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How did you get started in this hobby

As a college kid, my roommate had KLH speakers, the Beatles Sgt. Peppers came out and homegrown Flemington flash came on the scene. My eyes were opened along with my ears. I visited a local audio store Audiolab and another not too far away Soundex. The effect on my listening, I was stunned by what I was hearing and how the management just let me listen to all the gear knowing I was just window shopping. I'll never forget Soundex( out by Willow Grove Pa)  letting me listen to all their rooms at different price points and more than a few occasions.One room had $30,000 each in electronics and $100,000 speakers. Well, I could not afford even the entry-level stuff but again my horizon was broadened. So off I went to NYCity with my roommate in tow. I ran into an audio store while he waited in the car and asked the sales guy what I could buy with the meager dollars I had. I picked up a pair of AR speakers, and a Dual Turntable, my roommate had an old HH Scott that was in his father's food store that did not work. I got it fixed for free by the teacher of the electronics class in my High school where  I would occasionally substitute teach ( babysit) to get beer money for college Thursday night beer sessions at the Extension bar.

Much later a fellow employee who was an audiophile got me connected with his buddy an audio salesman who sold me his Snell c2 mk.2 speakers and another of his friends who was looking to sell his Adcom GFP 400 pre amp/tuner and GFA 555 amp along with thick monster cable. Adcom was just starting up around 1980 and was thirty minutes away in New Brunswick NJ. For a box of donuts, they went over my gear and made some changes to the amp and preamp. I remember their CD player had a tendency to jump if vibrated that was fixed as well all while I waited for  just for a box of doughnuts.  Woo that was my system for almost 40 years.  I wanted something different, I found out about Audiogon and bought within a week a Technics SU G 700  and Canton speakers about two years ago at tremendous savings from local audiophiles one in bucks county near New Hope Pa., and another in Freehold NJ. That's my story. from start to finish.

Based on what I've seen here I am not an audiophile but someone just interested in listening to good music with good gear at good savings and who is intrigued by the character ( good and bad) I see on here and the stellar systems they have.

scott22

Showing 2 responses by cd318

cd318
2,636 posts
 

A friend at university, Neil, introduced me to his system that was built around the NAD 3020. We’d sometimes go back to his after playing snooker. On the way there there we often passed what seemed to be a high end Hi-Fi store nr New Cavendish St.

I can’t recall Neil’s turntable, it might have been a Dual, but I do recall him playing me LPs of The Planets by Holst and the The Four Seasons by Vivaldi.

All pleasant enough though I might have preferred Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

I also remember him making me tea via a strainer and as for the spectacular nights view of Marylebone Road from his flat, well that was unforgettable.

Before too long I had ordered a brochure from NAD and I was off.

I’ve still got that brochure somewhere, for some sentimental reason I could never bear to part with it.

 

All of this reminiscing reminds me just how daunting those few steps into separates Hi-Fi were back then. Not only was there a world of music lying undiscovered before me, there was also the world of separates audio too.

Simply enchanting and bewildering at the same time.

cd318
2,636 posts
 

@scott22 

From reading the responces it looks like physical head tramma, electro shock,genetic predispositon,and the influnce of significent others are the root causes of becoming an audiophile lol.

 

 

Well, it's no secret that we audiophiles are in the minority.

Even amongst music lovers.

Just how many of us there are is not clear.

What is clear, is that the vast majority of us are males, and that there's little chance of us disappearing anytime soon.

 

Perhaps we are a new type of species, one that so far is predominantly found in the northern hemisphere, although members can be found almost anywhere on this planet?

More to discover