I wouldn't call it an audiophile moment, more of a musical awakening. You could say that my exposure to music was rather sheltered; my parents only listened to classical music. While I can appreciate that now as an adult, I wanted to hear new things -- like what my friends at school were listening to. When I was in 4th or 5th grade, I was given a little 9V battery powered AM/FM radio. I would listen to it at night by balancing it on my ear as I lay on my pillow. It wasn't even stereo, but I loved it.
I "hacked" (as they'd call it these days) the radio for better reception, by removing the antenna from the body, mounting it at the top of my wall with a couple push pins, and running a wire from it down to my bed (I slept on a top bunk) where I connected it back to the radio.
The radio stations I'd listen to most were out of LA. One was Pirate Radio, which played the likes of Guns 'n Roses, Def Leppard, Metallica, and other big names in the harder side of rock. The other station was 97.1 KLSX, where Jim Laad opened up my ears to Classic Rock. (Incidentally, Tom Petty wrote a tribute to him called "The Last DJ".)
