Stepping into higher end audio - what's your story and where did it begin for you?

[metalmancpa]

For me, it happened like this (25+ years ago). I came back from a FL trip with $500 in my pocket. At the time I had a POS Sherwood with a set of KLH and RadioShack bookshelf speakers both fed through the front channel (wanted that big speaker look). One of the Radio Shack speakers had blown right before we left for FL, so I went out to get new speakers. At the time at the CPA firm I worked at we did the taxes for a local audio/video store. I drove there, and as I got out of the car this really big dude was carrying a fairly large speaker in his arms. I followed him through the door and the owner was there and said Hi to me. I asked him about that guy and the speaker. He said that was Garin Veris of the New England Patriots - he was moving, and with a chuckle the owner said Mr. Veris was moving and didn't have boxes for his speakers (which he had purchased only 2 months prior) so he was bringing them back and upgrading to a new set of speakers in boxes to put on the moving truck. Since I am always curious, even though I knew just by the size they were out of my price range (I only wanted to spend a couple of hundred at the most), I asked about the speakers.

The owner told me they were ADS 1290's which retailed for, if I remember, $2,200 at the time. So I decided to ask how much. He said how much do you have? I reached into my pocket and began counting the cash - 100, 200, 300, 400, 500....he grabs the $500 and says the speakers are mine. So into the Toyota Corolla they went (barely fit), and the rest as they say is history.

FYI - Veris upgraded from the 1290's to 1590's.

 

[rojo]

It happened for me when I was a teenager having my first car's factory head unit replaced. While I waited for the work to be done, the owner of the shop let me hang out in the demo room, kick my shoes off, sprawl on the couch, and watch a Terminator 2 Laserdisc. He selected his high end Paradigm speakers and turned the volume up to 11, Spinal Tap style. It was loud! But it was also clear as a bell -- perfectly imaged, no audible distortion, perfectly equalized, not at all shrill or brittle. It was just a 4.1 setup IIRC. Nevertheless, I've never been to a movie theater that could compare. I felt such a sense of loss when the work on my car was completed and I had to leave. I wish I'd had some music with me to try.

Before that day, I never realized how truly crappy my best friend's Pioneer hi-fi towers were in comparison (which I had always regarded in awe), or how unmusical were my neighbor across the street's bombastic Cerwin Vega towers (capable of rattling the neighborhood windows along with my guts). I thought the mark of a worthwhile sound system was profound bass and the capacity to piss off the neighbors. I didn't know that such a device had yet been invented that could, if you closed your eyes, fool you into thinking you were a participant in the scene.

But owning such sound has always been a pipe dream for me. I've never had the kind of disposable income to achieve that sort of sonic transparency. I think I might be on my way now though with my new Marantz SR6008 receiver and a pair of massive MB Quart Vera bookshelfs I'm due to receive this evening. We'll see.

On the other hand, as a spectator and veteran performer of more choral, symphonic, operatic, and stage band performances than I can count, I like to think I'm not an easy sell. I know what music sounds like live. Now that I know reproduction sound does not have to sound like a reproduction, I may never be satisfied until I can close my eyes and achieve a proper out-of-body experience. I'm just beginning my quest in earnest.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

In my late teens I was stepped in to local home electronics store. They had a laserdisk player with brand new "Waterworld" movie (I am dating myself) connected to Philips TV with 2 surround speakers mounted on the ceiling close to the tv.
The sales person put me in the very small sweet spot and played the scene of small plane flying around. The surround effect and sound positioning was very impressing for me and since then the HT hobby grabbed me by the [censored] and wont let go

 

[JMJVK]

After having owned a few receivers which were given to me because of scratchy volume pots, I got rid of everything to go on a cross-country hitchhiking trip to "find myself". Came back to my hometown, met woman, settled down with her. But after 10 years of hell, and poverty, all caused by her out-of-control spending, I split, quit smoking, and at the same time, got a new job which doubled my salary, all in the same month. Suddenly, I felt "very rich", and bought a small Harman Kardon AVR and embarked on the 5.1 thing.

Since then, I'm on my 2nd Stereo HK, and on my third HK AVR, every unit a step up from the previous one.

Don't tell my better half, but... Now, I'm gunning for a pair JM Focal towers and a trying to figure out whether to buy a power amp (Yamaha MX-A5000) or a fancy pre-amp (thinking about a CX-A5000 a lot.) as the next step. The target is to have all 3 "within two years".



I think it's disease. should get it checked.... Nah....

 

[darien87]

I think for me it started in high school. A buddy of mine's older brother got in an accident on his scooter and got a pretty big cash settlement for his injuries. He ended up buying a couple of high end systems. I remember one of them had these Infinity towers with huge woofers in them, probably 15's. I remember him playing Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight and when the drums kicked in he cranked it and I almost got a boner.

His bedroom system was even better. He had all Nakamichi components with a pair or about 7 foot Magneplanar speakers. Sounded amazing. I think that was the first time I had ever seen a separate amp as opposed to a receiver. I remember that Nakamichi amp was huge! He also had a Nakamichi tape deck where you could adjust the azimuth on the head. I thought that was so cool.

 

[fuzz092888]

For me it started two years ago when I wandered onto this site and met all you barsteds

 

[ReUpRo]

I used to think that Bose was the real deal, then Audioholics happened... That was back in 2005.

 

[fuzz092888]

I used to think that Bose was the real deal, then Audioholics happened... That was back in 2005.

