So what got YOU interested?

[Craig Sawyers]

I guess there was a moment for all of us that got us interested in audio, electronics, science and so forth.

 

To kick things off, this was got me going.  In the UK during the 60's and 70's there was a series of educational books for children called the Ladybird books.  It eventually ran to hundreds of topics, but were written in very clear language and with superb illustrations.

 

It shows what an effect this had on me - I remember precisely the book - Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries.  And thanks to the web, here it is www.vintage-radio.info/download.php?id=358 vintage 1962.  I remember pretty much everything I built from that - and from the publication date I must have been 7 or 8. 

 

The one I remember particularly was the electric motor made with a cork, some needles and pins, a few paper clips and wire, and a battery.  The only bit I needed help with was pushing the needle through the cork, but only because I did not have the strength.

 

So what moment got you interested?

[spritzer]

I blame my dad for this madness.    He taught me how to solder early on and I had built my first amp at six.  It was some battery powered opamp kit but it worked.  I then moved to computers but instead of using them for something sensible I ripped them apart and put them together again numerous times.  Things went quickly downhill from then on... 

[blessingx]

Can't remember when music wasn't there. For the rest probably the Timex Sinclair 1000, though I generally blame lasers and shit.

Edited January 24, 2015 by blessingx

[skullguise]

Music first for me, had two older brothers that got me into lots of music.  First 45 at 7 years old was the Who "Love Reign On Me" and first LP at 9 was J Geils "Live Full House"

 

Somewhat in parallel to the growing music love, my best friend's dad had an Apple II computer that we used to play/work on in the late 70's.  Press the Play button on the portable cassette player, "Loading...."  8-bit madness ensued!

[Craig Sawyers]

Can't remember when music wasn't there. For the rest probably the Timex Sinclair 1000, though I generally blame lasers and shit.

 

Ah yes - Clive Sinclair.  Back in the day (late 60's early 70's) and always trying to minimise costs he would acquire hundreds of thousands of reject transistors free.  His team would then test every one to find the few that actually worked OK to use in his products.

 

The reject transistors were used in the foundation for his driveway.

[RudeWolf]

I was born in a country that is no more - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. At that time just about everything was scarce as cavities on hens teeth. So basically if you somehow got something, you surely needed to able to fix it. Have you seen plastic bags being machine washed and then fitted with cotton inlays to keep them go longer? I have.

 

My pops, after he came back from serving in the red army (he was lucky to be dumb enough to tell the conscription commission that he had relatives in US, which saved him from Soviet-Afghan war), scraped up enough cash to buy a Sharp two cassette decker from sailors. That catapulted him to the top of his local crowd of 20-somethings. He was able to copy records, which at that time meant being the local music kingpin. Records were rare and usually came from the same sailors or were ripped from foreign radio transmissions. The main man who did the first copies was called the The Great Audiopirate - if you somehow got your hands on the second copies, everyone would automatically worship you because evidently you were "up-there" pretty high. Usually second tape copies went to high caliber underground discos, then they trickled down through further copying through guys like my dad. The funny thing was that due to the quality of these records being abysmal, many of the older folks don't recognize western music from that time being played from good records - things like cymbals were absent in these records.

 

So when I came into this world I had more music at my disposal than 95% of the other kids. I also had many peers who taught me interesting things like soldering, basic electronics and making explosives (strangely enough that's also a big thing in our family). I also learned to read at the tender age of five, which meant a lot of reading and rapidly widening my worldview through various encyclopedias and Jules Verne books.

 

Yet the affliction of audiophilia came much much later. I've loved music all my life, yet the thought of "better playback" came to me at the age of 23 when I also had the cash to make some of it come true. My mother flew to NY that year and bought a Grado SR80i for me with the money I gave her. The next year I went to study to Iceland...

[CarlSeibert]

My Dad taught me to build simple circuits as a kid.  I remember little pieces of perf board and the smell when you hit your finger with the iron (which I must have done a lot, if I can remember it all these years later).

 

In high school I had a little system with a reel-to-reel tape deck and a turntable and electronics that became incrementally better over time. That must of been the first onset of audiophillia. 

 

But the thing I remember most was not having music for a while. When I moved to Florida, there were no apartments available. The vacancy rate in the whole city was a percentage point or two. I rented a condo from a colleague. He was selling the condo (or trying to. A common joke at the time was "what doesn't fit, an insurance salesman, the clap, of a condominium?", the punch line was "the clap" because you could get rid of that.) In exchange for really cheap rent, I had to treat the place like a hotel room - minimal clothes in the closest, none of my furniture, no stereo - so he could show it at any given moment. I stayed there for about six months until I found a "real" apartment. The thing I missed most and wanted as soon as I got to my own place was my own music. 

 

It wasn't long after that that I felt I could afford better speakers. I went up and down and up and down Federal Highway with a copy of Heart's 'Dog and Butterfly', visiting every audio shop repeatedly. I guess that was it.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I spent my late grade school years listening to the Beatles on the new integrated turntable, radio, amp system that my mom bought for me when I was 11 or 12.  I started buying 45's of current hits, till I owned a few hundred from part-time work at my dad's Pier1 Imports store.  But it never sounded as good as the school dances.  

