50 years! It’s a benchmark. Whether it’s a wedding anniversary, retirement, or someone’s birthday; it seems to be a standard. Something to celebrate, recognize, and extol. It must be a special number, because whatever the momentous occasion is, the color gold is attached to it.
I am celebrating 50 years this Christmas of… no not that, I am way past that age. I’m not retired, yet but getting closer. I’m hoping to be able to celebrate 50 years of marriage to Kristine, and THAT can take its time.
This milestone, benchmark, will be to most people, nothing. As a matter of fact, most will think huh? Really? But if you know me, and my love for music, this will make sense. Maybe!
1973 was the year I received my first stereo for Christmas. Yep that’s it. Wow, what an accomplishment…. it should be something extoled upon, lauded over! Wait a minute. No, it shouldn’t. It’s really not a big deal. I agree. To me though, it is. It started a journey down a road of so many different experiences and joys I still relish to this day.
What began with a transistor radio, exploded into a world of emotional bliss which still gives me goose bumps. The sound of AM radio now turned into a concert wall of sound (along with the warning to turn it down) as music became more than just a song. In essence, it became life.
The popularity of the vinyl record was just starting to climb, peaking in sales around 1979. From then on it started a slow decline with the cassette tape, making it easier to hear music away from the home stereo. When the CD was introduced, vinyl sales spun out of control and by the early 90’s were non-existent. But that’s not what this is about.
I reflect, recall, and reminisce using music as a timeline. Listening to music has, and still, brings a joy I love to experience any chance I get. My love of music soon morphed into a love of sound and the pursuit of a great sounding stereo. My 50-year journey may have been finally satisfied.
“Maybe.”
My exploration and excursions through the ever-changing audio jungle were as frustrating as the computer nightmare. Getting the latest, turned out to be obsolete by the time the cash register drawer slammed closed. I’ve learned the goal is not elusive. As a matter of fact, it may not be to some, a journey at all.
We are different in so many ways, and the way we experience, interpret, and enjoy music is just as different. What I listen for in music is totally different than the next person. So, the way we perceive it, listen to it, and how we respond to what we hear is totally different. It’s why the hobby is so enjoyable. I may hear something no one else ever heard before when listening to a song they have listened to for years, and vice versa.
It began in 1973 when I received a Caphart Stereo Console. All I had asked for was a turntable and a pair of speakers. I got what a 14-year-old Freshman would consider a jackpot. (At least by 1973 standards). Not only did have a turntable, but also an 8-track tape player and an AM/FM receiver. My neighbor received a portable 8-track tape player for Christmas that same year. 6 months later he upgraded to a receiver and turntable along with a pair of JBL speakers. What I heard was cleaner, more accurate music at substantial louder volume. The journey began.
My pursuit began as my request for an upgrade fell on deaf ears. I was told what I had was sufficient. Not to my ears. Not only was my neighbor exploring different sounds, my soon to be brother in law was even further advanced in the audio spectrum. I was transfixed on what I was listening to when I went over to his house. He always had a stereo I would covet to have. He was a major influence, along with my neighbor through my exploration into the realm of rock music.
I loved Top 40 music. My neighbor who hung with a different demographic of people than I did, opened me up to bands I had never heard before, and since have come to love. Bands like Foghat, Nazareth, Climax Blues Band. My brother in-law was around six years my senior and had a taste for progressive rock. I heard bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Uriah Heep, Moody Blues, and Spirit. I was loving it all, because I was loving the different sounds. The better I could hear it, the more I fell in love with music.
So now 50 years later, I am satisfied. I have got a system and a room, which totally helps me experience the joy of sound. Throughout this blog, I have tried to represent the different systems I had by searching the internet for images. The last couple of pictures is what I now believe to be the best “I” have ever experienced. The emphasis is “I”. This is what makes listening to music so enjoyable. We all hear things different. In the world of an audiophile, it could be as elusive as the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Or, like myself, perhaps “I” have found the pot of gold.
Exactly, my pot of gold. What I enjoy listening to. When I hear the sound of a bow caressing the strings of a cello, I can actually hear the strings stretching and imagine the rosin flaking off the bow. When a power chord is struck, I can feel the emotion of the guitarist as his pick bends to the point of breaking
When the beat of a drum causes the beat of my heart to increase; those are the joys I experience when I hear music. For the last 50 years that enjoyment is still felt as the exploration continues.When I hear music on my stereo, for “me” it is an emotional experience. I often smile, many times close my eyes, and sometimes as I smile, a tear will come to my eyes as the joy of listening to music becomes my escape from reality and into a solid wall of sound. 50 years and counting.
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