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emaidel
02-14-2006, 02:34 PM
I suspect this thread will generate a slew of interesting responses, all largely related to the individual poster's age.

I could state that my first piece of "gear' that got me hooked was my Emerson "Hi-Fi" that I bought with the Christmas tips I received in 1958 from delivering newspapers. It had a VM changer, with a flip-over ceramic stylus, two (!) six inch speakers, and (are you ready for this?) separate bass and treble controls, as opposed to the then common "tone" control! It sounded absolutely wonderful to me, and even impressed one of my school teachers who had a "Hi-Fi system" at home.

The real piece of audio "gear" that got me hooked, however, was the AR turntable. I had been using a Garrard AT-6 record changer which had annoyed me on two fronts: the spindle on which its automatic system all but blasted the record downward onto the platter was enlarging all the center holes of my albums, and causing them to wander side to side whenever I played them. More annoying though was the excessively high amount of rumble the idler wheel drive system generated. Considering that the no-name speakers I was using at the time most likely never even made it down to anything below 60Hz, to hear so much of it only proved to me how crummy the player actually was.

When I splurged and spent the $68 (less my 20% discount for working for Lafayette at the time), I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Using the same cartridge (a Pickering V/15 AT-1) as I did in the Garrard, the complete absence of rumble, and a clearly more stable speed brought all new life to all the records I had. Additionally, the table came with a rock-steady stylus pressure guage (which I still use to this day!), an "overhang" guage (I'd never even heard of the word, "overhang" before) and all adjustments required used the identical size screw, and AR even provided the screwdriver! Even more "thrilling," were the facts that you could actually smash the turntable plinth with a hammer, and the tonearm wouldn't even budge! You could also drop the tonearm and watch as it magically "floated" down to the record! I was definitely hooked, and that, my friends was in 1964.

GMichael
02-14-2006, 02:55 PM
I suspect this thread will generate a slew of interesting responses, all largely related to the individual poster's age.

I could state that my first piece of "gear' that got me hooked was my Emerson "Hi-Fi" that I bought with the Christmas tips I received in 1958 from delivering newspapers. It had a VM changer, with a flip-over ceramic stylus, two (!) six inch speakers, and (are you ready for this?) separate bass and treble controls, as opposed to the then common "tone" control! It sounded absolutely wonderful to me, and even impressed one of my school teachers who had a "Hi-Fi system" at home.

The real piece of audio "gear" that got me hooked, however, was the AR turntable. I had been using a Garrard AT-6 record changer which had annoyed me on two fronts: the spindle on which its automatic system all but blasted the record downward onto the platter was enlarging all the center holes of my albums, and causing them to wander side to side whenever I played them. More annoying though was the excessively high amount of rumble the idler wheel drive system generated. Considering that the no-name speakers I was using at the time most likely never even made it down to anything below 60Hz, to hear so much of it only proved to me how crummy the player actually was.

When I splurged and spent the $68 (less my 20% discount for working for Lafayette at the time), I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Using the same cartridge (a Pickering V/15 AT-1) as I did in the Garrard, the complete absence of rumble, and a clearly more stable speed brought all new life to all the records I had. Additionally, the table came with a rock-steady stylus pressure guage (which I still use to this day!), an "overhang" guage (I'd never even heard of the word, "overhang" before) and all adjustments required used the identical size screw, and AR even provided the screwdriver! Even more "thrilling," were the facts that you could actually smash the turntable plinth with a hammer, and the tonearm wouldn't even budge! You could also drop the tonearm and watch as it magically "floated" down to the record! I was definitely hooked, and that, my friends was in 1964.


In 1964 I was still spinning 78's on the crank up phonograph my grandmother left me. All were (are) in Italian.
It wasn't until my sister gave me her old hand held transistor radio in 1967 that I really started to enjoy music. The antenna was broken so I had a coat hanger jammed into it for reception. I used to listen to it under my blanket (to not wake anyone up) for hours after I should have been asleep each night. In 75 I moved up to a Panasonic AM/FM with a cassette player/recorder. The speaker was a whole 4 inches wide! This was great.

Florian
02-14-2006, 03:19 PM
The biggest and most dramatic turn in my audio life was when i sold my THX_Ultra HT, (speakers and amps) and bought a 12year old Magnepan.

