what made you get into high end gear.

Hey, that pic is gone! I guess AA took it down. Damn!

Wouldn't want to deprive all you devoted audiophiles the view of such a fine pair of horns just because AA is so up tight about it.

Marco

Brownsfan,
The store was Vere Smith Audio. I worked for the Marietta store in college.

Hey Marco, that reminded me that I need a new rack, thanks!

when i was a boy i can remember walkin into a neighborhood high end dealer "stereo center" & feeling like i was inside frankenstien's laboratory with all the tubes & glowing meter's on the gear,damm was that exciting as hell,the salesmen knew i was just a little kid & i couldnt buy anything but they still indulged me & answered my questions & let me look around.

once i was a man & started a family & had a few bucks to spend i bought alot of different store bought systems & even
went thru a stint where i sought out vintage gear,i gotta admit i was pretty happy with the sound from my old hk citation tube gear,i searched all the newspapers & pawnshops looking for vintage hk tube gear & every so often i would get lucky & find a peice.

i had found some speakers listed on ebay that were in my state & i wanted them pretty bad,they were just an old pair of ar9's but i always remembered that speaker from the dealer visits in my youth so i bought them,it just so happened that the guy sellin the speakers was a hifi dealer & they were at his shop so i decided to take one of my sons (joseph)with me so he could look at all the cool gear while i picked up my speakers.

we looked all around the store & at all the gear but my sons eye's stayed glued to a certian amp that was softly playing back ground music,he was hypnotized by the way the meters danced & he kept going back to that rig & watching that amp,i had to coax him away from the rig to even leave the store,i could tell he was hooked,ever since that day i had one hell of a time keepin little joe's hands off my gear,man did he love to listen to music with me.

then one day i lost my son joseph due to a tragic accident & ever after that day i couldnt sit still for a second,either i had to work as much as i could to keep from going nuts or just do anything but listening to music was out of the question as that was somthing we shared together,one day while i was out riding around on the harley trying to figure things out(joe's birthday) i passed the hifi shop where me & my son picked up the speakers from ebay so i pulled in.

so now im just wandering around this store remembering things when i spotted the mcintosh amp that my son had loved so much,i couldnt believe they still had it so i bought it on the spot & the rest is history.

since then music & the love of all things mcintosh have been a big part of my life giving me the chance to reflect & remember,years have past now & my love for high end gear & music has grown but whats never changed is the memories of 2 little boys 30 years apart looking at their first real hifi rig.

mike.

Mike,

What a wonderful memory to have and story to tell. You’ve kind of choked me up because that is what my 2 boys and I do now. It makes me appreciate these “field trips” a little bit more.

Thank you, and I am terribly sorry for you loss.

David