 

So, I started hanging out at a local small independent stereo shop, and the guy adopted me under his wing and taught me a huge amount over the next 4 years before I went to college. I got part-time job in the 9th grade and started buying gear, and turned into an audiophile before I graduated from high school.

 

I started DJ'ing the highschool parties for 10th-12th grade (small one, high school for health professions), and even did a couple of med school parties, but mostly started with private listening with American Kinetics Speakers and Koss Pro headphones after I got my 1st Technics CD player ($800 in 1984).

 

I'm too tired to keep going, so I'll leave you with that. Thanks for your stories!

[Wmcmanus]

I always loved music and would listen to the radio nonstop as a kid.  But I think going to see Springsteen in '76 at Notre Dame when I was a freshman in high school was the turning point.  Just such an eye opening experience to a world of worlds that I didn't know anything about (music, drugs, alcohol, girls, the whole college scene... it was amazing).  

My dad didn't want me to go because I was on the football team and so was JB, who had invited me.  His brother was a senior at Notre Dame and said that he could bring a friend.  It took a while, but I was finally able to convince my dad, only on the condition that we went to our game on Friday night and then he would drive JB and I to South Bend himself (along with two of my younger brothers, as it turned out) to meet the college kids on Saturday morning.  It was at least a 3 hour drive.  There were about 10 guys waiting for us at the drop off point, and they were all stoned out of their minds!  I'm just thankful that my dad was a huge Notre Dame football fan (and thus seemed oblivious to their states of mind), or he would have just turned the car around with me still in it!

 

From that moment forward, I was reading The Rolling Stone and forever expanding my musical horizons.  Life wasn't just about sports anymore.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Wmcmanus

[livewire]

Listening to The Drifters "This Magic Moment" (and other 1960 hits) on my first transistor radio tucked under the pillow at bedtime.

[swt61]

When I was twelve years old, I was riding my bike around the neighborhood. Suddenly a van pulled beside me and Stiller and Meara jumped out and forced me inside the van. Yes, I was abducted by the comedy duo.

 

They took me back to a rundown house, where another abducted child named Ben was being held. That's right, he's not their real son. I was held for three years before escaping. I spent my time training the rats in the basement, and was finally able to overthrow the comedy duo by a rat coup. My rat leader, also named Ben, after the other abductee, was able to talk the other rats into cornering the comedy duo, but I couldn't talk Ben, the child, into leaving with me. By the time I was able to call the cops, the house was empty, except for Ann's bra, a small amount of rat fur and the John Denver 8 track we had been forced to listen to daily.

 

During my captivity I always told myself that if I ever were able to live a life of my own, I would buy some better audio equipment and assassinate John Denver. I was able to accomplish both goals, and even made the assassination look like an accidental plane crash.

[Wmcmanus]

Did the over exposure to John Denver help you to come to terms with your sexual identity?

[Craig Sawyers]

You must've filled up his senses, Tice 

[jvlgato]

My parents’ Zenith furniture console with built in automatic turntable and 8 track tape, and ‘high fidelity stereo, letting you experience music as if you were there.’ So cool.

 

My all in one Sharp console with automatic turntable, lit up tuner, cassette, and two speakers that I had to connect to the console. Then my upgrade to JVC ribbon tweeter speakers hooked up to said all in one console. So cool!

 

Going to the library as a kid and recording (pirating) many records onto cassettes. Luckily the RIAA didn’t come after us for A MILLION DOLLARS (in best Dr. Evil voice). Normal, Chrome, and … Metal. Later, DBX. Very cool.

 

Subscribed to Stereo Review and Audio magazine and read them cover to cover every month.

Visiting Audio Consultants in Evanston in college, wandering around with no money, and pushing the auto reverse button on the Nakamichi Dragon, making the cassette pop out, flip around, and go back in. So very cool.

 

Subscribed to Stereophile Magazine and read it cover to cover. I remember enjoying an ad for a place that sold headphones and headphone related stuff. I couldn’t understand why people would spend that kind of money on headphones, but the ads were so funny and self-effacing, that I’d look forward reading the ads just for the fun of reading the ads. ‘Because we’re headphone people!’ (That’s not quite right, someone help me.)  

Getting an NAD receiver and KEF bookshelf speakers as a med student. Still have them today!  A little cool.

 

Visiting a high end store in Columbus, OH and seeing/hearing a four tower speaker system, the Infinity Beta. Two towers of tweeter and midrange ribbons and two towers of dynamic bass drivers. Life changing cool.

 

Having a small salary as a resident, and mastering the art of finding high quality used equipment. I bought a 15 year old Krell amp from Saturday Audio Exchange and drove to Wisconsin to buy a pair of out-of-business-old Apogee Centaurs off the newspaper classifieds. Fantastically cool.

 

Ah, memories!

[CarlSeibert]

I had completely forgotten about listening to the 1812 Overture (yup, the part with the cannon) over and over on the family console system as a tiny kid, of like four or five. 

