the gateway product that turned you into an audiophile

It started with the music of the late 1960s and early 1970s and progressed from car stereos to a pair of 12-inch Jensen triaxial drivers that I mounted into self-made birch-ply enclosures.  Those big speakers (that I still own) travelled with me from dorms to homes for about 7 years until they were replaced by a pair of A/D/S L810s.

I'm not an audiophile according to many definitions. But if I was, it would be due to Magenpan LRS+ speakers.

This has been a fun read. Lots of old memories mentioned. Someone mentioned TV Lenny from Madison WI. He was said to have sold 1/4 of everything that Sansui made. I don't know if it's true but maybe. He pushed the hell out of it and had at least two large stores in the midwest. Last thing I heard in an American TV store (TV Lenny, Crazy Lenny), was Mirage M1's powered by Adcom GFA 555 amp. I was fairly impressed. CD I think if I remember right, was the time when you couldn't hardly find a cartridge for your turntable. 

Anyway, lots of stuff I've had over the years, Bose, Crown, Shure V15 (still have two of them). Linn LP12 (still have), only took me 50 years to get one. If there was a hall of fame for making loud noise at parties, Bose 901's would be in it. Not perfect by any means but they liked to rock. I still own several pair even though I don't use them anymore. 

Someone mentioned lusting for Mac but settling for Crown. I did the same, less than half the money, close in power. I had an IC150 preamp and DC300 A amp, bought new in 1975. It served me well for many years. I sold it to my brother, he sold it to my other brother and my son now has it. Hasn't worked in awhile but one of those things that you can't just throw out. With that, I bought a Pioneer PL12 D turntable and Shure V15 III. Couldn't afford the Thorens TD 125 that I wanted and settled on the Pioneer. It also served me for many years. My nephew is still using it. The series II 901's were also in the deal. I'd heard the Maggies, Ohms and others at the time but bang for the buck (decibel level?) seemed to be with the 901's. Sold off the whole system after starting a new career and having two kids. Spent the next few years working 2 or more jobs and not having the time or money for any decent stereo components. 

Had some mix and match components thrown together to at least have something to listen to around the late 80's. Sony ES amps, Onkyo preamp (first time I had a remote and I still own it but sits on the shelf. Had a Yamaha linear tracking turntable. The Yamaha started to fail and I moved to an AR (THE AR), which I still have and my son is using it. First CD player was a discman portable. Tried some carousels and multi disc players and hated them all. Bought a used Denon which I still use. 

Moved on to VPI turntable  25 years or so ago(HW 19 III), Cary tube phono preamp (PH 301), which I still have and use both. I now switch on and off between the VPI and the Linn. I see no reason to get rid of either one. Recently added Cary SLP 98 P F1 to the system and am very pleased. Been trying different tubes over the last few months and having fun. My amps are getting old Parasound HCA 2200 II, which I use to biamp AR9's, also getting old but still good. Their bass response is downright amazing. I also added a pair of KEF R107's. In the midst of tube upgrades and then on the probably the last detail, cables and power treatments. 

This has been a process that started in the 1960's with a system from Radio Shack that I took into the army with me and it has never stopped evolving in one way or another. It probably will never stop evolving in some fashion. I don't know if that makes me an audiophile or not but probably at least something similar. 

My first real audio back in 78, I met the Lenten day Paul Klipsch doing a Khorn demo with a 9 v transistor radio ,Very impressive I was sold 

I bought a pair of unfinished  Klipsch Heresey speakers 

a technics direct drive turntable , then a Nachamichi 3 head cassette deck 

a Lafayette receiver  then the Very good SAE amp preamp and AQ cabling 

it was a lot ofAudio in one year.and all my savings !! 

1970, my brother's AR turntable.

I purchased a Denon receiver and B&W bookshelves to incorporate into my 5.1 HT ten years ago. I soon came to enjoy stereo music far more than HT. Curious to improve the sound, I purchased a stereo amp, later an external dac, streamer and so on. I noticed vast improvement with each component addition/upgrade along the way which perpetuated the constant swapping of gear. 

I built a dynaco integrated amp during spring break my freshman year in college.  I know weirdo and bought an AR turntable.  That was the beginning.  But it went full in after buying a pair of Spica TC-50’s like 5 years later. 

