Who R U?

No no, I said I have loved home theater since I was 17. I didn't get my first piece of gear till I moved out at 18 to go to school. That was a Harmon Kardon AVR20 mk2. After that came the Cerwin Vega RE25 speakers and a Toshiba SD3006 dvd player. I was in heaven at the time! My how times have changed though!

Today I ran across this thread and spent 2hrs learning more about many of you whose opinions I have come to respect over the past few months, and decided to toss in my 2cts.
I'm 33, American, married to a French woman who has been the light of my life for 10yrs. We live in Japan, have one 2yr old 'tube toucher' (a boy) and another on the way. Born in NYC, raised all over the mid-Atlantic, school in upstate NY, deferred law school to spend a year in Japan and I'm still here after 11 yrs. I have worked in the financial sector for 5yrs and now work (is it really "work" if you love your job?) as a proprietary money manager for a large institution. My wife and I listen to all kinds of music; classical, jazz, some rock, blues, etc. We are big fans of single instrument (cello, piano, organ), small ensemble music, and vocal music in particular. Our other hobbies include travelling, and collecting Japanese furniture and Central Asian textiles.
I have listened to music since I was 8 when my parents bought their first system and I got to hear something better than a table radio and I was smitten. I also studied classical piano for 10+yrs in my childhood. Money to go beyond mid-fi for me took 5yrs from college but with a career change, two moves, subsequent employer change, a kid, etc, it took another several to get my act together. I happened across Agon on the web. Reading the highly informative, mostly supportive words has been a great help - in learning much of the theory, and especially in giving me the confidence to trust my own ears. It has helped to build our current system - tubes & panels (ML SL3s, VTL MB450s, SONY SCD-777ES, Cello passive attenuator, Audioquest cbl) upon which subsequent upgrades will likely be inflicted. For the moment though, I have rediscovered my little bit o' heaven where Glenn Gould hums with a graceful intensity (he plays well too), Elvis Costello pours out his soul, and Arvo Part's Berliner Messe gives me shivers, all in my living room.
I thank all those who contribute to Agon, making it a great place to learn and share our common passion for music.
Regards to all, Travis

Welcome Travis! This place is really full of fascinating people. Your mentioning of Gould's humming reminds me, when in my early twenties and at Salzburg with my then pianist love of my life, I stumbled into a room at the conservatory, where he was sitting before a Bechstein, in the warmth of late August, with a heavy overcoat on, a long shawl around his neck, a cap on his head and an electric heater going full tilt on his left and on his right, playing Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue at an incredible speed, yet with the most delicate of phrasings and not humming, but almost shouting. We sat down behind him in awe and amazement and as my chair suddenly creaked, he turned around, still playing, looked right through us, as if his gaze was fixed upon a point far from this world, turned back low over the piano again and played on. There was an incredible aura around this grey, frail figure, which, though he seemed physically already quite emasculated, emanated an incredible spiritual strength. I had forgotten all about this, but it just came back now , as if it had happened yesterday. So thanks, Travis!

Name's Joe. I'm 52 and am a Professor of Pediatrics at a major southern university. I take care of premature and sick newborns. I got interested in music in college (in the late 60s) and was equipment manager for a rock band. It's a wonder I can still hear after that, but I can. Started collecting records and had a KLH model 20 which was audio heaven at the time. Most of my original records are ruined, but I keep them for nostalgic reasons anyhow. Went to med shcool in '71 and hooked up with a guy who ran an upscale stereo shop in Chapel Hill. Couldn't afford Mac stuff, so I had large Advents with a Sansui AU 555 as I recall. Can't remember the TT brand I had but it was sweet. Got married at the end of med school and wife definitely wasn't into audio, so the stuff kind of languished. Got divorced in '94 and began to build a collection of old mac tube gear. At present, I've got about 16 tube pieces and my HT setup is amped with mac SS pieces. Gone thru several speaker setups, and am now playing M&K S1-Cs in my main system with a separate Def Tech powerfield 12 sub. I LOVE the S1-Cs and can't understand why they don't get more press - they ROCK, especially with the new Musical Fidelity Nu Vista M3 integrated I just got. What a piece this is! Current TT is a VPI HW-19MkIII with SME 309 arm and Benz Glider - great sound. Have a Nitty Gritty and each record goes on it, has the liner replaced (old one kept if collectible) gets one treatment with Gruv-Glide and jacket goes in a Japanese resealable. I like the ritual of vinyl. The sound is WAY better than the Marantz 65 SE playing thru an X-10D with X-PSU. CDs do sound better thru the M3, but still not up to the vinyl sound (see comments in vilyle thread). Like many, I'm waiting for a clear winner in the SACD - DVD audio battle and for more material. Gotta record shop here that buys folk's collections and sells 'em for mostly $4 each. Where else can you get such great sound at such a price? I'm up to 4 or 5K records now and there seems no end in sight. Got lots of reissue heavy vinyl, too. The new Led Zeps and Hendrix releases are wonderful, as are the Simply Vinyl Dire Straits LPs, not to mention MFSLs. My main interest is classic rock and roll with some light new age (Scott Cossu, Michael Hedges - what a tragic loss!), bit of jazz, and occasional classical listening. Well that's enough for now, except for the fact that I had a big shock this spring. I had a colon cancer resected and had one positive lymph node out of 18, so I'm getting chemotherapy. I'm tolearting the chemo much better than I expected and am able to pursue one of my other passions - fishing. Got an 8.5 lb largemouth in June and an 80 lb tuna in the gulf a couple of weeks back. Also collect (and drink) wine. Blown away by the incredible Shirazs from Australia, as well as with what's happening in southern France. I'd be happy to provide advice on my faves if you want to email me at jphilips@uab.edu. Meanwhile, it's great to be in the thread. Keep on rockin'

Joe

Hey Joe,welcome!! Glad to hear the chemo' is tolerable.
Sounds like you love your vinyl! Many here are heavily into vinyl...love your musical preference also! You are so right!!! KEEP ON ROCKIN'!!