What made you become an 'audiophile'.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by thxphotog, Apr 14, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    1.) Becoming obsessive about music and having a set of headphones at around age 5.

    2.) Spending much of my teen years playing music and deepening my love and understanding of music, including lots of live music.

    3.) Living in an area that supported several hi-fi shops so that I could listen and shop long before I could afford. (I think shops now probably need to be creating more lifelong customers by focusing on entry-level systems.)
     
  2. MonkeyMan

    MonkeyMan A man who dreams he is a butterfly?

    I got into audiophilia in order to be more attractive to women...
     
  3. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    it's working for you


    For me, it was car audio.

    You're 15 years old. You know you can get a driver's license next year. All you can think about is getting that car.

    I turned 16 (in 1995), bought a very used 1984 BMW 318i. Started looking around at head units so I could play CD's. That research opened up doors and I got into car stereo heavily. Purchased one of the first Rockford Fosgate head units and 4 Crystal coaxial speakers. Started working at a shop installing and was introduced to sound quality competition (never go involved, but heard the cars).

    Then college came and somehow I was smart enough to not buy anything that you couldn't spill a beer on/into.
     
    VinylRob likes this.
  4. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I think the "Audiophile" fuses made me finally step up.
     
    thxphotog and MonkeyMan like this.
  5. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    When I began living with my wife I had to quit playing drums in bands. I really missed the "realness" of music being made around me, and I started looking to get the very most out of recorded music playback. That was the real genesis of it all for me.
     
    ggergm likes this.
  6. VinylRob

    VinylRob Forum Resident

    Hi, my name is Rob, and I'm an Audiophile.

    Like most addictions and obsessions we have to first start by admitting it and taking responsibility for it and our actions... than there is always the stories behind it all...

    You can blame your family, friends, or the great abundance of record stores that used to exist (on every corner) in your home town, but eventually it all comes back to you.

    Music lover first (before birth, my Mom says), I blame music, vinyphile second, reluctant audiophile third, by necessity perhaps. I don't know exactly when it happened, I was tweaking a turntable with an AT or Ortofon cart through a Scott receiver (hand me down) in teen years, and before that, playing my Dad's jazz records, especially my (absent minded mono purchase) of Sgt. Pepper on my M & D's all tube mono rig in the living room...
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2014
    Ortofun and ggergm like this.
  7. VinylRob

    VinylRob Forum Resident

    ...And then there is the girls, specifically art school girls... if you didn't play guitar, or have a really great rap (dialog), the next best thing was having a really fine record collection. Just casually invite them over, or make them a mixed tape, and let the music do the talking... ;^)>
     
  8. MonkeyMan

    MonkeyMan A man who dreams he is a butterfly?

    Once I'd tried "vaping" record cleaning fluid, there was no turning back.
     
  9. ruben lopez

    ruben lopez Nunc Est Bibendum

    Location:
    Barcelona Spain
    Music!:pineapple::bdance::goodie:
     
    Sneaky Pete and ggergm like this.
  10. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    My mother inherited her parents' nice stereo rig, with real separates. A Garrard turntable, Lafayette tube receiver, big Koss headphones and I forget the speakers. All in a nice, solid wood cabinet.

    It even came with a selection of good vinyl, including minty copies of SPLHCB, HEY JUDE, and assorted classical titles. I already had some vinyl myself, and it all sounded glorious on the big rig. I spent a lot of time listening on those Koss headphones.
     
    ggergm likes this.
  11. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I've sold a ton of car stereos over the years. I've heard this again and again. Boys in the '90s had to have loud car stereo, with subwoofers, crossovers and component midrange and tweeter speakers. Later in life they are reduced to computer speakers for sound. They know music can sound better. My 30 and 40 something male friends who have gotten back into vinyl all came to being an audiophile through car audio.
     
  12. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    While there's truth to that, I'm always disappointed that people instantly associate car audio with volume. Sure, there's a ton of that, but even at 16, I had no interest in it. Our goals were the same as any home audio nerd. We wanted well integrated drivers, a good soundstage, tight/musical bass and a relatively flat response.

    If that weren't the case, I'd probably have ended up with stacks of Cerwin Vegas and Crown amps.
     
  13. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music...

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    1. Love of music
    2. Interest in the technology to reproduce that music to the highest quality possible for my budget and interest
     
    tyinkc, ggergm and VinylRob like this.
  14. chodad

    chodad Hodad

    Location:
    USA
    In my late 30's when my music collection began growing in leaps and bounds I started to get into better playback equipment. About the same time the internet was taking off and it became a valuable resource for a novice like me.
     
    ggergm likes this.
  15. caracallac

    caracallac Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    My uncles had some really nice gear, Garrard, Revox, Radford, Quad and Ex- BBC monitors. When you've gotten used to equipment of that quality anything less is pointless.
     
    ggergm likes this.
  16. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    Listening to Creedence 8-tracks while driving around in my sister's boyfriend's truck > Listening to live Grateful Dead reel-to-reel tapes on a friend's giant JBLs > Hearing the Grateful Dead play live esp. via their Wall of Sound...

    After that it took me 30 years to get my priorities straight and then save the money to buy the gear that might begin to approximate those memories and sounds at home. Still trying, and reaping much joy from the process.
     
    ggergm likes this.
  17. quicksilverbudie

    quicksilverbudie quicksilverbudie

    Location:
    Ontario
    I have been searching for the best sound that I could afford. Then in the early 90s got into higher-end audio, and was told by a dealer/buddie that I owe it to my record collection to get better gear, which I did over 10-15 year period. I have what I would call an Audiophile system now...and very happy with it> I owe my wife big time!

    sean
     
  18. Doug Sclar

    Doug Sclar Forum Legend

    Location:
    The OC
    I thought of another few examples.

