How did you get started in this hobby

@bigtwin

re: Crystal radio set. Yep, me too, about the same time. My father strung the wire between two trees in the front yard, and ran it into my bedroom window to the radio itself. It fascinated me, and, I too, used to fall asleep finding a station that interested me, and most all did.

Then it was the old console radio/stereo set we had. Again, fascinated by it, and spinning LP’s at a very young age.

So, it always interested me, and I always sought out the best gear I could get for the money I had. I wasn’t really influenced by my friends, as most just had ‘normal’ stuff in their bedrooms. I realized I had a pretty decent setup in my first dorm suite in college, but also became interested in some other folks equipment who shared the same interests as I.

Started getting serious in the. 80’s, but work life took over, and just dealt with mostly the same stuff for a long time until only the last few years, when I decided to dedicate myself to it fully. When I brought up my old Kenwood 2055 TT from basement storage, well, that’s when it just got crazy. Now, I’m amazed of the sound of my music I’ve been able to achieve.

But really, the gut fascination is the same as that 7 year old kid and his crystal radio set. Just a bit more complex now 😉

bigtwin:

A Tiny Tim crystal radio was my first "personal" piece of gear (around 1959, or so) and I still have it.

It doesn't work now, but I assume that the original ear plug/piece may be the problem.

My father would borrow it during heavy storms, which knocked out power, in order to get updates on local tornadoes (central Iowa in the late 50's early 60's).

It was eventually superseded by a battery powered transistor radio that my older sister received as a gift.

DeKay

I was happily settled into the modest Kenwood receiver/Garrard Record Changer system my dad gave me when I was about eleven when I visited my buddy in college at Berkeley.  I was so wowed by his tiny B&O speakers, when I returned to my hometown of L.A. I began haunting stereo stores. After a few false starts, I settled into a NAD 3020, a Denon turntable with a Shure M-92 cartridge, and KLH 17 speakers. When one of the KLH's went south from a torn tweeter, I hunted down a pair of Celestion SL600's. Naturally, one of the Celestion's tweeters eventually blew, too, but I soldered/screwed in a new one myself and listened happily for several more years. BTW, I never played my stereo loudly. I just seemed to have horrendous tweeter karma. Addendum -- Celestion gamely replaced the blown tweeter at no charge, but they informed me to fugget about it if I blew another.

@artemus_5 and @bigtwin pretty much told my story through theirs. At 56 years of age, I can't remember not having been into music, with focus on the quality of its reproduction. It all started when I was about 4 or 5 with a single-speaker portable record player and children's 45rpm records.

After many years of collecting records and getting decent results by fiddling around with whatever components I could get my hands on, I landed a pair of Proac Studio 1 speakers when I was in my mid-20s, added a McIntosh C20 preamp, and experienced sound imaging for the first time. Since then, and most recently through the Covid period, I've invested considerably into all components (including wiring) and couldn't be happier with the experience I'm having in my listening sessions.

As @artemus_5 suggested, it's more than anything a way of life for me... 

I took a tumble resulting in a bump to the head … The rest is history.