I remember when Yamaha became one of the first line of Japanese made electronics that became accepted by many "audiophiles". The B-1 and B-2 were very interesting in their day.
What were some of your early Hi-End audio gear/influences?
I am now in my late '60s and became interested in "real" audio gear in 1968. KLH compact stereo, Dynaco, Garrard/BSR and more.
I have owned most of the brands that you would associate with hi-end audio. That said, I don't think any other product had as much influence on setting me down the road to the "real" music sound quality than the original Large Advent. Thank you Mr. Kloss.
I have owned most of the brands that you would associate with hi-end audio. That said, I don't think any other product had as much influence on setting me down the road to the "real" music sound quality than the original Large Advent. Thank you Mr. Kloss.
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@gillatgh: "today's worst will beat yesterday's best every time." There you go again. So the latest mass-market Onkyo preamp beats a 70's Audio Research SP3? And you might want to A/B a pair of 50's Quads against a pair of current big box store cheapies. I would avoid such extreme, absolute pronouncements, but that's just me. |
@keegiam , that depends on how old you are. The best of the 50s does not come close to the worst of the 90s. Certainly there is the best of any timeframe and still a good listen but trying to compare it equally with the best current offering it can never be as good. Technology advances. That's not to say that yesterday's best cannot be better than today's worst. But at some point, depending how far back you go, today's worst will beat yesterday's best every time. IMO |
Two big steps for me. In high school I got a Fisher 105 compact FM/phono 3 piece system and it totally blew away my parents’ Magnavox console. Almost 30 years later, I replaced my aging Rectilinear III Highboys with a pair of Thiel 3.6s. The quantum leap in sound quality sent me down the upgrade path for the rest of my system. |
When I was dropping out of high school to start college early (Spring semester, I had my classes picked out, was all set) there was a ridiculous couple of weeks I had to wait for my paperwork to go through...lame but meh...so I hung out in the library reading piles of New Yorkers and whatever hifi mags were around in '68...I think that's what got me into hifi, although I was already a working musician building little PA systems for myself. Soon after I scored my first Real Good system...a KLH Model 20 compact thing that sounded great, mostly due to the speakers...had that sucker for years. |
When I graduated High School in June 1971, most of my friends bought motorcycles with their graduation money. I didn't, I bought a Sansui 30wpc receiver, Rectilinear 1a speakers, Garrard turntable with a Shure MM cartridge, and a Sony Dolby B cassette recorder. This was Sony's first Dolby B cassette deck. Since then I have spent way upwards of 6 figures on my audio addiction spanning 50 years. Thankfully, I am extremely happy now and do not have any desire to do any major changes. I may still futz with interconnects a bit but that is only if I see a real good deal here. |
My passion began around 1989 with a modest pair of Yamaha full range speakers with big 12” woofers, a modest Yamaha stereo amp and a Sony CD Player that I begged my dad for and he saved for months to get me for my birthday (we were a blue collar family and this was a huge expense). I carried that rig to college, to NY for my first job and back to Atlanta for my second job before upgrading them. I am sure they would hurt my ears today, but they still sound amazing in my memory and remind me of my dad to this day. |
In college, a friend's AR-5's and AR turntable, driven by a Tiger .01 amp, which was a kit (can't recall the pre-amp). The quiet background, clean sound and bass extension got me hooked on good gear. My subscription to TAS started with Issue No. 6. 43 years ago I bought my 1st system: Dahlquist DQ-10a's, Harmon Kardon TT with Rabco straight-tracking arm, Soundcraftsman pre-amp and Dynaco ST-400 amp. Heaven. |
I agree , the large Advent sent me down that same road. It is on the list of the 12 most significant speakers of all time!! http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-12-most-significant-loudspeakers-of-all-time/ |
Sad to say, but when I heard Bose in college, I was hooked on hifi. Let's see. I know I had a pair of AR speakers that were small bookshelf speaker/monitors that had an unusual shape- the outer edges were tapered. I also ran another pair of bookshelf speaker with them, with impressive results, but I can't remember the name, nor the receiver I used, but it was pretty good. (God knows what strain I put on that amp). Unfortunately, I sold it to a deadbeat who never paid me. And, a pair of BIC SoundSpan speakers that weren't bad in retrospect. I believe there is another speaker maker using a similar design now. And, a pair of Tamanton speakers that were built in Williamsburg, Brooklyn-very close to a pair of Vandy 2's, but a bit less expensive. Unfortunately, Anton got out of the business. Though it was nice to meet a speaker designer and his wife (and child). I hope they are doing well. Lots of speakers later, I eventually heard of Vandersteen. They were a ground breaker that I always remembered. Though Magnepan, Shahinian, Quad, and even Ohm piqued my interest. After 30 years of building my business, I finally got to the point of getting back into stereo. That Vandy sound stuck with me, and I was happy to find them still in business. My Treo's are one heck of a speaker. Bob |
Hail Kloss, original Large Advents for me too. Had them for 20 years or so, powered by a Heathkit kit integrated amp, & a Fisher/Shure TT/cart. Later assembled Dynaco pre & power amp for them too. As a young teen I was mesmerized by the sound of a church room stereo, with medium sized KLH speakers, that's what first hooked me. |
