What was your first audio system....how far have you come? [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

PDA

View Full Version : What was your first audio system....how far have you come?



dwayne.aycock
08-21-2011, 10:50 AM
My Wife asks me sometimes why am I so obcessed with audio and video. She wonders if I have some kind of mental illness or trauma. Of course she doesn't understand our passion, and probably never will; but that got me to thinking.....what was my first audio system (clouds and harps strumming)? Back in 1974 when we (my family) moved into our new house, the household had what would be considered deprived today. We only had one phone, one TV and one stereo. The stereo was my parents of course and was more like a piece of furniture as opposed to a functioning piece of equipment. Being the only boy (I have 2 sisters) I was often out voted on music choices and TV shows. I wanted to listen to jazz and classical, while my sisters wanted what I considered "bubble gum" music. I wanted to watch the Six Million Dollar Man, while my sisters preferred Mork and Mindy. I know I am dating myself....I know I am not the only one. Tired of being out voted I decided to go my own way. My Dad went to the auto junk yard one day and I asked to come along. While there I came across a car radio that had an 8 track tape player. My Dad gave $8 for the unit just to get me to shut up. He thought I would get it home an soon destroy it. I removed the rear speakers from an old car in the back yard and into the house I went. I set up the car radio on my desk, hung the car speakers on the wall, and ran the power cables out of the window down to a car battery I had on the ground. After a few munutes of fiddling around and fashioning an antenna from a coat hanger, the system came to life. I had my first audio system. My sisters saw what I had contrapted, and thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen, not to mention that I would electrocute myself. Boy were they wrong! Over the years I got summer jobs and of course the glories of working in the fast food industry, but I upgraded one component at a time. Once I had my Technics receiver and turn table, dual cassette deck, and 4 allison speakers, they quickly changed their tune. Suddenly I was chasing my sisters out of my room, because my system sounded better. Later I got my own TV, and thus started the addiction I have now. The persuit of audio and video perfection. Insanity I know... chasing the impossible.... but the thrill is not in the destination, but the journey.
Can I get an Amen?:2:

Feanor
08-21-2011, 11:13 AM
My very first hi-fi system was comprised of:

Dynaco FM-3 FM tuner
Dynaco PAT04 preamp
Dynaco Stereo 80 power amp
Dyanco A25 speakers
Lenco turntable
Shure cartrige (mid-range model).
That was in 1971. Dynaco electronics were assembled by me from kits.

See below my signature for my current stereo and HT configurations.

recoveryone
08-21-2011, 12:07 PM
A Classic Sansui receiver 50 wpc and spearkers, My Dad had brought that gear home in the 60's from england when he was in the Air Force, like a young dummy I traded the reciver for one of those all in one pieces of junk that had a 8 track and cassette player built into it. My mom was so mad at me. I still remember that green backlite that glowed showing the FM dial.

http://www.classicsansui.net/images/Literature/Receivers/350A/350Aa.jpg

t-bones
08-21-2011, 01:28 PM
My first; Poineer SX-3500 20W/ch receiver, Realistic MC-2001 8in 2 way speakers, Sharp cassette deck, BSR 5 band EQ. Cut lawns and baby sat to buy it.

JoeE SP9
08-21-2011, 05:44 PM
In the fall of 1967 while in the USAF I put together my first system.
Fisher KX-90 Integrated amplifier. It was a kit.
Benjamin Miracord TT with a Pickering cartridge
AR4 speakers

Worf101
08-22-2011, 05:24 AM
Hmmm...

1. Used Pilot 300 watt amp purchased from a pawn shop.

2. JVC 3 ways purchased from "Mom's Stereo"

3. Used Garrad turntable.

4. DAK dual cassette deck.

I think that covers it all. Man what a load of cobblers but it was all mine.

