the gateway product that turned you into an audiophile

My first experience with "separates" was back in the early '80's. I was cruising around Jafco in Bellevue, WA and came across a used Phase Linear 3300 preamp sitting on a discount shelf. I didn't know anything about it, other than it looked cool. So I bought it. My "gateway" because now I needed an amp, speakers, turntable, interconects, quality speaker cables, etc. with infinite upgrade possibilities! Little did I know then that the beginning of my journey started with a product from a local guy named Bob Carver, who started Phase Linear, sold it, and started Carver Corp in 1979, and who didn't live too far from me.

Adcom separates, sometime in the 80’s.

I grew up listening to classical music my dad played on his system which started out as AR 3a speakers driven by a Fisher receiver with a garrard turntable.. Sometime in the mid 70s, he graduated to a Mac receiver, ADS 420s and subwoofer and a Dual turntable. 

He then bought the ADS digital delay system which drove a pair of rear speakers. It certainly created the illusion of a more spacious environment but the effect was better on some recordings than others . My appetite was whetted.

In the early 80s, I bought a Denon integrated amp and matching tuner from Glenn Poor’s in Champaign, paired with ADS 410 speakers which I really liked. 

My roomate (I was in college) and I went in and bought a pair of used Ohm Fs. Where he found them, I’ve no idea. He also had the DBX 3Bx dynamic range expander. Another roomate had a Hafler amplifier which we drove with the preamp out of my integrated to power the Ohms. It sounded pretty remarkable even though the Hafler was woefully underpowered for the Ohms. Though my turntable was clearly a weak link (Harmon Kardon with an Ortofon cartridge), I can still remember listening to the finale of Shostakovich Symphony 5 in awe. I was hooked.

Two phases: college/early 20’s. My dad has Heathkit AR-15, Rectilinear speakers and a turntable (?) with a Shure V-15 Type III and then Type IV cartridges and a large classical record collection. So I was raised right. 🙂 My first system was a NAD 7020 and eventually a Thorens TD-145 with a Shure V-15 (must have been my Dad’s type III hand-me-down, can’t remember anymore). And a crap tape deck to keep from wearing out the vinyl.  I also had access at the time to a Nakamich 680ZX because the owner lived in Las Vegas and I lived near the Nakamichi service center in Santa Monica and it needed service at least twice. So it lived at my place until it went home to its owner. I think I got the NAD and the Thorens from Accurate Audio in Santa Monica.

Second phase: I had a girlfriend with mid-80’s AR separates, an Oracle TT, and Vandersteen speakers. Great girlfriend, right? ❤️ Her system was pretty sublime and well set-up. We broke up when I moved to Santa Cruz and after a while I went to Bay Area Audio to audition the just-released baby Thiel’s (CS .5). Don’t know the model numbers but the demo system was top of the line AR separates and a Cal Audio CD player into those Thiels. Knocked my ****in’ socks off.  That’s when I first heard air, separation, etc. etc. I was hooked.  It took me a really long time, but I ended up with a version of that system that I use today. Linn Klimax Organik DAC (Qobuz) into AR Ref 75SE into a pair of those baby Thiels. Audience AU SE cables mostly. Oh, and a perfectly serviced Nakamichi 680XZ and the original TD-145 TT into a PS Audio phono preamp. 🙂 We have two other systems (Thiel 1.5, PS Audio DirectStream Mk. I w/ Bridge II, LFD NCSE II) and (LFD LE IV, Rega Planet 2000, B+W Nautilus 805’s). The Linn/REF75SE system is by far the best sounding.

So I guess the answer for me is really Audio Research amps.