I’m gob smacked. What were you’re aha moments?

geoffkait  I meant that the Walker Talisman which is a demagnitizer is easier to use than a bulk tape demagnitizer that millercarbon suggested.  You know that I know the difference but didn't spell it our precisely.   

First time I heard ATC in 1994. I thought the demo pair I heard must be a one off freak or unicorn of exceptional performance (never having heard a speaker sound so realistic before) - so I immediately bought the demo pair from the store owner and stuck them in the car. Since then I discovered that all ATC and especially larger active models share the same magic.

First musical gobsmacked moment was hearing Pink Floyd live.  WOW! I'd no idea music could sound like that.  

Second we hearing a true audiophile system at a shop in Apeldoorn.  They had a Musical Fidelity separates with something from B&W. They had to kick me out of the shop cause I wouldn't stop listening.

Just switched from Tidal to Qobuz and set up Roon - I've been in an constant state of gobsmacked-ness over all of it.  Like a kid in a candy shop.  :)

I'm also gobsmacked that autocorrect is correcting this correctly :)

mg16"Infinity QA speakers with emit ribbon tweeters."

You are confused, disoriented, and distracted or ignorant, misinformed, and incompetent because the EMIT transducer as designed, manufactured, and applied by Infinity Systems is not a ribbon transducer by any standard, definition, or reference.

Spending my university scholarship money in 1970 on an all-AR system: turntable, integrated amp and AR-3A’s.  Blew me away and was the best system in my dorm, by far.  Helped inspire further crazy spending by friends over the next few years leading to a great setup loved by us all: Thorens turntable, Crown preamp, Crown DC-300’s and bi-amped RTR speakers: many memorable parties in ‘73 - ‘75!  Then, while living in the UK, Musical Fidelity class-A amp and speakers in late 80’s.  Purchasing an Ohm Acoustics MicroWalsh home theater setup in 2004 and then enjoying the “Concert for George” DVD - knocked out everyone who saw and heard it.  Now, using a Crown Audio XLS 1502 to power my Ohm’s (instead of the Denon AVR) - a revelation in openness, effortlessness and bass taughtness and extension.

I realize I already mentioned this recently or maybe my memory is slipping 😳 but the Walker Talisman IS a demagnetizer. 

Millercarbon  I know this is more expensive, but the Walker Talisman for CDs and LPs is much easier and faster to use than a demagnitizer.  $200 but saves so much time and effort.  Time is both money and there's too little of it.  

The first time I heard the Sonus Faber Electa Amator’s....

Took advantage of a recent listing on Agon and picked up a pair of High Fidelity Ultimate Reference Helix Power Cables. The first one I ran from the wall to my power distributor. The second one I ran from the power distributor to my CDP. Even though they are still breaking my system has never sounded better!!!

1980's. Infinity QA speakers with emit ribbon tweeters. Playing Pink Floyd The Wall  LP, on a Rabco st-7 turntable, yamaha "natural sound" receiver switch set to class A.  I got up out of my chair to look out my window to see who's kids were laughing and playing outside in my front  yard. There was no one out there. It was side 1, cut 3 on the Pink Floyd album creating a beautiful illusion of  a  virtual reality in my living room.

8 kilo bronze platter for Garrard 301. Amazing detail and soundstage .                 Vcap coppers in Cary 300sei.. took 20 minutes max to install. smoooth midrange with bass extension I never thought possible with 300 b tubes

40+ years of getting closer.  New house in 2000...lights dimmed when major appliances kicked in...Central Maine Power Company comes, tests, following Sunday at 10am a crew installs a new transformer (WITH NEW GROUND) outside house.  Most recent, Furutech products to 10amp dedicated line, outlet/cover & male end to line conditioner and Nano Fluid to EVERY metal to metal contact.  When it comes back from my friend, driver connects to Salks & Blue fuse contacts...I describe the changes to audio pals, "imagine upgrading all pc's, interconnects and speaker cables...at one time!"  Happy tunes and may all your harmonics be even, Lads.  Pin

