What was the first pair of speakers you ever owned?

[Jimmy C]

...about 12 when I bought a pair of Lafayette Criterions... similar to the Mach Ones you mention.

Six months later I had a small pair of Pioneer HPMs. Slightly better.

By age 14 (1980...yikes!), I found "high end" audio stores, and bought the Boston Acoustics A70s. I can remember lusting after the Alisons and Snells, but the "bang for the buck" was firmly planted in that Boston lineup.