I have been an audio crazed dude as long as I could remember. My first venture into sound was back in the early early 70's with my brother's who were 15 and 18 years older than me. I would hang out with them in the old chevy and hear all the tunes blasting from the latest 8 track. My middle brother is a jeweler and he started out back then doing shows at the Jazz fest and different fairs and such. I would always be tagging along with him and be able to see all the bands and the gear that created all those lovely sounds. Those impressions were very instrumental- to say the least. I cranked the old electrovoice system my parents had till the needle on the tone arm needed multiple repairs. As time went on, I would hang out at Radio Shack and at about 10 Years old, I bought a pair of Mach 1 speakers. I also bought an STA 2290 receiver. I was the man in my hood!! I loved those speakers and the receiver that ultimately drove them-They are now in my vintage room. No one has ever touched them and they are mint except for a refoam of the 15's. As a matter of fact, they give me every bit as much enjoyment as they did so many years ago. As time went on, I added new stuff, old stuff and discards from people who knew no better! Each new system had it's own qualities that can bring a smile to my face at any time.I hung around at the local stereo salon and the Klipsch room was my stomping ground. At 17, I bought my Khorns and did not even have a place to put them. I powered those things with a walkman once in a while with some amount of success. Yamaha MX-1's powered them once I had a place to put them and still do. All the while, I never forgot my Mach 1's. Higher end salons became a place to visit, but I got a lot of flack about my K's and were told more than once they were junk, so I tried to listen and audition but took the info with a grain of salt. The first guy who said something like that let me hear a system that was valued at over $140,000 according to him and it was impressive. The sounds were clear and the bass was tight. My first question to him over the about 70 dB music was "Can it go louder." He promptly replied ,"Well you realize blah blah blah" Basically no. I then told him that it really did sound good but I was the kind of person who likes both music like he was auditioning as well as concert sound and levels like Pink Floyd or Rush- my favorite bands to which he said my taste in music was not of his system. So, I bought a Jazz cd and cruised the joint. He still has a shop here, but I have never been back. His system was amazing for what it did, but I did not have $140,000 and his attitude about trashing my stuff ate me to the quick. Needless to say he had no HT, just stereo at the time and told me HT was crap. I set my first HT up about that time and that is about 22 years ago now- All Klipsch. Made my own wall plates by using blanks and Speaker connectors bought from a supply house. No Parts Express for me back then- I had no clue about any of that. The vintage stuff has been coming all the while- Old crown amps, Dynaco, Fisher, McIntosh, Sansui, Marantz,- You name it. Speakers included JBL, Electrovoice Aristocrat & Georgian, AR, Dynaudio, Polk, Boston, Cerwin Vega you name it. each has it's own unique place in my mind that allows me to go back and enjoy the times when those systems were "The Cat's Meow." Playing a 78 album on one of my turntables through that Dynaco amp with the JBL monitors has a certain "Je ne sais quoi" that is hard to describe. The pops and crackles lend to the experience- and it truly is an "experience" The other night, I fired up my tombstone radio and the tubes started to glow and the sound increased until I felt the same old feelings from that first time I turned it on. All of my HT equipment and all the bass drivers in the world can't do "That" for me. Oh, my HT is an experience, but it is a different animal altogether. I could keep going on as this is my only real hobbie, but I would like to know if you guys have any of these same feelings.
1. Do you keep the old and enjoy it just the same?
2. Do you discard the old in favor of the new?
3. Do you trade up just to get new features with no real increase in performance (just features)?
4. Do you feel that the old stuff is not as good as the products offered today?
5. Do you feel that most equipment upgrades are just not upgrades at all but just trading one for another?
6. Do you ?
1. Do you keep the old and enjoy it just the same?
2. Do you discard the old in favor of the new?
3. Do you trade up just to get new features with no real increase in performance (just features)?
4. Do you feel that the old stuff is not as good as the products offered today?
5. Do you feel that most equipment upgrades are just not upgrades at all but just trading one for another?
6. Do you ?