Or the first time you heard a sound system?
My first time was when I was sitting on the back verandah of my parents house at the age of 14 and there was a little boombox which I had picked up off the side of the road.
The boombox was made by Sanyo (I think).
I turned it on to this new band called "FM" that I had just found on the receiver and lo and behold a station came in, the knob passed over a station... mono.. all of a sudden I was surrounded by a person who was talking to me and then the musician singing of the next song playing. 😱
I was hooked! 😎
My first time was when I was sitting on the back verandah of my parents house at the age of 14 and there was a little boombox which I had picked up off the side of the road.
The boombox was made by Sanyo (I think).
I turned it on to this new band called "FM" that I had just found on the receiver and lo and behold a station came in, the knob passed over a station... mono.. all of a sudden I was surrounded by a person who was talking to me and then the musician singing of the next song playing. 😱
I was hooked! 😎
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1965 or 1966.
It was a Japanese system IIRC and I went to this guys house with my dad.
He played an LP of a train passing through a station. Yes, that one everyone has heard.
I thought it was amazing. I've been a hifi nut ever since.
At college I got a nick name 'audio andrew' LOL.
It was a Japanese system IIRC and I went to this guys house with my dad.
He played an LP of a train passing through a station. Yes, that one everyone has heard.
I thought it was amazing. I've been a hifi nut ever since.
At college I got a nick name 'audio andrew' LOL.
For me it was about 1970. Dad at the time had a Decca Record player with a built in valve PP amp. In a junk shop I found the add on second channel, basically the same box but without the turntable in it, and convinced Dad to buy it.
To this day I can remember rearranging the lounge on numerous occasions to get the speakers in a "stereo" configuration.
To this day I can remember rearranging the lounge on numerous occasions to get the speakers in a "stereo" configuration.
For me about 40 years ago, my grandparents had big stereo console TESLA, however, its FM tuner was only mono, they never bothered with add on stereo decoder, it was all tube back then. One day I brought a record since it had a turntable and I realized, wait a minute, this thing is stereo, it had stereo preamp and stereo amp and two sets of speakers inside...except my grandparents only listened to one AM radio station.
~1965 after assembling a SE pentode stereo kit from Lafayette - moved on to Eico ST40 then Eico ST70 (better than Dyna 70) within a year - still remember Audio Fidelity Opera Marches sound 😀 - - nowadays, I like listening to one speaker at times whether stereo or mono recording. That SE kit had no power transformer so could be dangerous.
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For me sometime in 1961, my dad purchased a stereo system from the Radio-Shack store in Kenmore Square (before RS went national, a few Boston area stores only) with a Garrard RC-21 changer, Shure M3D cartridge, Realistic Stereodyne 40 integrated tube amp and a pair of Solo II speakers. Thought it sounded pretty good, still have Dad's train record and a couple of ping pong stereo demo disks..
I still remember going with him to that store and watching him pick out that stereo system. I was all of 4, must have made an impression on me.. lol
I still remember going with him to that store and watching him pick out that stereo system. I was all of 4, must have made an impression on me.. lol
Sometime in the late '50s. "Simulcast" am and fm, one for each channel. Before commercial fm stereo.... Yeah, my system was very mis-matched. Left channel: Altec amp (tubes, obviously), "James B Lansing" 8" full-range. Right channel direct from the am radio, 12" Utah coax. I thought it sounded good....
I guess it was in the early '50s when the teen aged girl next door had on of those new "Hi-Fi" stereo console record player/radio combo.
I was then too young to really appreciate the better sound but, I still remember it.
I was then too young to really appreciate the better sound but, I still remember it.
Disney's Fantasia during one of the late 50s theatrical runs - was also my first exposure to the range of classical/symphonic fare - just typing the name resurrects images of the evil spirits from "Night on Bald Mountain", and the dancing hippos and elephants from "Dance of the Hours". Of course upon reaching late teens, you suspect the sources of inspiration for some of the visuals, or trip out on your own derivations thereof 😉
In a domestic environment, would have been a few years later - parents' Fleetwood console - first music that comes to mind was Martin Denny "Quiet Village" and mom's Sinatra and Dean Martin collection - later Herb Alpert (I wouldn't be the first youngster who came to a special appreciation for the uses of whipped cream thanks to him 😱) . Ah, remember the Columbia record club - if you forgot to mail in the "no thanks card" or added your own selections, you'd end up surprises in the mail. Mom was actually surprisingly understanding the first couple of times 😀
In a domestic environment, would have been a few years later - parents' Fleetwood console - first music that comes to mind was Martin Denny "Quiet Village" and mom's Sinatra and Dean Martin collection - later Herb Alpert (I wouldn't be the first youngster who came to a special appreciation for the uses of whipped cream thanks to him 😱) . Ah, remember the Columbia record club - if you forgot to mail in the "no thanks card" or added your own selections, you'd end up surprises in the mail. Mom was actually surprisingly understanding the first couple of times 😀
Deep Purple in Rock
Used a portable radio for one channel of my headphone and the record player for the other channel of my headphones.
Probably in the mid to late Sixties.
When did Deep Purple release that album?
Looked it up. Must have been the end of 1970.
Used a portable radio for one channel of my headphone and the record player for the other channel of my headphones.