Worf

blackraven
08-22-2011, 07:52 AM
In 1976 I purchased a 15wpc Pioneer Receiver, JVC direct drive TT and a pair of 2way Altec Lansing speakers.

dwayne.aycock
08-22-2011, 08:09 AM
I remember my first real system was a Technics SA 203 receiver, a Sharp RT 10 cassette deck, a Technics SLD 303 turntable, an Audio Control AC 101 EQ, and a pair of Radio Shack Nova 8b speakers. Man was I happy! The novas sounded great and the SA 203 had plenty of power. I was able to find some old sales brochures from back in the day as well as a few PICs.

mlsstl
08-22-2011, 09:42 AM
Don't recall if it was 1969 or 1970, but my first real system consisted of a pair of AR-4x speakers with a Dynaco SCA-35 tube amp (that I built) and an AR turntable. A year or two later I added a Tandberg 3000x tape deck.

bfalls
08-22-2011, 09:43 AM
My first system consisted of:

Kenwood KR-4070 40W stereo receiver

Pr Large "Bullnose" Advents w/fried egg tweeters

RT3388 Computer -controlled audio-sensing cassette deck.

The Kenwood, although not very powerful for an acoustic suspension speaker, sounded very good with the Advents.

The Advents came with original tweeters, but both were replaced when one had blown, with the fried-egg versions The woofers had foam surrounds, so eventually went bad. I gave them to a friend long before the woofer foam rotted.

The Sharp was a computer-controlled deck whose monitor head sensed the blank tape between songs, would stop and then play. You could program itswitch number of songs you asked it to skip. Very good system for the money. Allowing you to skip as few, or many songs as you like. I think I paid $700 for the set.

Jack in Wilmington
08-22-2011, 09:44 AM
I remember buying my first stereo while I was in the Navy in 1969 at the base exchange in Key West. It was an Akai receiver with an Ampex cassette deck that came with speakers. Everytime I transfered to a new base, I would ship all my electronic gear to my next assignment. Shortly after I got out, the Akai died and I replaced it with a Sansui 661 and added an Elac Miracord turntable. I believe that was Radio Shacks version of Joe's turntable. I replaced the Ampex speakers a couple of years later with Radio Shack Nova 6's that had the wood grills that sort of made them look like an English tudor house's windows. My best friend worked at RS and I helped him out by buying my gear there. He moved on to one of the high end stores and would always be bringing home new gear that we could only dream about. I wish I could get a hold of him now so he could see my rig, and he could be saying the same thing.

dwayne.aycock
08-22-2011, 10:46 AM
I really got into better gear when I found a store that would take my old gear as trade in for newer gear. One man's has been gear can on another mans wish list. I eventually traded my technics gear for Pioneer gear. With so much gear fludding the market from Japan, it was hard to get certain repair parts or find a technician that felt comfortable working on them. American gear was faster to repair because the parts were at least domestic. Getting a piece of gear fixed in under 30 days was considered fast. I currently want to move into tube gear, for my 2 channel system, but we just bought a new house in June.... so I guess it will have to wait.

bfalls
08-22-2011, 10:52 AM
My first system consisted of:

Kenwood KR-4070 40W stereo receiver

Pr Large "Bullnose" Advents w/fried egg tweeters

RT3388 Computer -controlled audio-sensing cassette deck.

The Kenwood, although not very powerful for an acoustic suspension speaker, sounded very good with the Advents.

The Advents came with original tweeters, but both were replaced when one had blown, with the fried-egg versions The woofers had foam surrounds, so eventually went bad. I gave them to a friend long before the woofer foam rotted.

The Sharp was a computer-controlled deck whose monitor head sensed the blank tape between songs, would stop and then play. You could program itswitch number of songs you asked it to skip. Very good system for the money. Allowing you to skip as few, or many songs as you like. I think I paid $700 for the set.

