What was your very first audio equipment you bought?

[blackraven]

I thought it might be interesting to see what audio equipment people bought as their very first stereo.

I bought a very nice sounding Pioneer 15wpc receiver with 2way Altec Lansing speakers and a JVC direct drive turntable in 1977. Also had and still have a Sanyo tape deck and BSR 10 band equalizer. That 15watt receiver had plenty of power and great sound compared to some of the high powered junk sold today at chain stores.

[Carl Reid]

Does that question include Mini-systems and portable CD players etc....?

Ignoring mini-systems, the first setup I bought was a Technics Receiver (100W x 5 channels) with a Technics SLPD9 5 disc CD changer and a pair of Technics LX70K 3 way speakers.... all new about 4 years ago...

[JDaniel]

I bought a full Marantz Gold system circa 1982 - 25 watt receiver, two tape decks, tt, speakers. This was past the glory days of Marantz (70s), but that little receiver still goes strong 25 years later, as do the two tape decks. I traded the TT and speakers about 10 years ago. Wish I had the TT back.

I've since bought a lot of vintage equip. from the 70s, and am happy with what I've accumulated.


JD

[blackraven]

Now don't be shy about mini systems too, lol.

Yeah, the equipment from the 70's from Marantz, Pioneer, Yamaha, Kenwood and Technics were well made using quality components (I don't think that cheapo solid state electronics were mass produced back then). My vintage Technics integrated amp from the 70's is built like a beast and weighs a ton for an intergrated amp compared to the amps of today.
My first CDP was a Technics SLP J1 if I remember correctly. It finallly died 5 years ago. I bought it in 1980 for $200 and it too was very heavy compared to todays equipment and was better sounding than many of the sub $1000 players today. Suprisingly, that CD player had an optical digital out port for future digital connections.

[Mr Peabody]

My dad bought me a Realistic STA-78 receiver when I was 16, I'm about to date myself, that was back in 79. I scraped the money together to by a pair of Centrex 12" 3-way speakers. Then came a used Pioneer PL25 turntable. Eventually a Teac cassette deck. I had this stuff for years as I was fairly poor for years. Centrex was a cheap line put out by Pioneer. Those speakers were under $200.00. The STA-78 was rated at 22 wpc, it had a walnut case with a black face, it was beautiful, and rocked. I foolishly sold that and bought a space age looking Pioneer rated at 45 wpc. I regretted that move until the day I could finally afford to move on. That Pioneer had no balls what so ever. Back in those days though it was bigger numbers and bigger woofers.

This brings to mind how fortunate today's generations are to have the internet to learn quicker about audio and to have access to used gear and better variety. Newbies probably learn in months what it took me years to pick up. Still nothing takes the place of hands, or ears, on experience.

[Jimmy C]

I thought it might be interesting to see what audio equipment people bought as their very first stereo.

I bought a very nice sounding Pioneer 15wpc receiver with 2way Altec Lansing speakers and a JVC direct drive turntable in 1977. That 15watt receiver had plenty of power and great sound compared to some of the high powered l junk sold today at chain stores.

...I believe the first thing that I purchased with my OWN money was a pair of Criterion (from Lafayette) 4-way (IIRC) speakers. Yeah, that's about right... 10 or 12", mid, tweeter, and a supertweeter. Contour controls for mid and HF on the front. Sounded "OK" at the time, bad now. A friend has a very similar model in mint shape... not too good. They did, however, w-a-y beat the sound from the all-in-one Soundesign speakers I was using.

After that. ditched the Compact, and got a Realistic STA-110 receiver and LAB-440 turntable.

Then Pioneer HPMs...

Then Boston Acoustics...

Etc., etc., etc...

[Feanor]

I thought it might be interesting to see what audio equipment people bought as their very first stereo.
....

A friend got me a great deal on some Dynaco equipment:

PAT-4 solid state preamp
Stereo 80 solid state power amp
FM-3 tube FM tuner, very quickly replaced by a FM-5 solid state.To these I added:

Lenco L45 turntable
Shure cartridge -- a mid range model I don't recall.As for the Dynaco, at the time I could have gone tube, viz. PAS-3 preamp, Stereo 70 power amp. Who knows? If I had, I might have a different attidute towards tubes than I do.

[blackraven]

Its cool to see what people started out with, especially us forty something folks. I think back in the 1970's, low cost amplifier's were way ahead in fidelity than affordable speakers were, when we all had little money. Back then I dreamed about owning Nakamechi and Sansui equipment with Genesis speakers but couldnt afford it when I was in college.

[emorphien]

That I bought? A 12" Acoustic Research sub. AR S12HO or somesuch when I was just entering high school.

