Who and what equipment turned you into an Audiophile ? And when ?

[HDave]

For me it was 1968, of course a friend of a friend. This guy Miles looked like he could have been Mark Farners brother long black straight hair. We went to his apartment off campus of Western Michigan, the main purpose of the visit was to purchase a couple of OZ's. Well I loved music and had a massive 45 collection started, my first album was The Amboy Dukes. So he had a nice system that he got from his brother that brought the stuff back from Nam. A Pioneer stereo receiver, an Akai reel to reel, not sure about the turntable, and some sweet sounding Pioneer speakers. So of coarse after twisting one, he said listen to this and he put on The Beatles Sargent Peppers. OMG and that's when I realized 2 things, 1 that the quality of equipment mattered, and smoking heightened the senses.
@:

 

[proufo]

Kef, Accuphase, Thorens.

 

[Doug G.]

It was my friend's parents' mono Magnavox console in 1964. Although it was just mono, the Beatles singles sounded so good on it and I knew that's what I wanted.

EDIT: Ok, I have to add that, my beginning obsession with records actually predated the above by about 9 years but I just remember that particular experience as the beginning of my desire for the best sound possible.

Related to this, I never thought it was loud enough early on. My little VM phonograph's volume control just didn't turn up high enough.

Doug

 

[Quad Linda]

A Bell & Howell 7" reel-to-reel deck. It was 1961 and I was seven. Instead of VU meters, it had small light bulbs without frosting (not LED's). If they were lit brightly, the tape was being saturated. A lifelong passion for gear began then. My Jones for record collecting began four years earlier.

My Boyfriend Joe says he traded a kidney for a Tefifon machine at nine. He later sold it for the money to backpack through Europe with Joey Heatherton

Tefi used a continuous loop plastic belt with grooves.

 

[The Bushmaster]

1968. Pioneer SX 1000, CS 77's and a Teac 4010 SU.

 

[leevitalone1]

For me, it was in HS, oh shit- 1966 or so, there was a stereo set up in the music room. The components were kept in a locked cabinet, and huge stereo speakers were mounted on the wall. One day I convinced the teacher to put on a Kinks album. This started me down the path. In 1968 I got a taste of reel to reel stereo with phones that then to me was incredible. It only took me another few years until I bought my 1st Marantz.

 

[jsulzinger]

Klipschorn demonstration at The Good Guys. I thought Whitney Houston was in the room. Thirty years later and I have never been able to come close to affording anything that sounds half as good as what I heard that day.

 

[krkier]

I'm suprised this Tefifon stuff was sold in USA. I always thought this was a German format only. I sometime see these machines on fleamarkets over here, with cardriges full of awful music like Volksmusik and easy listening of the fifties and sixties...

-Kristian

 

[Quad Linda]

Tefi was marketed in the US by Western Electric's Westrex division in 1963-64. Tefi technology was invented back to the 1930's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefifon

 

[holland123]

Klipschorn, wow, yea my buddy still has his giant ass Klipschorns he bought back in the mid 70's and they still sound great, but boy are they big. You need a large room and alot of power for those babies to perform.

That tefifon thing I have never seen or even heard of, pretty cool though, looks a lot like an old dictaphone

 

[Quad Linda]

Tefifon used similar technology to the Dictaphone Dicatbelt.

 

[krkier]

Here's the complete radio with Tefi visible:

http://www.technikschrott.de/Tefifon_KoU.htm

With schematic and pictures of the inner self.

-Kristian

 

[corneredcat]

i give the credit to my (3 year) older brother for propelling my audiophile-ness!...mid to late 70s...vividly remember his project one mark xxi amp..loved those flipper switches...which he still has and uses!....awesome sounding acoustic research AR2ax speakers....gorgeous TT JVC QL-A200...while not exactly super high end gear...was no slouch either! better than most others i heard at the time. it definitely dialed me in to a higher appreciation of better sound...

 

[Doug G.]

