What made you become an 'audiophile'.

Sweetheart of the Rodeo LP resissue. Sounds funny I know, but up until that point I didn't really get why people bought better gear to enjoy their music. Granted I had SACDs and DVD-As, but I considered them an exception rather than the rule. I was fine with my Denon receiver and Sony SACD player. That Lp created a monster. I had never heard such detail in Sweetheart. It sounded so open and full to my ears. Suddenly things like soundstage, uncolored, and dynamic were a part of my vocabulary. Its been so fun and so frustrating all at once. I love it.

Up until that point I considered myself a serious music listener, but was frustrated with the lack of sound quality. I spent a lot of money on music and gear, but bought all the wrong stuff. My ex-husband wasn't much help because he thought crapy surround sound systems were the end all be all. I didn't know the half of it. As serious as I was back then... it doesnt compare to now. If only I could go back 10 years and stop myself from selling all those targets and early press CDs. *cringe*

 

Poor modern mastering.

I started to get fed up with feeling relieved when i turned OFF my favorite artists new album, despite liking the music. I did some research and testing and stared to understand what made what I love even more enjoyable.

 

Wow, great question and lots of great stories!
In my youth music and stereos were everywhere. My older cousins had great stereos and played all the cool music of the day- Bob Dylan, Quicksilver Messenger, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull, etc. and I wanted to emulate them. Plus my dad had a subscription to High Fidelity magazine and I would read all these reviews. And the radio was awesome back then! We had these great FM "free form" stations, WBUF and WPHD. They played progressive rock and lots of weird but very cool stuff.
My first stereo really stunk, an Olsen electronics receiver, home made speakers with 15" radio shack woofers and a BIC turntable but it sounded great back then. My friends were also into music, stereos and concerts. We would go to the stereo shops and listen to the systems and it was quite obvious that the more you could afford the better your system would sound. In college (engineering school) I was amazed at the handiwork of these guys who would construct huge lofts in their dorms just to support their stereo systems!
It was only natural and practical that when you like music, can hear the difference, then you should try to make your system sound as good as it could within (or sometimes without!) your budget.

 

My mother had a Fisher based tube 78 console that I grew up playing her 78s and kids records on. A friend of mine's father built a stereo console with a Heathkit AR-1500 receiver and home made speakers. Also, another friend in my neighborhood, that was a few years older, was a ham radio operator and electronics nut. He upgraded his HiFi system to a Dynaco PAT-4 and Stereo 120, that he built from the kits, to go with a pair of AR-3a's and AR turntable. To me the sound from those 2 systems was amazing! They sure put our Voice of Music SS console that we had by then to shame. After he upgraded, I ended up buying my friends 15 watt Bell tube amp and changer with a ceramic cartridge to go with a cheap 3 way speaker. I saw a post from him on a Facebook site and was going to try to get back in touch with him, but sadly he passed away a couple weeks before.

 

My older brother moved back home when I was 13. Brought a Technics receiver, a turntable and some speakers I cannot recall which brand. Once I heard what it sounded like I was hooked. My parents asked if I wanted a HS graduation party and I asked if I could not have a party, but take the money and buy a "stereo" for college. A NAD 3420 integrated amp, NAD cassette deck and a pair of Energy speakers and I was off. My friends & I would get high and hang out at Clarke Music in Syracuse. I now wonder what the sales guys thought when we would show up two or three times a week. We surely reeked of smoke. However, they took the time to let us listen to whatever we brought in if they were not busy. I remember one sale guy Frank. I think he played in a local Syracuse band call the "Atlas Linen Company". I recently bought the NAD 3420 amp back from a friend back home who I sold it to when upgrading. The NAD now resides in my 13 year old son's bedroom paired with Allison CD7 speakers.