I forgot to mention my current system consists of:
Emotiva UMC-1
Emotiva XPA-5
Yamaha M-65
Oppo 93
Dishnetwork Vip722
Monster 3500MKII
Legacy Focus Mains
Legacy Silver Screen Center
T&A P-30 rear surrounds
Klipsch RS-3 side surrounds
Audioquest GR8 speaker cables
Audioquest Coral interconnects
Sony KDL52XBR6 LCD HDTV
HDMI 1.4a cables
Ashley/Bello entertainment center, TV stand
Paradigm Premier J Series speaker stands

psytrancelove
08-22-2011, 10:52 AM
Just got an mpd32....trying to figure it out. Any advice or tips?
Also has anyone seen Gunslinger's new music vid unbreakable?

dakatabg
08-22-2011, 11:06 AM
My first receiver was an old Hitachi from the 70's and I am still hitting my head in the wall because I sold it!

dwayne.aycock
08-22-2011, 11:54 AM
I came across a Fisher Studio Standard in a thrift store early this spring. Fisher RS 1022. I didn't know that much about it, but I knew it was rare. I asked the guy to hook it up and it worked perfectly. I took it home and hooked it up in my garage. I had some old allisons that I was planning on donating to Good Will because I had no use for them. They had spring clips on the back, and I prefer the 5 way posts. I hooked it all up and I was pleasently surprised. I added and old reel to reel that I had in college, but could never bring myself to get rid of, so it has been packed away since 1989. Long story short.... it is now my garage system. I listen to it when tinkering in the garage. I am happy with it and will probably never get rid of it. There is just something nostalgic and special about old gear. Maybe it's the old music on my reel from the 60s 70s and 80s that just brings back a lot of good memories.

Glen B
08-22-2011, 12:36 PM
Year 1969, age 14, my first system consisted of:

Old Collaro puck-drive turntable/Sonotone ceramic cartridge
DIY 10W EL84 mono tube amp
DIY 2-way speaker.

How far have I come ? Equipment list in my profile :)

Jack in Wilmington
08-22-2011, 01:18 PM
Just got an mpd32....trying to figure it out. Any advice or tips?
Also has anyone seen Gunslinger's new music vid unbreakable?

Well first off let me welcome you to the forum. Then I must inform you that you just broke one of the rules. It is called hijacking. This is Dwayne's thread about posters first audio system. If you need to ask a question you need to start a new thread. No harm done, just a little 411.

frankaai
08-23-2011, 03:09 AM
The original technics hifi... lol

LeRoy
08-25-2011, 06:28 PM
Yes, about 1973/74, I bugged the heck out of my dad to get me a Panasonic Quad system that consisted of a Quad TT and it also was an 8-track player but I don't recall if that was Quad too. Anyway, it was cool but sounded pretty terrible.

tube fan
08-26-2011, 06:34 PM
AR tt, Stanton cartridge, AR 3a speakers, Dynaco PAS 3 and Mark 3.

Florian
09-01-2011, 01:03 AM
My first system was:

Infinity RS3 speakers
Onkyo TX-DS555 Receiver
Onkyo TX-Something CD Changer
Stock cables

Hyfi
09-01-2011, 04:53 AM
Since my oldest brother was building kits on the kitchen table from as far back as I can remember, my first system was a Heathkit Receiver and speakers and a Dual Turntable.

First I purchased in 1977 with my first income tax check was Infinity RS-b with the Poly drivers that looked like milk container plastic, Onkyo Receiver and Tape Deck and a better Dual Turntable.

34 years later, my main gear is from the 90s except for my OPPO93 and Rotel CDP.

pacjohn635
09-05-2011, 11:58 AM
after a few all in 1 cheapies when i was a kid i had a kenwood receiver & bose 501's in the air force 1973. after came a big realistic receiver, with custom made speakers that played really loud(i didn't know much about accuracy).then in the 80's came a luxman r-115 receiver,& freid studio 4 speakers with an early sony cd player.later i used the luxman pre-outs into an adcom gfa 555 amp for a noticeable upgrade in quality. now i'm using paradigm 90's era se5mk2 speakers that i bought in excellent condition in a thrift store for $25.00. & an outlaw 2150 receiver, with an inexpensive sony dvd,super audio,cd player. any suggestions on subwoofers? the paradigms are good but i hear they really kill with a sub. how "used" can a sub bought without problems?

