What was your "wow" moment?

[MikeD105]

Soon after I got my Samsung 50" DLP and Yamaha surround system setup I had a blast going through all the HD channels I could now enjoy. I happened across an episode PBS HD's Great Performances which was featuring Dave Matthews Band live at Red Rocks. I was absolutely floored by both how it looked and sounded. I knew right there I had spent my money well...

Oh and Shadow of The Colossus as well. I know it wasn't HD, but it was still fricken awesome!!

 

[jostenmeat]

Very first wow was my former Onkyo HTIB. My first experiences with surround sound at home, and I thought DTS-ES tracks were the greatest thing ever.

My "WOW" didn't come from my speaker but my projector. The first time I turned on my projector.....DAMN...........I was about to piss in my pants with joy. There is no other feeling like it. . I can't wait to get my hands on a 1080P projector.

+1. While it was not my first "wow", its impossible to describe the feeling in words after throwing up the pj pic on a blank wall. Overwhelming. Something that I wouldn't even dream of before, thinking that something like this is meant only for those who have 100k to blow. If people knew how good a 3k PJ could look . . . granted, you'd have to visit someone, because store demo's are never impressive as far as I've seen . . .

 

[nasd90]

SACD - Dark Side of the Moon...

 

[MatthewB.]

My very first was also very short lived. I had just hooked up my SVS NSD 12/2 and not sure where to set the Gain I used my old POS JBL 10" as a guide. Wrong move on my part. I had the JBL sub set at 8 (out of 10)and figured this was a good start on my SVS. My next stupid move was to then load "Finding Nemo" and the "Darla Scene" well lets' say when she starts tapping the fish tank, I think I moved faster than the speed of light, trying to jump my table and get to the volume knob. wasnt fast enough though, because I mmediatly heard a loud crash in the ajoining bathroom as a glass picture fell off the wall. So there I was with the GF screaming in my ear about the pciture and me with a Shyt eating grin on my face.
I now have the SVS at 2 on the gain meter and it is plenty powerful.
"Cloverfield" at level 2 was also earth shattering.

 

[Gatsby191]

First wow moment- listening to Dark Side of the Moon on my father's brand new 5.1 system (I don't even remember what he bought, I was only 18) and feeling totally blown away.

More recent wow moment- the first Blu Ray disc I watched, Casino Royale, specifically during the Venice scene where the entire building collapses. My sub caused the glass in my coffee table to vibrate, the pictures on the wall to shake, and my wife's jaw to drop while she looked at me and said "holy S*** that's awesome! We need to get more of these!".

Does your wife have a twin sister?

 

[Gatsby191]

First REALLY Wow moment: Watching "Live free or Die Hard". When one of the cars in the tunnel(think it was a taxi)is tumbling towards Bruce Willis and that other guy, and I ducked because I didn't want it to hit me either!!
I did the same thing during one of the "Bourne" movies too!

Joe B.

 

[soundhound]

Bourne Supremacy when the girlfriend gets shot and they drive over the bridge crashing into the water. Also later in that movie the gov. people are sitting in some airport waiting room, and someone knocks on the door to the right - I always look over! I can't count how many times I've also done that when hearing a cell phone.

more recently, the blast in the beginning of Iron Man is also pretty intense.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I was 16 and in the back of my 1979 Trans Am....

Oh crap, I don't think we are talking about the same thing....

 

[speakerman39]

SACD - Dark Side of the Moon...

Very much agreed. What about "The Wall"? Listening to it right now as I type this.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[calnbs]

Very first wow was my former Onkyo HTIB. My first experiences with surround sound at home, and I thought DTS-ES tracks were the greatest thing ever.



+1. While it was not my first "wow", its impossible to describe the feeling in words after throwing up the pj pic on a blank wall. Overwhelming. Something that I wouldn't even dream of before, thinking that something like this is meant only for those who have 100k to blow. If people knew how good a 3k PJ could look . . . granted, you'd have to visit someone, because store demo's are never impressive as far as I've seen . . .

Completely agree. I can still remember that moment. IMHO, it's better than any LCD, Plasma, or DLP TV. The feeling you get is priceless. Yeah, never demo a PJ at a store. When I was at Best Buy to buy my Optoma HD70 and saw the demo, I almost backed out. Lucky me, I decided to gamble on it and took it home and when night time came around.....

