I started when I was 17 heading to 18. Hung out a lot at a high-end store where one of the owners had a doctorate in history so lots of great afternoon chatting. Used to hangout (when tgey had customers) to a little lunch counter operated by one of the brother in laws of... Céline Dion. He used to do the lighting in her shows when she was younger. Anyhow, i met and talked to her about two dozens times (we're the same age so she was only qell known locally). She did her own makeup then and it was awful. But fairly smart.
After almost a year of shopping, i got a great deal on what i really wanted, i ended with a Luxman 90, their first non-lamp amp, and a pair if DBX-1000, providing 180 stereo, a feat i only heard again in the LFR1100 that i got to experience when Axiom came to the big audio show in Montreal... some years ago.
In 2007 those speakers started to fall apart read and i decided to start looking for the next big move. Read TONS of stuff, talked with people who had high-end equipment (like Paradigm and stuff). Finally, i kept falling on reviews of an internet-only company named Axiom who had 1 or 2 years before replaced their TI line with v2s. Anyhow, looked at the specs, looked at the price. Knowing how much the prices are getting crazy with distributors and retailers, i calculated that it COULD be possible to produce great speakers at that ridiculous price (at that time, M80s were under 1000$).
So i replaced the weakling in my system (cheap center) with a VP-150. It quickly proved to be the best speaker in the system (it was really starting to be dated). For those who know the VP150, that difference was not flattering for my nearly 22 years old mains. Then i replaced the surrounds by QS8s... wow... it was getting embarrassing. I then went for M80s and eventually added a EP-500. The first thing i listened to on the M80s was Bach's first solo violin sonata and I actually shed tears of bliss. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.
So i kind of stuck with Axiom. I now have so many Axiom speakers that it's impossible to cross my entire home without tripping on one.
My next dream is to be in a place where i can have a dedicated music room with LFR1100 active main and possibly M100 as surrounds.
