the gateway product that turned you into an audiophile

I got hooked on audio at a very young age watching the reels spinning on my dad's tape R2R tape player.  In college, I thought my JVC system was awesome, until I wandered into Buzz Jensen's Sound Advice audio store, and discovered real high-end gear.  They actually let me home-demo an NAD 3020 integrated, and it blew away my 70wpc-rated JVC receiver.   I ended up buying an NAD 3150 amp and Boston Acoustics A400 speakers.  My world was changed forever!!  I actually STILL use the 3150 amp in my garage today.     

A friend had an NAD integrated driving Klipsch Heresys and a Denon CD player in his very large basement. I was hooked. 

Kenwood model 600 intergrated amplifier.

After hearing ESL’s in 1970 and ’71, the next step was hearing Magneplanar Tympani T-I’s and the Decca Blue phono pickup in 1973. The system was brought to Livermore California by Bill Johnson, including his Audio Research SP-3, and Dual 51 and 75 power amps. Mind blown. 

Large Advents

Dad's Fisher integrated, AR TT going into AR3a.

Then he moved to AR integrated, the 3a gave way to DQ10s with SAE amp and preamp.....  The list goes on.

My first NEW personal system (at my then miniature apartment) was a massive Pioneer receiver, Meridian CD into Cambridge Soundworks

Audio Physic Step speakers

Dahlquist DQ 10s. Along with the Citation 16 that drove them. Fun times. I'm still into it big time but I have more patience and money.

@m-db I thought the first half of the documentary was exciting, I learned a lot, the 2nd half felt lazy, fell flat for me. For the greatest band of their genre there is so much more to tell - about them, the are, the story of the music, etc.

FYI ‘Beginning Led Zeppelin’ is currently available for viewing.

Billed as formally The Yardbirds I found their, take it or leave it trajectory into the music industry smartly interesting.

John Paul Jones, “I loved John Bonham’s right foot so much I’d just lay out.”

I’m waiting in that line under the Fillmore marquee.

I dabbled in mid fi stuff in the 1980’s. In the early 1990’s a local dealer , whom worked out of a Music store where I bought CD’s  sat me down and I listened to a pair of Unity Audio Fountainhead signatures. He played a cut from  Paula Abdul. I was mesmerized. I couldn’t get how that voice sounded. I ended up buying those speakers and a Musical Design amp and preamp to drive them.   

I love this thread. My first aha moment was in 1983 when I bought Celestion Ditton speakers.  Loved them.  Listened to mostly rock, new wave, alternative.  I wish I still had them

@hbarrel some of the best and purest audiophiles refuse to be called audiophiles :)

Wish I could remember. I moved out of the house when I was 18. My roommate and I both had stereo’s. Receiver, turntable, speakers. I am guessing Radio Shack. 
I do not know the definition of “audiophile”. I might not truly qualify. I am more interested in being entertained by the music than chasing gear. Not that I do not revamp my system every so often every time trying to improve what I hear. 
Not so many years left at this point in time. 

I started in my teen years. Being middle class folks, my first taste of good audio was a hand built HH SCOTT tube amp, then a Dynakit.ST-xx(i forgot and all this are surplus gear). This was all driven because my college degree was EE and Amp projects is where my interest was.

some of my family friends owned Pioneers, Sansui and Marantz. they all sounded so good, that my homebuilt HH Scott was no match. 

Since i have very limited budgets, i modified the HH SCOTT changing caps, re-bias and even doing my own transformers. finally i got it to sound as good as the modern Marantz..

Growing older and in my working life, i settled with DECWARE gear (amps and Pre) with LOWTER Acousta for the longest time.. and now, all these are gone and i have settled for Pass Labs, Falcon and ATC / REL

I forgot what amp I was using, but it as a pair of Proac Studio 1 monitors I picked up that really did it for me. I fed them with an average turntable and McIntosh C20 preamp, which prior to that I had not been able to fully appreciate. I was in my mid-20s at the time (in the mid-90s), and this was my first real experience with a 'sound stage'.

This is an excellent thread. 

The first hint for me was in the 60s, playing records on the family Magnavox console. Glenn Miller, Pete Fountain, etc. Then with my first earnings as a teenager I bought a Dual turntable and a small Marantz receiver. The first speakers were also Marantz, but were soon traded in for a pair of Epicure 100s. That might be the gateway right there. The Epicures had an interesting tweeter.

Thinking about it, the next fully confirming gateway hardware was the next change of speakers to Infinity Kappa 8, with an EMIT tweeter. I tried stacking the Epicures on top of Advent 6003s, but that didn't work so well. 

My dad sold Advent as one of his lines for a while. I still have a pair of Maestros, as back speakers for an AV system that I am not at all passionate about.

Back in the late 60's I came across a pair of voice of the theatre Altec Lansing speakers. They were originally made for movie theatres. You'd see them in the old movie houses built in the 1930-1940's off to the sides of the room which was tiered down towards the screen every few rows.Had Sony seperates at the time about 60 wpc but it was enough to make them talk pretty good. They did not have quite as much bass as I like for rock music but the mid's and high's were superb and I was hooked.

