[jermmd]

When I was in high school I got a Sound design HTIB (although they didn't have HTIB's back then). My first album was The Rolling Stones "Hot Rocks" and I've been hooked ever since. I think I probably still know every word to every song on that album.

Joe M.

[S Clark]

In high school in the late 60's I had a cheap Panasonic am/fm very bottom end receiver.  I dumped the speakers that came with it, went to the Melody Shop in Northpark Mall in Dallas and bought a second hand pair of 8" two way Frazier Monte Carlo bookshelves and a used Sony 355 RTR.  In college I upgraded to a Marantz 1030 integrated

, upgraded the speakers to the original Advents, Dual TT and thought I was in heaven.  After college, with a job and wife, thieves got the stereo and insurance bought a Sherwood 8900 receiver, a pair of Design Acoustics D-12's

, a Teac RTR and a DBX 128 processor, and a B&O turntable- and it kept me happy for 20 years, until I met Danny Richie and Gary Dodd, who led me down the dark path of audiophilia.   
Now it Dodd battery pre, GR-Research LS9, Virtue Piano, Moscode amp.

[Noseyears]

When i was 17 i started learning about headphones and amplification. Then my friend introduced me his vintage pioneer hp's hooked up to his receiver. I was impressed.
Since then, i'm into hi-fi.

[Matty_J]

Remember being very young and running to the pos speakers my parents had when my favorite songs came on.  Did that for years.  Loved music more than cartoons.  Finally got a pair of Advent 2-way speakers with 8 inch woofer...don't remember model.  Yamaha receiver...again don't remember model.
What a difference.  Finally sold them to a friend in college...wish I still had them.  Now have Carver
pieces that I picked up while working for Carver.  Then while at Phoenix Gold took adavantage of all the great mobile audio gear. AudioSource was a stepping stone, and now I'm at Aperion audio.  Its been a great ride, and now have a somewhat trained ear as I played Piano, and Bass guitar in school as well.  I don't know how I would have survived without great music and the pieces that played them.

[kingdeezie]

In middle school for christmas one year I asked my parents to get me a cheap HTiB setup for my room. They wound up picking me up some AIWA system from Best Buy...

At the time I was super excited, thinking I had a HT in my room at like 13.

Well one day shortly after that I was up in the attic putting the Christmas decorations away, and parked in the corner of the attic was a set of speakers that at the time looked massive to me compared to my little AIWA speakers.

I dug them out and bulled them downstairs, they were Fisher speakers that my dad had purchased for himself back in the early 80s.

I hooked them up as the fronts in my room as pissed myself they sounded so much better then the AIWAs!! The disease caught!

It would be like 8 years after that point till I got my hands on my first "audiophile" speakers which was a 5.1 setup of Infinity Primus speakers that I thought were the best thing ever.

They were followed by Onix Rockets....

Then, at some point I the virus kicked into high gear...

Now I have amps, preamps, DACs, ridiculous cables, and 6 foot speakers, and I am still not finished...
 

[wushuliu]

I'm very late to the hobby. Only about 4 years. I'm primarily a film lover and have always been fascinated by sound design for instance, but I totally fell into this hobby without meaning to: just wanted to get some decent speakers for my HT setup and somehow I ended up on the PE board learning to DIY. Fours years later I'm building tube amps?! Gah!!!

[jkelly]

When I was in the sixth grade I was visiting my Uncles home for
a family picnic.  His neighbor had a son around my age so we
started playing together.  I was over his house and saw a
Lafayette catalog there on the table and started to look at
all the cool stuff. (66-67). 

When I got home I ordered my own catalog and spent most
of my nights going to bed reading the catalog and dreaming
of stereos and stuff.

At the same time, I was in a band and played bass.  (12 yrs.old!)
I was fortunate to be able to purchase a used Fender Precision '59
and Ampeg B15, and later Bassmans.  One day at practice the
drummers neighbor, "Uncle Sal" asked us to come over to his
basement with our equipment to record a few songs.

