Greetings with my first post.
Hello at Art of sound. My first post. It is always this tension to tell a lot but on the other hand to keep it clear. I do not want to digress. Today 63 years old I was a fan of playback from an early age. Grown up in the province in the west of Germany. From the age of 4 I could have crawled into our kitchen radio. It was a tube set. Music, radio plays, children's shows. Years later, when it was replaced by a transistor radio, I was very sad. Something of the homely sound was gone. Of course, I didn't know why at the time. But in retrospect, what shaped my listening experience: tube technology, full range speakers without crossovers and a half-open cabinet because the back panel of the radio was made of pressed cardboard with lots of small holes so the heat from the tubes could escape. Aren't there some principles described that some people still favor or at least accept today? Only that at that time there was no thought of high end but it was built that way because it was built that way. At least in the domestic consumer market. Of course there were already elsewhere in the world e.g. Klipsch, Quad McIntosh or the BBC. But far away from a little boy 60 km east of Dortmund.
In 1968 my father bought his first stereo set. A Sansui 300 receiver with Sansui SP10 speakers. I still have it today and after restoration of the receiver it still runs very well. The first sounds I heard with it were a radio show with "Switched on Bach" by (at that time) Walter Carlos. You can imagine what an experience that was for a 9 year old. For the first time in his life he heard stereo and that with the first recording of a Moog synthesizer.
I have to abbreviate now. Dad's system 1972 Sansui QR 6500 receiver with SP2500 speakers in front. 1975 my first homemade bass horns and midrange horns together with a buddy. He could do the math (xovers, horn opening etc) and I helped with everything else, including my ears.
On the other hand, at the end of the 70's I heard for the first time big Tannoys, Klipschorns and a BC1. Of course, impressions of other speakers came later. But...amazing how formative certain early "sounds" can be for a lifetime. 1980s, Quad 33/405 with Tannoy HPD295, late 1980s Quad 34/306 with Rogers Studio 1a. Mid 1990s Audiolab 8000A with Spendor SP2/2. Then switch to tubes, Croft Micro with Leak Stereo 20 and AN/J speakers. Then Quad II with Klipsch LaScala and Quad ESL This Klipsch Lascala 1977 I still have today and even restored original. In 2000 came Tannoy Canterbury which a little later were successfully operated with EAR 864 and McIntosh MC2102. Since 2003 with Mcintosh C22CE with MC 275 Mk4.
In 2008 I got Klipsch Underground Jubilee, the only ones so far in Germany, together with Yamaha SP2060 DSP/XO. Since 2016 I listen to Stirling Broadcast LS 3/6 mainly. It sounds crazy but these speakers remind me most of my first radio experiences at 4 + years old. And something else slightly crazy. I've been listening to the SB LS3/6 with Mcintosh gear since 2016, it sounds very good. In January this year I bought used old Quad 34 and 306 for fun and nostalgia out of curiosity because I had it 35 years ago. After replacing all electrolytic capacitors and listening to it together with Stirling Broadcast LS3/6 in March for fun I have not changed anything. More music, less so-called high end. Seriously, the Quad 34/306 together with the SB LS3/6 are like a small acoustic happiness for me. So much or so little to me first of all.
All the best, Heinz from Cologne, Germany.
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