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When I realized that I had spent enough time and money on hardware and began focusing on listening to the music.

Exposing the next generation to audiophilia on at least three occasions: 1) Visiting my brother in SF, we visited Audio Vision SF where my nephew worked at the time, and seeing my first live in person pair of Quad speakers, they graciously let us audition the 2805's. My younger daughter's boyfriend said "I never knew speakers could sound so good." 2) Took my daughters to the Pink Floyd DSOTM laser show at the local Omnimax when they were in elementary school -- they've not been the same since. 3) When I was auditioning Vandersteen 2CE Sigs at Audio Advice in Raleigh, NC, my older daughter's boyfriend decided to buy the turntable being used, a Pro-ject Debut, I believe. My daughters and their boyfriends are all serious music lovers. I wonder where they get that from? They've repaid me with tickets to Death Cab for Cutie and Coldplay concerts. Good kids.

A friend came to listen to my homebrew speakers and kept trying to find the surround speakers. Open Baffles forever!

Several Christmases ago Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna was getting a lot of air time at my house. The system at the time was 300B SET-based and friends dropping by to see my girlfriend's vintage decorations naturally drifted from the tree lights to the glowing tubes in the next room. They'd come in, drop down between the speakers, I'd cue the Lauridsen, and inevitably tears of joy followed. No one who had that experience wonders why we pursue audio.

While working as a sound man mixing a band in a nightclub in the early 1980s, the booking agent for the band I was working for dubbed me "Mr. Sound Man" and said on stage into a microphone that I understood how the human voice was supposed to sound.

When my wife said, "Wow, you're right, you can hear a lot more in the music."

Probably when my wife admitted that she could hear the difference in the cables I'd played for her.

Dumping SACD and realizing vinyl is still the way to go.

I haven't had it yet. It will be having my comment posted in your column, of course. So make this my proudest audiophile moment!

Every time I make a non-initiated person develop a fascinated interest in well-reproduced music to the extent that they decide to invest in a good system

When I got my father's ADC XLM to track correctly (after his HiFi-dealer failed to do so) -at age 13. Been a vinyl-junkie ever since.