I worked in sales at Paul Heath Audio. I setup all the turntables as well. Steady hands, I guess.
The Linn was the most popular. In the beginning, most of the tone arms were SME, as well as
Infinity Black Widow, Fidelity Research. Forgetting some others. The Itok became the standard.
I would say the spark that led to my audiophile addiction was the love of music, fueled by my mothers large record collection she had from the record store she owned before I came on the scene. Next gate way drug was a relative’s glowing all tube system that left me mesmerized by the sound and the soft glow of the tubes.
Started out with my own system in my teens which consisted of a receiver and a pair of I believe KLH speakers, followed by an Adcom pre and amp and a pair of JBL speakers.
Next major upgrade were some Bertagni Electroacoustic Systems (BES) panel speakers.
These were very efficient speakers which had good bass for a panel speaker, perfect for blasting ear damaging rock music. After the thrill of loud ear damaging head banging music wore off I bought a much more musical pair of 2C Vandersteen speakers, and slowly upgraded through their line of speakers to the model 3.
I knew at this point I was hopeless addicted and an audiophile junkie for life
I had a hunch. Yes early Linns were typically partnered with SME arms, then Ivor provided for the Ittok LV II. As I recall the Infinity was all the rage in its day, being a low mass tone arm, but maybe not best sited for the Sondek, which smiles when partnered with a medium mass set-up.
Hear, hear!
Now that you mentioned this, I was quite young when I discovered my parents fairly extensive stash of early Rock and Roll 45’s and a “box” record player. That early exposure to Bill Haley and His Comets, the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, etc. was probably a formative experience. My cousins, sister and I wore out some of those classic 45 RPM records.
Cheers.
In my case I was brought up with HiFi. My dad understood radio/valves and in the '50s built his own systems. I only remember the system with 3*12" bass and three stacked Goodmans Axiom 80s per side with a Luxman 507X integrated amp etc. In the early '70s Leak introduced a range of four speakers, 2020, 2030, 2060 and the then large 2075. I bought four 2075s and a Denon quadrophonic decoder. In 1988 I split with my girlfriend and bought my own house. I stacked each pair of speakers and hacked the 4-way crossovers. In 1991 I contacted a UK mag HiFi World and Alan Sircom came round to do a review:
The system morphed into a 4-way active system.
In 2012 I built an extension with a much bigger room than I originally had, and got into PS Audio, PMC speakers etc and now have a 7.1.4 system.
At least I moved away from vinyl which limits expenditure!
Great story - especially love that first picture.
You are currently blessed with a very nice “venue”. Hopefully it is a bit deeper than it is wide(?). My room is fairly square but my asymmetrical ceiling and back wall help with the acoustics.
Enjoy.
Yep, same here. I remember jamming to Ray Charles’s Hit the Road Jack 45.
Scott, the room is 30’ long and 20’ wide but only 8’ high (because there are two more bedrooms above which house all my old hifi gear and spare wheels for cars, plus shoes and handbags etc for the new SWMBO).
I just noticed the AGA speakers lurking in the background. Are those 3.somethings or stand mounted Strada’s?
My main speakers are AGA Reference 3.1’s and AGA Reference AV speakers provide for the surround channels in my 2.1/7.1 system; and I am on the lookout for a fairly priced pair of 3.5s.
Yes Scott, I remember you have the Anthony Gallo ref 3.1s. You’re spot on, they’re Strada 2s on stands connected to a Cambridge Audio CXA80 for the TV sound. The Strada 2s are augmented by a cheapo 10" Wharfedale sub. You’d be correct in thinking that I’m not a lover of passive crossovers - also, in the case of my main speakers the Leak’s and the PMCs are all transmission lines. The Leak 2075s were the first speakers that were really full range and still today sound great. The four that I bought in the '70s have been converted back to passive and serve as the rear side and rear speakers of the 7.1.4 system (L/R are my big active PMCs, the centre are also PMCs anmd the four ceiling speakers are also PMC. For the .1 channel I have a mix of subs, four homebuilt 15" drivers plus the awesome Velodyne DD18Plus.
Update: as an aside, the Strada two are indeed on stands, however the stands are atop five channel Rotel RMB1075s, one drives the four ceiling speakers, the other drives the centre PMC speakers.
What you consider to be your first entry or steps(s) into higher performance stereo, anyway
Would have to be my freshman year at UW visiting a dorm mate’s home where he played for me his stereo system. Prior to this, I would go to the stereo department in Jafco and think JBLs were highest quality stuff.
He played an Amanda McBroom Shefield Labs direct to disc record on a Rega Planar 3 with the entry level Linn Basik arm and cartridge. He had an NAD integrated amp hooked up to Magneplanar SMGs. Never heard of these electronics let alone flat panel speakers. The sound blew me away and I never looked back.