Like others, my “gobsmacked” moment has been with going from SS to tubes.  I’m more on the “starving artist” end of the audiophile spectrum, but managed to snag a pair of speakers very early on (JBL L65s) that have quieted any serious upgrade-itis for over 40 years and a refoam.  Over the years, these speakers have been fed with a procession of source components too lengthy to list.  They’ve been powered with (in order) a Pioneer SX-1250 receiver, a Denon PMA 700V integrated (a somewhat lesser gobsmack moment relative to the SX-1250), and a “brief” foray into the realm of multi-channel, audio/video receiverdom (a Sony GA7 ES, bought in 1997 which is still going strong and will see service in another room).  All these have been severely upstaged, however, by the PrimaLuna Prologue Classic tube integrated I brought home last weekend!  I am left simultaneously smiling from ear to ear and grieving for all the years I lost not switching to tubes.....of course everyone’s ears/preferences are different but I seem to have stumbled upon another genuine audio-related keeper-for-the-long-haul.  My ‘65s are now being fed by a Music Hall MMF-5 turntable & pa1.2 phono stage > the Prologue Classic.

Two gobsmackments:  (1) wires.  Never knew what they could do for a system.  Most cost effective money you can spend on system upgrade.  (2) the difference a preamp can make in a system.
Jim Heckman

Upgrading to Aragon Iridium monoblocks and then playing Yello - Flag vinyl through them... mind blowing

1969----There I was, a High School Senior listening to KLH-9's.I knew I had to get a pair.
1973----At a yard sale I picked up a Magnavox 175 chassis for $5.
When I realized that it was better than my Marantz 8b I started building.

This past year I replaced my entire system a component at a time. Consequently, many a smack. What made the largest change for the better was my recent XD upgrade to the Krell 575 Solo. Amazing. 

Hmmmm-- Audio research Ref 6 - wow- Spatial Audio Speakers M3 Triodes--wow-Ref Cd9--Those were the wow times

(great thread) I'll keep it in the last 5 yrs, since all my really big 2-channel moments were 35+ yrs ago.

I have a pretty robust desktop system. For years I got along with less than audiophile 2.1 speakers/sub. Pretty good, but not as good as possible. Last year I bit the bullet and bought a pair of ATC SCM 12 Pro's. DAMN! Not only are they the best 2-ways I ever heard, but they manage an extreme tightrope-walk of great accuracy w/o sounding edgy/tiresome. Great monitors.

The other big moment was finally getting a non-oversampling (NOS) multibit DAC and replacing my pretty good delta-sigma DAC on the desktop. For the first time in all these years listening to digital, I'm able to totally relax and not hear music files as "digital," just as music. That's kind of priceless...

Listening to Vandersteen 2ci powered by Jeff Rowland electronics circa 1989 at advanced audio systems in Tacoma Wa.  Just sold them last year. Song was Bob Dylan's " man with the long black coat".

First time listening to my roommates Quad 57s in 1973 or thereabouts, in college. He built his own solid state amp which was a state-of the art design in 1972. The thing got extremely hot playing the Rite of Spring, but it kept going. Those 57s were unforgettable, but I did not get my own Quads (2905s) until 8 years ago. They are keepers.

 There certainly have been several really excellent milestones. Like going from a Khartago to I Kismet Reference from Odyssey. But sometimes it’s a small change, usually inexpensive, that makes an unexpectedly great change in SQ. ...
Herbies decoupling sliders under the spikes of my Aria 936s. Improvement in clarity and presence is stunning. 

Curtesy of Audiogon discussion forum:

Modification of my thirty year old Magnepan MG IIIa’s due to generosity of Peter Gunn.

Installation of DYI interconnects derived from friendly and patient input from Steve Reeve and Joe Levy.

Installation of 0 AWG speaker cables designed by b4icu.

Installation of Yeti battery power supply.