Don't laugh, my gateway product was a Soundesign receiver vintage 1972! I loved music, at the time anything Motown and starting on Yes and Chicago. My old close-and-play had served me well, but I had heard Chicago 1 at a friend's house and needed to do SOMETHING. The Soundesign was all I could afford. Proudly, I took it to college where my neighbor had an AR table, Yamaha integrated and Heresy speakers. Yup, addicted, I was!

Late 60s KLH compact system. Superb speakers.

I almost forgot that when I bought the Proceed separates at that audio store tent sale, the owner of the (big) store came to see me and said “I just wanted to meet the person who bought the Proceed gear” and talked to me as if I knew what I was doing hahahaha! That’s when I knew I’d bought something special.

Bowers and Wilkins entry level 683 speakers. I was infected by my cousin in law. 

sansui amplifier  circa 1972,  then 200 watt  David Hafler.   passed the Sansui onto my  brother . seemed like the Sansui ran  forever 

love that story @echolane ! The Quad ESL speakers seem to be the most influential component for so many audiophiles. 

Marantz 2270 with Rectilinear lll speakers. Next came Advent Loudspeakers. They were perhaps my favourite speakers ever

Enjoy reading this thread - lots of product names from the past that bring back memories. My path began with a pair of stacked Advent speakers powered by a Mitsubishi integrated amplifier and a Dual turntable.

rafevw

it was audio art on church hill and they did the same to me.i think 1976-1977

I would say audio enthusiast before becoming an audiophile; JBL L100 speakers at 17 years  of age.  Then when I purchased a used pair of Aerial Acoustic Model 5 speakers in my 50s I became an audiophile.  My first exposure to audio was taking a handheld am/fm transistor, 9 volt, radio and connecting it to a Heath Kit 2 way speaker. The speaker had a 10 inch woofer and two 5 inch midrange cones.  It was and looked just like an AR2a minus the tweeter. (I owned pair given to me in college. great sound just not the same ump as the L100's) I used a mono mini earplug that had alligator clips on the end to connect to the speaker at around 10 years of age.  That wire opened up a whole new world to me as the sound from that speaker far outweighed the hand held radio. I guess this was my first foray into separate components!

I started out in 1956 at age 17 with a Webcor Portable record player, graduated to a console with a radio and turntable under the lid.  Finally, in 1978 my transformative product was a Pioneer SX-1050!  Which I still own though it is rarely called into duty.    I couldn’t afford speakers after buying the Pioneer so I joined a group at HP that had a blueprint of the Bose 901 speakers, accurate down to the sources for every part.  We commandeered the Fab Shop to cut the speakers to the proper size and drill the stepped circles to fit the nine speakers.  What a mess we made.  The next weekend we put the speakers together and wired them along with the equalizer for each pair of speakers.  I was the only female and I had a blast!

My second transformative product was importing the Quad ESL-63 Electrostatic speakers from a store in London.  I replaced the SX-1050 with an Audiomat Arpege tube integrated amp and I was in audiophile heaven.

i still own Quad ESL-63 speakers, the  US Monitor version, and I like to joke that I’ll be buried with them.  And yes, I still like them that much.  I’m into classical music and opera and they are a perfect fit for the music I enjoy listening to.
 

My current amp and preamp are Luxman, the Cl-38uC and the MQ-88uC.  My other sources are a Berkeley Audio DAC Reference Series 2+, Roon Nucleus, Audio Alchemy DMP-1 Media Server, Ayre DX-5 DSD SACD Player and a fully restored B&O Beogram 4004 turntable.  Oh, and a Nakamichi DR-1 tape cassette player.  I’ve been an audiophile most of my life and at age 86 this system is probably it. 

Summer of 1970 when I was 18 and heard a system at my friend’s house: Thorens TD125/Shure V15, Kenwood integrated amp with meters and Large Advent speakers. Listened to Hendrix Electric Ladyland, Procul Harum A Salty Dog and It’s a Beautiful Day. Sounded great compared to the GE console we had at home.

Left GE Trimline for JBL L150.  WOW!!  

The father of my best friend of over 60 years was an audiophile. He was a McIntosh loyalist from the 50’s on and upgraded his gear every few years. He would have either jazz or classical music just blasting in their house anytime he was home. If I recall correctly, he had big Bozak speakers. I was in that house almost daily. And so my friend (his son) and I became Mac owners as soon as we could afford it which was in our young 20’s. We both bought the small integrated amp of the day. I think it was the MA6100??  I am not really sure anymore. I had a variety of entry level gear but I guess technically, that integrated amp was my audiophile gateway piece. But really it was the dad’s gear that did it. We’ve both continued to own Mac all these years with many, many upgrades along the way. My current system is shown here on the virtual systems pages. Oh and as you’d expect, we’re both jazz and classical music lovers. 

