Lefisc
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My discovery of High End…and, although I didn’t think of it at the time, Home Theater.
A poster triggered my memories of this, when I posted a casual picture I took and recently found) of my 1988 system. Just so you don’t have to look again, the picture is below.
I loved music and worked hard to get my “stereo” at home to sound like real music. I went up the ladder of components, but generally stuck to one dealer. Leonard’s Radio.
In 1985 or so, Leonard’s was typical of the many dealers in the New York area at the time. Most of their store consisted of consumer oriented and priced components, including receivers, turntables, speakers and this new fangled thing, a CD player. I wonder if it would last. 25% of the store had “mid-fi” stuff: more expensive receivers, separates, speakers etc. As CD players took off, many hi-fi stores displayed CDs, usually selling for $20-25. The consumer and “mid-Fi” sections all had dozens on speakers all out on display, all mingled together, turned on and off by a “control board.” Sadly, not every receiver or amp was connected so it was not likely that you’d hear the receiver you selected play the speakers you wanted to hear. Stores often had a display for “Audio, ” “Stereo Review” and other (worthless!!!) magazines that promoted the products they sold.
Many stores, Leonard’s included, had a small room in the back for “High-End,” which for them meant McIntosh.
What you see in the picture, is Leonard’s loaning me a Mac pre-amp. But something else.
Since I always considered myself a two channel guy, I never realized that my route to high end stereo started with Home Theatre.
You see, a brand new Tower Records opened near me!!! I went and while waiting on line, picked up two digest sized magazines I had never seen before: Stereophile and the Absolute Sound. Without getting into a commercial for these publications, they showed me products with brand names I had never heard of and stores that I never knew about. My world was about to change.
My first step into high end was actually the Shure 5200 Surround Sound, reviewed in that issue of Stereophile. It compared it to other brands, like Consumer Reports does and it sounded like a perfect edition to my stereo. I went to Leonard’s and asked if they had that, and if they had these other brands Krell, Mark Levenson, Classe and Conrad Johnson. The salesperson looked at me with distain and said, “You don’t want to get into that stuff.” And then he told me how Mac as just as good.
Well, I went deep into the big city and got Shure. While at this new store, full of products I never heard of, I asked to listen to amps. Gosh was I impressed. And they had small private rooms where they brought in the stuff you asked to hear, it was not stuffed with other equipment. They told me I could borrow an amp if I’d liked. (Borrow means taking the floor model home putting the floor model on my credit card).
Later I set up my Shure and loved it. TV started broadcasting in stereo by the mid 1980s and, although we forget now, the first decade of 4 and 5 speaker surround sound came from stereo, two channel sources. I loved shows like Star Trek, The Next Generation
So checking out my two new magazine sources, I borrowed their ML 27.5 stereo amp and loved it too. They said though, that a pre-amp made the biggest difference, something at that time I was not too sure about. I returned to Leonard’s, and sort of putting down the ML and Krell stuff, he had me take home a Mac pre amp and try it. (I suspect, but don’t remember that might be why I took the picture…with the ML amp hidden). It was better than what I had, but when I put in the ML pre-amp, with balanced wires (which I had not heard of until then) I was bowled over. And I was being drawn into the Dark Side of High end Stereo!!! While the Dark Side meant Krell and ML to my old dealer it meant to me that could get black components. But these new stores and new brands introduced me to new, incredible speakers: Thiel, B and W; Revel, Wilson, etc.
And i learned that when the sound was right...with the right preamp, amp and speakers, you didn't need an expensive equalizer, which I had bought earlier.
The Shure lasted until another major change in audio, led by Home Theatre: Digital sound was taking over everything. There was a time I didn’t know about Dolby Digital, 5 channel Discrete Sound or 5.1 (what the hell was a .1?); THX, DTS, or even DAC. I had a Laser Disc, which used the Shure, but TV was changing and so were the discs. I now need a Surround Unit that could process all those signals. I found it in the (Mark Levinson) Proceed PAV and later its upgrade. The ML came out with the 40 and then 502.
But by the late 1980s stores such as Leonard’s began to disappear. There were once dozens of them in lower Manhattan, many of whom had big mail order components, selling these things at lower prices. Some, like Leonard’s moved to New Jersey or the outer boroughs for cheaper rents, but failed. Quickly, there were almost none.
Many High End only stores opened, but the smaller “mid-fi” and consumer oriented stereo stores began to disappear with every recession. Most but not all of the High End stores faded away by the year 2000.
And then so much of the digital combined with the Home Theatre products that when I got the Krell 707, I sold my two channel preamp. My VCRs, external TV tuner, cable box are all “combined” into a DVR. My radio is now digital and used the DAC in the Krell.
I always considered myself a two channel guy. Until I put up this picture, I didn’t connect that my journey to High End was led by the digital path of Home Theater. They found each other in my living room and I hope they live happily after.