These are inexpensive tweaks yielding big dividends.

I am looking forward to learning of additional tweaks from Audiogon posters.

Cheers!

My first tube amp; CJ Premier 140,... from McIntosh MC7300. I listened for 4 hours straight. My first horn speaker, the Klipsch Fortee series 2. My first mono block amps, Conrad Johnson Premier 12’s. I sat and listened all day mesmerized by the everything I put on. My CJ Premier 350 solid state stereo amp. It was as if a vail had been lifted. I was transported to first row seats at the concert.  Finally my Pass Labs XA25. I quickly sold all CJ amps and found audio heaven. My Merging+NADAC was a complete eye opener to a endless quality digital world. I’ve sold my JA Michell ORBE turntable. 

Directional fuses and high tech power cord.  Ha ha. Just kidding.

My first post!! 1979 I was a sophomore in high school and had finally saved up my money from summer work to buy a pair of dahlquist dq-10’s. I loved them but they weren’t ‘aha’ because all music had been like that for me including listening to Drive my Car by the Beatles in 1971 on a rigged up Bogen receiver. Now cut to about three years ago at a friends who has every piece of equipment on the planet including Shindo et al that I’d never heard of. I had also stopped listening to music seriously for many years even though being a working soundtrack composer. At my friend’s house he put on Ella and Louis record through Tannoy Glenair 15. It was like hearing the music performed live. It haunted me and has since brought me back into the world of hifi after listening to music in my car only or on a Bluetooth speaker in my home. Now to create that experience again or at least something really good.

Gob smacked at the results?
That's an easy one.
I was gob smacked by my beta qobuz 24 x192 on roon

I was a resident physician at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, occasionally hanging out at Chestnut Hill Audio - one day Jack Rubinson (for all you Philly 'Philes - here's a shout out to Jack for all he did for all of us back in the day) has Quad ESL-63s out ---  Gob Smacked!! I moonlighted for 3 months, bought the demo pair, later added Gradient Subs (Gob Smacked again), sold them, missed them, eventually bought the Quad ESL-2905's because, well, you know, once you listen to Quads, nothing else will do....

I have several occasions; replacing my PS Audio Directstream DAC with Lampizator Golden Gate Balance, replacing GG Balanced with Lampizator Pacific Balance.

Replacing my Sonus Faber Toy Tower with Audiokinesis JM 2.0 + Space Generator.

Replacing my Auralic Aries with LDM servers.

It's a very long and enjoyable audio journey. :)

@Imnop, What prompted you to replace your Oppo UDP-205? We have (had) very similar systems. I have UDP-205, integrated (Pass Labs instead of Anthem) and ML Montis.  My main reason for getting the Oppo was the combination of transport and dac w/balanced outputs.  What are you using for a dac now?  To get on topic, my biggest and first "aha" moment occurred in high school early 70's.  I was looking to get some cheap department store all in one.  Guys I worked with hooked me up instead with AR-XA table, Kenwood integrated and Advents.  Hooked from then on.  The next was getting Infinity IRS Gamma.  Would not have sold them except for reliability issues.

Switching from NAD M51 Dac (very good) to an Audio Note 3.1. A week later I changed out the Bryston 1b pre for a Audio Note M3 line pre.

Just another level I guess. 

When I got rid of my Preamp and dac and got a direct stream dac/ preamp from PS audio. It was like holy crap what the F just happened. How can one piece of equipment make such a difference?

My B&W 802N speakers finally sounded perfect. Silky smooth highs and mids with plenty of base that was lacking previously. 

Two recent moments.
Swapped stock fuses in my Parasound Halo A21 with Hifi Tuning Supreme units.

Set up a pair of 6" GIK Impression Regular panels at first reflection points on back wall, another pair on first reflection points on side walls, and one narrow panel in each of four corners.

