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.