Memories........What made you catch the Audio Bug?


I remember back in high school, my ''industrial arts'' teacher was an avid audiophile and music lover. We are going back to '73 now. I remember one day being very different from any other. Upon entering class for our usual 40 minutes of the usual wood-cutting and bird-cage building routine,(some of us were luckier, getting ,'design' classes instead) we found our teacher,Ed, busy at setting up an LP on a Thorens turntable. Alongside, some strange, industrial-looking brown and orange boxes (QUAD) and a cloth-wrapped box with the initals B&W on them. He informed us that, today, we would discover something new, ''high-Fidelity'' as he called it.

We all sat in awe as our teacher put the SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts on full blast, to the amazement of everyone in the room. Wow! What was THAT? The equipment, the sound, the MUSIC was unlike anything most of us had ever seen or heard. I remember thinking to myself, now this is how the Beatles really sound like? I just could not beleive it.

I remember that we had no quality music equipement in our home back then, as with most other kids.

It was just amazing. Word got around that 'something special was happening, in industrial art's class. Turned out the topic of the week was 'high-fidelity' discovery I guess, as every other class in turn got the same treatment all week long.

The Following year, our teacher somehow managed to get the school board to approve a special ''equipement'' expenditure, officially probably a vacuum system, or new circular saw, or band saw, whatever. The class built a special wooden closet complete with locks, to accept the new ''equipement''. When it finally arrived, holy smokes, a McIntosh amplifier and preamp, with Thorens turntable !

We ended up ''founding'' an audiophile club at school, and would have students spend their lunch hour seating in a closed room in complete darkness, listening to a complete album...against a 10 cent fee that we would keep to buy records !

If you are reading this ED, these 30 years old memories are as fresh in my mind as yesterday. Thank you so very much for sharing your passion with us, and opening our eyes to so many horizons, music being just one of them.

Just wondering how others in this forum got the audio bug also?
sonicbeauty
My father building Heathkits. At the time there was no vacine and the bug bit right into my bloodstream and stayed there.
My addiction started in the late 50's with my parents passion for Music compounded by my dad always having GREAT audio equipment around.
Quad
Collaro (any body old enough to remember)
Decca
Grundig
etc
My wife went the other direction. Her dad liked smooth jazz which he played in the car on excruciatingly long and boring road trips. She used to get carsick a lot so now she associates jazz or audiophile music with nausea. I can`t play that music while she is around. The first time I heard B&W speakers about 20 years ago was the beginning of my journey. It was at Hudson`s Audio in Albuquerque. I was bitten. I bought the DM330`s but lusted for the Matrix 3's. 5 years ago I found a mint pair for $400 and am in hog heaven.
Mine started in the 70's when I would sneak my Frampton Comes Alive album onto my dad's fisher system insted of my fold out record player.