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Memories........What made you catch the Audio Bug?

I remember back in high school, my ''industrial arts'' teacher was an avid audiophile and music lover. We are going back to '73 now. I remember one day being very different from any other. Upon entering class for our usual 40 minutes of the usual wood-cutting and bird-cage building routine,(some of us were luckier, getting ,'design' classes instead) we found our teacher,Ed, busy at setting up an LP on a Thorens turntable. Alongside, some strange, industrial-looking brown and orange boxes (QUAD) and a cloth-wrapped box with the initals B&W on them. He informed us that, today, we would discover something new, ''high-Fidelity'' as he called it.

We all sat in awe as our teacher put the SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts on full blast, to the amazement of everyone in the room. Wow! What was THAT? The equipment, the sound, the MUSIC was unlike anything most of us had ever seen or heard. I remember thinking to myself, now this is how the Beatles really sound like? I just could not beleive it.

I remember that we had no quality music equipement in our home back then, as with most other kids.

It was just amazing. Word got around that 'something special was happening, in industrial art's class. Turned out the topic of the week was 'high-fidelity' discovery I guess, as every other class in turn got the same treatment all week long.

The Following year, our teacher somehow managed to get the school board to approve a special ''equipement'' expenditure, officially probably a vacuum system, or new circular saw, or band saw, whatever. The class built a special wooden closet complete with locks, to accept the new ''equipement''. When it finally arrived, holy smokes, a McIntosh amplifier and preamp, with Thorens turntable !

We ended up ''founding'' an audiophile club at school, and would have students spend their lunch hour seating in a closed room in complete darkness, listening to a complete album...against a 10 cent fee that we would keep to buy records !

If you are reading this ED, these 30 years old memories are as fresh in my mind as yesterday. Thank you so very much for sharing your passion with us, and opening our eyes to so many horizons, music being just one of them.

Just wondering how others in this forum got the audio bug also?
sonicbeauty

Showing 1 response by marakanetz

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marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
In the beginning of 80's audio equipment in Russia was stepping behind 70's or even tube 60's equipment of other countries such as UK and US thus beginning an age of Russian high-end.
Anyone who loved music would certainly prefere to hear it more clear.
Whoever was able to acquire Shure cartridge had certainly more superior system than others who couldn't.
I firstly had mono tube radiola i.e. one-box turntable SW/AM/FM radio and 5w amp and happened to love music of different kinds: Shostakovitz, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Glenn Miller etc... since I was a little kid... When I was a guest of my friend who's father was contracting in Iraq I saw his record player is separate with receiver and speakers are separate too and it sounded realy great especially compared to my tube radiola. When I brought my records to listen, I was realy surprised and dreamed of something similar or even better and here it all started...
It wasn't only happening with me but with many other kids and adults. My parents didn't understand me but despite that my dad brought me from factory a real good output tubes so I could build my own 2-ch amplifier.
Having taken appart my tube radiola that I hated after listening to a descent equipment I started to study and DIY...
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