How old were you when audio gear first caught your interest?

I was 12–used my first earnings as a babysitter to buy a little Phillips “suitcase” record player where the speaker latched on to the turntable. I think there was only one speaker. This was at the Ft Belvoir PX circa 1965. All additional babysitting money went to purchase 45s at Giant Music. I think they were like 49 cents. Finally saved up enough to buy my first album—the Beatles Second Album. I listened to that little Phillips for years. One summer during college I had a real job as a clerk-typist for an office in Crystal City. Used those earnings to buy a real stereo—Pioneer 15 watt receiver (my brother still has that), AR3a bookshelf speakers (placed in a bookshelf), and a Garrard TT with Shure cartridge. This was 1973. First album played on this new setup was Houses of the Holy and holy shi$ I was blown away! Next big purchase came with my first job after college, worked as a copy editor for a scholarly geophysics journal. Annual salary $8300 in 1975, went into a Crazy Eddie’s type stereo emporium in DC and bought ESS Heil AMT 1A speakers (my sister inherited those and used them until the foam rotted sometime in the late 80s), a Bang and Olafson Beogram 3000 turntable, and another bigger Pioneer receiver. Later added a Pioneer cassette deck and started my creative mix tape career in the mid to late 70s! I still have some of those mix tapes and it’s a real trip down memory lane to play them today, 50+ yrs later. Hearing the songs that obsessed you when you were 24 or 25 is really a trip. Thanks for the memories!

This thread definitely goes to the heart of the matter- more than anything, for so many of us, the pursuit of HiFi happiness is a sentimental journey.

Mine began when I earned enough money singing in a boys choir to buy a used Yamaha CR820, Ohm E bookshelf speakers and an odd-looking belt-drive turntable with an orange felt slipmat. I then learned to solder and built a board to control a small portable lightshow, and dj'd for friends' house parties, upgrading the audio as I made more money with that (SAE II preamp, Sherwood 100W Mosfet power amp). Meanwhile, I cruised Montreal audio emporia, intrigued by the cool-looking Naim and Quad gear, and sort of put off by the odd gothic MacIntosh aesthetic. At that time, though, I wasn't really looking for sonic delicacy- it was more important for sound to be clean and loud. That peaked after college when I had pro audio bass bins and horn mid/tweeter arrays hanging from chains form the ceiling of my loft in downtown Boston- still had the SAE and Sherwood at that time, but paired with a Dual 704. Moving West I ditched the big speakers and the PSB bookshelf speakers for the bedroom but kept the amps and the turntable, and a pair of the cheapest Yamaha speakers that were surprisingly good until after grad school, when I started chasing the hifi dragon again, getting a pair of Klipsch Heresy II's. Soon the solid state amps went downstairs to the studio to go with Yamaha NS10's for sound editing, and a Scott 299C came in the door for the Heresy's, and the Dual was replaced with an AR the Turntable. This is when upgrade fever started to take hold. AR parts got swapped out for new suspension, armboard and a Rega tonearm. It became clear the Heresy's are very limited speakers, sounding really good with only a very small range of music. I went for Cornwalls with Crites crossovers, selling the Scott and getting an Eico HF81, which I had rebuilt, adding a custom african hardwood faceplate (it was a console pull). While definitely an upgrade overall, I couldn't tame the bloated mid-bass, sold them, and got serious with a pair of One-Thing Audio rebuilt Quad ESL 57's. Back to the future! Mid-to-low volume delicacy now being primary, the slope got seriously slippery from there on out. Now I've got multiple systems of mostly vintage stuff in the various places where I spend my time. All in good fun- the systems are the best anti-anxiety treatment out there!

I was 15 (1974). I bought a little Marantz amp (25w) with some RTR speakers. I should've waited a few months, save more money and picked up a more powerful amp. Those RTR's were power hogs. Sounded great but were power hungry. 

Where's the "loudness button" we all used to enjoy? 

Thank Goodness for Paper Route Money.

My 1st route was on a mountain in Asheville, NC, I lived at the base of it. 

I loaded my wagon with it’s removable wooden side panels with folded papers, and tossed them up the driveways on the way up the mountain, then I collected bottles out of the woods and side of the road on the way down. Plenty of them every day in those days. At the bottom of the hill, bottles showing, I knocked on doors and the old ladies thought I was such a darling, they saved hangers for me. 

They had no idea that innocent looking kid was such a Juvenile Delinquent.

Later, I was the All-Star Lefty Pitcher. It just occurred to me, probably throwing those newspapers was the foundation of that, and, once I received encouragement for something I was good at, I practiced like crazy every day on my house’s brick wall.

Also just occurred to me, pulling that wagon up that mountain is why hiking mountains all over NC was easy for me.

So, starting smoking and drinking at a young age was good for me (then). 

About 13 or 14 when I first started listening seriously to WZMF in Milwaukee.  They played full albums, or sides of what is termed today as classic rock, such that existed in the late 60s..Hendrix, Byrds...  

Bought my first full setup at 16y/o.  $3K worth($23K today's dollars). McIntosh MA6100 integrated, Tandberg 9200 R2R, don't remember the TT, Klipsch LaScala speakers. It was OK for a 16 year old kid. :) (I worked near full time in high school and paid for the system myself)  Still have the 6100 in my office..the 9200 has worn out heads, but it's in a box yet.