How long ago did you catch the bug?

When I was a junior in high school and was a drummer in bands that actually made money!

I remember going off to college with my Kenwood integrated amp, a Dual 1219 turntable with a Shure V15 Type 2 cartridge, a Wollensak reel-to-reel, the Koss Pro 4B headphones and a pair of Dynaco bookshelf speakers.

As an adult, when I could see "the light at the end of the tunnel" with my youngest's college expenses, that's the time "the bug" cost the most (in terms of dollars!)

As a young kid I was always into technology. The more buttons a gadget had the better. Around 1965 my brother-in-law bought one of those all in one wooden cabinet stereos on legs. I loved using that thing to play music. I’d sit right in the middle of it to hear stereo. Something I never could at home on our old table-top AM/FM radio.

From that point on I was hooked. Got an all-in-one stereo from Radio Shack in 1974 (with an 8-track recorder!) and never looked back, graduating to a "real" stereo with modest components when I got to college in 1980.

My brother-in-law got a reel-to-reel deck and that thing was amazing, but it was stolen in a house robbery, and he never replaced it.

Been loving music and its reproduction ever since those days on a variety of equipment. Just wish my ears were 20 years old again.

I’d always been interested in having the best sound system that was feasible for me but there were decidedly “juvenile” ideas as to how to do this along the way….My first real severely-coveted sound system related item was a canary yellow, spherical 8 track player/AM-FM tuner with a speaker on each “side”.  This was 1971 and I eventually saw the SQ advantage to a more conventional stereo which wasn’t quite as much of a one box solution (CBS Masterworks 8 track/AM-FM tuner combo with separate, box style speakers).  I lived with the ‘Masterworks unit thru high school and, in 1975, saw a magazine ad in the National Lampoon for an 8 track player with “actual Dolby noise reduction” made by Pioneer which I absolutely had to acquire for my first car.  Turns out, the retailer nearest me that sold that gadget was one Sterling Home Electronics in Houston and they had things there that were far more spellbinding than a mere 8 track to shoehorn into a ‘69 Ford Galaxie!  I forgot about the car stereo and it was at that point that I was officially bitten-by-the-bug.

Can anyone recommend a good place to get my Dual 1019 a complete refurbish ?  Thanks 

It was around 1970 when I got bit by the bug. My future ex-brother in law came back on leave with some stereo gear he got at the PX and set it up in my dad's house so we could have a listen and that sunk it's claws deep into me. 

After getting permission to lower the stylus onto the record and practicing the technique was the clincher and I've been hooked ever since.

All the best,
Nonoise