Kenwood would be the name for me.  In 1984 I graduated a Navy school in Idaho Falls ID.  A  $2000 bonus was mine for the extra work.  On to the Fleet, finally.  I knew my CJ7 would be my only personal refuge so I promptly drove to the one car audio place in town.

I dropped every cent on my new system!  Everything was the best Kenwood had to offer.  Dolby C auto reverse tape deck. 3 way adjustable crossover in the console with the tape deck.  I had a box already built across the rear.  A perfect place to put a 8" woofer behind each front seat, driven by a 270 wpc amp.  2 5" midranges gut level in the dash driven by a 140 wpc.  The 2 1" tweeters were mounted at the roof line, forehead level with a 70 wpc.

SO FUN to find out you need a new alternator!  Talk about enveloped in sound.  The signature piece to hear was Frankenstein...The Jeep just bounced and when the ufo lands or whatever the ch ch ch ch noise was it just drilled into my head.

However, now and forever I LOVE my DCM Time Frame 2000s!  Just So Good...  Maybe with todays big tvs they could have sold more

When I built a Dynaco Stereo70 from a kit, age 14, in 1968.

MAGNAVOX CONSOLE  in the mid sixties

I acquired a Sansui AU9500 in the late 70's.  Didn't have much to go with so went to an auction at a going out of business audio store.  I was able to buy speakers, tuner, turntable, etc for pennies on the dollar.  That was my start.  And I still have the Sansui.

Two phases: college/early 20’s. My dad has Heathkit AR-15, Rectilinear speakers and a turntable (?) with a Shure V-15 Type III and then Type IV cartridges and a large classical record collection. So I was raised right. 🙂 My first system was a NAD 7020 and eventually a Thorens TD-145 with a Shure V-15 (must have been my Dad’s type III hand-me-down, can’t remember anymore). And a crap tape deck to keep from wearing out the vinyl.  I also had access at the time to a Nakamich 680ZX because the owner lived in Las Vegas and I lived near the Nakamichi service center in Santa Monica and it needed service at least twice. So it lived at my place until it went home to its owner. I think I got the NAD and the Thorens from Accurate Audio in Santa Monica.

Second phase: I had a girlfriend with mid-80’s AR separates, an Oracle TT, and Vandersteen speakers. Great girlfriend, right? ❤️ Her system was pretty sublime and well set-up. We broke up when I moved to Santa Cruz and after a while I went to Bay Area Audio to audition the just-released baby Thiel’s (CS .5). Don’t know the model numbers but the demo system was top of the line AR separates and a Cal Audio CD player into those Thiels. Knocked my ****in’ socks off.  That’s when I first heard air, separation, etc. etc. I was hooked.  It took me a really long time, but I ended up with a version of that system that I use today. Linn Klimax Organik DAC (Qobuz) into AR Ref 75SE into a pair of those baby Thiels. Audience AU SE cables mostly. Oh, and a perfectly serviced Nakamichi 680XZ and the original TD-145 TT into a PS Audio phono preamp. 🙂 We have two other systems (Thiel 1.5, PS Audio DirectStream Mk. I w/ Bridge II, LFD NCSE II) and (LFD LE IV, Rega Planet 2000, B+W Nautilus 805’s). The Linn/REF75SE system is by far the best sounding.

So I guess the answer for me is really Audio Research amps.

I grew up listening to classical music my dad played on his system which started out as AR 3a speakers driven by a Fisher receiver with a garrard turntable.. Sometime in the mid 70s, he graduated to a Mac receiver, ADS 420s and subwoofer and a Dual turntable. 

He then bought the ADS digital delay system which drove a pair of rear speakers. It certainly created the illusion of a more spacious environment but the effect was better on some recordings than others . My appetite was whetted.

In the early 80s, I bought a Denon integrated amp and matching tuner from Glenn Poor’s in Champaign, paired with ADS 410 speakers which I really liked. 

My roomate (I was in college) and I went in and bought a pair of used Ohm Fs. Where he found them, I’ve no idea. He also had the DBX 3Bx dynamic range expander. Another roomate had a Hafler amplifier which we drove with the preamp out of my integrated to power the Ohms. It sounded pretty remarkable even though the Hafler was woefully underpowered for the Ohms. Though my turntable was clearly a weak link (Harmon Kardon with an Ortofon cartridge), I can still remember listening to the finale of Shostakovich Symphony 5 in awe. I was hooked.

