Music and electronics when I was around 8 years old. 1962ish. My dad found out that we could help Salvation Army Thrift take apart big donated furniture stereo tv consoles for $5.00. Speakers, turntables, AM FM radios, amplifiers. I experimented and built a lot. Looking back, woodworking lacked very much.
Come high school. Frequented our big audio store here. Drool and dream. That is where I met a Paragon speaker. Lafayette Electronics came with Altec and Yamaha. Of course, their Criterion gear. Part time work brought me a Kenwood receiver, Criterion speakers, Garrard turntable.
Graduated. 1974 full time job. Slowly upgrading. One day I dropped into a small brick mortar tv repair shop and stereo. I got to know the owner and salespeople. One of the salespeople was into this thing call High End. Underground. By appointment only cult. Yup. I've been screwed up ever since.