What equipment or event thrust you into the hobby?


Many paths have led us into the pursuit of audio nirvana. Was there a single event or piece of equipment in the early years that started you down your path to audio bliss?

I used to sit in front of one of those little portable record players when I was a lad of 3 who loved listening to music...spinning records...and mostly at twilight...and I thought they sounded better in the evening. I moved from kiddie records to 33s, like the South Pacific album...graduating to Georgia Gibbs "Dance with me Henry" at 4, Sinatra, and anything else my parents decided to bring home. From there, the path led through the origins of rock in the 50s and the classic rock of the 60s and ultimately to jazz (still collecting records). My first credible system was built around a Marantz 2252B receiver, a Dual 1214 turntable, drving and feeding a pair of Advents. Saul Marantz must have known what he is doing because that receiver is still alive and kicking today, the only investment being a few cans of tuner spray.
mcpody
A story in the NY Times about tube Ipod dock and a colleague with a dead aunts old Mac mono amp. Got me looking into tubes and deciding that after 16 years of SS cheapo stereo to take the plunge. Still falling :)
It was 1979 and I was still in high school. My best friend's dad had a pair of Snell Type A's that were off limits to us. When he was out of town, we snuck in and played Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. Those were profound audiophile moments. Of course, I was stoned silly.
A pair of B&W Matrix 805's being driven by an Anthem Integrated 1 at a local hi-fi shop. It was the first time I had ever heard a tube amp. I was amazed that I had found something that sounded even better than my Bose 901s driven by my Marantz 1200. Shortly thereafter, I ended up with a pair of B&W Matrix 804's along with a Golden Tube Audio SE-40 and SEP-1.

I'm glad the Bose are gone, but sometimes I wish I had the Marantz 1200 back.

Jeff
I was 16 and I had a good friend whose family had more dosposable income than ours. When I walked into his bed room he had a system with KLH speakers, a Fisher tubed integrated amp, and an AR turntable playing. My first exposure to a half way decent audio system that day pretty well fixated me on this obsession.