Adcom separates, sometime in the 80’s.

My first experience with "separates" was back in the early '80's. I was cruising around Jafco in Bellevue, WA and came across a used Phase Linear 3300 preamp sitting on a discount shelf. I didn't know anything about it, other than it looked cool. So I bought it. My "gateway" because now I needed an amp, speakers, turntable, interconects, quality speaker cables, etc. with infinite upgrade possibilities! Little did I know then that the beginning of my journey started with a product from a local guy named Bob Carver, who started Phase Linear, sold it, and started Carver Corp in 1979, and who didn't live too far from me.

BMW 545i.  The system in that car was better than my home system and I really hadn't realized what I was missing.  Took a few years to match it but of course now I've lapped that BMW several times over, but it's still a helluva fun thing to cruise around and rock out. 

When I first heard and purchased a pair of Martin Logan SL3s. This was back in the mid-90s. They are the best speakers that I've ever owned, and possibly ever heard. To be fair, I haven't listened to any speakers of that caliber with a critical ear, so my statement should not be surprising. I suspect that some current Martin Logan speakers would best my SL3s, as well as some speakers from other manufacturers. I still own the SL3s and could not imagine selling them, even if I purchased "better" speakers.

First time I had the “I didn’t think gear could sound like that moment” was around 1980 with a pair of Snell Type A’s. Amazing! I could not afford them but I did get a pair of the original Type E’s that u used for many years. Now I have a pair of DeVore O/93’s which are to me a descendant of the E’s. Many types of speakers in between but I am enjoying being back where I started, so to speak.

In 1973, age 25, I inherited my Uncle Johnny’s Console, the 'Fisher President II’, all tubes, 4 way horn/15" woofer speakers, made in 1958

The drivers are all working (woofers re-coned several times)  inside this new Rosewood Enclosure

more about the ’President II’ here

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/11420

1974, 16 years old, walked into "Natural Sound" in Framingham, MA (where I grew up), sat down in their "high end" room and heard Quad ESL's, stacked two on each side, with Mark Levinson separates and a turntable I can't recall.  But I will never forget those Quad's.  The band sounded like they were playing right in front of me.  I mean, not just good soundstage, but literally, with my eyes closed, the band was right there!  I have chased that sound since then!  Couldn't afford anything close to that setup at the time, but got Phase Linear separates with Epicure Trilogy speakers in college and so began the chase!  I always wonder what those Quad's would sound like now . .  I occasionally see rebuilt and reconditioned ones for sale and I always wonder if I could recreate that sound that I remember from my youth!

Oh what a walk through memory lane.

@bdgregory 

Oh my! My roommate had a Phase Linear 400 in the late 70's... it was so awesome at the time... and such a cool name. Thinking back, wow... what a terrible sounding amp. I can still remember long sessions into the night... I can't believe any of the girls I dated stayed after hearing that system played loud. 

I can’t help but add my own to this one. My introduction was 1969 with my friends hand unit Dynaco 70 with a pair of 15 inch Jensen’s, as I recall, unmounted sitting on the floor. I heard my first taste of musicality in that experience and have not stopped my own quest since.

We are now much older and he has never stopped building and searching for life’s experiences in all aspects, including this speaker for a mono system he’s

As far as gear goes, it was either the used pair of Aragon Palladium II’s I picked up, or the moment I switched to a Dynavector 10x5 Mk II cart. 

Additionally, I was of age when CD players first came onto the market, and I remember playing my first CD and marveling at the clarity, the punchiness, the lack of noise and the ability to immediately scan to other tracks. I remember hearing my first SACD, and my first recording at 24-bit depth instead of using 16bit ADATs. 

I remember the first time I played through a proper DAC as opposed to a crappy consumer-grade one (I even remember the DAC; it was an old Universal Audio 2-192), or when I switched from mixing through old Digidesign 888 units to an Apogee AD8000SE...  I remember the enormity of the piano tracks that suddenly sounded real, and marveling at how the hell I could have tolerated the muted, dull sound I was getting on the poorer 888 units. 

