What started you on the merry go round?

My uncle's old Fisher 400 receiver sounded so much more lifelike than even the best stereo's that I heard in the stores. I wondered why.
Art

Listening to Chet Baker, Children's TV Theme music, Ken Dodd and the Diddymen, Tom Dooley by the Kingston Trio and others at barely 5 years old on my own Gramophone box in my bedroom. It amazed me then - it still does!

Two events come to mind. When I was around 12 years old my father, who had an audiophile friend, asked him to build a system to be housed in a 1950's style piece of furniture. You may know the kind--where the highball glasses, stored individually in felt lined shelf pockets, move towards you as you open the drop down door. Anyway, he installed a Fisher 400 solid state receiver (I think this was one of their first after building tube products for years), an AR XA turntable (just new to the scene) and then built some speakers into the side cabinets. My dad then went to the local record shop and purchased every rock album that was then currently hot. (Santana, CSNY Deja Vu, Floyd Dark Side, Van Morrison St. Dominck's Preview, etc) The sound wasn't great (by my current standards) but that AR turntable with it's sprung suspension and S shaped arm was fascinating to me. I sat for hours in the room off the living area spinning disc after disc. Much of what I would listen to later was due to my dad's choices at the record shop that day. Later, when I was in high school, a bunch of friends went to party at the house of another friend's cousin, who was away for the weekend. (House sitting always opened up great possibilities!). I remember walking into the living room as I entered the house and hearing music like I'd never heard before--rich, textured, real. The system was an M & K sub/satellite set up with some pretty expensive gear driving the whole thing (I can't remember the brands--too much pre-party activity?) Anyway, I spent most of the night spinning records on that hi-fi and marveling at the sound. I remember going to the local hi-fi shop a few weeks later where they carried M & K and listening to the Dead "American Beauty" and it sounded just as good as I recalled. I also remember finding out how much the system cost and vowing someday.....

I totally "blame" my Dad who has a very musical family. All 13 (!) of this siblings played some sort of musical instrument and sang. Two actually had minor professional singing careers. Needless to say music was always a big part of my life. My dad always had a guitar slung over his shoulder singing. He started me on loving music. When I was 6 he bought me my first radio, a Radio Shack special. I used that to listen to tbe radio all day and night. This got me started on being a "gear head". I like audio components just for their technical appeal. The combination of being a music lover and a gear head is indeed a deadly combination!!!! Not only do I spend too much money on cds (average 20-30 a month for the past 18 years!!) but also too much on audio gear.

Dad started out in 1953 with a Sherwood amp and a University Triaxial Mono speaker, which gave him the fever. About 1969 he bought a Fisher receiver and a pair of AR 2AX speakers which I remember listening to. It sounded so clear much like Art stated above. After that, I knew I always wanted a nice system.