When did you first become an audio enthusiast?

[Haurock]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Rock.......I really like the new avatar. It's perfect for you.

Thanks Dan, I must admit I found it very unique. So with your suggestion and Ivan's creativity.. how could I resist??

[JJinID]

I was fortunate enough to have been born into a McIntosh system with my dad owning a MC2505, C26, MQ101, and ML1C speakers. He upgraded to a MC2255, C33, and XR19s in the early 80s with his original system going to my uncle (which he still has and I one day hope to inherit). I always loved the way his records sounded in his system and it was always a treat to listen to, and when I was old enough he trusted me to play it and listen to everything on my own. I almost always used my allowance to buy my own records once I started receiving one as a teenager.

I bought my own system in college starting with ML2C speakers powered by a Sony receiver my junior year, and then I bought a MC7300 and C36 my senior year. I was absolutely hooked at that point but I know it was really ingrained from birth

[TommyC]

It started at a age of 19, but didn't get serious until 24 when I started to buy a lot of CDs.

[kfr01]

Dan: What a great thread! Thank you.

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I'm sure my mom could weigh-in on this topic even more than I can. The first thing I remember saving $100 for as a kid was a dual-tape deck Panasonic boombox. I spent hundreds, probably all of my lawn mowing money that summer, on an RCA CD player when CDs were first coming out. That CD player fed the Panasonic boombox for many years as I delved into my computer hobby.

During high school, my audio hobby was focused on car audio for a few years. Thankfully, I did not get into the muddy and booming bass-mobiles. No, I was the odd teenager that was very focused on putting together a "sound quality" ride. My crappy Pontiac Sunbird had an Eclipse CD player head unit (a dedicated CD player/preamp without amplifier circuitry jammed in like most head units), an Xtant 50x4 amplifier bi-amped to a single set of Mb Quart components (separate tweeter + midrange driver with external crossover), a single MTX 12" subwoofer in a sealed box driven by a relatively low power subwoofer amplifier. The components were installed in custom kick panel pods that I fabricated out of fiberglass. I used my computer to measure the frequency response. An equalizer on the Eclipse was then used to smooth out the frequency response. Anyway, something obviously wired me a little differently than my classmates. I'm fairly certain that I was the only high school student with an SQ ride in my hometown.

I learned that college girls aren't really interested in crappy cars with car audio systems (even SQ, can you believe it!?), so that contributed to the end of my car audio fascination. I transported pieces of 'the system' into a few more cars, but didn't do any major upgrades. I unceremoniously parted ways with 'the system.' I'm pretty sure the BMW dealer that sold me my first nice car knocked money off of my trade because of it!

Anyway, home audio dovetailed with my car audio hobby. I started with receivers (Harman Kardon, Marantz) before getting a hand-me-down Onkyo separates rig and some 'top of the line' Polk towers from a relative. It was good enough that I was hooked on home audio. After a couple year stint of speaker building in 2004-2005 and buying my current rig (shown in the current signature) during the same time period, I'm back into audio and ready to make another leap forward in quality.

Pretty fun to think about the journey. Dan, thanks again.

[Taylode]

For me it started when I was about 14 or 15 at a friends house when their brother, who was in Viet Nam, shipped back a Pioneer receiver and speakers. I was an eye-opening experience compared to our stereo console we had at home. From their it only got worse and a Kenwood receiver, Pioneer cassette deck, and Gerard turntable were my first major purchases. After that I sort of went crazy for loudness but that's another story.

[Ritmo]

We had a decent system at home prior to my teens. I remember my father had a Garrard TT, Fisher receiver and Acoustic Research speakers before I turn 10. Although, at that time I was really not that much into music.

In my early teens, he replaced that system with a Thorens TT, Marantz receiver and JBL Paragon (he kept these for 30 years - just replaced the crossovers after 20 years). He added/replace equipment - Sony and Teac RTR, Phase Linear TT, Linn LP12, Naim Pre/Mono amps...

Anyway back to me, during my teens in the 70's, I was lucky to get some of his equipment as he upgraded - Marantz receiver, Thorens. That is when things got started for me.

Now that I think about it, Lu-Flu might have started in the 70's. Interestingly, after all of these years, there is still no cure!

Thanks,
Mike

[jdandy]

I am loving these stories. There seems to be a common thread that we were all influence at a relatively early age, and the audio obsession just grew from there.

When I had my first real sound system (Trio solid state receiver 15 w/p/c, Pioneer 3-way speakers, and a Dual 1019 turntable, I thought I had the best. Then I met and made friends with a guy named Carl. He had a pair of Altec Voice of the Theater speakers, two McIntosh MC30 amplifiers, an Dynaco PAS3 tube preamp, and Garrard turntable with a Shure V15 type II cartridge. Holy mackerel, I was blown away by that system. When I would go back to my apartment and try to get my little Trio receiver and Pioneer speakers to sound like Carl's system, all I got was distortion and clipping. Man, did my pride of ownership for my system go out the window fast. I got lucky though, because Carl wanted to move back to Seattle, and didn't want to take the system with him. Those Altecs were huge with the big green horns and compression drivers on top of the big gray horn loaded bass cabinets with those 15 inch woofers. He sold the whole system to me for $800.00. I don't even remember what happened to the Trio receiver and the Pioneer speakers. All I cared about was I had McIntosh and Altecs. I was one happy audiophile. That was 1968, and how my long history with McIntosh began.

[Ritmo]

Dan,

I could not agree with you more. Lots of terrific stories.

Interestingly, in a hobby that for years many have considered as "snobish", this site has brought together a terrific group of "audio aficionados" with just about the best camaraderie in the internet - period!

Thanks,
Mike

[cmalak]

Dan...the first time I was exposed to high-end audio was at a buddy's place in NYC in 2001/2002 time frame. I remember he had Focal speakers (928Be I think), Pathos Logos integrated amp (great amp), a Burmester CD player (forget which model), a VPI Scoutmaster tt, an Aesthetix Rhea phono stage, Lyra Helikon cart, and Synergistic Research cables. When I heard that system I was dumbfounded. I had never experienced music portrayed with such realism and fidelity. I was still living in NYC at the time but when I moved to Boston in the fall of 2002, I forgot all about it for a year or so and then I can't remember what sparked it for me but I decided I wanted to check out the local high-end audio stores here. I took about 2-3 months to listen to the various offerings locally and read up on the various websites. And took the plunge in 2003/4 time frame. The rest is history. So I am certainly a newbie compared to many on this site but I have certainly enjoyed the ride so far.

I remember my Dad used to like hifi stuff (he had a reel-to-reel player, i think an Akai, and various separate components also Japanese but forget what brand, etc...), but for me it really hit me when I heard my buddy's system above.

[two dot]

Great stories...

Thanks everyone for sharing.