How did you get started in this hobby

@curiousjim 

Thanks Jim.

My father's experiences map other people's grandfathers'. It is mind-boggling to think he was a teenager 100 years ago.  The changes he saw were mind-boggling.  He kept up with it into his 80s.  He left two diaries of his schooldays as a senior in the late 1920s which I treasure.

By good fortune he missed fighting in the two wars in Europe.  He was too young for WW1 and too old for WW2.

it is not important how you started (everyone makes mistakes and learns) - but how you finished ..... (the truth is - many have remained at the initial level and life does not teach them anything)

I live within walking distance to the conservatory - since childhood I have been listening to original music ... as for electronics - it all started with something like this miracle))) ... there was also Siemens

I was 15, I had a decent pair of Altec speakers and a JVC 40 watt receiver.   What really got me hooked is when I saw a Sansui AU9900 integrated amp for sale in the Want Ad.  My Dad had a Sansui CA2000 and BA2000 so I HAD to get that thing.  It was only a few years old and in really nice shape.  $200.  That was my gateway drug into better equipment.    Not long after that , I got a Sony CDP101 .    There were only about a dozen rock titles when I got it.  I was wondering if the CD would take off......

My HiFi life didn’t start until my early 20s, but like most it was a compulsive obsession with music, and discovering new music which got me started on the path.

As a child my grandmother had one of those sideboard type music centres whereby the top would flip back and inside there was a record player and radio. Apparently I would keep playing Cat Stevens’ 45rpm of "Lady ​​​​​d’arbanville" over and over and over again, and also "Where do you go to my lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt. I think I was about 4 or 5 yrs old at the time 😁.

Another watershed moment was sneaking into my friend’s uncle’s room at his gandmothers; he had a big system, no idea what it comprised of, but he had Dark Side of The Moon, Paranoid by Black Sabbath, Revolver and Sgt Pepper’s by The Beatles. That was it, I was off, mind blown🙄😎😁

That was round 10 or 11; I had various crappy tape players and my folks’ all in one type record players, and that’s how I listened. I was then given a Realistic, all in one record player with speakers at the front of the box which I had for a while.

When I started working properly, I saved up and bought a Pioneer stacked midi-system; turntable, cassette deck and with a CD platter that held 5 or 6 CDs at a time. I thought this was it, the bees knees 😁 as I hadn’t had any exposure as a young adult (early 20s) to proper HiFi.

I was then introduced to a friend of a friend, who had an elaborate Naim Chrome Bumper set-up, a Linn TT, (don’t remember the model) and I think some large, either Epos or Linn speakers, don’t recall what they were, but needless to say, another watershed moment. I had NEVER heard any think like it, total "Road to Damascus" stuff. He also introduced me to Jazz, which I hadn’t given much thought to prior.

After hearing this system, and being a young man with a decent job, no family responsibilities and some disposable income, my new found friend introduced me to his dealer, and a couple of weeks later, I had a bi-amped Naim Olive set up, Epos 11 speakers, an Arcam Alpha CD and Audio Alchemy DAC (I think it was the Digital Decoding Engine v1? - memory’s a bit hazy on this).

I was I audio heaven, a pig in muck. Move forward a good few years and I’d gotten married, bought a house and sold the whole system to go fund the house renovation. Two years later, we separated 😁. I will always regret selling that system 🤔🙄.

That was 2002, and I hadn’t bothered again, life got in the way. But last year, I jumped back on the bus - I was fed up of listening to my music through smart speakers and/or a DAB/CD player. A lot has changed during my HiFi wilderness years, but decided while researching to go all in on the digital/streaming front, plus a CTD for my old CD collection.

Had a few changes to my original set-up bought last year, and I’ve had a lot to re-learn, and still do have, but I’m loving the journey again, and rediscovering what my music sounds like played through quality components, as well as discovering new music on a daily basis via Qobuz/Tidal/RP👍😊