Not an audiophile by any means and no idea when I first “heard” of them but I bought my first player in the fall of 1984.
My friend was/is an audiophile and I was prob influenced by him though.
I’m curious and am going to pull my LPs out to determine when I bought my last album. I doubt I bought many after that point. In fact, if I did it was surely used (from Poobah’s in Pasadena) so I prob won’t be able to tell.