WVhen I was in college in 70’s, the campus radio station replaced much of their equipment.  I salvaged some of what had been relagted to the dump, including a pair of two-way horn monitor speakers on the Altec model, two Marantz mono preamps and a studio-quality idler-drive turntable with a classic wooden tone arm.  I dragged them around for a couple of years and loved the sound, then aventually traded or sold it all.  I truly wish I still had them!  I have never forgotten the "woody" tone of stringed instruments on that setup.

I mostly dabbled into mid Fi gear until I took the plunge and purchased a Conrad Johnson Premier 11a.   The tube magic hit me and I have been hooked ever since!!

that I didn’t notice what they were.

I try to tell that to my wife when at night she walks into them, but she DOES NOT notice or perceive how they disappear. 

Back in the 70’s my parents had a Harman/Kardon A-401 amp and Garrard Zero turntable and some big speakers that I didn’t notice what they were.

Observing others mentioning Dahlquist DQ10's brings to mind the first time I heard them at a Detroit area audio show, probably late 70's. Demo was in a smaller conference room, very nice setup, probably Audio Research gear, my best bud and I kept on going back to the room, I guess guys giving demo liked our enthusiasm so invited us for after hours listening with cocktails. Certainly made a lasting impression for me. 

@orthomead I love it!. The little series of unplanned turn of events that puts us over the fence (from where we can never come back)

Seeing and hearing the Dahlquest DQ-10 speakers at Sound Associates in Toledo Ohio, late 70’s…game changer!  My father was my biggest influence, we would go to all the local stereo stores on Saturday afternoons.

 I started with a marantz integrated with a built in turntable when I was 16.  I kept this through college and med school.  In my residency, I was gifted $500 by a staff surgeon which when pooled with some meager savings allowed me to purchase entry level Klipsch speakers.  When I started practice, I bought a NAD amp/preamp and disc player-my record collection saved (fortunately) in a closet-during the CD craze.  One day my disc player died.  Naples was a small town at that time and there was only one HI-FI store.  They had a Meridian disc player on sale for $3500.  This for us was an immense amount of money at that time and I was sure my wife-AKA CFO-would shoot this crazy idea down. I was actually scared to make the call to her.  To my great surprise she said it was a good month and we had the funds and to go ahead and get it. I couldn't believe it.  Anyhow, the sales person kept going on and on about how great this player was, that I was gonna hear all kinds of things I never had before, blah, blah blah.  He even said that I would call him the minute I got home after playing a  disc.  I thought-enough BS, you've already made the sale.  When I got home, I set it up,  put in a well known disc and I couldn't believe my ears! It was exactly as he said.  That moment was when I fully understood the difference between higher end and mid range gear and the immense improvements to be had.  From that point on there was no going back.  Over the next 20 years I have slowly put together what I feel is a great system. But, that was the gateway moment.   And yes, I did make that phone call.

Going from a small portable mono Sears Silverton record player,(Xmas present when 8), to a Magnavox Sterophonic suit case size record player when 12. Upgrading from mono to stereo was the hook. Cream, Jimi Hendrix,Blue Cheer and more was the music of choice.

Speakers:  first LS3/5a, followed by Dahlquest DQ-10 (first open baffle I believe) later mirage M3s (bipoles) and currently wide dispersion box speakers (underwood floor standing).

Mine was car stereo in high school.  I remember sitting in the driveway at 11pm and my Dad came out to see what I was doing, and I was just listening to Brothers in Arms on the system I just put in my car.  Magical.

My first setup was from Tech hifi $200 system with a Rotel receiver Garrard TT and Bose 301. Nobody I hung with heard of Rotel and gave me a "what's this "?  Who knew they would be highly regarded decades later............

Later I upgraded to the Advent receiver using the great preamp/phono section to a Quad 303 and Maggies in the mid-seventies. It's been a wonderful journey.

I should try the Lintons again @lanx0003 I have read so many great things about them. I definitely love the looks but they weren't a good fit with my old amp.

I think the first time I heard baba o’reilly while stoned I was hooked. Hardware would be the realistic sta 235b and pair of Bose 901 VI.

@gano  I would attribute my gateway gear to the Wharfedale Linton speakers. My amplifier purchase was pretty straightforward—I’ve kept all three power/integrated amps I bought and never looked back. The speakers (and later, the DAC), however, were a different story. I home-auditioned three sets of speakers before finally settling on the Lintons. I’d say these speakers can be a bit unforgiving with poorly recorded material, but when the setup and synergy are right, the payoff is tremendous. They deliver a spacious soundstage, natural tonality and agile bass. That’s the fundamental reason they set me on a long journey into music listening—I wanted to tame this feral horse.

