2. vintage
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Roots, ie: how did your music/sound/audio life/listening begin?

With all the high-end I have had, Magnepan, ARC, Bryston, Conrad Johnson, and many others....my music listening beginning was very humble.  For Christmas when I was about 11, or so, my parents bought me a "higher end" Montgomery Ward table radio and a small "transistor" radio for under my pillow to go to sleep by.  Many "things" throughout the years, but that table radio was the beginning...and it was Rock and Roll.  WLS out of Chicago, KAAY out of Little Rock, KIOA out of Des Moines....and more.  My maturation process began in the Air Force and my discovery of a love for Jazz and female vocals (a tip of the hat to time in New Orleans).  So I believe a Wards radio started my addiction.   It is either odd or crazy for me to have interconnects that cost more than some "systems" I have owned.  Of the other addictions or hobbies/interests I have had, audio has given me the lowest cost per hour and the most shared with family and friends.


whatjd
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
My dad was into hi-fi.  Whenever he moved upward he'd hand me down his old stuff.  I know I mentioned this in a long-ago post, but I watched him solder together a trio of Heathkit separates on the kitchen table -- components that included a tubed AM tuner.  I went with him to hi-fi stores and, when stereo came out, stereo and then quad dealers.  He took me to a couple hi-fi shows at the Ambassador Hotel in downtown L.A.  It didn't hurt that he knew early on that I preferred classical music.
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,773 posts
 
My experience was very similar to yours. I got a Sylvania transistor radio when I was around 12 years old, @1958, and sleeping in a room that was detached from the rest of the house so my listening was completely unsupervised. We lived on the South Plains of Texas, 3000 ft. elevation, cloudless skies and very few radio stations close by. I could get AM stations from all over the country, depending on atmospheric conditions, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Nashville, Chicago, the border-blaster stations from along the Mexican border and others. So it was a mix of country, rockabilly, rock, blues and gospel, along with the 'put your hands on the radio' evangelists. It gave me an deep appreciation for all kinds of music, though any experience with classical came along considerably later.
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
There was always music, or an instrument, or someone singing in my mothers home... Just alway was... She played a mouth harp loved to dance and play, all my family would join in, washboard, spoons, tom toms, piano, guitar, the usual. We would gather around JBL Metrogons 1959-69, YUP... Mac and Thoren. Quite good... Dance, Dance, Dance.

When my father was home from the local WARS, he would join in..

I never new there was anything better than Mac for years... Still not a lot.. IMO

Regards
dbphd
1,633 posts
 
iI suppose it was my favorite aunt's RCA red seal recording of Jose Iturbi playing the Chopan Heroique Polonaise that first got my attention.  But it really was a neighbor's JBL C34 rear-loaded corner horn, Gerard changer, and amp with a separate power supply he designed and built that sent me off to the several shops in the west LA area.  IIRC, that was the early or perhaps mid-50's, and I was either a senior in high school or a freshman in college.  Hot stuff was Fisher, Macintosh, Concert Grands, and Patricians.  Of course I couldn't afford to buy anything, but I did modify my Fender guitar amp to work with my little RCA 45 player.  Then came Heathkits and home built speaker cabinets.

db
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