Kreshna
...but I have to know.
Like, what was the very first amplifier you owned? And when?
My first amplifier had a brown, wooden casing, with silverface of sort. Lately I tried to remember what brand and model it was. It was a pretty basic amplifier, with only few control knobs. I recently thought it was Pioneer SA-500 due to its simplicity, but turned out I was wrong.
Yes, I accidentally found this amplifier on ebay (no affiliation), then I realized: it was the brand and model my first amplifier belonged to. Yes, my very first amplifier was a Standard SR-157SU, given by my dad when I was 11 years-old. I couldn't be mistaken. The amplifier has obviously wooden casing, and black-accented silverface. It was also very simple, very basic amp. It doesn't even have "tape monitor" function.
Yes, I was still a kid at that time, still in elementary school. But it was also the time dad gave me elementary lessons in audio, which started by connecting the tape player to the amplifier, then the amplifier to the speakers.
The Standard Electronics SR-157SU (not mine)
The speakers was a pair of Philips single-driver whose model I couldn't remember. The sound was warm, but rather shrill when played loud. Coincidentally, the Bowers & Wilkins DM302 I just bought somewhat reminds me of the upper-mid shrillness of the Philips, although the similarity ends there (because the B&Ws are much better, of course). In any case, I remember dad added a pair of car speakers, which add more top and bottom ends. So yes, we (me and my younger brother) used two pair of speakers simultaneously; the Philips single-driver on the floor, flanking our study desk, and the car audio speakers on the said desk. And the Standard SR-157SU amp doesn't even have A+B switch; it was a brute force method as we connected the two pairs of speakers in parallel.
Now, I don't remember how exactly did they sound, but they sound pretty good. However, I just couldn't forget an oddity I experienced with the song The Great Pretender by Freddie Mercury (1987). The song closes with a series of synthesized strings riffs that fades away with each iteration. Now, the riffs at the minute 2:52 and 2:54 clearly sounded as if they come from the car speakers on the desk, but the later riffs at the minute 3:02 and 3:04 clearly came from the Philips single-drivers on the floor.
That's really weird, because there is no way such simple amplifier could extrapolate surround sound from stereo channel. Also, the car audio speakers on the desk and the Philips single-driver on the floor are simply connected parallel --no Hafler circuit or such.
Nonetheless, that was my very first experience with audio. Quite exciting.
About two years later, my beloved mom (who sadly passed away in 2015) introduced us (me and my younger brother) to IBM PC compatible, and my hobby shifted to computers. In fact, I became quite a computer freak; immersing my teenage days with DOS games like Hero's Quest, F-15 Strike Eagle II, and Chris Crawford's The Global Dilemma: Guns or Butter. But I still have great interest in good sound. When other kids used flimsy, beige-colored computer speakers with their Sound Blaster, I already used the speakers and power amp section of dad's Kenwood DC-20. In 2007 I had forgotten many things about audio, but still had the instinct to choose musical-sounding multimedia speakers instead of Logitech's boom booms.
So, that was the story of my very first amplifier, and the start of my great interest in good sound.
How about yours?
My first amplifier had a brown, wooden casing, with silverface of sort. Lately I tried to remember what brand and model it was. It was a pretty basic amplifier, with only few control knobs. I recently thought it was Pioneer SA-500 due to its simplicity, but turned out I was wrong.
Yes, I accidentally found this amplifier on ebay (no affiliation), then I realized: it was the brand and model my first amplifier belonged to. Yes, my very first amplifier was a Standard SR-157SU, given by my dad when I was 11 years-old. I couldn't be mistaken. The amplifier has obviously wooden casing, and black-accented silverface. It was also very simple, very basic amp. It doesn't even have "tape monitor" function.
Yes, I was still a kid at that time, still in elementary school. But it was also the time dad gave me elementary lessons in audio, which started by connecting the tape player to the amplifier, then the amplifier to the speakers.
The Standard Electronics SR-157SU (not mine)
The speakers was a pair of Philips single-driver whose model I couldn't remember. The sound was warm, but rather shrill when played loud. Coincidentally, the Bowers & Wilkins DM302 I just bought somewhat reminds me of the upper-mid shrillness of the Philips, although the similarity ends there (because the B&Ws are much better, of course). In any case, I remember dad added a pair of car speakers, which add more top and bottom ends. So yes, we (me and my younger brother) used two pair of speakers simultaneously; the Philips single-driver on the floor, flanking our study desk, and the car audio speakers on the said desk. And the Standard SR-157SU amp doesn't even have A+B switch; it was a brute force method as we connected the two pairs of speakers in parallel.
Now, I don't remember how exactly did they sound, but they sound pretty good. However, I just couldn't forget an oddity I experienced with the song The Great Pretender by Freddie Mercury (1987). The song closes with a series of synthesized strings riffs that fades away with each iteration. Now, the riffs at the minute 2:52 and 2:54 clearly sounded as if they come from the car speakers on the desk, but the later riffs at the minute 3:02 and 3:04 clearly came from the Philips single-drivers on the floor.
That's really weird, because there is no way such simple amplifier could extrapolate surround sound from stereo channel. Also, the car audio speakers on the desk and the Philips single-driver on the floor are simply connected parallel --no Hafler circuit or such.
Nonetheless, that was my very first experience with audio. Quite exciting.
About two years later, my beloved mom (who sadly passed away in 2015) introduced us (me and my younger brother) to IBM PC compatible, and my hobby shifted to computers. In fact, I became quite a computer freak; immersing my teenage days with DOS games like Hero's Quest, F-15 Strike Eagle II, and Chris Crawford's The Global Dilemma: Guns or Butter. But I still have great interest in good sound. When other kids used flimsy, beige-colored computer speakers with their Sound Blaster, I already used the speakers and power amp section of dad's Kenwood DC-20. In 2007 I had forgotten many things about audio, but still had the instinct to choose musical-sounding multimedia speakers instead of Logitech's boom booms.
So, that was the story of my very first amplifier, and the start of my great interest in good sound.
How about yours?
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