Listening to Chet baker self titled out of Devore Orangutans 0/93
and audio research gear

Ok, what got me was low power SET
and highest efficiency speakers @ 106 or better

Come on ebm you certainly have been many times in life,
but your nice system makes it all go away, out of mind.
NYC is a tough town. Music is bliss! 
I always enjoy your one-liner insights, btw!

Never been gob smacked i bet it hurts.

@bri14mac, how hard was it to pull a 10 gauge wire for your 20 amp circuit? I get some lights dimming with loud bass hits which leads me to believe my 15 amp circuit isn’t enough

@mkgus, wasn't hard at all ... just expensive ;)  i had an electrician run two completely new circuits from breaker to a quad hospital grade isolated ground outlet - one on each side of entertainment center in family room. was having work done for my basement so just added these to the list of requests.  lights don't dim anymore but my ears hurt from time to time.

Just got accepted as a Qobuz beta tester and wow, so much better SQ than Tidal MQA. Strictly headphone listener with a mid-fi system, not to mention 62 year old ears, but truly an aha moment for me.

Lights dimming are due to poor splice techniques upstream. Builders usually use the backstab wiring terminals on receptacles and switches, which causes a poor connection with high resistance compared to a proper pigtail splice. This is something you can remedy yourself or with a qualified electrician. Also check the connections at the breaker panel for tightness and ensuring there are no splices or double-legging in the breaker panel. 

@bri14mac, how hard was it to pull a 10 gauge wire for your 20 amp circuit? I get some lights dimming with loud bass hits which leads me to believe my 15 amp circuit isn’t enough. 

- Switching from stranded core to solid core speaker wire, especially for tweeters
- Switching from low-quality plastic dielectrics to cotton or air, especially for tweeters (this really removed the grudge or unpleasant edginess from the highs. The same edginess that makes you want to turn the music down)
- RCA interconnects, both good quality purchased ones and handmade unshielded, cotton covered, solid core, silver wire with silver Eichmann bullets. 
- VPI brick
- Subwooder DSP and proper placement. 
- Power cords

@Imnop My bass has easily doubled, maybe tripled. I can feel the pressurization in my room and it’s tight not bloated. 

I am not sure what you are saying - is this considered a big improvement?  Help me out here.  What about texture, clarity, dimension, tone of each instrument, black background, separation, size of instruments and vocals, placement, ease of sound?

Did I miss something?  Happy Listening.

millercarbon:
Great post. 

David Pritchard

1-year ago I was having two issues 1) grounding issues with my turntable and 2) lights dimming to the beat of my SVS SB16-Ultra sub when turned up.  Installing (2) dedicated 20-amp circuits not only solved both issues but also improved overall SQ with lower noise floor.  Bonus was the picture quality on my 4k TV also improved.  Not a sexy purchase by any stretch ... but worth it.

Three moments stand out for me. In each one my musical life shifted and things were never the same after...

1985, I want to buy a pink triangle turntable and go listen to it at a posh london snobby dealer. Annoyingly the Linn sounded better, but just before I prised my wallet open the dealer said "you might as well hear this new one we have just got in", put it on behind me (I couldn't see) and Whoa! What a difference. Really exciting, fast, bouncy thrilling music. Turned round to see it was a new fangled thing called a Roksan Xerxes. Bought it. I was a joy to see the old buffer of a dealer bopping along to Human League. 

2011, NYC. I buy a second hand Krell KSA 50 off eBay to replace my perfectly fine Peachtree amplifier. Put it on, it sounded nice, sweet, fresh, I was happy, then a track I know well comes up and Whoa! a wall of bass hits. I never knew the track had a base line. Room rattling stuff from my little bookshelf speakers. 

2018. After endless dead ends I end up with a Roon Rock + a Tidal subscription. Suddenly all my music is findable, with the right art work, I click on Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello, its a fave track of mine. I am happy, then I notice that Roon is telling me that lots of others have recorded this. I click on one (by Brian Case), its completely different. And there are many many others. Suddenly a new world opens. I can't go back.