JohnMichael
02-14-2006, 03:37 PM
A brand new Kenwood turntable with Shure cartridge and Smaller Advents powered by a friends gift of a used JVC receiver.

Mike Anderson
02-14-2006, 07:52 PM
Magnepan MMG's. Heard those, and it was all over - I just knew immediately that I'd be spending a lot of money on the bigger better version!

RGA
02-14-2006, 08:16 PM
Bryston 3B - Took it home and realized that my top of the line receiver was total crap. The speakers were 95db horns no less - a speaker that a receiver should have absolutely no problem powering...quality however is not just about watts. That day changed my view of the receiver and changed my opinion of the Wharfedales which I thought was the problem.

Then when I ran into a SET based system I realised that there was more to the iceberg than what sits above the water.

illwill
02-14-2006, 09:52 PM
what initially got me hooked on music was headphones: before getting anything more complicated than a boombox and discman i used (or had already discarded):
koss td-65s (this might be looked at as the starting point)
jensen jf-30s
koss r/80s
technics sl-dj1200s (since this i have purchased panasonic ht-710s, koss ur-30s and grado sr125s: i really only use the technics and the grados these days)

i didn't really get interested in "high end" audio, however, until purchasing the paradigm monitor 3v2s (which are still in use in my home theatre rig.) it probably helps that this purchase also fell towards the beginning of a period of me having a good amount of disposable income. these speakers were also the first purchase that i made from an actual stereo shop and helped me to realise what a world of great and expensive audio equipment was waiting for me and how much more pleasant it was to shop there than at best buy.

KaiWinters
02-14-2006, 10:11 PM
An 8 Track for my 1965 Mercury Marauder car back in 1973. My first car. Right after that I bought and installed an "FM Converter". Now I could get FM in my car woohoo !!!
I was hooked and have been buying "hi-fi" components for my cars and homes ever since.

My first nice home system was in the late 70's. Pioneer amp and tuner seperates...rackable...Pioneer turntable...Mirsch speakers. I loved that system and just sold the amp and tuner last year when we were moving out of state and trying to travel light.

Bernd
02-15-2006, 12:33 AM
Good Topic,

It started with a Dual TT,Amp and Heco Speakers. But I really got hooked, like yourself, with the AR TT an Arcam Alpha Amp,Arcam Delta CD Transport and Black Box D/A, and Celestion DL8 Speakers.
I started my journey then and I am still on a quest. It feels very close now to where I want to be.
At the beginning of last year I recreated the above (Arcam) system (with the help of E-Bay) and this is now happily playing in the Living Room and giving great service.

Once hooked on good sound there is no going back to bland presentation.

The power of music gives you wings

Bernd

Resident Loser
02-15-2006, 08:25 AM
...to things whose fi was higher, was a LRE Criterion rig, Garrard changer with a Shure cart...it was in my HS music room...a far cry from listening at home to a GE mono record-player gotten with Plaid Stamps...or later my parents Magnavox all-in-one console. I also had heard a nice KLH compact system with one of those nifty outboard FM tuners with the vernier-caliper-style tuning knobs...WQXR and opera disks.

Later on, my first headphones were a Koss-style POS connected to an equally cr@ppy dept. store atrocity...best part of that set-up was the Heathkit/BSR changer that was plugged into my Fender Bandmaster (via a LRE magnetic cart pre-pre) previously...simple and cheap...perfect for newlyweds...

The 'phones gave up the ghost around the time Rolling Stone (the real RS) did an issue concerning hi-fi gear...Their 1st choice of phones were a really expensive pair of Stax Electrostats...a close second were Sennheisers HD-414s...bought a pair of the also-rans for the tidy sum of $25...a fairly large chunk of change at the time (around a quarter of my weekly base pay)...and the A&S special never sounded better...

Those 'phones really started it, in fact I still have 'em...a few replacement cords and earpads later, still working fine...

Sometimes, particularly for long-term listening, I even prefer them to my Stax SR-44s...

jimHJJ(...the LRE was on Liberty and Merrick...)

emaidel
02-15-2006, 08:40 AM
a LRE Criterion rig, Garrard changer with a Shure cart


...the LRE was on Liberty and Merrick...