[powerlord]

Mine was a SoundDesign tuner and dual tape combo,with Realistic towers that had two 8's and a 4 inch and tweet,I know the crossover selector says T-100.I still have both,after more than 20 years.

[kelsci]

In 1974, I bought a used X-100 fisher tube amp. I had a a pair of two-way Marantz imperial 6 speakers. I used a radio shack fm tuner and some kind of turntable with a Shure m91ed cartridge. Reading some of the other things some AR members bought above:

Pioneers 15 watt receivers in those days did sound fantastic for their 15 watts.

The Dynaco Pat 4 was a fabulous pre-amp. It had a great phono section to boot. The stereo 80 was a tremendous power amp. Both delievered sizzling sound. Even better as a power amp. was the stereo 120. I did buy a used Pas 3x and built a stereo 70. Real nice sound from those two.

The T-100 tower speakers were exactly as you described. To me, they sounded better than the ratings that were assigned to them at that time.

[Dusty Chalk]

Creek OBH-11 headphone amp. I was impressed.

[Gerall]

1978 purchase my first system that was not a "Walmart" type of integrated system.

Dual 602 Turntable
Marantz 1070 amplifier
CS-30 three way speakers, 12" bass, 5" mid, and 3/4 dome mylar tweet.
LOL.....Bell and Howell 8 track player....

I still have the marantz amp and it still performs as it always had. Have it in my computer room connected to PC with Paradigm bookshelf speakers.

My how times have changed

[spasticteapot]

An Aiwa minisystem that was much better than it had any right to be. We're still using it with another pair of Aiwa speakers - they're actually not bad, maybe equivalent to low-end Bose stuff in quality - but at a tiny fraction of the price.

[jt1stcav]

My very first audio system? Back in '73 I saved up enough paper route money to buy a 10 watt Precor receiver with built-in BSR record changer and two single-driver hi-fi speakers from Caldors. Later added a RadioShack top-loading cassette recorder to record my first LPs onto cassette (I was a budding audiophile trying to preserve my precious albums even back then).

In '79 I decided to upgrade from the cheesey Precor to my first real audio system with all entry-level Technics (by Panasonic) components (which I still have out in the garage); a 25 watt SA-5170 receiver, 2-head RS-616 cassette deck, and a belt-drive SL-210 'table with basic audio-technica MM cartridge. Unfortunantly, they all need repairs...someday, perhaps. The speakers were cheap 2-ways from a no-name (Audiotek) that didn't sound much better than the even-cheaper Precor pair...oh well, three outta four isn't too bad (and I've owned much better since then with JBL, Magnepan, Triangle, Loth-X, and Klipsch).

[L.J.]

Panasonic HTIB about 10 yrs ago (open box buy). The speakers are boxed up but the recv is still going and I use it to run speakers in my garage.

[likeitloud]

My first "real" rig was my 2nd year in the navy(1979) they were offering double enlistment
bonuses, I got a check for $2800, A friend had a marantz 2500(250wpc) with some
huge technics speakers that sounded very good, so I marched to the exchange(an on
base department store) with a huge audio department. The pioneer rep was there
(a common practice in those days around payday) and steered me to a sx1980(270wpc)
and though I was in search of the kenwood flagship, I bought it, at $525 1979 money.
I also purchased jbl 4312b controll monitors and a technics turntable and teac cassette.
It was the best afternoon for a guy just turning 20. All this was done in 2 hours, and
everyone partied at our room for the next 2 years. Thats why to this day, I prefer
pioneer receivers/amps, that thing was abused almost 24/7, without even a bulb going
out, and we all know about vintage jbl. I remember one time a neighbor who played
a fender strat in the band plugged directly into the input, cranked the volumne, and
tried to do some damage, no luck, everything held. One day soon i'll have that stuff
back. Already have some of it. Vintage gear looks and sounds great
:6:

[Rock789]

1st audio equipment I purchased... a pair of rockford fosgate series 1 10" subs for my truck around 1994 (before I had my liscense...lol)
1st home audio... a pair of technic 15" 3ways for a cheap pioneer dolby prologic receiver my parents just got me for christmas 1996 I think...

[dean_martin]

In 1989 I bought my first stereo setup with my own money. I picked up an NAD 7225PE stereo receiver and a Yamaha cassette tape deck at a stereo shop in VA. Both were demo units w/out boxes. The left ch. of the amp section in the NAD blew a couple of years ago, but my son is using the preamp section in his system for a tuner and phono amp. I'm still using the tape deck in my system. At the same time, I bought a pair of rather large 2-way KLH bookshelf speakers from Montgomery Ward that were on sale and I was able to use my ex-wife's employee discount. The speakers are still working and my kids have used'em for their boomy bass.

A couple of years later I added a Technics cdp and Technics turntable. Nothing changed for about 10 years until I found this site in 2000 or '01.