A poster triggered my memories of this, when I posted a casual picture I took and recently found) of my 1988 system. Just so you don’t have to look again, the picture is below.
I loved music and worked hard to get my “stereo” at home to sound like real music. I went up the ladder of components, but generally stuck to one dealer. Leonard’s Radio.
In 1985 or so, Leonard’s was typical of the many dealers in the New York area at the time. Most of their store consisted of consumer oriented and priced components, including receivers, turntables, speakers and this new fangled thing, a CD player. I wonder if it would last. 25% of the store had “mid-fi” stuff: more expensive receivers, separates, speakers etc. As CD players took off, many hi-fi stores displayed CDs, usually selling for $20-25. The consumer and “mid-Fi” sections all had dozens on speakers all out on display, all mingled together, turned on and off by a “control board.” Sadly, not every receiver or amp was connected so it was not likely that you’d hear the receiver you selected play the speakers you wanted to hear. Stores often had a display for “Audio, ” “Stereo Review” and other (worthless!!!) magazines that promoted the products they sold.
Many stores, Leonard’s included, had a small room in the back for “High-End,” which for them meant McIntosh.
What you see in the picture, is Leonard’s loaning me a Mac pre-amp. But something else.
Since I always considered myself a two channel guy, I never realized that my route to high end stereo started with Home Theatre.
You see, a brand new Tower Records opened near me!!! I went and while waiting on line, picked up two digest sized magazines I had never seen before: Stereophile and the Absolute Sound. Without getting into a commercial for these publications, they showed me products with brand names I had never heard of and stores that I never knew about. My world was about to change.
My first step into high end was actually the Shure 5200 Surround Sound, reviewed in that issue of Stereophile. It compared it to other brands, like Consumer Reports does and it sounded like a perfect edition to my stereo. I went to Leonard’s and asked if they had that, and if they had these other brands Krell, Mark Levenson, Classe and Conrad Johnson. The salesperson looked at me with distain and said, “You don’t want to get into that stuff.” And then he told me how Mac as just as good.
Well, I went deep into the big city and got Shure. While at this new store, full of products I never heard of, I asked to listen to amps. Gosh was I impressed. And they had small private rooms where they brought in the stuff you asked to hear, it was not stuffed with other equipment. They told me I could borrow an amp if I’d liked. (Borrow means taking the floor model home putting the floor model on my credit card).
Later I set up my Shure and loved it. TV started broadcasting in stereo by the mid 1980s and, although we forget now, the first decade of 4 and 5 speaker surround sound came from stereo, two channel sources. I loved shows like Star Trek, The Next Generation
So checking out my two new magazine sources, I borrowed their ML 27.5 stereo amp and loved it too. They said though, that a pre-amp made the biggest difference, something at that time I was not too sure about. I returned to Leonard’s, and sort of putting down the ML and Krell stuff, he had me take home a Mac pre amp and try it. (I suspect, but don’t remember that might be why I took the picture…with the ML amp hidden). It was better than what I had, but when I put in the ML pre-amp, with balanced wires (which I had not heard of until then) I was bowled over. And I was being drawn into the Dark Side of High end Stereo!!! While the Dark Side meant Krell and ML to my old dealer it meant to me that could get black components. But these new stores and new brands introduced me to new, incredible speakers: Thiel, B and W; Revel, Wilson, etc.
And i learned that when the sound was right...with the right preamp, amp and speakers, you didn't need an expensive equalizer, which I had bought earlier.
The Shure lasted until another major change in audio, led by Home Theatre: Digital sound was taking over everything. There was a time I didn’t know about Dolby Digital, 5 channel Discrete Sound or 5.1 (what the hell was a .1?); THX, DTS, or even DAC. I had a Laser Disc, which used the Shure, but TV was changing and so were the discs. I now need a Surround Unit that could process all those signals. I found it in the (Mark Levinson) Proceed PAV and later its upgrade. The ML came out with the 40 and then 502.
But by the late 1980s stores such as Leonard’s began to disappear. There were once dozens of them in lower Manhattan, many of whom had big mail order components, selling these things at lower prices. Some, like Leonard’s moved to New Jersey or the outer boroughs for cheaper rents, but failed. Quickly, there were almost none.
Many High End only stores opened, but the smaller “mid-fi” and consumer oriented stereo stores began to disappear with every recession. Most but not all of the High End stores faded away by the year 2000.
And then so much of the digital combined with the Home Theatre products that when I got the Krell 707, I sold my two channel preamp. My VCRs, external TV tuner, cable box are all “combined” into a DVR. My radio is now digital and used the DAC in the Krell.
I always considered myself a two channel guy. Until I put up this picture, I didn’t connect that my journey to High End was led by the digital path of Home Theater. They found each other in my living room and I hope they live happily after.
