@mahgister
Yes, I was lucky. My father loved classical music and took me to Radio City, Sunset and Vine, where we could sit in a booth and listen to records. Usually he bought me one. He liked Sibelius. I had an older friend in high school who introduced me to Wagner preludes. A buddy across the street and I used to get stoned and listen to Barktok's string quartets. So, by the time I got into college I had already tasted classical music. One record I remember having in college was Bernstein conducting Stravinsky's Firebird Suite and Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. Because I was a precocious kid in a small town, people used to give me records and books. I was fortunate.
As I got older, I always had a stereo, wherever I lived and at whatever price I could afford. Most of my life ran on an NAD raeceiver with bookshelf speakers. I was mostly running around earning money so it didn't matter that much. Now that I am retired, I've worked my way into VPI Prime Signature 21 turntable with Shyla VPI cartridge. Audio Researach PH-7 phono pre (as old as your headphones--a winner!), a Pass Labs XP-30 preamp, Hovland Radia amp ( a good twenty-years old and I literally think they don't make them like that anymore. Hovland was a tube amp maker who spent 10 years designing my solid state that sounds like tubes--the last amp they ever made), and my newest acquisition Sonus Faber Olympica Nova 5 speakers. A much better system than I ever thought I'd have or deserve.
