I spent my childhood fascinated by music, played piano, trumpet and euphonium through school, studied at a major music conservatory, joined one of the top military bands in Washington, D.C., learned trombone and all of the recorder family, left the service to join a ballet orchestra for several years and then spent the last 25 years of my playing career in a major symphony orchestra before another 25 years working as a recording engineer. Throughout most of this, from about 1956 forward, I was immersed in music and was there when the term "audiophile" was coined. The first time I heard a really good audio system was when I was in music conservatory ---- and it made a deep impression. I did my almost obligatory passage through Dynaco amps & preamps, Bogen-Lenco turntables, Bozak speakers, Tandberg reel-to-reel recorders, McIntosh tube amps and preamps and never stopped looking for something a little bit better---- adjusted to my income.
I have heard systems owned by musician friends of mine that were truly abysmal, but they rationalized that they heard what they needed to hear and their musical ear filled in the missing ingredients. I understood their rationale perfectly, but still pursued that extra special experience that a truly fine system can deliver. I'm pretty much still in that mode, but retirement, and the change in yearly income has affected my enthusiasm for improving my system. Some of the components that I acquired along my journey are still in use in what I consider to be the best system I've ever owned. I love a good "tweak" as much as the next guy, and I still experiment with simple things like turntable isolation and different cables, but with declining hearing I still hear everything that gives me pleasure ---- and THAT gives me pleasure ! Mega-systems with ground shaking bass and ear-shredding treble are not a part of any of the musical world I traveled in and are, to my ear, simply gross exaggerations of what is found in the sound of natural musical instruments. Sure, it is possible to amplify sounds to a degree that can shatter glass, but in my book, that ain't music. To those who seek out such --- more power to you ! That is why they are called audiophiles, not musi-philes.
There is nothing like being able to pull out one of the many hundreds of recordings I did as an engineer and listen to the honesty of what I originally heard represented in its natural glory ! No thundering bass, because it doesn't exist in the real world unless you are talking about a pipe organ. Only an amplified instrument can provide it. No stand-up bass fiddle can push out that much sound without the help of a hefty amp and speaker. It's a fact. Not to say that the resulting sound isn't enjoyable, but it's not natural. Now that every instrument seems to have its own clip-on microphone it is not really the listener's fault that the natural sound of every instrument has been compromised to a degree of unintelligibility ! Such is state of much music today. Don't count me in !
I have heard systems owned by musician friends of mine that were truly abysmal, but they rationalized that they heard what they needed to hear and their musical ear filled in the missing ingredients. I understood their rationale perfectly, but still pursued that extra special experience that a truly fine system can deliver. I'm pretty much still in that mode, but retirement, and the change in yearly income has affected my enthusiasm for improving my system. Some of the components that I acquired along my journey are still in use in what I consider to be the best system I've ever owned. I love a good "tweak" as much as the next guy, and I still experiment with simple things like turntable isolation and different cables, but with declining hearing I still hear everything that gives me pleasure ---- and THAT gives me pleasure ! Mega-systems with ground shaking bass and ear-shredding treble are not a part of any of the musical world I traveled in and are, to my ear, simply gross exaggerations of what is found in the sound of natural musical instruments. Sure, it is possible to amplify sounds to a degree that can shatter glass, but in my book, that ain't music. To those who seek out such --- more power to you ! That is why they are called audiophiles, not musi-philes.
There is nothing like being able to pull out one of the many hundreds of recordings I did as an engineer and listen to the honesty of what I originally heard represented in its natural glory ! No thundering bass, because it doesn't exist in the real world unless you are talking about a pipe organ. Only an amplified instrument can provide it. No stand-up bass fiddle can push out that much sound without the help of a hefty amp and speaker. It's a fact. Not to say that the resulting sound isn't enjoyable, but it's not natural. Now that every instrument seems to have its own clip-on microphone it is not really the listener's fault that the natural sound of every instrument has been compromised to a degree of unintelligibility ! Such is state of much music today. Don't count me in !