Let's talk music, no genre boundaries

You were lucky to live in an "educated" environment...

I develop any musical taste from luck encounter at the noon hour of radio (mostly  traditional songs and classical)

it is why choral music is half my heart...

 It is why i bought Thomas Tallis box set, 10 cd interpreted by Alistair Dixon and "chapelle du roi" ensemble...

 Absolutely stunning...

 My headphone AKG K340 an hybrid, one of the best headphone ever design give me a soundfield out of the head filling my room,  i listen eyes open because of that to see the voices dancing as flames in  the space in front of me ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw5ojBZbN7w&list=PLRhsMuoUhh9F4FL9eP7EpPXAVOk9Qry3-

@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. 

Thanks for your interesting Story...

My story is different...

It was me who bought with my hard working  money at 13, books, vinyl, and the stereo system...

My parents were very poor & uneducated...( we live with no bathroom a long time) 

I learned to listen choral music at radio very young almost a baby  at noon each day...

Then in 1964 i was unaffected for the next decade by almost all popular music...( i love Dylan or Hendrix for exemple but never bought any pop albums save Dylan one because i like poetry as much as choral singing ) 

I was talented for writing and reading but not for playing music...

I compensated by listening...

Because all my money went  to books... I owned a very big personal amount of books i did not invested in audio save for few albums (around 100) and a very good Tannoy dual gold set but i never learned how to optimize it the 40 years i owned it alas! Then i never really hear what i owned... I know it now...

I learned acoustics only after retirement...

I am now happy with my optimized system...low cost optimized speakers for casual listening but top high end AKG  hybrid K340 optimized headphone driven by a NOS dac and my Sansui Alpha  headphone out.. The K340 is a marvel of engineering and the only headphone i bought (12 different headphones) i dont dislike ( because of the sound in the head and artificial timbre rendering )  but i love the K340 natural timbre experience, out of the head sound... It takes me 6 months reading Dr. Gorike patent to optimize it...

Yesterday listening Tallis choral i was in ecstasy... the voices were like flames dancing in from of my eyes in my room...

With this headphone i cannot close my eyes... I need to see the sound in my room ...

@mahgister 

Because my wife is still asleep, I am listening to Michael Tilson Thomas's version of Mahler's 6th which needs to be played loud in my opinion. I am listening on Senheisser HD 800 S. I first bought the HD 600 but they felt too closed in, sound wise. The 800s are open, a drawback because they have open backs and anybody nearby can hear them. For the price I was willing to pay, they seemed the best. Anyway, I'm enjoying Mahler's sixth a lot on them.

I dont doubt that they are interesting headphone...

 I wish i could compare them ...

I like Mahler...

Especially his lieds...