I was perfectly happy with my silly little logitech 5.1 system. Then I came here, blacked out for a year and a half and ended up with an IMAX theater in my living room. Mostly I blame Walter. He's an extremely bad influence. Even now he's trying to convince me I need some monstrosity that he swears is a center channel, but looks more like a beam you use to hold up a roof.

 

[Pat D]

My brother was quite electronically inclined and built his own approx. 100 watt amplifier. I think he used a Dynaco preamp, a turntable I can't remember, and some modified Heathkit AS-105w speakers crossed over to a tweeter via a crossover he wound himself. It sounded quite good. The Heathkit AS-105w had a mid-treble peak in the mid-treble but off axis it was quite even in response. The woofer could absorb 100 watts at 30 Hz, according to a review in the old High Fidelity magazine.

I am not a techie, so when I started working after university in the mid-70s, I got some Kef 104 speakers, a BIC 980 turntable with a Grado F3E+ cartridge, and a Harman Kardon 730 receiver. Those speakers were quite flat in the listening window, but less so off axis, so they require careful placement. They still can sound quite good even today if set up properly. I started buying classical LPs at a great rate and in a few years had several hundred.

 

[bikemig]

I had an pretty OK system consisting of bose speakers, an onkyo CD changer and a kenwood receiver. Then I bought an iPod and figured out how to hook it up to my stereo system. It sounded pretty bad. So then I had to figure out how to make it sound better. And once you start down that rabbit hole, there is no going back. Although who knows, one day I might just buy CD changer . . .

 

[hizzaah]

2nd year of Uni, my roommate dropped out and I had the place to myself. I grabbed a Logitech X540 5.1 set and thought I was set until I started reading stuff here. 6 months later I grabbed a 7.1 Onkyo set. Less than a year after that I scored my Ascend/HSU combo off Craigslist. I just build a new desktop and am unhappy with the 2.1 setup I have for it. That upgrade itch brought me back here. I thought I had escaped

 

[Kruz]

I was about 22 and on a work semester of my university program. Suddenly I was making some decent money and thought it was time to blow it all A coworker of mine guided me in the direction of a hi-fi shop in my home town and I was just blown away by some of the prices, finishes and especially the sound. To be honest looking back now I know I over paid for the Kef iq70's and cambridge integrated and CD player since it was probably this shops cheapest equipment. But at the time it felt so bad *** to have these (what I thought) giant speakers sitting in the corner of my room (I know, I know lol). I treated those speakers like my baby until hey kicked the bucket after 10+ years. Recently I started looking into an epic upgrade for myself and realized just how much I love this stuff.

 

[walter duque]

Too long of a story. First good system early 70's. Somehow I ended up with 2 pre amps and 2 power amps when I had that system. Just sold some off in recent years. Rick actually owns that Sony set-up. And a guy from Queens purchased the turntable. TT I should have held onto. Sold that for $325.00 in perfect condition, seems like the price is going up on these things. Well that was over 40+ years ago and here I am, nothing changed. I would say I went trough a couple of systems over the years. BTW these Sony power amps where
140 watts X 2, which was good power in those days. Maybe I am little off on the wattage, I am not a 100% sure on that.

 

[Phules]

I had always loved music, but wasnt exposed to real audio equipment until I joined the air force in 85 and was stationed in Germany. Everyone in the dorm had a nice stereo.
By the time I left Germany I had a Yamaha A-1020 Integrated amp, Sony CDP-302ES, Yamaha T-1020 tuner, Yamaha K-720 cassette, ADC equalizer, and B&W DM-110i speakers.
I still felt like the low man, since the dorms were filled with Polk SDA-SRS, Klipsch La Scalas, Heresys, CV D-9s, JBLs, Infinitys, etc.

 

[JohnnieB]

Salute to you Phules, and any other vets on the forum. Geissen Germany, 90-92. Same story, well I was field artillery, MLRS system. Loved the tax free prices in the PX. Mostly Kenwood gear pre amp, 4 channel power amp, eq. Sony cd changer, Pioneer 7+1 tape deck. Kenwood towers with 15" passive radiators, CV AT80's. Lost it all in a divorce some years later. Started over with a crummy little Pioneer 5.1 that I still have. Can't stand to listen to it anymore, so i'm building a new system. Love the forum, lots of knowledge and helpful folks. Even hooked up with a new golf buddy.

 

[totalcomfort]

Met a new friend when I was 18, he had these plain looking big boxes that played magic. He told me he made them.
Later found out they were klipsch cornwall in plain birch. Been ruined ever since!!!

 

[connieflyer]

When I was 16 my neighbor showed me his newest audio setup. I was really impressed, he had taken a bare wire and wrapped it around a toilet paper tube and had a long wire going outside to his roof, and another wire going outside to his water faucet, and a metal tab connected across the wired tube, attached to a crystal and the sound well what can I say, a very lovely event indeed. Now who else remembers his first crystal radio? Yep I am older that dirt!

 

[Rickster71]

When I was 16 my neighbor showed me his newest audio setup. I was really impressed, he had taken a bare wire and wrapped it around a toilet paper tube and had a long wire going outside to his roof, and another wire going outside to his water faucet, and a metal tab connected across the wired tube, attached to a crystal and the sound well what can I say, a very lovely event indeed. Now who else remembers his first crystal radio? Yep I am older that dirt!

Yes, it's still in my parent's attic.
I used a Quaker Oats oatmeal cylinder and made the tuning slider from a 3/8 copper tubing that I flattened on an anvil.

 

[connieflyer]

But did you ever make an intercom with your neighbor kid using a long sting attached to tin cans on either end? What technilogical wonders we had back then! Great use of resources, using that oatmeal box. They were just a little more robust than the ones today.