the gateway product that turned you into an audiophile


@foggyus91 suggested/pushed/encouraged me to start a thread about this. It was related to Darko's post about 12 audiophile misconceptions. One was that we are all about music - vs gear. I think that subject has been chewed up already a 100 times. I am not sure anyone has anything new to say. 

However, that made me think about the day I turned into an audiophile.

It was when I bought my first "gateway" product that was affordable but audiophile quality and led me to explore more and tweak and switch and experiment and never be fully content but always be smiling when I turned the power on. It's been about the sound and not the music and that's fine. But I realize now that those Monitor Audio speakers I bought from craigslist were my gateway drug  devil

Were you always an audiophile or was there such a moment and a piece of hardware that made the difference?

 

(Lastly, I am very uneasy and on the fence about this forum and starting a thread - for my last correspondence with the moderators. What I learned should bother anyone who cares about fairness or even the appearance of it. I can't discuss it because it will get removed - I tried, my comment lived for less than 5 minutes, )

 

gano

My father’s HH Scott 222 integrated amp, a Garrad turntable and a pair of 15 inch full range drivers of unknown origin listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in the 8th grade. The local hifi shop had a pair of Klipschhorns that were so spooky…now I have four pair of Klipsch speakers driven by a host of tube amps.

12 yo me....Hitachi receiver, technics? tt, ?speakers, but it was the Capitol Record Club that was the clincher.

18 yo me....Nad integrated, Thorens TT, Bose speakers

60 yo me....Kef LS50 clinched it along with time and modest funds.

i gotta say it was probably an 80s nad 3300 integrated--not a great piece by objective standards, but considerably more "hifi" than the mass market stuff i'd been listening to previously. expensive hobby in any case.

As already mentioned hearing the Magnepan Tympani speakers producing solo violin was the start for me.  I was using Ohm Walsh speakers with SAE and Phase Linear electronics.  I wish I still had room for that system.  The Lafayette KT-550 tube power amp also blew me away.  Still have that sucker! 

In 1978 working as a carpenters helper I sold my soul for Klipsch LaScala, Mac 2500 and Mac preamp, wish I still owned that system.