BadAssJazz
09-17-2011, 09:49 PM
My first stereo was handed down to me by my mother. It was one of those combination Phono + 8 Track Tape Player + Stereo Receiver boxes. I don't remember the brand (Fisher???), I just remember her buying it on credit from the Montgomery Wards catalog some 6 years prior. The thing was old: the 8 track player no longer worked, you had to set a penny atop the needle whenever you played albums, and the speaker wires had miles of electrical tape on them, but it was mine and I was in heaven. We had just moved from our home into a small apartment in a new city. There weren't many kids in the neighborhood, so I spent most of my time listening to music.

Some years later, as a teen, I would work during the summer and after school to buy piece by piece a full multi-component stereo system.

The JVC receiver came first along with small Kenwood speakers.

A month later, a Technics turntable.

A few weeks after that, an Onkyo dual cassette tape deck. I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I was to have Dolby features and the ability to record from tape to tape, or to play mix tapes continuously. And about those tapes - was I the only one that wouldn't settle for anything less than either the Maxell "Metal" or the "high bias pure epitaxial" cassettes?

A couple more months would pass before I could afford the Onkyo equalizer. I had hoped for either a Yamaha or Sony eq with the "graphic spectrum analyzer," but both were well out of my price range. I made do with the Onkyo with the boring green lights on the sliders.

At about the time that I purchased the EQ, a new music media format was just hitting the stores: the audio mini discs and the redbook CD. It took me 3 more months and all of my department store credit and employee discount, but I eventually added an Onkyo 6 disc CD player.

I would finally punctuate my stereo system by adding a second pair of speakers, a pair of Yamaha tower speakers with 12" woofers. Of all of my friends, I was the only person on the block with speakers in all 4 corners of the room. Mismatched or not, they all thought the stereo was the best that they'd ever heard. Boy, were we dumb. Ha!

Safe to say, I've come a LOOOOOOONG way from those early days... but there's still plenty of room yet to grow.

texlle
10-30-2011, 01:17 PM
My first stereo was a Koss boombox from 1992-93 and it still WORKS! The CD player has quit working, probably from sitting in the garage for the last 7 or so years, but the radio tuner still picks up extremely well.

Then I moved up to an RCA large-style shelf system, with a 5-disc carousel circa 1996.

My dad bought a sony str-de685 and panasonic dvd player (one of the early models) in 1999 and gave me his old receiver and LD player. They were a Sansui 5.1 receiver that resembles the RZ-3500 (can't remember the actual model) and an anonymous Pioneer laserdisc, both circa 1992. I retired the 5-disc carousel/receiver unit and hooked the RCA speakers up to the Sansui and used the LDP for cd play. I thought the on-screen graphic EQ display was the coolest thing at the time and really enjoyed the sound, especially the fuller and louder bass output.

I sold both at a garage sale when I was 14 for a measly $50 after I got one of those horrible sony home-theatre-in-a-box outfits in 2000. Movies were decent but music sounded so poor that I resorted to my computer's polk speakers for music listening.

A year later, I sold this system to my aunt and uncle and bought my first real components I could be proud to own- a Cambridge Audio A500, a Cambridge D300 cd player and a pair of B&W 603s2's.

I always admired my dad's old B&O record player, even though it never worked as far as I could remember. The motor was stone dead. So he bought me an identical model- the Beogram 3000 circa 72-75, though it was finished in rosewood, as opposed to his teak model. It was $100 on ebay from a seller in ID, and worked great for the first week until the belt kept slipping off. I swapped over the belt from my dad's turntable as well as the aluminum "LIFT" button cover as mine was missing and it works great to this day.

I then bought the Jolida in 2002 and relegated the Cambridge to phono preamp duties only.

In 2004, I started college and picked up the dynaudios as they were much smaller to accommodate my tighter living space in the dorm. My system was setup on the top of my desk, but still sounded awesome.

I paired the B&Ws and the Cambridge back together to form a second system with a Sony 27" in our dorm's common area, rendering my turntable unused for years, as I wasn't much of a fan of the sound with the Cambridge/B&W combo plus I didn't want anything to happen to it while in the dorms. After graduating in 2007, I moved back in with my folks and moved the stereo into the office, where it was only played once in a while for the next 3 years, since my dad insisted on installing hardwood throughout the house. It looked great but completely ruined the fine acoustics of the converted loft office room featuring low, vaulted ceilings where my stereo used to shine.

I started employment with a local bank and moved into my first home last December and wanted to get back into hifi 2-channel since I now had the space and of course the carpet to make my 2-channel into something better. I picked up the MF phono preamp and an Arcam cd player a couple of months back and am really enjoying it once again.

The B&W's are now in the living room with my dad's old center speaker and rears, paired to a Yamaha that I picked up for $80 from a pawn shop to replace the Sony STR my dad gave to me, which had started making popping noises.

My current setup is listed in my signature. To this day, the only stereo component that has given me issues is the Arcam, which recently started the no-disc issue. I punched it in a fit of rage and it started to behave...for now. Overall, I'd say my two systems are a massive improvement from my Koss boombox, though all three still reside under the same roof.

Mygaffer
10-30-2011, 07:29 PM
When I was in high school I got a summer job and my parents made me save 75% of the money. With the remaining 25% I could get whatever I wanted, I ended up blowing $400 on a four channel home stereo, the kind of cheap and crappy unit with everything, tuner, tape deck, amp, in one little box driving cheap little speakers. It of course sounded better than the even cheaper stereo's I had before then and it gave me a limited surround sound in my Playstation 1 games.

It was shortly thereafter when I realized I needed to get an amp and speakers for better quality audio. I bought an inexpensive Pioneer unit and I don't even remember anymore the speakers I was driving with it. Some sort of bookshelf speakers I imagine. Anyway, over the years I have bought from thrift stores and other used equipment to piece together my current system which sounds great, especially when you consider I've spent less than $300 on the whole setup:

Marantz SR7400
Niles SI-275 amp
CSW Tower II

B&Waudio
10-30-2011, 11:53 PM
Soundesign
Along with a blacklight and Jimi Hendrix posters. I hid my pot in the ceiling.:yikes:

Vasilis
10-31-2011, 11:34 AM
B&O, well not mine my father's in the 80's. Thinking back a rather bad choice

Now it is a rega mira 3 with rega jura speakers.

GMichael
10-31-2011, 12:10 PM
My first two "systems" were not really systems. In 1969 I got my older sister's hand held RCA AM/FM radio that no longer had an antenna. My dad fashioned one out of a metal coat hanger. I used to listen to music under the covers as to not have my dad come in and demand that I turn it off.

By 1975 I had saved enough to buy a Panasonic AM/FM/cassette player. It had a 4 inch speaker and could play much louder than the old RCA. I soon started recording songs off the radio one by one.

In 1978 I received an actual system as a graduation present. It was a Panasonic receiver with an 8-track player built in, and 2 Pioneer Project 100A speakers. I later added a Panasonic cassette player that had a new tech called Dolby. Then I added a Gerard turntable. (I still have this receiver. It can even still play 8-tracks)

will1960
11-07-2011, 03:03 PM
My first system was a package deal at the local hi-fi house. Dad let me spend some of my summer earnings.

Harman Kardon HK 430 receiver
Garrard Turntable
Wald Speakers (never heard of them either. I think the local shops had their house brand to make the packages work)
Lamp cord speaker wire


All for $399.00. This was 1976. The receiver was probably worth 70% of the whole purchase price, but I listened to that system for at least 14 years! I actually wish I still had the receiver. I see them on ebay every now and then. It was a classic.

bleachershane
11-07-2011, 03:13 PM
If you don't mean the bog stand midi systems I went through... ;)

My first separates set up was bought in my late teens.
Denon PMA-255UK amplifier
Sony CDP-XE330
Mission M71i bookshelf speakers

All bought for £229 from Richer Sounds. Did me fine for 10 years before the upgrade (mod and tweak!) bug hit me big time and sold the whole lot to a friend for for £100!

Now on to bigger, better things as such ;)

Pat D
11-25-2011, 06:25 PM
I had a little Grundig package system with a turntable which had a Grado F1 cartridge in it--which was lucky, as it didn't ruin my records.

