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Biggest impact on you?



Curious: I’ve gone through a lot of gear over the years. In reflecting upon this, a Conrad Johnson MV-45A1 power amplifier I bought back in 1983 had the biggest impact on me. This includes consideration of the many preamps, speakers, cables, CD players, and so on that I’ve owned through the years.

Has that piece been the best I’ve ever had or heard? Absolutely not. But, it was the first high end piece I’ve owned and it wowed me big time. Ran it with Vandersteens, CJ’s PV4 preamp, and a Sonograph TT – loved it!

So, what component (power, pre, speaker, TT, CD, etc.) has had the biggest impact on you?
rbschauman
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Coincident Frankenstein 300b SET amplifier.
This introduced me to a new level of sheer unadulterated musical realism and pure palpable pressence.
inna
7,880 posts
 
Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm
Purist Audio cables
Custom Power Cord Co. Top Gun power cord
Maxell Metal Vertex cassette tape
rcprince
3,080 posts
 
I think it's a toss-up between the Thiel CS3.5 speakers, which were the first true high-end speakers I really listened to (couldn't afford them, wound up with Thiel CS 3s instead--this was in 1986, as I recall) and the Well-Tempered Turntable (got it in 1987), which made me realize that my vinyl collection was a lot better than the CDs I was listening to at the time.
bizango1
276 posts
 
My second pair of Advents added to the first pair in 1983. One pair of Advents was a good stereo but Double Advents made for a transformation to the big time and were still pretty cheap. They had impact, too. My landlords and neighbors reluctlantly listened to whatever I listened to. They were lucky but they didn't know it!
dogmcd
115 posts
 
Heathkit tube integrated, old Ampex reel to reel and EPI MicroTowers... back in junior high. Wish I could remember all the model numbers, and that I still had them! Made me realize that there was something beyond the sound that came from the big Sears Silvertone console in my folks dining room. The journey since has been quite a trip. And, the real impact came from the fact that my mother had season tickets to the symphony and I learned at an early age what live music really sounded like; that's the "component" that has the real impact!
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