As a teenager living at home I gradually bought myself what I thought was a high-end system: mainly Yamaha and a Denon integrated amp with a pair of Mission 707s. Later sold all that when I moved out and lived for years with one of those 90s mini systems (a Kenwood in my case). Then when I finally bought my first house I decided to get serious and one day hit a tent sale at one of the largest specialty audio shops in the city. Laid eyes on a used Proceed PAV and AMP 2 and knew nothing about them. But since they were “obsolete” (and affordable) and still pricey used I figured it was worth buying…had no idea about the Mark Levinson lineage either, and no listening session. Brought them home, plugged them in and that was it. Which made me then upgrade it with a used matching digital decoder/DAC (DSD) and an Amp 3 - wanted a be-all system for music and home theater at the time. Over time upgraded my modest speakers to some ProAc floorstanders and had my first real taste of what my system was capable of. Think that was finally when I realized why people spend large amounts of money on this stuff. Which has gradually led me to my current (again used) equipment which out of sheer curiosity now includes tubes in the form of an ARC preamp and C-J amp (biamped with my still-going-strong Proceed AMP 2). For me half the fun is the online research and shopping, but realizing for yourself what others write about makes it all worth it. Hearing is believing.

@jsalerno277 I did watch it. I did not know most of their story, especially that 3 of them were married and had a kid BEFORE Led Zeppelin was conceived. They are amazingly modest and sweet and also passionate and talented. Somewhat similar to the Queen story. 

What is stunning to me is how they (Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin, etc.) were all born during the war and grew up in dire times and under circumstances straight out of a Dickens novel. My childhood was very modest with barely enough food, but still a step up from those conditions. 

Actually it was a complete system that did it to me...The original Marantz CD63,a Creek 4040 integrated amplifier and Celestion speakers in 1982 at a dealer in Mill Valley,Cali...
 Up until then I was blissfully content with my Pioneer receiver,Infinity speakers & some POC turntable..Even though I wasn't crazy about vinyl I hadn't been won over by CD either..When I heard that system I was instantly & irrevocably converted...

My experience also involved paper route money :)

I got wrapped up in reading Stereo Review magazines when I was a kid. Starting buying audio equipment (can’t remember all of it). I think I had a Proton integrated amp, can’t recall which speakers, and a Technics turntable and Shure cartridge. But I kept reading about this new technology that was the perfect source component that was going to revolutionize audio - the CD player.

So I saved and saved and saved. And I read about the different brands and models. And I finally had enough money to buy a Technics SLP8 CD player. I was incredibly excited.

So I spent my savings and got the Technics. I bought a few CDs and was thrilled. I put my turntable away since why was I ever going to need that ancient thing again. And I kept buying CDs as I could.

At some point though I decided to get the turntable out again, probably to listen to some particular LP. I hooked it up and was shocked. It sounded better to me than the fancy and expensive CD played. Just more “real”. It was then that I realized that my trusted source for audio information couldn’t be trusted as I had thought. And I also realized how some components made such a big difference in the presentation of sound. Obviously the turntable stayed in the system and the journey really began.

It started with JBL L26 loudspeakers for me.  Than I added a Crown preamp and it was off to the races!  That was 50 years ago 😯

Infinity Monitor IIa speakers, Phase Linear 400, Marantz 3200 pre, Pioneer PL12dII, Stanton 681eee.   My college system in 1975.

The gateway product which turned me into an audiphile in 1977 was definitely the front door of the house those guys were renting at the time. Yep. That was the gateway product.

@gano ”Led Zeppelin II always sounds amazing”

Agreed.  Off topic, and I assume you have, but if not … did you watch “Becoming Led Zeppelin”?  Real good documentary with excellent concert footage and sound quality. I never researched their beginnings so it was new to me.  I never knew Jimmy Page was so involved with the production and engineering of the first two albums.  The amazing engineer effects on ll were his planned artistic vision.  

For me it started with my 1st car stereo.  I bought a Pioneer Supertuner, a separate power amp and 3 way speakers for the back window well.  I was on my way.  

For me, it was a vintage Bogen DB230a which I bought from a repair guy maybe 10 years ago. The way it reawakened my love for the music I already had started me on this crazy journey 😁

I cited my Infinity RSIIbs, but I must go much further back than that.  In the mid-1950s, my Dad owned a TV shop, and he also sold record players.  I saved my money from paper routes and working in the TV shop and purchased a Zenith “portable” record player with AM/FM radio.  It had two front firing 5.25” speakers that provided stereo … but not much channel separation for the ears.  My first two LP records were Tommy Dorsey with Frank Dinatra album and a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, by George Szell and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.   I was hooked then at the age of about 12 or 13.