 

[EJ1]

My first 1080p moment was Chicken Little on a BD demo disc playing on a 61" DLP at Tweeter. I guess that was when 1080p was just starting out? I don't remember LCD or plasmas having 1080p at that time, only DLP.

 

[jostenmeat]

Completely agree. I can still remember that moment. IMHO, it's better than any LCD, Plasma, or DLP TV. The feeling you get is priceless. Yeah, never demo a PJ at a store. When I was at Best Buy to buy my Optoma HD70 and saw the demo, I almost backed out. Lucky me, I decided to gamble on it and took it home and when night time came around.....

hehe, calnbs... ever wonder why I'm trying to convert so many to PJ's? I have a few victims notched already, and am enthusiastically working on another. muhahahaha

Seriously though. I even wondered about my health. My heart rate would truly go up for many a movie. I think I still deal with that. Its just a completely different experience.

The last two years or so have brought about a world of change in affordable HT. Namely, the improvements of PJ technology, coupled with falling prices.

 

[A/VUSMCSGT]

My first was about 2.5 years ago when I had my Jamo system put in and my installer played a sampler disc. I heard sounds I had never heard before. He played the opening fight scene in Master and Commander, the blue room scene in House of Flying Daggers, and some other stuff. It sounded hot!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[stato]

For me it was the first car race in "The Fast And The Furious". I am also a petrol head so I loved the sound effects. Was the first movie I watched when I bought my first system. Had the DVD for about 7 weeks but waited to watch it.

 

[EYEdROP0]

Mine was when I got my Alessandro MS-1 for my birthday. At the time I was seeking a more detailed system to listen to. I was obsessed with low level information but found limitations in average consumer gear. I would EQ and use stereo "enhancers" in attempt to get more detail. Then my headphones arrived. The first thing I noticed was the build quality. I turned on Shpongle's "tales of the inexpressible". My very first reaction was "better sound is impossible". I noticed that detail was not mushed together like consumer systems. I then wore those headphones for many many many hours for the longest time.

Then I got a stereo...

 

[olddog]

I had that same 18" coffee table 4ohm sub hooked up to a 400 wat old harmon amp with 2 of those brand new RS Digatalized tower speakers with that DAK EQ flipped over for compression. TOP GUN take off the aircraft carrier over and over till everything just melted

 

[xboxweasel]

When I first upgraded from a Kenwood receiver with Mission speakers to a Yamaha/Klipsch setup I was blown away by the gun shot from Kill Bill vol 1 (in the kitchen fight). Then again while watching The Island. This was the original release that was falsely releases as 2.0 (instead of 5.1). I play all my movies back in STRAIGHT mode. Nevertheless, the dialog was coming from the centre where the TV is. I had to get up a few times to ensure that the speaker was indeed not firing. Also, in that same movie I felt that the sound was not coming from the Left and Right speakers but from the entire wall of my living room. A wall of sound. That was worth the money I spend.

These are the two most memorable. But there are many more.

I have since upgraded. Bigger sub. Separate amps. Different speakers. I am still blown away by the sound, but the initial step up from the Kenwood/Mission to the Yamaha/Klipsch was the most drastic in sound quality.

 

[walter duque]

When I listend to a friends Stereo setup. Sonus Farber Stradivarius powered by 2 600 Watt Krell Mono Blocks and some Highend CD Player. He put on Janis Ian (Breaking Silence) which I never heard of before. Life has never been the same since. Had to get that album, of course it's not available, only on special order. So I went and spend $49.00 on it. Could not wait to go home and put it on. Got to that track and was waiting for that WOW and it was'nt even close. That was my WOW moment.

 

[saundr00]

My first wow moment had nothing to do with gear or the specific title. It was when I first got into proper speaker placement for 2 channel audio. It was my first time hearing a proper stereo sound stage and I fell in love with it.

Now I'm hooked!

 

[EYEdROP0]

My first wow moment had nothing to do with gear or the specific title. It was when I first got into proper speaker placement for 2 channel audio. It was my first time hearing a proper stereo sound stage and I fell in love with it.

Now I'm hooked!

Combine detail, soundstage, and power and you got yourself a high fidelity sound.