For me, it was in HS, oh shit- 1966 or so, there was a stereo set up in the music room. The components were kept in a locked cabinet, and huge stereo speakers were mounted on the wall. One day I convinced the teacher to put on a Kinks album. This started me down the path. In 1968 I got a taste of reel to reel stereo with phones that then to me was incredible. It only took me another few years until I bought my 1st Marantz.

OK, for me, a similar situation was secondary for me but only because it happened after my experience above. It was the same school year, 1965-66 and I was in seventh grade. Our music room had Heathkit components and speakers mounted right in the wall above so I don't know what they were. The amplifier was the first solid state amplifier kit Heathkit sold and the tuner was in the same cabinet - the one that looked like a sixties Chevy dashboard - kinda. Anyway, our teacher let us bring our 45s to school to play on that system and it sounded wonderful. I still remember Joann Shatek singing along to "Get Off Of My Cloud".

Doug

 

[corneredcat]

OK, for me, a similar situation was secondary for me but only because it happened after my experience above. It was the same school year, 1965-66 and I was in seventh grade. Our music room had Heathkit components and speakers mounted right in the wall above so I don't know what they were. The amplifier was the first solid state amplifier kit Heathkit sold and the tuner was in the same cabinet - the one that looked like a sixties Chevy dashboard - kinda. Anyway, our teacher let us bring our 45s to school to play on that system and it sounded wonderful. I still remember Joann Shatek singing along to "Get Off Of My Cloud".

Doug

wow thats cool! in the late 60s (8-9 yrs old) i had to listen to all my little records on some crappy (probably Realistic) TT/receiver/speakers set...

 

[CobraJet]

Akihabara

I was stationed in Guam from 1974-1977, making frequent deployments to Atsugi, Japan. The Navy Exchanges in Guam and Yokosuka, Japan, carried a lot of excellent audio gear at great prices. But, for the really high end stuff, you went to the Akihabara in Tokyo. I drooled over a lot of McIntosh, Nakamichi, Klipsch, and many others I could never afford. All the latest and greatest!

I did my research and bought the best I could afford at the time. And I still have most of it to this day.

 

[kap'n krunch]

I really don't know if I'm an "audiophile" really (it depends on what your definition is)...but at least I had none other than Bill Nelson tell me I was one, so I guess I'll have to take his word for it...

 

[The Bushmaster]

Aah yes...G.U.A.M. Bought my first stereo equipment there in 1969-70. I was aboard the USS Proteus (AS-19) at Polaris Point. Went to the Tape Library on the Naval Base quite often.

 

[Quad Linda]

My first job in the hi-fi business was as Assistant Manager. I got the gig because I knew the word Audiophile. When interviewing, I was asked, "what qualifies you?" I replied, "well, I'm an Audiophile." He figured that I must be one if I knew the word. I was and I got the job. Five years later, I became a real Audiophile with separates: a 500 watt power amp, moving coil phono cartridge, etc.

My CB radio "handle" was Audiophile. Of course, most CB'ers, even "sloppy sidebanders" like me didn't know what that word meant.

Yes, the word Audiophile is subjective. Most folks would consider my main system Audiophile quality, with 1400 watts spread over two power amps and a sub. Yet, there are some folks here whose systems shame my B&K/REL/Mission gear.

I really don't know if I'm an "audiophile" really (it depends on what your definition is)...but at least I had none other than Bill Nelson tell me I was one, so I guess I'll have to take his word for it...

 

[leevitalone1]

Aah yes...G.U.A.M. Bought my first stereo equipment there in 1969-70. I was aboard the USS Proteus (AS-19) at Polaris Point. Went to the Tape Library on the Naval Base quite often.

Those Military PX's had some pretty incredible equipment, nothing like now. I have seen the catalogs at the VA and it's nothing like what it was in the 70's when it comes to audio choice's. Especially in Asia duty stations, the choices were fantastic. The guys would come home with all this stuff you never saw or had heard of before. I got a taste of it in a PX in Frankfurt in 1969. There are PX catalog scans of quad equipment posted here somewhere. (drooling heavy)