What was the first piece of gear that got you hooked?

[RoyY51]

The system that really got my juices flowing was an early quad system from a long-forgotten manufacturer (remember...these were the days of extremely conspicuous consumption...I'm surprised that I remember owning it at all!). It consisted of a 4 channel receiver, 4 speakers and a special cartridge (Shure, I think) that reproduced 4 discrete (I think) channels of sound. I had 3 quad albums in rotation, but by far the most played was an early Bette Midler album. Listening to Bette in one channel, the Harlettes in another, Barry Manilow's piano in a third and the rest of the ensemble distributed equally throughout all 4 speakers was an absolute musical epiphany. It launched me on a quest that continues to this day. I've owned a variety of surround systems since then, but I don't think any of them have given me the pleasure and satisfaction of that ancient grouping.

[JoeE SP9]

The old Dynaco factory was around the corner from me in the early 70's. It was very convenient for me to use Dynaco electronics. I was using a PAS-3 a Gerrard Zero 100 TT and a Stereo 70 with some unknown speakers. I bought some B&O S70's in 1976 and a month or so later I heard a pair of Magnepan MG-1's. I sold the B&O's to a buddy bought the Maggies and haven't looked back. Since then I have never owned any speakers but panels. Maybe we should mention some of the mistakes we have purchased. In my case the first real mistake was trading the PAS-3 and Stereo 70 for a PAT-4 and Stereo 80. I listened to other people telling me that tubes were obsolete (NOT). I know better now, but that early SS stuff almost caused me to stop listening.