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What was the first system you heard that made you think the high end made sense

I am sure I cannot be the only person here who can recall the day, and indeed the very system that made them think 'oooohhhhh yesssss - I get it - I understand - and I absolutely love it!'

In my case I attended a HiFi Show in Heathrow at the Renaissance Hotel. It was the GT Audio room hosted by Graham Tricker. The parts comprised:

DPS turntable- Schroeder arm - jan allaerts cartridge
Tron Pre-amp
Avante Garde Uno's

In all honesty I still remember the day now. It was so musical and had the ability to connect me to the music. When I went for a full demo at Grahams home I came to understand the magic of horns, valves and imaging. 

lohanimal
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,177 posts
 
1974 my first system a Lafayette receiver,, Klipsch Heresey 
That came bare wood I hand stained and French waxed 
Nakamichi 3 head cassette deck ,and AQ  wire .I was stoked.
It was great mostly  Made in U.S.A.,The Nackamichi cassette deck 
From Japan- great quality their Dragon deck still a classic.
areasonableman
15 posts
 
It was when I finished my first summer job and decided to splurge and buy ATH-M50Xs. I'd only listened to cheap earbuds all my life, but when I could actually pick out where instruments and voices were, it got me ~very~ interested.
terry9
2,342 posts
 
September 1973, Palo Alto. Goodness, but as a group we do seem to be getting on, don't we?

Magnepan Tympani 1a's with ARC electronics and SP10, playing Cat Steven's Tea for the Tillerman (Wild World).



ericsch
753 posts
 
Yes, we are getting on. 1974, Infinity 2000 Speakers in rosewood, Mac C-26, Crown DC300A, Dual TT, Shure V15, Yamaha tuner, Sony R to R. Our local dealer also used Cat Stevens when demoing speakers.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,821 posts
 
Hey Terry, I know where you heard that ARC/Tympani set up in Palo Alto: the first high end shop I discovered and visited in '71, Sound Systems. I heard the ESS Transtatics ($1200/pr) there, as well as Infinity 2000A’s ($600/pr), but couldn’t afford them. So I got a pair of the 2000A’s little brother, the 1001. Had them until I got Tympani-I’s the following year. Amazingly, I now own pairs of both the Transtatics and Tympanis, though they are the T-IVa, not T-I.
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