In 1976, I got my first real system, and I have never looked back. I still have the receiver, which I use as a tuner, but I probably will replace it soon, as the left amplifier output has been shot for years, and I want to be able to use it as a spare amp.

Kef 104 speakers
BIC 980 TT with a Grado F3E cartridge
Harmon Kardon 730 receiver

emaidel
11-26-2011, 04:39 AM
In 1964, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I purchased the AR-XA turntable to replace my awful Garrard AT-6 changer. With a Lafayette LA-250 tube amplifier (no tuner) and a set of Lafayette SK-180 "Tri-Helix" 10' 3-way speakers mounted in Lafayette's proprietary "Elliptoflex" enclosures, I had finally arrived with a balanced, and pretty decent sounding system. Even by 60's standards, everything was pretty inexpensive: the amp listed for $99.95, each speaker system (in the enclosures) went for $66.50,and the AR turntable (without cartridge) was $68. A free PIckering V/15 AT rounded out the package.

For the next 12 years, while still working at Lafayette, I usually bought a new receiver every year, and even went all-out quad during that short-lived craze. Then, in 1977, now working as a National Sales Manager for PIckering, I went full-bore high end, with a Luxman L-100 almplifier, Dahlquist DQ-10's, DQ-1W sub and Dual 721 turntable with the Pickering XSV-3000 cartridge.

New receivers every year made differences only I heard (most of my friends and relatives thought I was nuts when I asked if they heard anything different), but this high-end system opened up a whole new world I'm still very much part of today.

hifitommy
11-26-2011, 11:25 AM
starting with the elecrophonic all in one with 8track for which i only had one or two tapes, i moved to a sony 5055 40wpc reciever, dual 1215 tt/shure m91e, and with great guidance from the salesguy at pacific stereo--the dynaco a25s.

the dynacos were the best part of the system.they stayed as i changed to the sherwood s8900a reciever (more power, better sound), rabco st4tt/adcXLM (WOW), dynaquad (i still use dynaquad for ambience recovery on all sources), another pair of a25s for the rear and then to stack in fromt for more impact.

a teac 4010GSL which i still have, various cassette decks including the akai that physicaly flipped the cassette over to side 2.

then i went to speparates-a quatre bod1c preamp which was excellent, and the spectro-acoustics p202 100wpc amp. i still have the spectro and am contemplating putting it back into the system. its dynamically accurate which must be experienced to understand.

later i got infinity monitor jr speakers which are still missed, rogers LS3/5As (also severely missed), then Fried RIIs, and now spendor s3/5s alternating with magnepan MMGs. amp is the adcom 555II, pre is audio research sp3a1 (updated to c).

i missed a few items inbetween but thats most of it. oyeah, tt is sota sapphire/mmt/fidelity research FR1 IIIf and grace f9e.

for the comploete rundown see:

Audio Asylum - Inmate Systems (http://cgi.audioasylum.com/cgi/system.mpl)

Hosternokke
12-08-2011, 10:01 AM
I started out with a cheap Telefunken set.
When I had some money to spend, it became Denon along with Kef speakers.
This hasn't changed over the years, except that I bought newer models :)

mlenda
12-11-2011, 08:35 AM
I guess my first was for playing music from my computer and for playing back my recorded guitar licks:

M-Audio Firewire 400 Interface
Behringer TRUTH B2030A Monitors (pair)

Could really crank those suckers. Of course, it was all playing back 16-bit digital music from iTunes... not quite testing them to their capacity.

Then I got into vinyl after finding 200 old records in my parents' basement. I've been sitting on this setup ever since (~3 years):

Audio Technica AT-PL120 Turntable
Pioneer SX218 Receiver

I have dreams to go big, though...

