Many of us who have, over the years, invested considerable amounts of our hard-earned cash on good quality audio equipment will be able to recall when and where we first caught the hi-fi bug. In this blog, we explore the phenomenon and ask some of the industry’s leading lights to share their audio epiphanies.

The First Spark

There’s a moment in the lives of many hi-fi enthusiasts that feels almost mythic.

It is the first time we hear a ‘proper’ hi-fi system. It is almost as if the clouds part and a beam of light shines down and, in that moment, we realise what proper hi-fi can do for music.

This is the hi-fi epiphany.

Most of us of a certain age grew up listening to crackly radios, our parents’ Dansette-style all-in-one record players, radiograms or portable cassette players. Younger folks may have enjoyed the sonic delights of music centres or microsystems.

Many of us grew up listening to record players like those made by Dansette

The point is that none of these were likely to deliver particularly high-quality sound. So it’s no surprise that our first taste of real hi-fi was usually pretty jaw-dropping. People can often remember the precise track that did it for them.

That ‘wow’ moment may have happened during a visit to a hi-fi shop or show, perhaps it was a family member’s system or a mate’s parents’ set-up. If you were lucky, and your parents owned some decent hi-fi kit, then you would have grown up knowing what quality audio sounded like.

Whatever the story, the chances are that first time we heard proper hi-fi has stuck with us ever since.

A Sound You Can’t Unhear

We were amazed by the never-heard-before detail the system was able to dig out from a record or CD. Or it may have been the stereo separation and soundstage that wowed. Often people recall the staggering sounds-as-if-the-singer-is-standing-right-there realism that good hi-fi can deliver.

A true hi-fi experience makes us realise that much of the recorded music we heard previously was basically a facsimile or approximation of the works that the artists and producers actually made.

Good Hi-fi lets you hear more of what the artist intended. Image courtesy of PA Images.

Once we’ve heard it, it becomes hard to go back. We can’t unhear that sound. It kick-starts our lifelong quest to get the best possible performance from our stereo equipment.

And here’s the thing: if we think back to the first proper hi-fi systems we heard, they were not necessarily particularly high-end.

But, as we know, proper hi-fi from a reputable manufacturer doesn’t have to cost silly money to deliver audio enjoyment way beyond that produced by what we might call high street consumer systems, or our parents’ old mono record players.

More Than One Epiphany

While everyone’s hi-fi ‘first time’ is perhaps the most memorable, the good news is there’s often more than one hi-fi epiphany.

Once we ‘get our ear in’ as it were, and recognise the hallmarks of good quality sound, we start to listen differently.

The Deeper Revelations

The second, or maybe third, revelation is subtler and deeper. It often happens as we improve our hi-fi systems over the years.

These are the moments when we think less about there being “good bass” or “crisp highs” and start noticing the texture of the bass, or pay more attention to the micro-detail in the highs, like the decay of a cymbal.

You start to recognise how different pressings of the same record can change the emotional impact of a song. And how different equipment affects sound staging, all adding to the emotion and enjoyment of the music.

As the years roll by, we focus on building systems that sound ‘right’ to our ears – equipment that, based on our experiences, works well together to produce the kind of sound we like.

This quest never really stops. There is always something else we want to try to gain a little more performance from our systems. When we find that something, we are as happy as Larry... at least until we get that upgrade itch again.

The Soundtrack to Our Lives

People often talk about the soundtrack to their lives. Music has that wonderful ability to bear witness to our stories, connecting our present with our past, to the places and people we knew, and to emotion.

Playing that soundtrack through a decent hi-fi system is surely the least we can do for ourselves.

But enough philosophising!

Industry Perspectives

We thought it would be interesting and fun to ask a few of the hi-fi industry’s leading lights to share their hi-fi epiphanies. Hopefully, they will chime with some of your own experiences…

Alan Gibb, Brand Ambassador for Chord Company

Alan gibb, brand ambassador at Chord company

I first became interested in hi-fi at my uncle’s house in the early 70s. He had a Thorens 150 a SME Mk2 tonearm with a Shure V 15 mk3, an original Cambridge Audio P100 with a pair of Cambridge Bridge Audio R50 transmission line speakers.

Unfortunately, I had to listen to his taste of music and wasn’t allowed to touch it, but I was fascinated at how much better it sounded that my Mum‘s HMV (with carrying handle).

In 1976 I went to Edinburgh University and was reliably informed by a colleague that there was a shop down the hill that actually gave you a cup of decent coffee when you visited – this was Russ Andrews HiFi. Being a student this was a very attractive proposition and we went down on our bicycles to listen to some hi-fi, but mainly to get a cup of coffee.

I was sat down in front of a Linn Sondek, Grace Tonearm, Supex cartridge, Naim 12 preamp complete with SNAPS power supply and 250 Power amp driving a pair of very early Isobariks The record in question that was put on was Joan Armatrading and the track was Willow.

I remember sitting there staring at the record absolutely dumbfounded. The system could actually play music rather than just making an assortment of noises that was recognisable as music. I had to have that system!

I ended up getting a part-time job in the shop in order to get the system for less money as I couldn’t believe how much it cost. Along the way I had the great fortune of meeting both Ivor Tiefenbrun of Linn and Julian Vereker of Naim on their numerous visits to the shop, and ultimately ended up working at Linn products for seven years.

