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The event was in 1954, when at the high school I attended, an assembly was presented to the student body demonstrating the newest audio playback inovation, stereophonic sound! I watched as Voice Of The Theater speakers were set on each side of the auditorium stage. A four foot high 19" rack containing 2 Western Electric amplifiers was wheeled in on a cart. An Ampex tape deck was set at center stage with the amplifiers. The program material was largely sound effects, trains, automobile traffic, a ping pong game several spoken conversations and two musical passages, one a pipe organ and the other a large orchestra. I was completly blown away by not only the stereo images but by the different quality of many of the sounds played. It was four years later that I had my first stereo system of many . . . and of much intervening enjoyment! Thank God for student assemblies.

I went to a high end Stereo store in 1979 (Des Moines, IA) and listened to Magneplaner & Acoustat speakers. Didn't even know what they were at the time. I

It was 1960 and I was in 9th grade. While visiting my best childhood friend, he showed me his newly assembled Heathkit integrated amplifier and Heathkit speaker, driven by a Garrard turntable. Having bought my first LP a year earlier (the Moscow recording of Van Cliburn's prize-winning rendition of Tchaikowsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, I saved my odd-job money and built my own Heathkit integrated amp, using the same Garrard turntable, and a Radio Shack speaker. Within a year or so I had upgraded to an EICO integrated amp and FM tuner, and built a Karlson 12" speaker enclosure with a Radio Shack 2-way driver. I carried this stuff all around the world for years until the potentiometers, after multiple cleanings, finally bit the dust, and no replacements were currently available. By 1989 I was browsing Good Guys and Circuit City and assembled what is now my secondary system. By August, 1989 I discovered Martin-Logan Sequel IIs and by 1995 completed my current high-end system incorporating the Martin-Logan Quest Z's. It's been a long road, and well worth it. Needless to say, I haven't been on the market for any new components for years (except, of course, last fall I purchased a DVD-Audio/Video player).

My father got me started and gave me my first system (mono, not stereo). It was a Radio Craftsman amp (Triode wired PP KT66) and tuner, Brocinere preamp, Girard turntable with a flip ceramic cartridge, and a 12-inch coaxial EV speaker in a lager boom box cabinet. He also gave me access to his extensive collection of classical LPs and 78s. I was in fifth grade when he gave it to me. It was the late 60s and this equipment was considered obsolete. It was a great start!

My Dad was a casual audiophile. One day, he happened to be in a Tech Hi-fi store (remember those?) and picked up a copy of The HiFi Book. It was one of most entertaining and interesting store catalogs I have ever seen. That was way back in 1977 and I was 11 years old. I've been hooked ever since.

It was a friend of my father who got me turned onto this wonderful hobby. One listen to his system and I could not go back. Music was always important and a great system made it that much more enjoyable. Thanks George!

When I was 11 years old, a friend of mine (with wealthy parents) had a nice system; Harmon Kardon receiver, AR speakers, Pioneer cassette deck, etc . . . I had never seen (or heard) anything like it. I was used to the RCA console stereo we had. When I heard REO Speedwagon playing "Riding Out the Storm" live, I was hooked. I had never heard such clean, undistorted music -- and I liked it. I shoveled snow all winter and bought my first real piece (a Pioneer SX-780). How I loved that receiver. Those were the days . . .

I don't know if reading a well put together mail order audio catalog in college in 1978 is considered an event, but it surely piqued my curiosity and I ended up with (by today's standards) a modest system consisting of a Dual CS604 table (Shure V15 Type 3 cartridge), Kenwood's excellent KA-7100 (60w) integrated amp and Genesis II+ (not the famous Genesis) floorstanding loudspeakers. Everyone marveled at it in college. Years passed and in late 1994 the music thing really bit me again. I started reading Stereophile and really got interested after visiting some local high end shops in Colorado Springs and Denver and finding out how great reproduced music could sound. That jump started a soon to be pricey hobby but after some evolution of equipment (excepting my 1995 purchase of Martin Logan SL3s) my current system keeps me glued in front of it with a new Rega Planar 3 table (Benz Micro Silver cartridge), an Accuphase cdp, a Melos MA-333 Ref. pre, Muse Model 300 monoblocks, and Velodyne's F-1800 Mk.II (MIT cabling). Whether it was a specific event or some great people I met along the way, I am truly thankful and enjoying this hobby immensely!

if you love music why not hear it the way it is supposed to be produced! listening to a real pair of speakers is bliss compared to any consumer system. for instance you have not heard music until you have listened to a pair of b-w 801s hook up to a pair of Cary monoblocks

BEING AN AUDIOPHILE WAS NOT EVEN A PARTICULAR EVENT, BUT SOMETHING I WAS BORN TO BE. IT WAS IN ME WHEN I WAS BORN, AND DEVELOPED AS I DEVELOPED. I'M 24 NOW, MY PASSION IS TWO CHANNEL, AND I'M TAKING ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY IN COLLEGE SO THAT I CAN DESIGN AND BUILD ALL FORMS OF AMPLIFICATION EQUIPMENT. TUBE OR SOLID STATE, BALANCED AND UNBALANCED. I WANT TO RECORD LIVE PERFORMANCES, AND KEEP TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS, WHICH IS MY OTHER HOBBY. ANALOG PHOTOS, NOT DIGITAL!! EVIDENTLY NOTHING IS SACRED. THE BOOMERS ARE DOING A TOUR-DE-FORCE ON DIGITAL, AND WHEN THEY KICK THE CAN, THE YOUNG ONES WILL NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO APPRECIATE ANALOG.