Bill Watson
01-04-2012, 01:09 PM
My first audio system in 1969, when I was 13, comprised a secondhand Garrard SP25 TT with a Shure cartridge, bought for £5 in a junk shop and 2 x RSC 15watt valve amplifiers running a pair of EL84 tubes each in push pull, these were built from a kit for the princely sum of £8-17s-6d each. Hooked up to this setup were two Stentorian 10" speakers rescued from an old radiogram and mounted in homemade plywood cabinets. I thought at the time that this system was the cat's pyjamas and kept it for about 3 years, when I really got bitten by the hi-fi bug. The rest, as they say, is history!

filecat13
01-07-2012, 09:56 PM
First system (1968): three piece Electrophonic unit with real wood! The speakers had 8" woofers and some smallish paper tweeters; the central console had a BSR turntable and an AM/FM MPX radio.

My first real system (1970): Kenwood KR-6160, Dual 1219, JBL L100 Century pair. The JBLs still play every week.

Currently, too many systems to list, but the top dog two channel system would be Oppo BDP-83SE, ATI 2003 (two of them), Outlaw 990 (balanced outs analog bypass w/ bass management), JBL S2S sub pair, JBL K2 S9900 pair.

thehifiguy
01-27-2012, 11:00 AM
First system I remember playing was a tube Heathkit set made by a friend's dad just before "solid state".

Speakers were probably an Altec variant and were HUGE.

During the day we would rock the house out when parents were gone. Mostly 45's.

My own systems came to me after my US provided vacation during that SE Asia adventure.

Since then, things have advanced on the equipment front as well as what I have learned.

This is my first of five required posts leading up to me being able asking a question too.

:o

E-Stat
01-28-2012, 09:37 AM
First system I purchased was in '70 at age 13. It was an Electrophonic 8 Track/receiver (aka brown goods). I quickly began the march to upgrades by replacing the speakers with Utah MK-17s purchased at the local Lafayette store. I started dreaming from there...

First "real" system came two years later with a Lenco L-75 turntable (currently a darling with the rim drive set) / Shure M91ED, AR Integrated Amp driving Advents. First pivotal moment came in '74 when I first heard Audio Research electronics driving Magneplanar Tympani IIIs with a Linn Sondek table / SME arm. That system was so far and away better than anything I had heard to that point. Another two years later, I met a TAS reviewer who had Dayton-Wright XG-8 full range electrostats. It was that experience that cemented my preference forever. I purchased my first electrostats - the Acoustat X - a year later.

The main system today reflects those preferences established long ago. And I still have a fondness for the original Advents with my vintage system where I run a double pair in the garage. For anyone who is interested, follow the "Systems" link for details.

nimrod
02-11-2012, 07:31 PM
My first system consisted of a Dynaco SCA-35 intergrated amp, AR turntable with a Grado cartridge, Dynaco FM-3 turner, AR 4a speakers. For the past 50+ years I have spent a lot of money trying to experience the shear excitement and pleasure I felt when first listing to this system. It was superb by any standards.

Cheers,

Jim Walton

hifitommy
02-15-2012, 04:45 PM
i am late again to the party joe. i had the electrophonic "brown" goods. the veneer actually looks not bad. its just that the speakers and record player are of such poor quality.

fortunately, i went to pacific stereo and was well guided to a sony receiver (6055), dual tt (1215), and dynaco a25s.

things have changed a bit since then but the a25s were the best part of that setup.

crowley
03-21-2012, 05:02 PM
My first system was a panasonic SA-PM07 micro system, not bad sound quality for the price at the time ($120). But in comparison to my current set up which isn't all too special it still sounds awful.

Landy360
04-12-2012, 09:25 AM
too long ago to remember

Florian
06-01-2012, 01:52 AM
In 2000
About 15 CDs and no Vniyl
Infinity RS 3 Bookshelf speakers
Onkyo TX-DS555 Receiver
Onkyo CDP-340 CD Changer

In 2012
About 250 CDs and 500 Vinyls
Apogee Acoustics Grand
4x Krell KRS 200
4x Custom build Krell amplifiers
CAT SL1 Preamp
Monarchy Audio NM24
Monarchy Audio DIP Combo
Olive Audio 4 HD
Watec Analog Drive 3
Watec Analog Acrylic Arm
Watec Analog Magnetic String arm
Apogee Acoustics Caliper Signatures
Apogee Acoustics Stage
Custom Build Subwoofers (300lbs each)
A bunch of cables etc...