[Aura]

2008 at the age of 19

. Singlepower MPX3 - great amp, good friends with the guy I sold it to, so hopefully I will be able to listen to it again.

 

[atbglenn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelongwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif Your experience is very similar to mine. In 1968 (I was 20) I built a Dyna Stereo 35 and a PAS 3X. I also had AR4X speakers and an AR TT with a Shure cartridge. A few months later I sold the ST35 and built a Stereo 70 and a Dyna FM3 tuner. I still have everything, except of course, the ST35. Oh, and my Dad also helped me build a crystal radio in the 50s......

Awesome! My dad built my crystal radio while I watched. I helped by not helping! LOL I was only 6 years old at the time.

I made a horrible mistake a couple of years after I built my Dynakits . I sold my Stereo 70 and purchased a Dynaco Stereo 120 Solid State amp. What a piece of crap that was. So I sold that and bought a new Stereo 70 again. I updated my speakers as well to the AR 2ax's. Still had my AR Turntable and PAS 3X Preamp. That was a killer system in my small 12 X 10 bedroom.

 

[joelongwood]

atbglenn, I see you're a Long Islander...........where did you purchase your kits? I bought mine from Audio by Zimet in Roslyn.

 

[atbglenn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelongwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif atbglenn, I see you're a Long Islander...........where did you purchase your kits? I bought mine from Audio by Zimet in Roslyn.

I bought mine from Electronic City at Mid Island Plaza in Hicksville. I used to go to the audio clinic at Audio By Zimit. The guys name was Sid. He had this very obnoxious guy working for him named Michael, and this other guy named Josh. Do you remember them? Oh yeah, they used to sell Frazier Black Box speakers

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atbglenn /img/forum/go_quote.gif I bought mine from Electronic City at Mid Island Plaza in Hicksville. I used to go to the audio clinic at Audio By Zimit. The guys name was Sid. He had this very obnoxious guy working for him named Micheal, and this other guy named Josh. Do you remember them? Oh yeah, they used to sell Frazier Black Box speakers

I remember (fondly) Sid Zimet. When I started going there, it was only Sid, his elderly mother, and his partner, Dave, who was the Ampex tape expert. Later on, they hired some other guys and the place wasn't the same. And I still have the Frazier Black Boxes I purchased back in '69. I remember walking in and hearing those huge Frazier Dixielanders blasting some Big band music........Damn, it sounded wonderful! Good memories.

 

[sbulack]

My first listen on a piece of tube gear was in 2004, when I was 50, from Hirsch's Singlepower PPX3 (which he had very generously brought to a meet that Canman and I held at my house), and, the same day, a Singlepower MPX3 that Mikhail had lent to Canman for the meet. I owned a PPA with OPA637/627 at the time (and was content to remain SS), but I really enjoyed the detail and fluidity of what I heard.

December, 2007, at the age of 53, is when I finally decided to purchase a used Mapletree Ear+ Purist HD amp in the FS Forum. By April, 2008, I was well stocked-up on good NOS tubes for it, as well as a few pairs of NOS 5751's, with one cryo'd, one not. I'd say that, by then, I had "gotten into" tubes.

 

[Bozz_Keren]

got my first amp, and tube amp actually at 2006, i'm 21 at that time. It's quite revelation for me actually, lush and liquid sounds coming from tube, it's nirvana..

 

[Skylab]

Seems like a lot of us slightly older-timers cut our teeth on those classic tube Dynaco amps. No surprise there. Perhaps the best value in tube amplification EVER, especially the Stereo 70.