    In 1962 my grandma remarried a man we called Uncle Julius. UJ had by far the best system I'd ever heard up to that point in my life. He had a Scott integrated tube amp, with the matching FM tuner w/separate tuner. He also had a pair of AR 2ax speakers and a Benjamin Miracord turntable. I never dreamed that someday that would be handed down to me, but when he passed in the early 80s that's exactly what happened.

    He had a lot of cool records including the original Audio Fidelity stereo demonstration records. Pretty much all he played was classical, so I never got to hear how that system would have sounded with pop music. My grandma bought me some of my first records, including Meet The Beatles. Uncle Julius hated it saying it was all rhythm and noise. Looking back some of those original US LP's did pretty much sound that way.

    Secondly, in the mid 60s my dad got his component system from Lafayette. It wasn't all that great, but I wore out each and every page of that catalog and the Allied catalog. In fact I still have both of them and several others from the 60s. I would go to bed dreaming about the Roberts reel to reel recorders, AR3a speakers, and pretty much everything in that catalog, including the musical instruments.

    A few years later I was doing repairs for the local pawn shop and I ended up with one of those Roberts recorders. This model also made 8 tracks. I was only able to keep it for a few months, as it was in pawn, but I learned a heck of a lot from playing with it.

    Another interesting discovery for me came around early 1968. I was spending the night at a friend's house and he had speakers wired up in the closets of each of the rooms. This was done by his older brother, who would turn out to be well known lighting director, Jeff Engle. I was fascinated by what I heard. It was not just the speakers, as much as I noted the delay when the distant speakers were turned up a bit louder than the local ones. This was an awesome effect, especially when the long version of Time Has Come Today came on from KRLA's Radio Free Oz and it really fascinated me. Perhaps that's why I love hearing ambience on records so much.

    I also built a pretty nice car stereo system, several years before I actually owned a car. My dad wouldn't allow me to install anything in his car, so I built a portable system that fit nicely in our 66 Impala station wagon. It actually sounded very good especially as it evolved and looked like it was a built in. I built a nice speaker housing that dropped down between the 2nd and 3rd seats and put a couple of 6x9 coaxial speakers in it. I did manage to bury a wiring harness under the carpet so I could easily set up and remove the system when I was lucky enough to be able to use the car. Btw, I had to petition my dad for it's use in advance, and he charged me 3 cents a mile, which he convinced me was a great deal compared to the actual costs of operating a car. None of my friends had to do this, but it was actually another great life lesson that I was forced to learn.

    In hindsight, the only surprise would have been if I didn't turn into an audiophile type. Ironically, I never had a clue that I'd end up making my future living from audio, not even up to the point where I was offered a job as a sound engineer the day before I graduated from college.
     
    T'mershi Duween and JimD like this.
  19. thxphotog

    thxphotog Camera Nerd Cycling Nerd Guitar Nerd Dietary Nerd Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    How's that workin' out for ya?

    Edit: Oops, James beat me to it. :)
     
    VinylRob likes this.
  20. MonkeyMan

    MonkeyMan A man who dreams he is a butterfly?

    My tonearm has never seen so much action before...

     
    VinylRob likes this.
  21. Leigh

    Leigh https://orf.media

    About 20 years ago I got my hands on a tube amp (Dynaco ST-70 stock except solid state regulation) for doing volunteer work at a community radio station. People would donate gear to the station and we would sell it. I "bought" the amp for all the time I put in at the station, along with a cheap NAD preamp

    The Dynaco had Mullards. But, the sound: It was rolled off and had no bass or power as it was on Mullards that were an inch from dying but oh god that warm midrange and imaging.... So began my foray into tube amps.

    I should also mention that I bought a pair of Proac Super Tablettes from my PhD advisor who was upgrading, along with a cheap sub. That happened first, and that configuration wase used with a 90's integrated Harman Kardon amp. But they really sang with the Dynaco and I really haven't strayed much from that initial configuration (tubes, ProAc monitors+sub) 20 years later.

    I guess I just really enjoy getting lost in music, and good gear really makes the experience so very much more enjoyable. It's one hobby that I've never strayed from - others come and go, but not listening to music on "the good stereo"!
     
    ggergm likes this.
  22. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I remember standing in front of the sound board at the first Wall of Sound show (Cow Palace, 3/23/74) and thinking, "This system images better than my ESS speakers in my room at the frat house." To this day, with a stack of speakers behind each performer dedicated to his instrument, the Wall of Sound remains the best imaging PA I've ever heard.

    The Wall of Sound also helped me become an audiophile.

    Stone Turntable, you know that John Curl was one of the people who built the Wall of Sound, don't you? I didn't until a few years ago but now it makes sense. It figures that I've always liked and often owned his audio gear.
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2014
    Robin L likes this.
  23. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
  24. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    It has to be tied into my growing appreciation of classical music during my college years. During a year off (72-73) I worked at the local Korvettes, which not only had a decent record department, but an audio department with some pretty good stuff available to me at a discount. I bought a Pioneer PL12 turntable and a Pioneer SA 8100 integrated amp together with a pair of Fisher loudspeakers. Within the year I had upgraded the speakers to Large Advents.
     
  25. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    You become an audiophile when you hear a difference after an audio system change (either yours or someone else's) and it matters to you. I don't think live music comparisons drive much audiophilia since No system sounds like live music.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine