My Father promised to buy me a stereo system for my 15th birthday, 1979. We went to the city, New York City that is, to a store called East 33rd Street stereo. I had my consumer reports magazine with me. I new that I would be the Akai receiver, the Akai tape deck, the Akai direct drive turntable, and the Cerwin Vega speakers.
The salesman was a very heavy man who was sweating through the day. He was able to hook up the receiver to the tape deck and play music through the Cerwin Vegas. I was very excited. He then said, "I have a great pair of speakers that I can give you for the same price". The other pair was this tiny pair of bookshelf speakers. He saw the look in my eye and he said, "Just listen".
It was amazing. Compared to the Cerwin Vegas these speakers sounded like music. I cannot tell you that at 15 I had a great ear. I can tell you that what I heard was realistic in comparison to what I had heard from the other speakers. The tiny bookshelf speakers were B&W DM110's. My friend Rich still uses them in his home system. I now own B&W 803's. That initial experience of realistic sound production started a miserable unsatisfying journey into this obsessive hobby. I would not have it any other way.
The salesman was a very heavy man who was sweating through the day. He was able to hook up the receiver to the tape deck and play music through the Cerwin Vegas. I was very excited. He then said, "I have a great pair of speakers that I can give you for the same price". The other pair was this tiny pair of bookshelf speakers. He saw the look in my eye and he said, "Just listen".
It was amazing. Compared to the Cerwin Vegas these speakers sounded like music. I cannot tell you that at 15 I had a great ear. I can tell you that what I heard was realistic in comparison to what I had heard from the other speakers. The tiny bookshelf speakers were B&W DM110's. My friend Rich still uses them in his home system. I now own B&W 803's. That initial experience of realistic sound production started a miserable unsatisfying journey into this obsessive hobby. I would not have it any other way.