I started with Crazy Eddie in JHS, then Tech HiFi in HS. But the product that got me into audio was a pair of small B&W DM17 speakers that I bought in the late 70's from the first real audio store I ever made a purchase from. After getting married I took a long leave from audio equipment, but then I read about and bought a pair of KEF LS50 speakers that got me started again.

When I bought my first pair of Magnepans, MGIIa, 1980.

yes @lanx0003 but there must have been a moment (in one you were lanx0002, in the next one 0003 - the audiophile) and in that moment something triggered you?

It’s the process—the ongoing fine‑tuning of the entire system setup—that makes me feel like a true audiophile, rather than any single component or piece of gear.

I hadn't remembered that... but college and drugs certainly didn't curtail my passion for music. 

Green grass and high tides forever. . . .

Sorry, my first stereo (above) included AR-4 speakers.  Forgot to mention them.

My Gateway may seem a little obscure, but it is true. When I was between two and three years of age I needed to have my tonsils removed (I'm 82 and it used to be a common practice.) My grandmother owned a funeral home and it was decided to give me a treat by letting me ride to the hospital in the funeral home's hearse. For kicks (so I was told) my uncle turned on the siren and the "music" from the siren is my first experience of any kind that I can remember. I have been chasing amazing audio experiences ever since. My first audiophile product was the trumpet I began playing in fourth grade followed by a 45 rpm turntable which was purchased after hearing Elvis singing Heartbreak Hotel. Becoming a serious audiophile happened when I heard a pair of Rogers LS35A speakers. The imaging blew my mind and I was hooked. A lot of audio gear has been bought and sold over the years and my current system consisting of Tannoy speakers, an Aric Audio Preamp, LTA DAC, Brinkmann Bardo TT/Hana Red, and First Watt SIT 5 monoblocs keep the adventure alive.

I hadn't remembered that... but college and drugs certainly didn't curtail my passion for music. 

I don't know that there was one product that did it. I've always liked music, but mostly it used to be for (long ago, background at parties or getting high)  or later in life when I was doing other tasks.  When I got into Dolby Prologic, someone turned me onto the idea of getting a subwoofer and speakers to accompany a sub; after that someone came over to watch The Wall live at Berlin and  that person started talking to me about better end audio and because of him I bought a Carver vacuum tube CDP; a  while later I bought Cary's entry level tube amp and a separate HT digital pre and some better cables and interconnects, and it was at that point that I truly got interested in what upgrades would do to my dedicated listening experience.

Then it was, "Let the arms race begin."

Not Such a Product that made the change, but a change of attitude.

I walked in another direction to meeting with Sales Team Members and being informed of how I should Listen and being told what devices I should be looking to exchange for new wares in the Store.

I started to meet with individuals in the know about producing bespoke item audio devices and it did not take too much investigation of what was achievable, before I had my first order placed for a commission build.

Today very little in the system is not commission built, the system is bespoke in many ways.   

I think it was Panama red 

My journey started when I purchased my 1st vinyl record, Linkin Parks Hybrid Theory. I had no player, no system no nothing. I only bought the album as a way to remember and have something in memory of Chester Benningtons after his passing. I ended up buying a few LP posters and another vinyl record of theirs a few months later. And now owning a few records and appreciating the art and reading how so many enjoyed the sound of records my curiosity began to get the best of me. SInce I had the record I began to tell myself, it would be neat if I could play it. Knowing nothing about nothing when it came to audiophile gear I went into a audiophile shop here in northern Ca ran by a couple from England who introduced me to all sorts of very interesting equipment. The sticker prices were a little shock to the system especially when your new, but I eventually settled on a very lightly used Naim amp, focal speaker and rega tt. That was my first sytem, I’ve had many since, and today have what I consider my end game system. That being said I still have my first sytem. 

@mapman   Tech Hi Fi in Livonia Michigan.

JBL L-110 at Tech Hi Fi in 1979

Which TEch Hifi?   I worked there around then in New Brunswick NJ store.  I remember those JBL well.

This has been interesting, particularly how influential the '70s decade has been in the audio hobby.

For me there was no identifiable time I became an "audiophile".  But it started with music, Vaughn Monroe's "Ghost Riders In The Sky" when I was 7.  Growing up there was often music in the house from my parent's consoles.  In junior high I got a portable (suitcase style) mono player with BSR changer and AM, when I began collecting 45s.  That survived through high school when I began buying LPs, and on until half way through college when I built my first stereo system - Dynakit ST-70, PAS-3, FM-3, and Dual 1009 with Empire cartridge.

Over the years I've owned an uncounted number of components but music always came first, with an effort to simply have a system which maximized the listening experience.

JBL L-110 at Tech Hi Fi in 1979. conrad-johnson Premier One in 1982 solidified my passion for HEA. Returned to Tech Hi Fi in 1982 and came home with a pair of Ohm Walsh 2’s. FWIW the salesman would not sell me the speakers until I brought a parent with me. I was 17 but could easily have passed for 14.