I should add one thought here--when I was getting into better audio, starting in my late teens, I wish I'd had forums to visit for information, news and opinions. We didn't have that. We had to make do with reading audio magazines to get the news and hands-on reviews, combined with trips to the audio stores in the area. (We were fortunate enough to have four or five great audio retailers all along one road--a Saturday afternoon trip driving up Woodward could land us at Tech HiFi, Absolute Sound, Almas, The Gramophone and Audio Dimensions.) Anyone just getting into audio now is far more informed than we ever were back then!