 

The roots for my audio obsession were planted in the early 60's when I was about 9 or 10 years old. We used to go visit my uncle who was in the RCAF based in Ottawa. He was one of those guys who put together his own Heathkit and played all those sound effects records plus some jazz stuff. I remember being enthralled with his gear. Years later while I was in high school there was a high-end audio place right nearby where I hung out at lunch salivating over the McIntosh, Fisher, Lenco's, Thorens, JBL, Altec etc. I had a well paying job at 15 and saved my money and made my very first purchase of audio equipment from that store - a Thorens TT, Michaelson and Austin amp, a McIntosh preamp/tuner and a pair of JBL's. I loved that stuff but eventually sold it to cover University costs. It would be nice to hear it all again now. Here I am 61 years old, wife complaining about my audiophile addiction and questioning why I'm putting together a 3rd system.

 

Sensitive hearing.

 

Badly mastered CDs!

 

My dad had a decent record collection growing up, so I spent many hours fascinating the sleeve, the jacket, and of course the music coming out of his stereo system. I also learnt how to play records at a young age on his turntable. I think he had an old Technics player and Sony amp, but not entirely sure.. When I later made my first real paycheck as a 15 year old, I went to my local hifi dealership and bought my first amp and a pair of speakers. It was NAD and B&W 602s.

I caught the bug.

 

Sensitive Hearing. Hearing my stepfather's Fisher 400, Olson Coaxial speakers, and hearing my neighbors JBL speakers, JBL integrated amplifier, and hearing his Dual 1229 and Shure V 15 Type II Improved, hearing another neighbor's Dynakit SCA 35, AR 4x speakers, and AR XA turntable with Grado FCE cartridge got me hooked, got my own gear in 1973 and my first Dynakit Stereo 70, Dynakit PAS3X preamp, Dynaco A 25, and AR XA with Shure M 91 ED and HH Scott LT 122 tuner kit and I was hooked for life.

 

I honestly think it's because I stopped actually playing music. I had to stay obsessed with music somehow, and this is where I ended up.

 

Head injury...

D.D.

 

Buying an average US copy of The White Album, then hearing a UK issue. On the first spin of the UK White, my interest was piqued during the plane sounds on the intro then my jaw dropped when the music started. Like the first time I heard Astral Weeks, nothing would be the same afterwards.

 

Music.

 

I discovered playing the devil's music on God's equipment sounded better!

 

Everybody I knew when I was a teen wanted to have a good stereo- late 60's. Music was a huge part of our life, and listening to it over a good 'stereo' was pretty important. I took it from there, liked playing with gear, worked part time in various stereo shops as a teen, kept involved over the years. It's been about 45 years of this stuff, and still going, stronger than ever.

 

A desire of recovering the habit of listening to music for the pure pleasure of doing it. I had noticed that I was doing it just because of my job as a musician/music teacher (rehearsing, transcribing...).

 

My brother liked going to hifi exhibitions from 1980 onwards & I enjoyed going to them. Back then they were big events , dolly birds , freebies the lot. Our system was good but average (nad/dual/celestion) from around 18 I went to another exhibition & thought ...THAT'S IT. Mission 770F speakers were bought!

 

Hearing my first good stereo. And that was that.

 

I never consider myself an audiophile. I just want to listen to music the best that my knowledge and pocketbook will allow.

 

Me neither, but...

 

The Loudness War.
Wondering why most of my cd's from the late nineties and early 2000's starting souding like I had broken speakers or ears for that matter, began to investigate why? Found a website about Dynamic Range.
Would here things from time to time about the wonders of vinyl. Listen to an LP as an adult and finally realized what people were talking about .Then I landed here,where there is a plethora of information to be found.Thanks Steve Hoffman !!!!!!!!!!

 

I believe it was the sum of some general observations I had made during my formative years as an avid listener that made me become an audiophile (of sorts), like hearing a friend's stereo system and noticing that his equipment - even though crude by any standards - didn't sound anything like my cheap and miserable cassette player; realizing that the sound quality of my recordings degraded somewhat if I recorded songs from tape to another tape, and so on.

 

but.....?

 

Sorry. Didn't the OP quote appear? What I meant is that the OP states that being a visitor of the SH forums makes us "audiophiles", so that's why I posted my short story in spite of not considering myself an audiophile.