You're sure opened up a floodgate of memories with this posting, as I'm certain I was working for Lafayette when you purchased your system from the Jamaica location. I sold zillions of Lafayette/Criterion/Garrard/Pickering (not Shure) systems and while none were ever state of the art, almost all were the best value for the money in their day. Where else could anyone buy a stereo system for less than $400 that actually sounded good?

Do you recall the model #'s of your Lafayette receiver and Criterion speakers?

Resident Loser
02-15-2006, 08:57 AM
...it wasn't Shure...I surely did...Pickering, eh...I thought they were a higher level cart and that nearly everything came e/w lower echelon Shure...oh well...maybe I'm confusing it with the changer in the auditorium connected to the Bogen PA system.

No, haven't a clue as to any models...basically just a reciever and a pair of speaks maybe around 2ft tall...also no idea as to the drivers contained therein...It wasn't mine, while I did use it, it was property of the HS I attended...

Back in the mid-60s 400 clams wasn't chicken feed...

jimHJJ(...at least for a stereo...)

emaidel
02-15-2006, 09:29 AM
[QUOTE=Resident Loser]...it wasn't Shure...I surely did...Pickering, eh...I thought they were a higher level cart and that nearly everything came e/w lower echelon Shure...oh well... QUOTE]


Back in the 60's and 70's, a Garrard/Dual/Miracord changer came with a choice of cartridges for one cent over the list price of the turntable (that may have seemed like a terrific deal, but considering the changer alone would often sell at a 20% discount, as did the cartridge, the one cent "special" really wan't that special after all). The choices were from a comparably priced Shure, Pickering or Empire. None of us liked anything from Empire, and Shure models were very delicate, so we pushed Pickering. We also got paid more to sell Pickering, so that may certainly have been an inititiative, ya' think?

Resident Loser
02-15-2006, 09:54 AM
...forgot about the catalogues and the 1cent sale...

BTW, that KLH setup I mentioned, I think that was gotten at Bill Colbert's Audio Exchange on Hillside and Parsons, close to Constantines restaurant...fantastic Lobster Bisque.

jimHJJ(...talk about a time tunnel...)

Geoffcin
02-15-2006, 10:00 AM
The real piece of audio "gear" that got me hooked, however, was the AR turntable. I had been using a Garrard AT-6 record changer which had annoyed me on two fronts: the spindle on which its automatic system all but blasted the record downward onto the platter was enlarging all the center holes of my albums, and causing them to wander side to side whenever I played them. More annoying though was the excessively high amount of rumble the idler wheel drive system generated. Considering that the no-name speakers I was using at the time most likely never even made it down to anything below 60Hz, to hear so much of it only proved to me how crummy the player actually was.


In the early 70's I "inherited" an AR turntable with a Shure V-15 cartridge.

Glen B
02-15-2006, 10:18 AM
I was born into music and hooked from day one. It was the mid-1950s, my dad had a huge console with Blaupunkt radio, Garrard turntable and 12" woofer in its own subenclosure. I recall being about 3 years old and being fascinated by those "big black spinning discs" that produced music and one day when my mom stepped away, I turned on the turntable and unsucessfully tried playing one. I didn't know that you had to also turn on the radio and switch it to "phono." Of course mom returned and caught me red-handed messing with the system and I got a good spanking. Later, when I was 13 years old, a much older cousin gave me an old Collaro turntable which I stripped down and refurbished. I was already dabbling in DIY electronics and it was at about that point that I took a serious turn down the road of this hobby. What I find interesting is that I am starting to see the same kind of fascination with audio/HT equipment that I had in my 4-year old grandson.

emaidel
02-15-2006, 10:25 AM
In the early 70's I "inherited" an AR turntable with a Shure V-15 cartridge.


I'll bet it was a Type II (not a III) and you loved it. I had that same combination around 1967, and thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. For the first time, I could play my "Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66" albums without the horrendous sibillance I always got from any other cartridge (and I did this long before Shure themselves caught onto it, and included part of the original "Brasil '66" album on the test record one received free with the purchase of a Type III).

'guess I'm giving away my age....

Century L100
02-15-2006, 10:47 AM
One of my all-time favorites was the JBL model that serves as my screen name on this forum. I worked for a JBL authorized dealer in the 70s and early 80s and this was the one I usually would crank up when there was no one in the store. That and the largest floor standing JBL we had...the L200 Studiomaster (15" woofer, compression horn with acoustic lens). This, at a time when my home system consisted of an old Sherwood receiver and a pair of bottom-end Wharfedales. Talk about thinking you'd died and gone to heaven!

