I would say audio enthusiast before becoming an audiophile; JBL L100 speakers at 17 years of age. Then when I purchased a used pair of Aerial Acoustic Model 5 speakers in my 50s I became an audiophile. My first exposure to audio was taking a handheld am/fm transistor, 9 volt, radio and connecting it to a Heath Kit 2 way speaker. The speaker had a 10 inch woofer and two 5 inch midrange cones. It was and looked just like an AR2a minus the tweeter. (I owned pair given to me in college. great sound just not the same ump as the L100's) I used a mono mini earplug that had alligator clips on the end to connect to the speaker at around 10 years of age. That wire opened up a whole new world to me as the sound from that speaker far outweighed the hand held radio. I guess this was my first foray into separate components!
