH models lack. And for bookshelf speakers, they were able to reproduce amazingly deep levels of bass.

[TrungT]

Welcome to AC 

[Phil A]

Welcome to AC!

[Guy 13]

A warm welcome to AudioCirle Mr. Gagelle.

Guy 13

[JLM]

Interesting thought, to A/B our older systems against our current system. 

But frankly I'd expect the human propensity to hold on to the good more than the bad colors our memories.  OTOH we tend to rationalize our purchases.

My first "system" was my mom's old table AM radio and my $30 cassette deck.  I'd lay the mike on the speaker to record tapes (as I couldn't afford to buy pre-recorded tapes).  I hope my current $6,000 MSRP system would sound better.   


Post college I developed a pretty good system with monster 3-way floor-standers, Hafler power/pre-amps, and a sweet turntable.  It was developed for a different set of musical tastes, so that'd be another consideration.   

[gagelle]

Yes, I have also gone through too many systems to remember. I went on a buying spree several years after I bought my first system. I put together a 4 channel system. It was very exciting but there were few 4 channel records available. I still remember one "Santana" 4 channel record that I played constantly. Then, I bought huge LWE speakers with separate components. The LWEs were able to go down to 20 Hz by adding a proprietary circuit into the amplifier. The LWE inventor and owner, Louis W. Erath, recently passed away but his speakers still have their followers. Those monsters needed a big room and plenty of high quality power. In those days, I was mostly into rock and the LWE speakers were perfect for that genre.

Of course, everything changed after I had to take an apartment and a more demanding job. With marriage and a kid, a stereo system wasn't my priority but I usually had something decent for high fidelity sound.

In college, my musical taste changed dramatically after I met some music students who were jazz fanatics. Living in a superb of NYC made it easy to hit the Manhattan jazz clubs. I still remember the experience of attending my first live jazz concert. I felt my hair stand on end as I listened to those great jazz composers and musicians. To myself, the experience of jazz improvisation was something bordering on the supernatural. I still say that there is nothing like listening to a great jazz group in a small club. But the scene changed over the years as many jazz artists moved to Europe. Over the last 20 years, some of the greatest, like Andrew Hill, have passed away.

The 20 year period from the early 50s to the early 70s was one of extraordinary jazz creativity and experimentation. With jazz aficionados like Rudy van Gelder, the time was ripe for a great period of artistic output in a uniquely American genre of music. It is now gratifying to see blogs like "London Jazz collector," whose members spend their time collecting and cataloguing some of the greatest jazz recordings.

For the first time in my life, I am completely satisfied with my current bedroom system. It consists of ModWright components and Harbeth 7ES-3 bookshelf speakers. I can't imagine ever selling my speakers. While not big enough to produce room shaking bass, they have a certain sweetness combined with accurate reproduction, and startling transient response. I realize that speaker sound is a very personal thing. But for my taste, the Harbeths are perfect.