SlumpBuster
02-15-2006, 04:43 PM
Man, some of you guys are expensive dates! All it took to hook me was a pair of Boston Acoustic HD8

Feanor
02-16-2006, 12:33 PM
A friend of mine worked for the Canadian distributor and he got me a deal on a complete Dynaco system. This consisted of a PAT 4 preamp and Stereo 80 amp, both solid state, a tube tuner (don't recall model #), and A25 speakers. Preamp, amp, and tuner were all kits but I got them built and working. I added a Lenco turntable and Shure cartridge -- no CD in those days!

One thing I wonder about is how different my outlook would have been if I had opted for corresponding tube equipment, i.e. PAS 3 preamp and Stereo 70 amp -- maybe I'll never know: I've stuck with SS ever since.

audioblonde
02-17-2006, 08:01 AM
In the sixties as a kid,my parents had a 'console'(tv,radio,turntable)I think by the brand name Muntz,not sure though.It sounded crappy,but I thought that was as good as it got for home entertainment.Well, in '73' while in the Army,El Paso,Texas,Ft. Bliss,I heard a setup that a guy just back from Korea had brought back.Most of the guys returning from Korea,Germany etcetera had such as Sansui, Pioneer,Kenwood gear.Well this Sansui setup sound was as a splash of cold water to me.I was amazed at the difference from what I was accustomed to.I had a small department store system at the time,(I was a poor soldier).Well as soon as my paltry tax refund arrived in '74',straight to the local audio boutique in El Paso went myself and a friend just back from Korea,who was older and smarter,and a 'techie' sort of a guy.We listened to such as Ohm F speakers,ESS speakers,and others I cannot remember.Well being poor,and only having about 250 dollars,I left with a pair of Large Advent speakers.Well,they were not so hot hooked up to my department store receiver,so I was as deflated as a 3 day old helium balloon.Eventually,I was able to swing a deal on a used Pioneer SX something or other,and from then on it was sonic paradise.Well around '84' after the Advents deteriorated,and went to the street on garbage day,I spent the next 20 years in a audioless slump,punctuated by things such as boats,travel,raising kids,etcetera. but now I am back,and am as amazed again as I was in '74' at the 'stuff' that is out there.P.S.,I also,later in about '77 or 78' added a Rotel turntable,which soon turned out to be a POC,and a Sony reel to reel.Such were the 'good old days'.

Bernd
02-17-2006, 08:20 AM
In the sixties as a kid,my parents had a 'console'(tv,radio,turntable)I think by the brand name Muntz,not sure though.It sounded crappy,but I thought that was as good as it got for home entertainment.Well, in '73' while in the Army,El Paso,Texas,Ft. Bliss,I heard a setup that a guy just back from Korea had brought back.Most of the guys returning from Korea,Germany etcetera had such as Sansui, Pioneer,Kenwood gear.Well this Sansui setup sound was as a splash of cold water to me.I was amazed at the difference from what I was accustomed to.I had a small department store system at the time,(I was a poor soldier).Well as soon as my paltry tax refund arrived in '74',straight to the local audio boutique in El Paso went myself and a friend just back from Korea,who was older and smarter,and a 'techie' sort of a guy.We listened to such as Ohm F speakers,ESS speakers,and others I cannot remember.Well being poor,and only having about 250 dollars,I left with a pair of Large Advent speakers.Well,they were not so hot hooked up to my department store receiver,so I was as deflated as a 3 day old helium balloon.Eventually,I was able to swing a deal on a used Pioneer SX something or other,and from then on it was sonic paradise.Well around '84' after the Advents deteriorated,and went to the street on garbage day,I spent the next 20 years in a audioless slump,punctuated by things such as boats,travel,raising kids,etcetera. but now I am back,and am as amazed again as I was in '74' at the 'stuff' that is out there.P.S.,I also,later in about '77 or 78' added a Rotel turntable,which soon turned out to be a POC,and a Sony reel to reel.Such were the 'good old days'.

Welcome back. Once hooked on good sound it's hard to stay away-Yes!