My dad had an old Panasonic stereo with an Akai tape deck, with 4 Panasonic speakers. I was never much into music back then, but when I realized than my favorite songs can be recorded onto tape from the radio, I was hooked! I began buying Chrome tape, then later Metal tape for the absolute best sound. Every New Year's day, I would record all the top 100 songs of that year. A couple of month's later, the introduction of CD came onto the scene but the high prices kept me away for another two years or so. During that time, I began reading up on all things hi-fi that I can get my hands. Sony, Panasonic, JVC were some of my early favorite labels at that time, and still are. Once, CD prices came down to around $15 a disc, I was moving with the groove and bought my first Sony Discman. Today, my CD collection occupies one side of my bedroom wall! I can't wait till DVD-Audio or Sony's SACD arrives soon.

My father - and the excitement he had when saving up for his McIntosh equipment. Which plays wonderfully as a second system 30yrs later....

My older brother and his friend used to experiment with electronics and built their own speakers. That convinced me to bypass "boomboxes" and buy a Pioneer receiver and Sansui turntable when I was 15. Not true hifi, but it was a giant step above most teenager systems. Ironically, my brother used his homemade speakers for 15 years, and I spent all my money on upgrading to audiophile aproved equipment.

When I was 13 yrs old, I was with some friends heading somewhere. I don't even remember where we were going, but we passed an audio store on the way there and we decided to go in. It was the first time I had ever been in an audio store, and I'm sure we were getting 'the look' from the salespeople in the shop. You know the one I mean. Anyways, we went into the room where all the speakers were and this music had just started. I had never heard anything like it before in my life. The sound seemed so clear, and it filled the room. I had been used to just hearing the melody more or less and hear I could hear every little detail like never before. All this on SMALL little speakers. Well I was blown away! My life was changed from that moment. Why would anybody NOT want to hear music that way? I was sure the artist would have wanted it that way. To top it all off, we had walked in just as they had started to play Pink Floyds' Dark Side Of The Moon. It was the intro to 'Breath' right where the big crescendo occurs before the vocals start. UNBELIEVABLE! I was scarred for life. In a good way.

I went to visit one of my best friends. Walked into his house and heard a big improvement in music coming out of his living room. He had just bought a 12-watt Musical Fidelity A-1, Spica TC-50 speakers, and an Oracle turntable with Grace cartridge. It sounded glorious and I was hooked.

First time I heard a Linn LP12 with Itock arm and Linn cartridge. Amplification was Musical Fidelity A1. Speakers Kef Reference and speaker cables Monster cables. I was flored. And I thought I had a good system. Boy was I in for a BIG suprise. I was hooked.That got me started on a musical quest.

Walked into audiophile store and was blown away by what they showed me. Sound Company in San Diego. No relation to me except that I think they are really friendly.

Two people. My wife and Hans Fantel! (What would Corey Greenberg say?!) She said, one day, we need to replace the old KLH Gerrard stereo from college days. The next week Hans Fantel wrote one of those pre-Christmas buying guides he used to do for the NY Times. He recommended a NAD receiver and Boston Acoustics A-60s. That was 1989. From there to Bryston, Linn and Snell today. You guys helped a lot too.

There were many things: season tickets to zarzuelas (spanish light opera) since before I was nine coupled with our Phillips stereo; Walking through the Navy Exchange's and Air Force PX audio salons in Hawaii and going to the Pearl Harbor's Subbase Audio Library with its rows of Reel to Reel decks where they let you make your own dubs onto cassette or open reel... what can I say? When I was fourteen, my stereo system cost more than my dad's and his friends and sounded far better: ADS L500s, Dual TT, Stanton 612EEE, etc... My love for audio, eventually drove me to understand the specs and blossomed into a BS in Physics and Math.... plus season tickets to the Orange County Philharmonic. But I will never forget Aida in that old Philips stereo turntable. Did I forget the old Telefunken tube radio?

The radio, listening to the radio as a kid I started to really love music. It all started with a $10 cassette recorder that my Grandmother gave me for my 10th birthday. The rest is history!

It was a patient manager of a stereo shop who educated a 16 yr old kid and did not shrug him off 21 years ago. I have been hooked ever since. I bought a system from him that week and refered at least a dozen other friends who made purchases during my high school days.

A guy at work used to bring in his old Stereophile and Absolute Sound magazines. Believe it or not!