 

[JayW]

In 1982, when I was four, my cousin had a JC Penny turntable and a pair of early 1960s Bogen monophonic phonograph amplifiers. I used to steal the whole lot and listen to his Jay Guiles, Survivor, and Steve Miller 45s. So I guess I was into monoblock tube amps at 4! One of the amps is still around somewhere. It was a 12AU7 (line input stage I think), 12AX7 (phono stage I think), a pair of 6V6s in push-pull, and a 5Y3 regulator, with passive RIAA (or rough approximation). It had a hefty transformer and a 12" Jensen speaker. When I was a teenager I bypassed the RIAA circuitry and used the phono input as a guitar amp. It sounded just like a Fender Champ. Since then I haven't been able to afford anything with tubes in it, but I hope to one of these days pick up a fairly good quality, high fidelity 5 to 10 watt integrated amp that sounds anywhere near as good as those old ones did. It had incredibly punchy low mids and smooth bass. It was bright and brassy but very clear. I still love the sound of 12AX7s, but I think the tube rectifier had a lot to do with the distinctive sonic character I remember from those Bogen's and the sound that I associate with "tube sound". I haven't heard a good tube amp with solid state rectification to know, though. (I later learned the amps had come from a grade school where they were used for film strips.)

EDIT: If anyone cares, they were Bogen DB110's, built into little cabinets for the speakers. The speaker would unlatch from the base, leaving the amps exposed, and were attached with little umbilical cords.

 

[bergman2]

in the 70's, when i was a wee lad, I used to smash my old mans spare tubes against the wall in the basement---and i probably need those same tubes right now...uuuggghhh!

 

[atbglenn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bergman2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif in the 70's, when i was a wee lad, I used to smash my old mans spare tubes against the wall in the basement---and i probably need those same tubes right now...uuuggghhh!

I hate to admit it, when I was a kid in the 60's. I used to bring tubes to the drug store (they had tube testers in those days) and purposely blow them up by over voltaging them. I had no idea what I was doing but it was cool to see the filaments glow brightly and pop. I was a weird kid.

 

[Namrac]

My first tube amp was a mere 5 months ago. D: LD MKII, purchased roughly 2 weeks after my 18th birthday. I've since made a considerable step up to my SP MPX3 SLAM toaster.

 

[atbglenn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayW /img/forum/go_quote.gif In 1982, when I was four, my cousin had a JC Penny turntable and a pair of early 1960s Bogen monophonic phonograph amplifiers. I used to steal the whole lot and listen to his Jay Guiles, Survivor, and Steve Miller 45s. So I guess I was into monoblock tube amps at 4! One of the amps is still around somewhere. It was a 12AU7 (line input stage I think), 12AX7 (phono stage I think), a pair of 6V6s in push-pull, and a 5Y3 regulator, with passive RIAA (or rough approximation). It had a hefty transformer and a 12" Jensen speaker. When I was a teenager I bypassed the RIAA circuitry and used the phono input as a guitar amp. It sounded just like a Fender Champ. Since then I haven't been able to afford anything with tubes in it, but I hope to one of these days pick up a fairly good quality, high fidelity 5 to 10 watt integrated amp that sounds anywhere near as good as those old ones did. It had incredibly punchy low mids and smooth bass. It was bright and brassy but very clear. I still love the sound of 12AX7s, but I think the tube rectifier had a lot to do with the distinctive sonic character I remember from those Bogen's and the sound that I associate with "tube sound". I haven't heard a good tube amp with solid state rectification to know, though. (I later learned the amps had come from a grade school where they were used for film strips.) EDIT: If anyone cares, they were Bogen DB110's, built into little cabinets for the speakers. The speaker would unlatch from the base, leaving the amps exposed, and were attached with little umbilical cords.

I had a Bogen DB130 30 watt mono integrated amplifier and matching FM tuner that my father bought used along with Wharfedale speakers (DW40?,cant remember really)and a Glaser Steers Turntable (not sure of the spelling or model). I guess that was around 1964 or 65 when I was 12 or 13.

I still consider my first real love of tubes was in 69 when I got my Dynaco amp and preamp

Bogen DB130

 

[Gollie]

2007 @ age 25 (a birthday present a month early)

Darkvoice 336i.

A great way to jump into the hobby imo.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Well...I'm unsure of the actual time line...things are fuzzy but I'm confident it was -2.5 days old when I saw my first fallopian tube

OK, in all seriousness.....1973 (11 years old then).....my Father and I built a little Heathkit EL84 integrated amp. That little amp sounded damn good. Wish I still had it.


Peete.