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In Reply to: how old were you when you got into hi-fi/high end posted by bullethead on December 26, 2009 at 09:50:35:
At 17...,
And, in my perfect world, that’s the way it should be!
For most of us (lots of us, some of us, or maybe just a few of us) we wouldn’t have it any other way. My first Hi Fi experiences truly stick out in my mind. The very first Hi Fi experience in the early 70’s seems like it just happened yesterday. My buddy Brad played sax in the high school band. I had no musical talent, but, I loved the music. It was still early in my musical development. I still liked the music that my parents liked. Elvis, the Association and the Rat Pack. Brad was working and wanted a system to play his music on. In those days you didn’t usually walk into an electronic store for this kind of kit. Brad took me to a pharmacy shop in the town of Monroe Washington. The old guy putting together the potions was mixing more than chemicals. He was mixing magic. I remember Klipsch and Sansui in the back room. Brad and I really liked the Klipschorns, but he could afford the Heresy’s, and a Sansui receiver. I’m not sure what kind of LP player was on hand, but between that and reel to reel there wasn’t much else to decide upon for sources. Here’s the way I remember it: Brad took those Heresy’s, the Sansui, and a turntable home and set it up in his mother’s living room. I was but a lowly spectator; a spectator about to embark on a long and magical journey. While the Heresy’s sound pretty ordinary in this day and age, in the 70’s it was just plain magic. Brad’s kit took me to places I hadn’t been before. The music! The cymbals that sent shivers down my spine. The lovely midrange that took teenage angst and made for a more mellow relaxation than I’d ever known, or more angst than a boy could contain. It was our decision. And we could decide based solely on our musical selection. The bass? Oh yes, the bass! Like a teenage boys libido is that bass. A driving heart beat that cannot be denied. That was the first Hi Fi first. I’ll never forget it.
Another first. My first system. Brad had a better job than did I. I couldn’t afford the name brand gear that he’d been purchasing so I went cheap. Real cheap. It was a mono radio with a pair of Johnzer two ways that were pretty bad. I had music, but I didn’t have any magic.
My first “real†system: a Pioneer receiver (12 watts per side), a Sansui turntable with an Audio Technica cartridge that was a step up, and a pair of DIY 3 way speakers from a local kit manufacturer going by the name of the Speaker Factory. It had a bit of the magic. I spent hours on the finish of those speakers. It’s too bad they didn’t sound quite as well as they looked. They were a bit recessed, and the treble was lacking air, but I loved those speakers. They were mine. I made them. Right down to the grille cloth that probably contributed to the lack of the magic. What did I know.
Now we’re talking: I went out again in search of the magic. I listened at some of the better shops in the Seattle metropolitan area. Magnolia HiFi. Definitive Audio. Omega, Hawthorne, Etc. Hi Fi had come of age. No more going to a chemist to listen to different systems. Now you could go to an actual store that dealt soley in audio. The even had high end vinyl for sale. Remember the direct to disc recordings on high quality vinyl? Crystal and Sheffield come to mind. I listened to everything I could find. At Definitive Audio I listened to my first (but not last) planar speakers. Magneplanar. Jim Winey had just recently released his MG-I’s. You really never forget the first time. I wanted more bass, but I had to have the Maggies. By this time Brad owned a pair of knock off corner horns and I knew I’d not be happy without supplementing the bass of the MG- I’s. What to do? I had Definitive plot a crossover for the MG-I’s and an M & K Goliath subwoofer. This was in the days before powered subs so I also bought a Pioneer SA-9500 integrated amp. It put out 100 watts per side into the 4 ohm load of the Maggies. It was like I’d died and gone to heaven! You never forget the first time…, In the meantime I’ve owned sources, electronics, and speakers from many different manufacturers. The last set of speakers that I bought (almost two years ago) were a pair of MG-IIIA’s. You never forget the first time…, and I keep coming back. To me, they’ve got the magic.
Over the years there’s been lots of first times that I’ll never forget. The first time I heard corner horns with 100 watts of solid state amplification. Brad was involved again. He set them up outside of his house as a P.A. system for a party. We had people stop by that claimed to live “a couple of miles awayâ€. They came over to see what was up because the band sounded so good. I’ll never forget the first time I heard a good tube setup. It was a Scott 399A receiver that I use to this day. The first time I heard a pair of Bose 901’s wont be forgotten. The first time I heard great omni or reflected sound from a speaker was a pair of Sonab OA-116’s from Denmark. I’ll never forget it. I liked them so much I’ve recently restored a pair of OA-14’s (their little brothers). The first time I heard a pair of Rogers LS 3/5A 16 ohm speakers wont be forgotten. I didn’t like them and was very surprised after all the hype I’d heard. I tried and tried but I never got them to sound good in my room. The good thing was I’d paid $35 dollars for them at a thrift store and sold them for a very tidy profit.
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