The Audiofiles: A Musician's Hi-Fi Odyssey
/My Dad had an all in one music system (not sure which make) with a record player on top. There was also a record of Billy Connolly's "Wreck on Tour" (c1974?) which I listened to so many times, I knew a lot of it word for word. One of my brothers gave me a tape of Queen’s album The Works. I fell in love with Queen and went on to acquire a number of their albums. I was lucky enough to see the Queen Musical twice, and to see Brian May and Kerry Ellis perform at the Albert Hall a few years ago. When I was studying for an MA (Kingston, 2002-03), I wrote about Queens music for Highlander and Flash; and had an email reply from Brian (via the Queen Fan Club) about Highlander.
I remember first seeing a What Hi-Fi? magazine in an art class at secondary school (91-96) - which we were cutting up and using for a collage.
New Adventures in Hi-FI
The first Hi-Fi system I got was a Marantz PM44 amp. There was a Marantz CD63 CD player as well; I can't remember if it was mine or my Dads. I had a Pioneer PD-S703? CD player which was unusual as you had to put the CD in upside down. I had an Aiwa tape player (AD-F450 I believe) that cost around £100 at the time, and a NAD tuner. I had some rubbish no-name speakers, which I upgraded to some Mission 731's (maybe £150?), which were great fun.
I bought some Monitor Audio floorstanding speakers (Pictured) with some money (£400) I inherited when I was 16. I remember wanting to set them up but my parents wouldn't let me because I had to study for my GCSE’s. I used part of a pay cheque to buy a Roksan Kandy amp (£575) around 98 or 99. My parents gave me an REL subwoofer for my 18th birthday (98).
Next Hi-Fi Upgrade
It's All About The Music
When I bought the Naim system, I gave the Roksan and Pioneer to my Dad but he doesn't use them much.
Thank You For The Music
Someone commented: "You are part of a dying breed of people who listen to music in high quality."
With most people listening on their mobile phones, or on their computers I wonder how much of the music people are actually hearing?
What got me hooked on music? That's another story..... although the Tchaikovsky is part of it.
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N.B. You don't have to write and essay and there are half a dozen questions that we'll ask you. You don't even have to write the article yourself!