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The older I get the better it all sounds.
Reader "craig" writes: "Okay, let's get right to it. What is the age of <I>Stereophile</I>'s readers? The reason I ask is the choice of 'favorite music' in a recent Vote question." So how old are you?
I'm old now (41) but I wasnt old when I got into the hobby (14 or 15) HOWEVER - I haven't been altogether dedicated over the 25 years or so . I have had other interests such as Sailing , motor car racing , photography and so forth that have been centre stage. I have always loved music regrdless of the other pursuits.
I am 23 years old and I am an audiophile. While my current system is modest by Stereophile standards (although it does contain several recommended components), I have dedicated my life to the accurate reproduction of the music I love within the home. I only wish that more people in my age group took sound reproduction as seriously as I do. Most of them have never even heard of the high-end audio manufacturers that fill the pages of Stereophile and the hearts of my fellow audiophiles. We must educate these people so that they may realize what they have been missing. I refuse to believe that there are those who can't hear the difference between a budget mini-system and even a modest hi-fi rig that has been properly set up (by following J-10's advice in "Fine Tunes," of course). Long live classical and jazz music and long live high-end "high performance" audio.
I have been progressively depleting by money for the last 4 years. Currently I have the acoustic energy 100 series for my home theatre setup. While budget is a problem for young enthusiasts entry level hi-fi equipment from such companies as NAD are allowing people on a budget to enter the fray.
I remember a Christmas gift of a record player at 8. I listened for hours under the dining-room table to two Elvis records that came with the 'table. I have in my basement today the 400 45's that were purchased as a result of that and later gifts. Next came a Tandy receiver and separate speakers with summer money during college; I married, and with wedding money came a Sony receiver, Dual 'table, and Advent speakers. During the last 2 years I've undertaken the task of listening to my entire library. This has been a great exploration and reacquainted me with music I had long forgotten and returned me to the correct focus of audio. Although I will purchase a new tonearm and cartridge, this year my focus now is back on music.
i've been an audiphile since i was 18 and i'm finally ready to by my first dedicated systems.one for listening and one fot home theatre.i'm beyond excited because i have been doing alot of reviewing to find the best gear for my budget .i think i may have done it.we'll see what happens
I've been following this business over ten years now, so there does exist a younger generation. The budget constraint, of course, does limit actually building a system at a young age, but the foundation for the interest is built early.
Old enough to realize that, although I can now afford more expensive gear than I could in the past, it's probably not such a good idea to buy such equipment. First, I'm beginning to question the value of spending thousands of extra dollars to get relatively minor improvements in sound. Second, I don't like being in debt. And third (and most importantly), although I still have a long way to go until retirement, I'm close enough to recognize that 5 or 10 thousand dollars invested in a good mutual fund today will ultimately prove much more valuable to me when I'm 70 than will an another expensive system upgrade.
My grade 9 music-appreciation teacher turned me on to good sound. We were lucky to have a dedicated classroom optimized for good music reproduction and an avid musicologist as a teacher. Thirty years later, I am still trying to get the "sound."