I'm reading all these great stories, and loving them! I also notice a trend of a love for music for a while, THEN followed by a general or specific point in time where the concept of getting the equipment comes into play. Maybe it's when it can be afforded?
As an tangent to my story, I had been into music for MANY years before buying my first true hi-fi equipment (Adcom GFA-1A amp and Apt Holman preamp in ~1984). My mother loved to listen to music, especially female vocals (Helen Reddy, Crystal Gale, etc etc). And I had two older brothers who each listened to a lot of music. I remember my first 45 and LP, The Who "Love Reign On Me" and J. Geils' "Full House Live" in ~1971 and ~1973 respectively. I remember getting huge into ELP in 1975, and Pink Floyd (Syd Barret era especially) around the same time.
Stereo-wise, I had the equivalent of a close-and-play, and a portable mono cassette recroder/player.
I graduated to a Fisher all-in-one, with receiver, cassette, and turntable. I remember opening up the speakers and seeing a single driver, and a second "driver" that just was taking up the hole - no wires! Within a couple days, I found out what a passive radiator was, and realized I was NOT ripped off. I upgraded the full range driver with a Radio Shack speaker, and the step up was dramatic.
College had me with an Aiwa minisystem due to space limitations, and about 400 cassettes!! Ah, what a group of misfits we had on our floor: a dance/disco music freak, an Ozzy Osbourne freak, a Deadhead, a Southern rocker (Molly Hatchett, Allman Bros, Mountain, etc), an alternative geek (me), and these bizarre brothers who always seemed to have only 3 songs they ever played: Monkee's "Daydream Believer," CCR "Have You Ever Seen The Rain," and the theme from the "Beverly Hillbilly's" (!).
It was my between my freshman & sophomore year that I discovered the higher end gear at Nantucket Sound, and my junior year that I bought the Adcom and Apt gear.
Last note: the Deadhead was into some stereo, and I had listened to and loved his NAD 3020 integrated as well! I bouht an Aiwa ADF-990 cassette deck from him, and I still have it to this day!
Ahhhh, memories.....
As an tangent to my story, I had been into music for MANY years before buying my first true hi-fi equipment (Adcom GFA-1A amp and Apt Holman preamp in ~1984). My mother loved to listen to music, especially female vocals (Helen Reddy, Crystal Gale, etc etc). And I had two older brothers who each listened to a lot of music. I remember my first 45 and LP, The Who "Love Reign On Me" and J. Geils' "Full House Live" in ~1971 and ~1973 respectively. I remember getting huge into ELP in 1975, and Pink Floyd (Syd Barret era especially) around the same time.
Stereo-wise, I had the equivalent of a close-and-play, and a portable mono cassette recroder/player.
I graduated to a Fisher all-in-one, with receiver, cassette, and turntable. I remember opening up the speakers and seeing a single driver, and a second "driver" that just was taking up the hole - no wires! Within a couple days, I found out what a passive radiator was, and realized I was NOT ripped off. I upgraded the full range driver with a Radio Shack speaker, and the step up was dramatic.
College had me with an Aiwa minisystem due to space limitations, and about 400 cassettes!! Ah, what a group of misfits we had on our floor: a dance/disco music freak, an Ozzy Osbourne freak, a Deadhead, a Southern rocker (Molly Hatchett, Allman Bros, Mountain, etc), an alternative geek (me), and these bizarre brothers who always seemed to have only 3 songs they ever played: Monkee's "Daydream Believer," CCR "Have You Ever Seen The Rain," and the theme from the "Beverly Hillbilly's" (!).
It was my between my freshman & sophomore year that I discovered the higher end gear at Nantucket Sound, and my junior year that I bought the Adcom and Apt gear.
Last note: the Deadhead was into some stereo, and I had listened to and loved his NAD 3020 integrated as well! I bouht an Aiwa ADF-990 cassette deck from him, and I still have it to this day!
Ahhhh, memories.....