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Memories........What made you catch the Audio Bug?

I remember back in high school, my ''industrial arts'' teacher was an avid audiophile and music lover. We are going back to '73 now. I remember one day being very different from any other. Upon entering class for our usual 40 minutes of the usual wood-cutting and bird-cage building routine,(some of us were luckier, getting ,'design' classes instead) we found our teacher,Ed, busy at setting up an LP on a Thorens turntable. Alongside, some strange, industrial-looking brown and orange boxes (QUAD) and a cloth-wrapped box with the initals B&W on them. He informed us that, today, we would discover something new, ''high-Fidelity'' as he called it.

We all sat in awe as our teacher put the SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts on full blast, to the amazement of everyone in the room. Wow! What was THAT? The equipment, the sound, the MUSIC was unlike anything most of us had ever seen or heard. I remember thinking to myself, now this is how the Beatles really sound like? I just could not beleive it.

I remember that we had no quality music equipement in our home back then, as with most other kids.

It was just amazing. Word got around that 'something special was happening, in industrial art's class. Turned out the topic of the week was 'high-fidelity' discovery I guess, as every other class in turn got the same treatment all week long.

The Following year, our teacher somehow managed to get the school board to approve a special ''equipement'' expenditure, officially probably a vacuum system, or new circular saw, or band saw, whatever. The class built a special wooden closet complete with locks, to accept the new ''equipement''. When it finally arrived, holy smokes, a McIntosh amplifier and preamp, with Thorens turntable !

We ended up ''founding'' an audiophile club at school, and would have students spend their lunch hour seating in a closed room in complete darkness, listening to a complete album...against a 10 cent fee that we would keep to buy records !

If you are reading this ED, these 30 years old memories are as fresh in my mind as yesterday. Thank you so very much for sharing your passion with us, and opening our eyes to so many horizons, music being just one of them.

Just wondering how others in this forum got the audio bug also?
sonicbeauty
64 responses Add your response
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
When I was really little during the early '60's my Dad allowed me too play records on his big console turntable. Some were those party tune albums with little kids wearing fun hats and eating ice cream on the album cover, but that's also when I also discovered Chet Atkins' In Hollywood LP.

Around 1969-70 my Dad brought home and unboxed a Sansui receiver, BSR Turntable, KLH speakers, an 8-track, and a Sony reel-to-reel. I would say this is when my love of good sounding music was born.

But it wasn't until four years ago when I truly started to assemble a system worthy of Audiogon notice. Thanks to an inherent pack rat gene, and the generosity of A'Gon member Sherod, we still have this system sans the BSR. I should post it some time in my virtual system.
islandear
208 posts
 
My dad had a Telefunken hi-fi set and a fairly decent collection of LPs...we listened to Brubeck, Miles, Pete Fountain, Chet Baker, Satchmo, Ellington, and even lesser names like Acker Bilk and Bert Kaempfert. My sisters got portable record players early on and I inherited an old Silvertone upright console when I was about thirteen. The first LP I ever bought, about 1958, was a Christmas gift for my folks called 'Cool Swedish Jazz'. I'm sure they were surprised (and hopefully pleased) by the gift but I don't remember the recording at all. The earliest record I can remember buying for myself was Dave 'Baby' Cortez' 45, Happy Organ...I was hooked.
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
As most my age, I grew up with some sort of radio, but we also had a 'hi-fi" in the basement and as kids we could spin all the discs we wanted, my Dad had quite a few, I never thought until now where these LP's are today. Furthermore, my Dad purchased a Jukebox that was adapted to not need money and us kids spent many hours playing records and shooting pool in the basement.

In high school a good friend had a stereo and this also played a part in my audiophile adventure.

(I just called my Dad and asked about those LP's, he said they are sitting in his barn. I will be interested to see what is there.)
mfc28412
15 posts
 
back in 74 in college got an antec lancing receiver that cradled a garrard turntable on top-as one piece--along with braun speakers (soon to be ads) this was coming up from the zenith flip top record player so i would turn that thing up!! it had tons of distortion but i did not know it then---i also did not know that i would upgrade every two to three years one or two pieces for the next 30 years---going from braun to ads 810 to fried to metronone 7 and sub woofer to linn to vandersteen 1s then to 2ci then finally vandy 3siga
ellery911
549 posts
 
Mine started in the 70's when I would sneak my Frampton Comes Alive album onto my dad's fisher system insted of my fold out record player.
french_fries
815 posts
 
in a word- reel to reel tape recorders; i.e.-
sony/concord/ampex/scully/rogers/teac-tascam/magnacord/crown/revox-studer/stella/nagra/otari...
ehoehn
169 posts
 
The first time I listened to to Sgt Peppers on headphones
dlr
201 posts
 
My wife went the other direction. Her dad liked smooth jazz which he played in the car on excruciatingly long and boring road trips. She used to get carsick a lot so now she associates jazz or audiophile music with nausea. I can`t play that music while she is around. The first time I heard B&W speakers about 20 years ago was the beginning of my journey. It was at Hudson`s Audio in Albuquerque. I was bitten. I bought the DM330`s but lusted for the Matrix 3's. 5 years ago I found a mint pair for $400 and am in hog heaven.
hhh
75 posts
 
My addiction started in the late 50's with my parents passion for Music compounded by my dad always having GREAT audio equipment around.
Quad
Collaro (any body old enough to remember)
Decca
Grundig
etc
pragmatist
336 posts
 
My father building Heathkits. At the time there was no vacine and the bug bit right into my bloodstream and stayed there.
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
The (Motown Sound)!... It was back in the early 60's that I first heard this big-bold wall of sound. Hooked from that point on.

Dave
imin2u
392 posts
 
Most think I have William's desease. It was covered on 60 Min's last night. You basically have music in you and you don't know why.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
In the beginning of 80's audio equipment in Russia was stepping behind 70's or even tube 60's equipment of other countries such as UK and US thus beginning an age of Russian high-end.
Anyone who loved music would certainly prefere to hear it more clear.
Whoever was able to acquire Shure cartridge had certainly more superior system than others who couldn't.
I firstly had mono tube radiola i.e. one-box turntable SW/AM/FM radio and 5w amp and happened to love music of different kinds: Shostakovitz, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Glenn Miller etc... since I was a little kid... When I was a guest of my friend who's father was contracting in Iraq I saw his record player is separate with receiver and speakers are separate too and it sounded realy great especially compared to my tube radiola. When I brought my records to listen, I was realy surprised and dreamed of something similar or even better and here it all started...
It wasn't only happening with me but with many other kids and adults. My parents didn't understand me but despite that my dad brought me from factory a real good output tubes so I could build my own 2-ch amplifier.
Having taken appart my tube radiola that I hated after listening to a descent equipment I started to study and DIY...
slipknot1
1,423 posts
 
What a great story!

My own is not quite as good, but here goes (I think I've told this one in these forums before): When I was very young, my dad would listen to jazz after we kids went to bed. I remember hearing the great masters playing softly coming from "somewhere" downstairs, and being young, wondering when all the musicians showed up at our house.
I used to sneak down to the landing to peek into the living room to see them, but they were never there. The lights were low so it was hard to tell. As I got older my dad turned me on to all the discs he had and how to operate his "record player". My dad is gone now, but every time I play an LP that really sends a shiver up my spine, I smile and think of him. Thanks dad for giving me a lifetime love.
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