What started you on your audiophile journey .

At the age of 9 my mother insisted that i learn to play the clarinet...ugh!
But it turned into the best thing (culturally) my folks have ever done for me.

when i was in high school in late '70s/early '80s I wandered into a store called Nantucket Sound in the Boston area and saw a beautiful but simple pair of Snell J II's oak cabinets. The sales rep asked if I wanted to hear them and tabled Aja. First song was Black Cow and I was hooked. Of course I could not afford the Snells but started with Boston Acoustic BA 40's and then tried a pair of (if I recall correctly) the Allison D6's (square black box with top firing woofer and those things imaged amazingly with a basic Onkyo Integra receiver. BTW anybody know where I can pick up a pair of those vintage Allison's (where they A6's or D 6's?) thanks

Lots of interesting stories , it's very enlightening to see how it all began for other members , thanks for the responses .

Won a stereo in 1984 at Hudsons Audio in Albuquerque N.M. I am still a customer and am grateful for the journey. I was 18 years old when I became an audiophile. Thanks again Hudsons!!

Hard to pin it on one cause. Some early memories that are possibly relevant:
*My mom teaching me how to play yellow 45s on this portable record player with a mechanical arm. Kind of scary to a pre-school kid, as I recall.
*A couple of different "crystal" radios
*A transistor radio, WABC out of NYC and the Beatles happening in the '60s.
*An H.H. Scott receiver, Superex headphones and "Underground" FM radio in the late '60s/early '70s.