I got into audio not because I wanted to listen to anything but because I had a desire to understand how things worked. I bought my first receiver because it was cool, it was cheap, and I was a geek who was fascinated by anything tech, the more buttons and knobs the better.
In the early 70's I was at Lafayette Radio Electronics. It was their Headquarters (in Syosset, NY) where they had a huge room of demo'ed, returned, missing parts, and often just plain broken stuff. All marked down and if it was there in a week, marked down again. I didn't get there often but when I did I'd pursue the isles of stuff just looking for something to take home. It was there I found it ... a quadriphonic receiver in perfect working condition sans box and accessories. It was dirt cheap. Took it home and attached two woofers (and I mean just the drivers without a cabinet) and I was in heaven. At the time I knew nothing about music but the thrill of just having sound in my bedroom was fantastic. A little later I was given a non-working, 50's vintage, real to real (just the mechanism without case) which after a bit of fooling ended up working perfectly. So, I recorded stuff off the radio and made my own tapes ... then something funny happened .... I actually started listening to it for the music
