Then I played some Ferry/Roxy Music and it made him cry ...

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Since my teenage years when I first paid good money for stereo equipment (money I had earned myself I hasten to add) my dad could never understand why!!?!! "A complete waste of money...etc"
He's now 70 and along with my mum spent 5 days staying with my wife and me earlier this week. I was therefore finally in a position to sit him down in my music room and let him listen to my present set-up.

I played some Bowie, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac & 'ahem' Tom Jones, all music that he was familiar with from his 'younger' days - he sat there agog (in his own words "stunned" and suddenly started asking questions about the system! A Result!!

Then I played some Ferry/Roxy Music and it made him cry (sorry dad). I don't think it will make him head for the nearest hi-fi shop and spend thousands but maybe he finally understands why music/hi-fi means so much to me.
 

chebby

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Around 25 years ago my father was about to buy a new system and was asking about it. I suggested I make an appointment for him with a local specialist dealer but he felt that would all be too 'complicated' and he wasn't into all that "fancy gear". (I was suggesting something like a Dual CS-505 semi automatic turntable with pre-fitted cartridge and a NAD amp with some Mordaunt Short speakers.)

I tried to reason, telling him the guys at the shop do all the lifting/set-up etc and all he had to do was sit and listen until he liked something. (They even served coffee to customers.) I explained they would deliver and set up his system at home with all the correct cables (and a 3 year warranty) but no, he wasn't having it.

'Uncomplicated' to my dad was standing in the middle of an electrical goods warehouse and picking out a rack-system with no chance to hear it first and no home delivery and no home set-up. 'Uncomplicated' meant a rack system with about 100 controls across all the various units (including the obligatory 'equaliser').

My 'complicated' (or 'fancy') system had one volume control and one source selector and a balance control. (I think I had a QED A240-SA at that time) His system looked like something from the Thunderbird 2 cockpit.

Generational thing maybe. Perhaps it is all about perceived value. I don't know.
 
Chebby is right to say it's a generational trait. Back in 1979, I had just left school, invested in my first proper hi-fi system for my bedroom. My father said, "spend your money wisely," he really couldn't understand.

In the living room we had an antiquated Monogram, so to appease his apathy I rigged up my new gear downstairs and, initially, he was unconvinced. But bit by bit he was spending more time upstairs. . .making the beds, vacuming etc. Then, out of the blue, he was paying compliments to the sound of my set-up.

A few months later, when I upgraded he paid me for my old amp (money I gave back). "Never knew Max Bygraves could sound that good," he smiled.
 
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Anonymous

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Result.

Some years ago, when my parents Aiwa midi system broke, I dragged my father up to Richer Sounds and got him to buy some basic separates: Cambridge A1, some incredibly basic Cambridge CD player of which I can now find no trace of on the internet, and a pair of Eltax Monitor IIIs. When we got home, I wired it all up for him and he spun a couple of his old classical records on the old Aiwa turntable hooked up to the separates. His jaw hit the floor. He never did get back into listening to his music, sadly, but it was a nice moment.

Agree about the generational thing and perceived value. If I told my mother how much I had spent on, or better invested in, my system, she would be horrified.
 

Craig M.

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i amazed my mother recently with a) the cost of my system, and b) that even at full volume it was still possible to have a conversation. i don't know what shocked her the most!!
 

Clare Newsome

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My parents love coming round and enjoying my system - they 'get' it, and always have done, which I guess is why i'm doing this job! (though my brother is happy with a micro system and an iPod dock
emotion-40.gif
)
 
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Anonymous

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Have to say, I got the whole HiFi bug from my father (now 73), as a boy in the 70's. Throughout the 80's he had a NAD Amp + Tape Deck, Turntable I don't remember the name of, and B&W floorstanders from the early 70's. Until my recent upgrade, his system (Arcam CD82 + A80), still with the same old B&W's, was significantly better than mine. My brother and I are both mildly successful musicians, and I'm sure we owe alot of our love of music to that old system.

I wonder how many of us inveterate upgraders are trying to capture a lost sound from our youth?
 
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Anonymous

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Clare Newsome:My parents love coming round and enjoying my system - they 'get' it, and always have done, which I guess is why i'm doing this job! (though my brother is happy with a micro system and an iPod dock
emotion-40.gif
)

Your'e a lucky girl Clare!:)
 

manicm

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Clare Newsome:My parents love coming round and enjoying my system - they 'get' it, and always have done, which I guess is why i'm doing this job! (though my brother is happy with a micro system and an iPod dock
emotion-40.gif
)

Hey, that's my Solo Mini you're talking about!! Well just wait until I get a bigger place and Cyrus gear :)
 

manicm

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The first 5 Roxy albums are absolute classics, and an extremely graceful and elegant bowout in Avalon too.

I loved it when I played some early Roxy to a good friend who hates Bryan Ferry and he couldn't believe it was the same singer and songwriter!
 

chebby

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manicm:
Clare Newsome:My parents love coming round and enjoying my system - they 'get' it, and always have done, which I guess is why i'm doing this job! (though my brother is happy with a micro system and an iPod dock
emotion-40.gif
)

Hey, that's my Solo Mini you're talking about!! Well just wait until I get a bigger place and Cyrus gear :)

Is Clare dissing the Solo-Mini?

Pah!
 

Clare Newsome

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my bro wouldn't see the point of the arcam solo mini, in all its compact excellence. I can't even remember what brand his system is (JVC?), but it's none we've recommended (he did, at least, take my advice on his Panasonic TV
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Anonymous

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I blame my father for my hifi obsession. He bought a Quad 405, 33 and Revox system in the seventies/eighties and had some huge transmission line speakers built for him. Blimey it sounded good. It used to rattle the windows and use the floorboards as an extra transmission line. What else could I buy now other than a 405 and have it upgraded
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Sc00bied00

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nandjg:Then I played some Ferry/Roxy Music and it made him cry.

sums it up really, took a walk down memory lane the other night with some B.Ferry Dire straits, ELO, and then dug out fleetwood mac to find the disk was cracked... it made me cry too.. time for a
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