Bernd

cubdog
02-17-2006, 09:17 AM
I bought a Sansui 2000a receiver and SP-1500 speaker back in 74. They served me well for many years. I recently bought a 5000a just for old times.

cubdog

kelsci
02-18-2006, 11:06 AM
In the 1950s-1960s, I fuddled with a phonograph with a 4 inch speaker,hooked the phono cart.(cermamic)into phono jack of Dumont and RCA tvs, played with an old Westinghouse Radio with a phono jack-6 inch speaker, family had a magnavox console with two 12 inch speakers, brother bought a Harmon Kardon Compact with two 10 inch bookshelves just that I can recall.

EMAIDEL: I frequented the Lafayette store in Jamaica usually buying cartridges for the phonograph that I had above. I remember their huge showroom of systems that they carried. They used to promote co-axial type speakers if I recall. I lived across the street on Hillside Ave from Martin Van Buren High School. That AR turntable did play records extremely well. YOu had to be careful mounting the cartridge into the headshell as far as turning the cartridge screws go since that headshell was a sort of soft plastic. I remember those Lafayette catalogs having the 1 cent cartridge deals with the various turntables.

RESIDENT LOSER; Please note above where I lived. I never got to that Audio Exchange store.

GEOFFCIN: My brother had that AR turntable with a V-15 cartridge in it. The cartridge and turntable was great for vinyl.

FENOR: I built the Dynaco Stereo 70 and used a used Pas 3X on it. I loved it. Played great on my Marantz Imperial 6G speakers. I also built the SCA-80Q amp which was a sort of composite of the Pat 4 and the Stereo 80 amp. I see both of these items for sale used on E-bay at times. Better still was the Pat 4 and the Stereo 120. Boy did that give ferocious sound quality. I found that the Pat 4 had a phono pre-amp that was able to remove sub-sonics yet maintain the bass impact. There was more parts on the Pat-4 phono section board then there was on the similar SCA-80Q preamp boards. Somebody knew something at Dynaco that knowbody knew anywhere else on elimiminating most of the wow and flutter while maintaining the sonics for vinyl playing.

Kaboom
02-18-2006, 03:52 PM
i've always loved music and i've always loved tinkering with electronics. my first "system" to exceed computer speakers hooked to a discman was when i stripped the amps off a pair of REALLY small active speakers and used to them to power some 1970's SABA speakers.
My first half-decent sounding setup was a Panasonic theater-in-a-box.
After that i got a Cambridge Audio 540 amp and CD that i hooked up to the SABAs... come quite a long way in about 6 months from that, with a decent system now an' all...
but i guess the piece of eq that started it all were the SABA speakers.
Cheers!

RoyY51
02-18-2006, 05:58 PM
The system that really got my juices flowing was an early quad system from a long-forgotten manufacturer (remember...these were the days of extremely conspicuous consumption...I'm surprised that I remember owning it at all!). It consisted of a 4 channel receiver, 4 speakers and a special cartridge (Shure, I think) that reproduced 4 discrete (I think) channels of sound. I had 3 quad albums in rotation, but by far the most played was an early Bette Midler album. Listening to Bette in one channel, the Harlettes in another, Barry Manilow's piano in a third and the rest of the ensemble distributed equally throughout all 4 speakers was an absolute musical epiphany. It launched me on a quest that continues to this day. I've owned a variety of surround systems since then, but I don't think any of them have given me the pleasure and satisfaction of that ancient grouping.

JoeE SP9
02-18-2006, 08:39 PM
The old Dynaco factory was around the corner from me in the early 70's. It was very convenient for me to use Dynaco electronics. I was using a PAS-3 a Gerrard Zero 100 TT and a Stereo 70 with some unknown speakers. I bought some B&O S70's in 1976 and a month or so later I heard a pair of Magnepan MG-1's. I sold the B&O's to a buddy bought the Maggies and haven't looked back. Since then I have never owned any speakers but panels. Maybe we should mention some of the mistakes we have purchased. In my case the first real mistake was trading the PAS-3 and Stereo 70 for a PAT-4 and Stereo 80. I listened to other people telling me that tubes were obsolete (NOT). I know better now, but that early SS stuff almost caused me to stop listening.http://forums.audioreview.com/images/icons/icon6.gif