General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ General Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

CT's Perspective

Posted by Luminator (A) on August 25, 2015 at 21:11:28

In the 90s, Sam Tellig made a career out of including his local audiophile characters in his column(s). I have been writing about music and audio since high school (the mid-to-late 80s), but I generally do not write about other audiophiles. I have always written about the people and events closer to home. Whether you have known me since high school, or only recently discovered me, you guys are constantly inquiring about the various girls. Especially with that wonderful thread below about Our First Stereos, you guys have been emailing me to write more about CT.

Via common friends, I met CT early in the Fall '86 semester, when I was a sophomore. Even though she was 2 months older (and 2 decades more mature!) than I, she was a freshman, a grade below me. She was your stereotypical nice, benign, multi-lingual, harmless, 4.0+ GPA girl.

You have to understand that my generation grew up with, and was hooked on, music. Even if our competing musical tastes meant we fought with each other, music was still a common bond.

Because CT had a disarming personality, I was able talk to her. Moreover, when she talked, I listened. I needed as much of her goodness, vision, intelligence, study habits, cleanliness, and class as I could get, absorb, and steal.

She said she liked me because I wasn't the stereotypical jock, yet, I competed in sports. And she thought my obsession with audio was "cute."

I assumed that CT would only like wussy music, but that was not case. She shared the same musical likes as any other of our schoolmates.

CT found it interesting that a few guys and I liked audio (mass market; none of us had been introduced to high-end audio). She just smiled, and joined the chorus, in labeling me and the guys as "A/V Geeks." She would giggle at us guys bickering about specs, cables, speakers, buttons, THD, Dolby C, et. al.

CT had strict parents. She had a difficult time, going out, talking on the phone (even her female friends said they could not talk long to CT on the phone), listening to music out loud. Remember, in the 80s, we did not have the internet, Facetime, Skype, texting, Facebook, blogs, e-mail, or even pagers. So for her, her Walkman (which used headphones) was a salvation, an oasis. Via Walkman, she could listen to music, and not upset her parents.

As was prevalent back then, we lent and borrowed cassettes. That exchange was how we expanded our musical palettes.

Perhaps those of you who were in San Francisco during the 80s can help me here. One weekend, several of us sophomores and freshmen ventured out to what I think was Phillip Burton, in order to take the SAT. After that, we made our way (sans maps!) to Whole Earth Access, located off of Bayshore Boulevard. I recall the guys talking about brands such as a/d/s, Advent, Carver, Grundig, NAD, and Proton. In particular, my classmate Danny had this crush on what I think was the Proton 320 clock radio. And when CT said she liked the Proton clock radio better in white, everyone else's head pivoted to her.

In early April 1987, I got my very first CD player, the Sony CDP-520ESII. In fact, I was one of the first from my high school, to get one. Everyone else would follow suit the following school year.

My friends would come over, to check out this new-fangled gadget. I only had about 10 CDs, so we still listened a good deal to cassette and vinyl. I thought it was interesting, that the guys, prone to pissing contests, tried to argue about which format was "best." In contrast, the girls' assessments were more pragmatic and honest.

In her rational, matter-of-fact way, CT pointed out CD's pluses and minuses. She framed CD as "not necessarily superior," but spoke truthfully about our vinyl sounding like "a rake dragging across the sidewalk." Hot damn, the rest of us realized that CT was right: CD was so-so, while our cassettes and vinyl sucked.

During the Spring '87 semester, CT and I had the same free periods for lunch. That went a long way, in making us girlfriend/boyfriend. Even though she did not appear rushed, she still finished her lunch faster than I ate mine. It was really these lunch periods, where she and I found common musical ground. I understand that many of you audiophiles, not coming from my generation, do not know these songs. But that is why we share. So look them up. CT and I especially liked the following from that semester:

Benjamin Orr, "Stay The Night"
Company B, "Fascinated"
Danny Wilson, "Mary's Prayer"
Eddie Money, "I Wanna Go Back"
Level 42, "Lessons In Love"
Peter Gabriel, "Red Rain"
Poison, "Cry Tough"
Stryper, "Free"
Suzanne Vega, "Luka"
Talking Heads, "Wild Wild Life"

After the school year ended, a bunch of us went to 1000 Van Ness, and saw the movie, The Untouchables. When we got out, the fog had burned off, and the sun blasted us. While milling around on Van Ness, we heard and loved that lost gem, "Diamonds," by Herb Alpert and Janet Jackson. With that, we dispersed. A couple days later, I left for Honolulu, where I spent every summer. Since this was a time of long distance phone calling and snail mail, CT and I would exchange a few letters over the summer. IIRC, mail took five days, to go between S.F. and Honolulu.

That summer, CT did not have her own CD player. She nevertheless borrowed some of my CDs, including Stryper's To Hell With The Devil. Yes, this is the very CD CT borrowed from me that summer. She had to find other people with a CD player that summer, and then had them record To Hell With The Devil onto cassette.

Whenever I tell this story, the Stereotypical Audiophiles laugh. But it was this music, which held sway over us (my generation). Without that awesome 80s music, none of us would have gotten into high-end audio. And in case you are wondering, CT still has her Mark Levinson system, which she acquired and put together in the late-90s and early-00s. Harumph! And she still giggles at my obsession about audio.

I hope this answers your emails, regarding CT. As always, you can continue emailing me about anything and everything. Some of you already know what happened, when we returned for the Fall '87 semester.

-Lummy The Loch Monster

Edits: 08/25/15

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

The Cable Cooker

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---