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How did you get started in this hobby

As a college kid, my roommate had KLH speakers, the Beatles Sgt. Peppers came out and homegrown Flemington flash came on the scene. My eyes were opened along with my ears. I visited a local audio store Audiolab and another not too far away Soundex. The effect on my listening, I was stunned by what I was hearing and how the management just let me listen to all the gear knowing I was just window shopping. I'll never forget Soundex( out by Willow Grove Pa)  letting me listen to all their rooms at different price points and more than a few occasions.One room had $30,000 each in electronics and $100,000 speakers. Well, I could not afford even the entry-level stuff but again my horizon was broadened. So off I went to NYCity with my roommate in tow. I ran into an audio store while he waited in the car and asked the sales guy what I could buy with the meager dollars I had. I picked up a pair of AR speakers, and a Dual Turntable, my roommate had an old HH Scott that was in his father's food store that did not work. I got it fixed for free by the teacher of the electronics class in my High school where  I would occasionally substitute teach ( babysit) to get beer money for college Thursday night beer sessions at the Extension bar.

Much later a fellow employee who was an audiophile got me connected with his buddy an audio salesman who sold me his Snell c2 mk.2 speakers and another of his friends who was looking to sell his Adcom GFP 400 pre amp/tuner and GFA 555 amp along with thick monster cable. Adcom was just starting up around 1980 and was thirty minutes away in New Brunswick NJ. For a box of donuts, they went over my gear and made some changes to the amp and preamp. I remember their CD player had a tendency to jump if vibrated that was fixed as well all while I waited for  just for a box of doughnuts.  Woo that was my system for almost 40 years.  I wanted something different, I found out about Audiogon and bought within a week a Technics SU G 700  and Canton speakers about two years ago at tremendous savings from local audiophiles one in bucks county near New Hope Pa., and another in Freehold NJ. That's my story. from start to finish.

Based on what I've seen here I am not an audiophile but someone just interested in listening to good music with good gear at good savings and who is intrigued by the character ( good and bad) I see on here and the stellar systems they have.

scott22
akg_ca
2,479 posts
 

It was back in the Jurassic Age of this hobby ..,, maybe around the same time as General George Washington was hunkered down with the Colonial troops at Valley Forge.

ok …. a little more direct timeline would be the early 70’s with a vast new experience in a university dorm listening arena, packed with beer, booze and broads. Add into the mix a roommate with the same refined audio tastes that demanded a superior tunes reproduction system , and t was hooked for life.

land our dorm room was thus the dorm floor Command Central gathering place many Friday nights

It quickly morphed into a MARANTZ 2245 receiver, ELAC MIRACORD TT, SHURE V15 cartridge and JBL L100 monitors banging out that bespoke California sound .

artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
2,016 posts
 

Hobby!!!???? For me this isn't a hobby. Its part of my life. I can't remember when I didn't love music. I spent my allowance $$$ on 45's when I was 8-9 yrs old. In my 20's we moved around a lot and the 1st thing to go into the P/U truck was my stereo and my drums.. It was the 1st thing set up when we arrived at the new place. I started an all out assault in about 2k because I wanted to see where it lead. How much better can the music sound? This is the best I've had and it sounds great. I'm often surprised at the idea that this is a hobby. Its little wonder that many drop out of this hobby after a while. Thats the nature of hobbies. I've had lots of hobbies...golf, motorcycles, hunting, models, poker, etc etc. They all went by the wayside. music never has. As REO said, "Can't you see I'll always be a music man"

cleeds
6,601 posts
 

artemus_5

Hobby!!!???? For me this isn't a hobby. Its part of my life. I can't remember when I didn't love music ... I'm often surprised at the idea that this is a hobby. Its little wonder that many drop out of this hobby after a while. Thats the nature of hobbies. I've had lots of hobbies...golf, motorcycles, hunting, models, poker, etc etc. They all went by the wayside. music never has.

+1, @artemus_5. For me, music and audio is actually a lifestyle. And you're right about those who "drop out" of audio because for them, it was just a hobby. Having a passion for music is something other than a "hobby."

goose
786 posts
 

It started with the Beatles "Meet the Beatles" on my cheap GE all in one portable player.  My parents bought an all in one Magnavox big stereo "box".  My first purchased system was Dahlquist DQ10 speakers, Mcintosh 2205 amp, C28 pre amp and an B&O 4002 turntable.  It's still evolving. 

ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,497 posts
 

@artemus_5 ​​​@cleeds

 

+1 For me as well… a lifetime pursuit… something constant through career changes, partners, lifestyle changes, where I lived.

 

I always had state of the art audio systems and a huge music library when I was out four wheel driving 12 hours a day all over the Southwest as a geologist. I had a 100 wpc system in my motel room with detachable speakers in Beatty, Elko, and Eureka Nevada…. Across Arizona, New Mexico… etc.

In airplanes I had separate earphones, DACs and amps across Europe, Asia and Mexico for decades… I collected all sorts of local music when living in Japan and Scotland. As technology advanced I had access to thousands of albums as I worked in China and Mexico… Portugal… on and on. I got some $1,000 bills in mainland China for overusing cellular data. Fortunately I was an executive by then and the company covered it.

Yeah, hobby would be somewhat of an understatement in my case. Also, to me the rewards far exceed just a hobby. I put on a Celtic album and I am swept to the North shore of Scotland where I hiked down to the water without seeing anyone for hours… and in the distance someone played the bagpipes… music triggers emotional responses back into rich experiences.

 

Then there has been my home systems.

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