Probably in the mid to late Sixties.
When did Deep Purple release that album?
Looked it up. Must have been the end of 1970.
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It came out during my last week of high school. June of 1970. I brought it to school on the last day. We had a very loud stereo in the electronics class made out of several military surplus PA amps wired together.....mostly my doings.
My first stereo experience came when a neighbor started to built a Heathkit AR-13A receiver kit, and couldn't finish it. I finished it for him and "tested" it for a few days. It was about 1965 and one of the first solid state HiFi kits. I had a Garrard stereo turntable, but all my records were MONO! I did manage to borrow a Stereo copy of Dave Brubeck's Time Out. My dad's was also mono. I was hooked.
I had a full stereo system that cranked out about 70 WPC within a couple of years. The same TT, a pair of Stromberg Carlson PA amps that used 4 X 6L6GA each, and a pair of home made speakers. The first real good stereo album was the Moody Blues Days of Future Passed. It was released in the "Deramic Sound System" which we now call stereo, in 1967.
My first HiFi experience goes back before my clear memories. My parents had an old Magnavox mono HiFi console from the mid 50's. It had no tuner, just a mono record player. I didn't like their music with a few exceptions. I can still remember Chubby Checker doin' the "Twist" and Dave Brubeck's Take Five. Both were from about 1960. They upgraded to stereo in the mid 60's and the old Magnavox became my guitar amp. It took me a couple of years to blow it up.
It was probably 1961 -- an uncle of mine had an early stereo multiplex adapter and two amplifiers --
I still have the first stereo recording I heard -- another uncle had a Koss quasi-portable with headphones -- Anna Moffo singing French operatic aria.
Otherwise, us kids were happy with the "Voice of Music" changer and listening to early 33's or Disney 78's which was kept in a corner of our dining room.
I still have the first stereo recording I heard -- another uncle had a Koss quasi-portable with headphones -- Anna Moffo singing French operatic aria.
Otherwise, us kids were happy with the "Voice of Music" changer and listening to early 33's or Disney 78's which was kept in a corner of our dining room.
In 1982 when I heard the demo tape on my newly bought Sony Walkman 2. It was totally amazing with all the sounds moving around. The tapes were recorded to flatter you. In those days, these were not available locally.
Gajanan Phadte
Gajanan Phadte
Hmmm
Philps RH 521 + Pioneer 2 way+ Thorens 160
The speakers on bookshelves at the extremes of the room and there was some Police album on the deck.
I've just had read that you have to position yourself at the vertex of the equilateral triangle and the sound had to come from the middle: it worked !
Now I don't care less !!
Philps RH 521 + Pioneer 2 way+ Thorens 160
The speakers on bookshelves at the extremes of the room and there was some Police album on the deck.
I've just had read that you have to position yourself at the vertex of the equilateral triangle and the sound had to come from the middle: it worked !
Now I don't care less !!
I was about 12 when i got my first headphone. A Sennheiser HD 414 with 2k. My gear that days - an amp and a monkey coffin with several saba drivers - was all mono. My amp had no headphone jack so i decided to connected the headphone with some flying wires directly to my record players external MM preamp box DIN output for a first check.
Wow!
Wow!
BBC, 196?
Their first experiments used (AFAIR) BBC TV for one channel and Radio (Third Programme) for other. I don't remember if the Radio was FM or AM !
Balance and matching all over the place, of course, but fascinating for a young lad destined to have a soldering iron graft.
Their first experiments used (AFAIR) BBC TV for one channel and Radio (Third Programme) for other. I don't remember if the Radio was FM or AM !
Balance and matching all over the place, of course, but fascinating for a young lad destined to have a soldering iron graft.
It was around 1970, I was pretty young and visiting my Uncle's house. He had a small Lafayette stereo with a Garard turntable in the living room. My cousin, who was much older than me, had left a copy of the Jeff Beck Truth album on the 'record player'. I asked if I could listen and started it up. WOW!! What great music and rendered with a range and stereo image I had never heard before. I'll never forget that eye opening experience. I've been hooked on audio ever since.
In a shop in Dublin back in early 60s. Was so impressed that I soon bought a receiver (Armstrong), Garrard 301, SME3012 and an Ortofon SPUGT/e…..Speakers were the DIY 40" cabs (!" solid mahog.) with Goodmans 3 way, (Woofer, Midex & Trebax!). Trying to improve system line-up soon became a disease - although I have had far more sophisticated gear since - I really doubt that this first system gave one iota less musical enjoyment than almost all of the up-grades since then!!! First major upgrade was a Fisher 400 receiver, then Quads, et al. [At that time there was a trader in Dublin who bought ex. PX stores in Germany and sold them to the public. Got a lot of great Chicago Blues albums there as well as an insurance write off Radford STA15 ( there was a shellac covered link in the power Tx which was fractured…otherwise 100% new in crate. (£15.00)
The biggest failures were TannoyXL111, Quad33/303 and Naim amp systems (late 70s).
Have just deleted a list of stuff I wish I had kept!!! Am drifting off-topic too much already!
The biggest failures were TannoyXL111, Quad33/303 and Naim amp systems (late 70s).
Have just deleted a list of stuff I wish I had kept!!! Am drifting off-topic too much already!
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