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Who remembers audio from the time when ...

... I recall hurrying home with the newest vinyl, placing it on the rek-o-kut  belt turntable (arm and cartridge beyond recall) then turning on the HeathKit preamp (with all sorts of equalizing circuits) and amp, then watching the tubes warm up.  The anticipation of hearing the new music through a decent system built up with the warming rube glow from orange to red and dimming into the infra red.  Gently grasping the arm and rotating it to place the needle’s crystal  perfectly into the first cut.  The Heathkit 2way speaker was placed forward from center wall to mimic a mono transducer at center stage.  Switching the turntable motor on while gradually increasing gain at the preamp required a soft touch.  Then stereo,  Reel to Reel.  The Dolby cassette deck, tubeless amps and preamps. Digital ...

  i continue to be amazed at the continuing tidal wave of efforts directed to achieve more accurate sound reproduction and more pleasing perception utilizing our incredible ability to hear sound in the spectrum of musical experience.  The sounds of nature: A drip of water on the wet surface of a broadleaf in the rainforest. The startling gasping wheeze of the change in air flow through the mountain pass.  The sizzle of receding waves through the pebbles on shore.  And the sounds made by humans.

  Old timer’s reminiscences of early audiophile recollections are welcome.  




davesandbag
jameswei
883 posts
 
Or your imagination reading a book.

Curiosity led me to buy a Fisher 105 3-piece system during high school. It handily outclassed my parents’ Magnavox console.

But it was greatly outclassed by the other guys’ rigs in my college dorm. I started to upgrade with AR amp, AR tuner, Miracord 50H, Rectilinear hiboys.

Started working and added an Adcom GFA 1 and a NAD tuner. Still have the Adcom but the NAD was a disappointment.

After reading a retrospective column by Julian Hirsch in the 1990s on how good the Rectilinears actually were, I got back in with Thiel 3.6s. They sounded so much better! It got me upgrading everything.

Don’t like discarding stuff that I once lusted for before buying, so I had music in more and more rooms in the house. Now with smaller house, I am down to systems in only 3 rooms. And a lot is in storage. lol
fusian
129 posts
 
I remember when I was about 5, my Japanese uncle sent me a 45 of the theme song from Ultraman. My father was delighted that I was mesmerized by the proto anime space hero, as my mother was white American and I didn't have much exposure to the old world culture.

I remember playing that record on my mother's portable record player , I think an RCA unit. The smell and glow of the tubes warming up was very exciting, and sometimes I think my predilection for idler drives and tubes comes from that player.

Later, the Star Wars craze happened, but immediately before my mother played oboe in her community orchestra's performance of Holst's Planets. I was again mesmerized by music, this time live. I was eleven.

The following year, after virtually wearing out my mother's LP of Bernstein and the New York Phil's recording of the said Planets suite, and my sister's Star Wars soundtrack, my mother bought me the recording which would forever change my life - Stravinsky conducting his incredible Rite of Spring.

I was transported to another world, and this was on the very chic but decidedly non-hifi Panasonic SG-999 (OK, it wasn't that bad).

I was hooked on 20th century orchestral music, and I was hooked on hifi! Still am....
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,936 posts
 
We always had tube radios and amps around growing up. I know that smell so well, I'm convinced it's hardwired my brain. Look at my system to see why!
lewm
13,295 posts
 
Noromance, Nice!
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,484 posts
 
Yes....I had a Rek-O-kut, mounted a Grado Lab arm on it, then an ESL, then a Grace 709, then a Grace 707 arm.   I built Dynaco PAS 3x, Stereo 70, FM1......all great experiences.
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