What was the first major component/system that turned you..?????

[Ritmo]

This was my first Hifi, I used to record Don Kirshners Rock Concert from the TV to the casstte

Funny, I remember those units.

 

[Ritmo]

For me it started with my father’s stereo in the late 60’s. He had a Dual or Garard TT with a Fisher receiver and a acoustic research speakers. As he upgraded, I was able to “inherit” or “lever” some of his old gear. Like some others here, I worked in a stereo store over summer and winter college breaks.

While I’ve been in the hobby for over 40 years, I’ve had several periods in which I walked away from it all. In 1998 I sold my Linn LP-12 and my vinyl collection. That same year I sold my Magnepan 2.5Rs, Aragon 24K and 4004 and Esoteric CD player. Moved to video/home theater for a few years - Denon AVR, Laserdisc, B&W Nautilus speakers and Velodine speakers - to this day I regret that move but such is life.

In 2005, I came back to the channel world and have been updating and enjoying music more than ever before.

 

[João Miguel]

For me was the first amp that i’ve bought with my money, the NAD 3020. At the time we had the Sony stereo in the living room, and in my room was an old white all in one TT, receiver and amp, can’t remember the brand but I think it was German. I’ve connected the NAD to the speakers of that system and a audiophile was born.

 

[petek]

It seems in my youth I never got to enjoy anything but the cheaper off the shelf component. Then I went straight into the beginnings of home theater.
It has been fairly recently (within the last 4 or 5 years) that I was sitting in my office at home staring at the same 100 or so records I amassed in the late 70s to mid 80s and thought I ought to do something with them. So got out my old Technics SBL-2, bought a Realistic receiver on e-bay, went to Sound Gallery and got a set of Advent Smallers.

Then I said wow this could probably sound better---got a Project Debut Carbon with Ortofon Red. Then...oh let me get a beefier amp and some modern speakers. Off to MusicDirect for a Luxman 505uX and some Epos Elan 15s. Then oh wow the cart could be better. Denon Moving coil here I come. About the same time I decided dual sealed SVS subs would be a grand idea---and it was.

Next it was John Freeman of The Magnolias and his reconditioned Pioneer vintage tables that caught my eye. Had to have one. Oh and while feeling the nostalgia how about a 3 head Kenwood too.

Meanwhile I was amassing records like no tomorrow and quickly accumulated a thousand or so.

So it was let's get a "high end" (to me) turntable....I got a C Sharp by EAT from AA with the black Quintet Ortofon installed. Love Jozefina and her company and I imagine I will be "needing" a set of her "88" tubes next year. The EAT was the 1st upgrade that made me say WOW. And of course the Spin Clean changed to a Nitty Gritty.

And of course who hasn't had their lustful eyes and heart set on some blue metered and tubed McIntosh gear? I hooked right up with AC in NY for the preamp. Used that baby and then said ok that is awesome, need the amps. And off to find a dealer in Lake Travis (Austin) who in a month or so had me some monoblocks. And that has been the next upgrade to allow me to say WOW.

I am pretty happy now and am trying out some Cullen Cables and a Dectet this weekend that I am sure I will enjoy.

I almost forgot discovering Tidal and the Dragonfly a few or so months back. It can be stellar too. A real toss up between the best stuff on Tidal and a well mastered and sound engineered (I like sounds that are separated throughout the sound field) and noise free record.

Up to 1300 records now and I am hoping that I can keep resisting trying out different speakers. Right now there are no SOUND reason(s) (haha) to.

So short story is every upgrade made a difference especially and initially the Luxman Integrated, but the EAT, the subs, and the Mcs have really made the WOW factor.

 

[nicoff]

 

[Kingsrule]

1972 I was selling audio at Playback in Ft.Wayne, IN. I thought I knew everything about hi-fi. Phase Linear was king. A regular customer says to me after a few months of us bantering "u don't know anything about good sound". Get a Saturday off and I'll show you. So I did. He takes me to Gary Warzden's house/store in Indianapolis. WTF is this? Guys sell out of a house?. We go in. System is Quad ESL's, pre-amp and power amp. Funny looking, half sized, kinda like weird. What are these speakers? TT is a Linn Sondek, SME arm (I think) and Ortofon M15E Super. Needle drops and I'm stunned......and hooked forever.......

 

[still-one]

Easy, It was when I heard Dahlquist DQ-10's paired with GAS Ampzilla. They were my last purchase before I got married. Had to get them in under the wire. The Nakamichi 610 came so after. Loved all those knobs and buttons.

 

[GSOphile]

I remember going into a fancy appliance store in Charlotte in the 50s and seeing component systems for the first time. I remember they sold JBL and Bozak speaker lines but don't recall the electronics, etc - may have been some Bogen. My frame of reference was various floor console systems where Magnavox et al were popular. WOW!! The component systems were ear openers for sure. My first system was a mono JBL/Bogen system. I couldn't afford stereo at the time.

 

[UltraFast69]

My father had a cabinet piece that was a costly item from my understanding that contained a turn table, tuner, and stereo speakers. It was made of a dark wood, like a Walnut or Mahogany and beautifully finished, but it was big. The speakers blended in on each end and the top cover was recessed so it served as a table on each end of the speakers. When you lifted the lid, it had a turn table and tuner, and a slot for record albums.

My father joked when my divorced him that he had the most expensive stereo since he had to buy it twice; originally and from her. He still had this and his third wife did something with it having no idea. Anyway, that's a whole different story.

Later he sourced a Marantz Tuner, the one where you could spin the needle across the stations and some big JBL speakers. I forget what the turntable was and then a cassette tape deck. This system kicked it to another whole level.

 

[Batty]

In 1986 I walked into a hifi store in Glasgow, Scotland because I wanted to buy real hifi instead of the pioneer stuff I had, sat down and listened to A Townshend Elite Rock mkII, with RB250 arm and Denon DL110, the amp was a Mission Cyrus 2 and PSX power supply and the speakers were Heybrook HB2r, had to get a loan from the bank, bought the lot and went back 3 months later for the Cyrus tuner.

I still have the TT and tonearm in my main system.