I visited the high end saloon where he purchased (recently closed their Seattle Branch) and later found out the salesman who greeted me was the same who helped my room mate get his system. After greeting, he asked me if I heard the Mark Levinson gear? These things were unobtanium on my broke college student budget. He insisted on playing it and I’m glad he did. Their standard setup was a Linn LP12 table with Ittok arm and Adcom Crosscoil MC cartridge. These were connected to Mark Levinson pre and power amp. He asked me to choose loudspeakers to play. I looked around and selected a pair I could actually afford as a hoot! They were Polk Audio Monitor 10s, the original ones with the silk dome tweeters. Then he played Heaven 17’s Let me go, and Visage’s requency 7. The listening room sounded like a ball room. I had never heard such complete control of speaker drivers in my life which let me actually feel different textures against my skin and controlled driving rhythm under my feet. I later learned I was experiencing the concepts of weight and microdynamic shading in real time. All from modest loudspeakers! This is where I learned 1st hand that the head of the chain starting with the recording is what determines most what you will hear.
A couple weeks later I bought the Polk 10s. Later I learned that the room dictates which speakers will allow you to realize the music and sound effects from high performance reproduction.
There’s so many opinions and advice given about audio, let alone reviews. I got into reviews of gear and liked the ones where the reviewer disclosed their associated equipment. I would go to different shows, expos, to hear the latest state of the art gear, and note how the sound presentation affected me. I still do from time to time, but pay more attention to any room treatment used during the demos. Still fun to do!
Audiophile for life
Thanks for sharing.
I have come to believe the four most important influences on the “performance” of recorded music in my room are: 1) musicality (if the art sucks, I don’t care how well the following factors are attended to); 2) room acoustics; 3) recording engineering excellence (if the recording sucks, then the art suffers); and 4) loudspeaker set up (including their relationship to the listening position).
Sure, there are other important factors to consider, but I believe if you can get these four matters more or less properly sorted you are 90%+ “there”. I do enjoy chasing my tail and that remaining 10% though.
Regards.
Unlike a lot of folks here I did not get my interest in audio from my father. What I did get was the innate desire to be frugal. Not a good thing for high end audio, so it was a slow climb. I initially took to audio while slobbering over the Lafeyette electronics catalog and local store. I seem to recall getting a low-end Lafeyette receiver at some point and some inexpensive speakers (don’t recall the brand, maybe Lafeyette too). The first step into real audio was as a teenager in high school getting a Benjamin Miracord turntable; so much better than whatever it replaced. Alas, due to very limited funds no further improvements until after college when I discovered my first real audio store, Audio Threshold in Mt Clemens, MI. They had nice stuff, but all I could afford was an entry level Creek integrated and some Fried Beta bookshelf speakers. Definitely a step up from what I had and the basis for my new hobby. After that I found another high-end store (can’t recall the name) where I got my first PS Audio piece, an Elite integrated. That store only lasted a couple of years, but I got a demo VPI HW-19 at the closeout sale. A few years later I got a used Bedini amp and then Vandersteen 2Ci. Now I really had arrived! With all the changes since then the sound has improved significantly, but strangely, there are some moments when I think back to how I was so impressed and excited with what I had and the improvement it brought. Bygone days of youth, innocence and joy …
Great story, as well. Thanks for sharing.
My Linn LP12/Ekos/Lingo from 1989 (I’m the 2nd Owner). Now with a better than stock Tonearm Cable and DS003 Optical Cartridge.
Great thread. Thanks for shaking loose some memories. Maybe like some mine is more a chain of experiences but what got me started, a maybe 12 years old in the early 70’s, was making a pair of headphones from plastic margarine tubs, masking tape, transistor radio speakers, wire clothes hangers, and foam padding. I don’t recall what I plugged them into or how bad they sounded but it was a start.
After that my then brother in law gave me a handful of albums including Best of Cream and Led Zeppelin 4 that shaped my early musical preferences. I remember the BIL having a dozen or more peach crates stacked 2 high stuffed full of albums. That was my first holy crap this hobby is nuts moment.
In a nod to another mother, my Mom got me paying attention to gear when she paired something like an HK630 receiver with bookshelf speakers from a company she worked for briefly. I don’t remember much about those speakers other than the gorgeous rosewood cabinets and being fascinated by the drivers - maybe a 3 way with 6.5" woofers.
My first memorable gear purchase was a Panasonic all in one similar to a Systems 5000 that I bought from a friend in high school. I remember being impressed with the bass and buttons and switches. More is better!
A few years later in the early 80’s I was in the Navy overseas when I pieced together a HK690i (that my Mom still has), Bose 301, Infinity RS7, ADC graphic equalizer, DBX 1X dynamic range expander, an impulse noise reduction unit that I promptly blew up, Pioneer PL 707 turntable, and a Sansui AT-20 Audio Program Timer. Though not currently in the systems, I still have the TT and the timer that is plugged in serving no purpose other than a clock and nostalgia.
The system was “curated” from a well worn, dog eared Navy Exchange catalog while floating around in the Med, probably on the Ike. Honestly it never lived up to my hopes. I expected the big Infinity drivers and quality amplification to put out big sound, but I knew nothing of synergy.
What I have now is infinitely better than I’ve ever had but so are expectations.
Thank you for sharing.
Re: Snipped Quote —
We are presently living in the “good old days”. The myriad choices of great gear at all levels of price points we have are remarkable.
Regards.