It was, of course, the love of music. My very best friend and co-worker did not show up for work one morning, and we all knew that something was terribly wrong. I received a call later on that morning informing me of the death of my friend in an auto accident on his way to work. Although we had always listened to music together, and had put together countless tube "kit" amps, I never dreamed that he would have named me in his will as sole beneficiary of all of his hi fi gear AND record collection (mint original Living Stereos, Parlophones, Living Presence, and rare imports) that we used to listen to. I remember how picky he was about not letting others "handle" his records. We would laugh about it a lot, because even though he was a very giving individual, he was very particular about his record collection, of which there were thousands of lps, 45s, lacquers, and 75s. In addition to the record collection, my friend left me his Linn 'table/power supply, his Infinity Kappa 9s, along with his gorgeous Mac tube amps and preamp. "Premium" cables were not a big point of audiophile focus back then, but I kept upgrading up to this day, and my friend's albums and gear did not go up for auction on e-bay; they are in my listening room to this very day. Audiophilia is akin to a good wine. Once you've tasted its nector, you're always looking for the holy grail, seeming never to find it. What a long, strange trip it's been--thank you, Joel.

It happened in 1973 while listening to Humble Pie live at a friends house. He had a Dual 1209 turntable, Dynaco A25 speakers and a Heathkit receiver. It totally blew away any console stereo I'd ever heard! After that I was hooked. Unfortunately, I have champagne taste, but only a beer budget. Hi-fidelty around my household has a low WAF (wife acceptance facter). My wife frowns upon me spending money on equipment so I am stuck owning a mid-fi system (KEF 105.2, VTL2.5, Bryston 4B, Linn Axis/Akito, Cambridge CD4SE, McCormack Micro phono stage and headphone amp, Sennheiser HD-600). You may think I made a contradictory statement when I said my wife won't let me spend money, but let me explain: I purchased the KEF'S with my first wife, my current wife's cousin gave me the Bryston because the bridge rectifier was shot, I bought the headphones while working in Germany,so they were very cheap, and my wife had no say, and everything else I bought used.

My dad and mom loved music,& bought records quite often. He was a a professional who bought bigger and better gramophones, (the wide ones with turntables and radio combo) yearly. Those were the vacuum tube days! Their musical taste spanned a broad spectrum also. I have taken this to the Nth degree even though I do not consider my myself an audiophile(I am electronics professional who regard audiophilia more of an art than science).

My father had a "sound recording studio" in the late 40's and early 50's.. in the center of Mancheser, UK... I made my first record before I could talk.. "Da Da...etc...". Growing up around a wonderful man who was exceptionally good at his craft... and around single mike - direct to disk technology - was, I suppose, the start of a lifelong respect for the quality of both the performance... and the attempt to capture the essence of than performance. Dad has long gone, but that certain legacy is strong in me & one of my 17 year old twin daughters... who is... as I write... out doing a live digital recording of a local band.

My father was a sound engineer back in the 1930's when I was a kid. He tried many different things at home to get the best sound that he could from his radios and speakers. He experimented with a variety of sound equipment options to get the best for his clients. He built some of his own speakers. He and my mother also ensured that I was exposed to a wide variety of live music, as well as recordings as I grew up. He bought me my first stereo system in the 50's. When I could afford it I eventually started on my own system, upgrading as I went along. Thanks, Dad!

A friend bought a new system in the early 70's; Marantz 2325, Dual 701 w/ V-15 cartridge, and 4 CJD 2-way Tower speakers. He invited me over and played the first cut off a new English band's first album, Supertramp's "Crime of the Century". As you undoubtly know, there are children's voices in the track; "Where are those kids coming from", I asked. "Are they next door"? Of course, the music kicks in, I am awestruck by the sound, and an audiophile is instantly born. The bug bit deep; I went on to become a stereo store manager for a time, as well as mix live sound for bands, and mix for television. Pretty good for an old Marantz system, indeed!

You need better question on on this vote area...you're slipping

I was always interested in listening to good reproductions of good music as far back as I can remember. As a teenager in the 1950's, I marveled at the sound of "high fidelity" recordings played on an RCA portable record player. However, I was not introduced to true high-end sound until the mid 1970's, because I don't think equipment worthy of the name "high end" was available until about that time. I had a Fisher system in the 1960's and in the early 1970's I had upgraded to McIntosh electronics and Altec speakers. Over time, I tended to listen less and less to my music system, because I had become bored with it. Then, in 1976, I was fortunate to meet an audiophile who invited me to listen to his newly-acquired system which consisted of an Audio Research amp and preamp, along with Magnaplanar speakers and some gigantic homemade subwoofer boxes housing 15-inch Hartley speakers. He also had a number of Sheffield Lab direct-to-disc recordings. I was dumbfounded! For the first time in my life, I was listening to recorded music that was truly clean and well-defined. And it was all there -- beautiful highs and midrange, together with lows that sounded real. By comparison, my system was unlistenable. Thus, that evening's listening experience has cost me many thousands of dollars over the years, but I have been provided with many hundreds of hours of enjoyment.