Uncle Sal had a modest setup, but compared to what we had
it was professional. He had a Roberts 770x recorder with
a mixer and a bunch of mics.  We recorded our set and had
a 1/4" master. It was cooool.

These two experiences launched me into a career of electronics,
recording, media and audio.  At the age of 27, I took over
a corporate TV facility and have over 33 years of directing TV
programs, webcasts, concerts, as well as all aspects of electronic
communications.  I worked on shows from Elton John to the Beach Boys.

I would have to say that I am fortunate to have been able to find
a career that I look at as a hobby.

Jeff

[Peter J]

I credit my father for getting me interested in stereo gear at a young age. Although before my time, he built Heathkits and the like (Scott? Dynaco). There were boxes of leftover odds and ends that I would paw through in wonderment and ask him about.

I grew up with  "The Fisher" receiver, Garrard manual turntable, and AR speakers...maybe AR3's? We were allowed to use the stuff, but were required to give due respect and care.

 I remember my Dad showing me how to gently set the stylus down and pick it up without skating. My first system was mostly hand-me-downs from Dad. Not sure how this came about but there was a pair, I'm pretty sure the same model, of AR speakers with two different grill cloths.


This was in the mid sixties, and the beginning of the "Stereo Age" was at hand. I'll never forget the first speakers I bought myself, BIC Venturis, and a woodgrain metal rack, I thought I was the sh!t.

While I've gone through many hobbies, audio gear has always been part of my life. Thanks for stirring some fond memories!

[midfi]

My big brother got me started as a teen in inner city Detroit in the late 70's.  My big brother (R.I.P. Butch...)  He went to Michigan State University and everytime he'd upgrade I'd get his hand-me-down.  I had this huge by large Technics receiver (don't remember the model) a DUAL 1246 (still got it!), a Pioneer tape player which was 2nd from TOTL and some smallish Radio Shack speakers that I bought with the money I made working as a gas jockey at the Amoco gas station a few blocks away.  Used to sit for hours on end listening to my records and WRIF, WLBS, WLLZ, and WABX constantly. Joined the Army and was stationed in Germany exposed to midfi to lower hifi thru the AAFES PX and its been an obsession ever since.  They ought to have AA for audio guys and the AA could stand for Analog or Audio anonymous! 

[CSI]

For me it started way back in the days of mono. I loved music from my earliest days but it wasn't until my last year in elementary school that I first learned about "HiFi". A friend invited several of us over to his house to hear his Dad's system. I recall that his old man was a lawyer with plenty of money. He had some kind of gigantic horn system in the corner of their large living room (a Hartley maybe?). He gave us a demo that consisted entirely of sound effects. No music! I remember the record hiss which seemed disembodied from the sound. A hammer driving nails, water running into a bucket, rain and amazing train sounds! I was hooked instantly and forever. Later came Heathkits and then the mail order catalogs. Never looked back. I got professionally involved later as a retailer and then as a tech support agent for high end custom audio manufacturers - a job I'm still doing 40 hours a week although I'm well past "normal" retirement age. It's a bug that has no cure.

[frank111]

My first system was a RadioShack am/fm 8track, 2 speakers with a 4inch full range & a BSR turntable. I thought I was soooo cool as my sister had a SoundDesign console. I was 16ish. At 17 had 2 way Advents, a Pioneer receiver, and a Technics turntable. Then real life hit me & I wasnt involved in hi-fi until this past summer(over 30 yrs past). And Ive been on a buying binge. The heart of my system is a pristine Marantz model 2220b receiver which I chose because it takes me back to the simpler times. I also have a McIntosh cd/dvd player, & HoytBedford type 1 speakers. I have my summers off which means if I get bored I'll be spending more money on this hobby. Oh well there could be worse things to spend money on I guess ...have a good day all.