What got you into audio, the music or the technology of sound reproduction?

[braincramp]

I'll have to say the music. I loved Elvis but The Beatles put me over the top. My parents bought me my first guitar at 11 and I was lucky enough to play in bands for 45 years. I don't need the greatest equipment but I can't listen to crappy systems.

 

[45rpmspinner]

According to my mother, I spent my birthday money on a Fats Domino 45 when I turned 5 years old.
I doubt I had much conception of "gear" at the time.

 

[vonclod]

Both, they go hand in hand.

 

[E-Stat]

The gear just makes the music happen. My only "collections" are of the latter.

There's always music playing in my head.

 

[musichal]

Music.

The gear just makes the music happen. My only "collections" are of the latter.

There's always music playing in my head.

I thought it was just me.

 

[beat_truck]

I've always liked music and I've also always enjoyed fiddling with record players, tape recorders, etc. since I was little. I started getting more serious about sound quality after some failed attempts to make decent sounding mp3s out of some of my old records. I've learned a lot since then.

 

[justjed2]

I grew up on live music, Dad played guitar in bars, Mom sang. We always had some crappy record player, and a small assortment of mostly country records, but it wasn't anything I really thought about. We lived halfway between Lost and Way-The-Hell-Out-There, Ks. Radio was mostly country and western, circa 1965-68. Got an AM transistor radio in '72 when I was 10, and heard what more modern music was about, that was a good time for it. Got FM when I was 14. But I never really heard a good stereo until '77. Walking through a mall, I heard a piano. It seemed to be be coming from the stereo store nearby, but I saw no piano. I went in, and found out about Magnapans, and stereo separates. To say I was impressed would be understating the case somewhat. That was my introduction to good sound reproduction, and the gear that made it happen. I'm not quite at that level, but I don't care. True enjoyment simply requires realistic expectations.

And accepting the fact that with 4 cats, Maggies simply are NOT realistic!! Dammit....

 

[dondoucette]

I'm a geek at heart. I love speakers and amplifiers, I have more of both than I could possibly use, seriously, it's an addiction.
Music has always been the driving force behind my equipment acquisition problem, I love music, if I could have somehow turned my love of music into a lucrative career I would have but sadly if you are not a musician (I'm not) you have to be a serious douche to make $$ in the music business. I appreciate music, every day, I need music to get through each day, if I don't consume music on a regular basis I turn into a giant a-hole. The equipment is just a fun distraction, I would listen to music if all I had was a crappy 9 volt transistor AM radio, luckily for me I can sort of afford to play around with mid range audio equipment.

 

[RogerKulp]

I love records.

 

[Wildcat]

I had a long, strange road to get to this point. My grandfather, in hindsight, was somewhat of an audiophile--he built many Heathkit components in his day. Yet my grandmother was the one who listened to most of the music. I was fascinated by our mono Admiral hi-fi in the basement at home, but that was secondary to the stacks of records I'd play on it, so I would have music playing all the time. After I got my own first system, I was always trying to improve the sound through upgrades, little by little, until I had separate components as a teen, and started stepping in near-audiophile territory once I graduated high school (via my Hafler preamp). Part of that was fueled by magazine subscriptions, and visits to the numerous audio stores we used to have on Woodward Ave. I devoured music, though, in greater quantities. I have bought steadily since my mid teens. So the improved audio has been helping me hear the music at its best. One kind of feeds off of the other.

 

[red 111]

music first...as a young kid we had an RCA tube radio & i would listen to Martin Blocks Make believe ballroom...then as a teen it was Jocko on WADO RADIO & Alan Freed & had a cheap suitcase record player & play Frankie Lymon over & over..then it was off to Times Square Records to buy all the Do-Wops from Slim..at this point i had only heard a real system at an uncles home (trains passing by,not really music)..then a had a friend who had a system in his bedroom & loved Classical music...i was impressed & another friend had a full Marantz system & living at the time in Long Island City,Queens(where Marantz & Fisher were made ) friends started buying nice gear & if (like me)if you didn't have too much cash it was those great KLH one box systems with separate KLH speakers(i still have my KLH model 35 in the closet)...then by 1966.67...it was live music every night in Greenwich Village...Had lots of friends that worked at many of the clubs...Garrick theater..Cafe A GoGo...Bitter End..Kettle Of Fish(jimi jay James, The blue Flame..before he was Hendix)..Village Gate...Village Vanguard.(saw John Coltrane with 8 listeners in the room...this was because there was too much choice of good music around)...Slugs in the East village ...Gerdes Folk city..Anderson Theater(where the Hells Angles would often walk in) & across the street was the Fillmore East...the Bottom Line was just starting...Academy Of Music with the paranoia balcony..Roseland Ballroom...speaking of ballrooms...does anybody remember The Barefoot Ballroom at Union Square where they played music on a system & you had to take your shoes off to dance...what a great fun place...& who can forget The Electric Circus & the Dom...Maxs Kansas City...wow,,,,,EDIT....and ....CBGBs....another edit ...spelled Hendrix wrong....sorry Jimi.

 

[Pio1980]

Both. The stuff that made the magic that made the music happen fascinated me.

 

[Hyfi]

Both for me. I watched my oldest brother building Heathkits, Dynaco and Hafler gear on the kitchen table when I was really young. Then my other brother would put the gear thru it's paces with various AR speakers. I was used as a sounding board, so to say, when they called me up to "Listen to this sessions". So I was jamming on the Allman Brothers, Jimi, Zappa and more at a very early age and on quality home built gear.

 

[motorstereo]

That would be this place opening up just down the street from me a couple decades ago. At the time I was running a Marantz 2250B; a Pioneer PL115D and a pair of HPM100's and was quite content with that rig. The owner Dave showed me what I'd been missing all these years and I've been at it ever since.

 

[gtv2000]

Both for me. I watched my oldest brother building Heathkits, Dynaco and Hafler gear on the kitchen table when I was really young. Then my other brother would put the gear thru it's paces with various AR speakers. I was used as a sounding board, so to say, when they called me up to "Listen to this sessions". So I was jamming on the Allman Brothers, Jimi, Zappa and more at a very early age and on quality home built gear.

Same here. Music was the start, with one of those fold down record players. But my dad built a lot of Heathkits (his stereo and our first color TV) so I got that bug and built some nice stuff.

 

[Kreshna]

40% the music, 60% audio reproduction.

 

[RamblinE]

It was neither extreme. I like music. I wanted to hear it better.

 

[SA-708]

Music first, which led to becoming a volunteer DJ at a college radio station, which brought me into the technology.

 

[luddite]

The music was what we wanted to hear, firstly, but it sounded so crummy with the volume turned up on affordable consumer equipment that an interest in hifi gear was unavoidable.

 

[Idunno]

Here’s my story...
Have a look if you have a spare fifteen minutes to spare....
I hope you enjoy reading my journey...
www.sx1980.com