I’ve now been working at the Chord Company for over 20 years and I have been pursuing that elusive refinement to hi-fi systems that supplies us with a better insight into what the musician has played and why they played it.

Gordon Inch, Brand Ambassador at Linn

My first experience of home audio was on my grandmother’s Van Der Molen “music centre” and my father’s 7 inch vinyl collection sometime in the late 1970s.

As my parents, grandmother and sister would watch Morecambe & Wise on a Saturday evening, I’d be in another room listening to Chuck Berry and The Spencer Davis Group through a gigantic pair of Pioneer SE-305 headphones, clearly not designed for an eight-year-old.

In 1986, I bought my first CD player as part of a Trio hi-fi. It must have been one of the last before they changed their brand name to Kenwood. At the time, I think all I was able to buy was “Brothers In Arms” by Dire Straits, “With Or Without You” CD single by U2 and “Don’t Go” CD single by Hothouse Flowers. I still remember the astonishment at hearing the clarity of CD and thinking “It can’t get better than this…”

How wrong I was.

In the late 1990s, I bought my first hi-fi system, a Rotel RA-971 integrated amp, Wharfdale Diamond speakers and a Harman Kardon FL-8300 5-disc CD player.

In summer 2001, I was lucky enough to speculatively send my CV into Linn Products at the right time and the rest is history…

In the near 25 years since I joined the company, I’ve owned 6 different full Linn systems, the current one being an Akurate System Hub, into Akurate Exaktbox-I, driving 150 speakers in Exakt configuration (actively), and, of course, an LP12 turntable.

Whether it be the first bars of “Tinseltown in the Rain” by The Blue Nile, “Morph The Cat” by Donald Fagan, or “Moondog” by Leif Vollebekk, I know that music makes EVERYTHING better.

Long may it continue.

Jason Gould, Brand Ambassador Naim Audio

My first experience of hearing a “real” hi-fi system was in Radford Hi-Fi in 1987.

I remember walking into the shop asking the manager if they had any Saturday work, as I was a budding hi-fi enthusiast with a passion for music.

I had read Hi-Fi Choice, Flat Response and the like over many years, but I still hadn’t experienced the thrill of a proper hi-fi.

It was then I heard a Linn LP12-Ittok-Karma combination, amplified by a Naim NAC62/NAP140 through Linn Kan loudspeakers. I remember it overwhelming me, to the point where I couldn’t believe what was coming off vinyl, in a world which was just stepping into the world of digital audio, the Compact Disc!

The track played to me was Ashes to Ashes, by David Bowie, sounding more mysterious and surreal, like never before…

I got the job, a full-time position and the rest is history!

Alan O’Rourke, Founder and Managing Director of Ruark

It would have been around 1968. My dad was a cabinet maker and early on he got involved making housings and speaker cabinets for the emerging British audio industry, which spawned names such as Quad, Leak, Cambridge Audio and Wharfedale, to name just a few.

At this time the interest in stereo systems was growing strongly and what with my dad being an audio enthusiast, all manner of wonderful equipment passed through our living room and, like my dad, at the age of 10 I also became a lifelong music and audio enthusiast.

I can’t remember ‘the moment’ exactly, but around this time it would have probably been a Garrard or Thorens turntable with an Armstrong amplifier and a pair of kit speakers. At the time stereo test records were popular, in trying to achieve an authentic sound, so we’d have The Flying Scotsman roaring through our living room.

The musical piece that has always stuck in my mind is Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. The film 2001: A Space Odyssey had just been released and hearing this intro music with organ and orchestra in our lounge, was amazing.

Nick Clarke, Managing Director of Cyrus

It would have been mid-1988 at the Audiolab factory, which back then was in a small unit on an industrial estate in Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire.

It was a Marantz CD-94 (possibly a mkII - I still have a CD-63SE), an Audiolab 8000A amplifier with Wharfedale Diamond speakers - the album was Peter Gabriel's So. Up until then, like most people I'd really only heard music on a portable cassette player, radio or an in-car so the depth and clarity was a total revelation!

Bob Surgeoner, Founder and Managing Director, Neat Acoustics

It evolved over a few years but the real 'wow moment' was September 1984, I think, at Heathrow HiFi News Show.

It was a pair of Magneplanar MGIIIb panel speakers with a vertical ribbon tweeter, perhaps 48 inches long. I don't recall all of the partnering equipment but probably an Audio Research preamp and a Krell power amp driving them. The track was 'Hoja de Coca', the title track from an an album by a Bolivian band called Rumillajta. It featured pan pipes heavily and is still one of my favourite albums.

A very special Audio T thank you to those hi-fi legends who shared their hi-fi epiphanies with us!

Perhaps it has stirred a few memories of your own – that first moment you realised music could sound so much more alive, detailed and emotional. If you’ve yet to experience your own hi-fi epiphany, why not let us help you discover it? Our team at Audio T have been guiding music lovers for decades, and we’d love to help you find the system that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

And if you’re already well along on your hi-fi journey, we’ll be delighted to advise you on the next step – whether that’s refining what you already have, exploring new technologies, or chasing down those last details that make the music truly sing.

Contact us today to begin the conversation and let’s see where your next audio epiphany takes you.

Thanks for reading,

Alan - Audio T Portsmouth

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