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So many of us are over 50. And I’m guessing that a plurality of us are male. So what about hearing loss. How has that affected equipment choice? Bettter gear because you need it, or you can relax because you can’t hear the high-end differences?"
Good question. I can relax now. I doubt that I can hear over 14-16 khz, if that. I find that horns are much more "acceptable" to me for mids to highs than they used to be. Spendors, Magneplaners, Acoustats, Vandersteens will always still have a warm place in my heart, however.
64 and still tweaking my system. Just spent $800 for new tubes. When I die and my son gets my stuff, I'll leave him a list of tweaks still to be done. It never ends....
So many of us are over 50. And I’m guessing that a plurality of us are male. So what about hearing loss. How has that affected equipment choice? Bettter gear because you need it, or you can relax because you can’t hear the high-end differences?
65 First concert - Mountain with Felix Pappalardi opening for Humble Pie and Steve Marriott at Varsity Stadium Toronto Started into high end audio 30+/- years ago - Sonic Frontiers SFL-1, Tannoy Speakers, PS Audio Lambda / Micromega Duo BS2
My dad always said he was 39 Plus whatever he needed to get to his actual age . Presently he is 39 plus 55 . I am 32 years behind him. he also said he was Brad Pitt several hundred thousand times to whomever he meets . His doctor calls him Brad to humor him. He always gave me a hard time about my spend on stereo equipment . Then again he believes ground beef tastes as good as a nice piece of steak..... growing up during the depression could not have been easy.
76 and just can't seem to shake the habit. Started out with a Heathkit mono amp and an Isophon speaker in a packing crate. This hobby has seen me thru some pretty crazy times and I still enjoy it. Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, Joan Baez at DAR Constitution Hall, the Limelighters and the Kingston Trio. I can't remember them all. It's been a long trip and its always about the music and how real you can make it. But I have to admit, I sure love the gear. It's like watches, cars and cameras (whatever they are).
65, Pat Benatar was in my sisters class (71), two year ahead when she was only dating Dennis. Had a Sansui rig then, family friend get this all started with a Mac rig and Klipsch corner horns and a tt with 3 arms on it...
It depend, Friday evening when i go to have a beers with some folks, i start at 62 yo, after some beers i can go down until 15 yo and if i drink until 12 yo then i have to go to bed because it's late for 12 yo... And the morning after i can get 96 yo.
60 and still silly. a life filled with music and singing my lungs out. though, never in front of anybody. not even karaoke. but, that's on my bucket list.
HS class of '68 - First "system" purchased when I was 11 years old. Saw live performances of The Doors, Led Zep, Zappa/Mothers, Grateful Dead, Jethro Tull, The Influence, Iron Butterfly, Janis Joplin w Big Brother, Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane and others at the Kinetic Playground (nee Electric Theater).
48. I started music lessons at age 5. Around the same time I began listening to hifi with my dad when he got a turntable and speakers. I started my own modest system as a graduation present from college. (Still use the same speakers in my office setup).
I bought my first system in 1981 a Harman Kardon PM680 integrated amp, visonik ambassador 120 speakers and thorens td320 turntable, still have and enjoy the turntable. I have gone through many amps and pre amps since. I was fortunate to have a dad who like good equipment as youngest so always had music in my life.
Funny, my first system when I went away to college in 1971 was a Pacific Stereo $199 special that included a cool Lenco Swiss TT. Look what they are going for now rebuilt!
My first system in 1962 included a Heathkit tape deck, amplifier, and AJ-10 tuner (stereo achieved by one channel on FM and the other on AM) built by father and me; a Garrard turntable (a rumbler), AR2 speakers (we finished).
56, parents never understood why I felt like I deserved stereo equipment better than them. Couldn't answer that question at 11. Mowed lawns for $$ then. After I sent cash through the mail to Hifi Buys for my first system. Technics SA200 receiver, comparable Technics Turntable and Infinity QA speakers. Parents were so mad when told them what and how I ordered it all. When I told them I sent $650.00 in cash through the mail they flipped and said I just lost my money! Boy were we all shocked when the UPS guy knocked on the door a month later with huge boxes to sign for. Thank you Hifi Buys for being honest and ignoring the fact that I didn't know to add shipping! Graduated up to Pioneer Flouroscan receiver and cassette deck three years later then I was totally hooked as a Freshman in HS! Traveled well for the Air Force and had the best since then!
I am 46 and got my first system when i was 14 (Polk Towers, NAD receiver, NAK music bank CD changer and monster cable from Bryn Mawr Stereo). I have been blessed to own many of the best products the industry has known.
I also sold my AV publications almost a year ago for the exact reason this thread is explaining. Young people (with very few exceptions) are not part of this hobby thus the hobby is very hard to treat as a business. Science is often ignored for voodoo. The way things WERE is more important that the way things are going to be.
My advice to the newer or younger fans is to ENJOY THE PROCESS. Remember the gear you have owned fondly. Perhaps journal your experiences with it including some photos while at the same time aspire for better. Embrace science. Subwoofers are a good thing. Room correction is a good thing. Master tape quality digital files are a good thing. Room acoustics are a good thing. Cleanly rack mounting your gear is a good thing. Ample AV power (20 amp circuits) installed by a pro with hospital grade outlets is a nice little tweak. Quiet, correct temp lighting control is a good thing. Having a video monitor is a good thing. Skip vinyl (lame dynamics, high distortion). Look to cables that don't have ANY color and don't waste a ton of your money. Avoid voodoo. A pile of wood chunks isn't going to make your system sound better - it will just make you more neurotic.
71 years old and wishing I was working again in my industry. However, my industry has and is rapidly disappearing with the change in the way people communicate today, I loved to work rather than worked to play.
I'm 69, and although my hearing is somewhat compromised, I can still tell the relative differences between audio gear. Started getting into higher end stuff in the late 70's. Now I'm working on getting my headphone system together!
stepping up to your challenge as a fellow female. I'm 64 and presently working on a pair of DIY open baffle speakers. Right up there with my passion for music is a passion for woodworking :)
First stereo if you want to call it that was a Broadmoor designer all in one with built in 8 track tape player, tuner, hard wired speaker cables and fully automatic turntable from Korvette's (anyone remember that department store) that embarrassingly was taken to my college freshman dorm a couple years after I got it.
Saw and heard the possibilities in that dorm and have been at it for real since 1980. Do the math....(I never skipped a grade or flunked).
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