 

Or maybe that was where an interest in guns came from.

 

Or maybe every kid back then listened to that record and thought it was cool because of the cannon.

 

I have that record. I don't know if the copy I have is that record or one I bought more recently because of the association. It's on Mercury, if I remember right. Anyway, I'll have to dig it out, give it spin, and see it that's a for-real, proper audiophile cannon shot. 

[Craig Sawyers]

Ah - the Mercury Living Presence recording.  Antal Dorati conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.  Still awesome even now (I have the CD, not the black vinyl).  Sleeve notes say it was two 6lb smooth bore bronze cannons and a 12lb Howizer, from West Point, and fired under the direction of Gerald C Stone by the reactivated Civil War Unit, Battery B, 2nd New Jersey light artillery.

 

The CD has a demo of the recording technique with a voiceover.

 

So yes, real audiophile cannons for sure!

Edited January 28, 2015 by Craig Sawyers

[jvlgato]

Carl, that is awesome, the one and only 8 track tape that my parents actually owned was of the 1812 overture. So I would also sit in front of the family console and listen to the 1812 overture overt and over!

Do you remember the Telarc recording in the 1980s that came with a warning that the cannon shots could damage your stereo equipment?.

Edited January 28, 2015 by jvlgato

[skullguise]

Do you remember the Telarc recording in the 1980s that came with a warning that the cannon shots could damage your stereo equipment?.

 

I had that one at my college suite my senior year, would play it on an Onkyo receiver driving (forgot) speakers and a Phase Tech subwoofer.  The cannons would literally cause the sub to dance a bit, but it played it pretty damn well.  One of my suitemates was a transfer from Norwich University and said it reminded him of "home."   

[purk]

I wasted countless hours per day during my teenage years sitting on the bus dealing with traffic jam in Bangkok, Thailand.  As a birthday present, my dad got me my first Aiwa "Sound-about" and I've been hooked with portable audio/headphones ever since.  I was so amazed that such a great sound was able to come from such a small package and I was able to take my music with me.  My first highend phones/earbuds was the Sony MDR-E888 in 1996.  I thought nothing will be able to best the E888 sound wise...glad I was wrong.  Then I got seriously interested in portable minidisc and discman and started collecting them.  Then found Headwize in 1999 and found others who were just as passionate about portable audio/headphone like I do.  I still remember fondly that one day I would like to own the legendary Ety ER-4S and Headroom Cosmic and capped off my collection with Sony MDR-CD1700. I should have stopped at the E888.

Edited January 28, 2015 by purk

[swt61]

Carl, that is awesome, the one and only 8 track tape that my parents actually owned was of the 1812 overture. So I would also sit in front of the family console and listen to the 1812 overture overt and over!

Do you remember the Telarc recording in the 1980s that came with a warning that the cannon shots could damage your stereo equipment?.

 

At 18 I had what I thought then was a decent system. Phase Linear amp, Carver pre-amp, Yamaha TT and ESS AMT 1D's with the big Heil air motion transformers. Any time one of my peers would suggest his crappy Cerwin Vega/Optimus rig (the favorite of teens of that time) would keep up, I'd crank that record up on their system. None of my friends knew what was coming, and many a woofer saw it's demise.

[Emooze]

I grew up on one of the country's best NPR stations, WGBH, and my parent's love for Steely Dan and the like. The transition to HiFi and DIY came when I went to college for EE and had to share a dorm with two other guys. Cool though they were, headphones were the preferable choice. When I started digging and realized I needed an amp, I looked around and thought: "Hey, I can build that!" Went to a meet the next year, got praise on my build, hosted the next two meets after that, and now here I am.

 

Edit: why is my post always the first on the second page?

Edited January 29, 2015 by Emooze

[jvlgato]

At 18 I had what I thought then was a decent system. Phase Linear amp, Carver pre-amp, Yamaha TT and ESS AMT 1D's with the big Heil air motion transformers. Any time one of my peers would suggest his crappy Cerwin Vega/Optimus rig (the favorite of teens of that time) would keep up, I'd crank that record up on their system. None of my friends knew what was coming, and many a woofer saw it's demise.

The system you had that you thought was decent at the time was much better than the system I had that I thought was decent at the time!

And pretty amazing that you had the RECORD, and could actually play it!

Edit: Good to see you, Steve! Have missed you!

Edited January 29, 2015 by jvlgato

[swt61]

The record belonged to my best friend's Dad. I did record it onto cassette, but I usually borrowed the vinyl for rig wars.

 

At 16 I heard a great system for the time...Phase Linear/Carver/Yamaha/Klipschorns. It was a revelation for me, and I spent nearly two years recreating it as best as my budget would allow.

[skullguise]

^^^ Very cool, Steve!  At 16, I had a Fisher all-in-one.....

Edited January 29, 2015 by skullguise

[grawk]

At 16 I had a godawful emerson all in one because it had both cd and turntable.  My dad had gotten me into music, with his marantz receiver and turntable, plus early cd player and high end aiwa 3 head tape deck.