1960s Amps and Preamps

My introduction to high-end audio in the late '60's. A friend asked me to come over & check out the system his dad bought. Citation I & II, Citation ? tube tuner, Tandberg tube reel-to reel, Marantz zero tracking turntable, Marantz ? speakers; about the same size as Cornwalls. This was quite a system for a couple of 14 year olds.

A JBL Paragon recently brought $43,000 on E-Bay! To add to Alberts list, if you had heard Quads with Ionovac tweeters driven by a Marantz 8B or 9's in triode mode... We really haven't come all that far in 30+ years.

Yes, that would be a very high end system for that era. I am surprised by the mating of a JBL Paragon with a Garrard. The JBL Paragon was a VERY expensive system, and the top of the line Garrard was just good, at best. There are many candidates for top speaker, the KLH model 9 comes to mind, one of the first electrostatic systems. You would also have to include the JBL S7R and S8R systems, Bozak Concert Grands, Klipshorn, the Electro Voice Patrician, and Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre. My reference system then was a Thorens TD 124 Mkll, with an Ortofon RSG 212 arm with Ortofon SL-T moving coil cartridge. Electronics were a Macintosh C22 preamp and MA 240 amp. My speakers were Bozak Concert Grands in Walnut finish. A few years later, I changed to Marantz and had my design for a custom cabinet built, housing the JBL S7R system. Mine used an Electro Voice T350 tweeter, instead of the JBL 077 ring radiator. This wound up being a 7.65 CF upright cabinet, just over 5 feet tall. The TD 124 Thorens was replaced with the later model TD 125, and the Ortofon moving coil cartridge was matched up with a new SME 3009 tonearm. In those days there was little concern for speaker wire and interconnect. My stubbornness led me to audition several alternatives. I ran 14-2 Romex (electrical cable) as my speaker wire, refusing to hook up the zip cord that everyone else choose. I guess it was the fact that I had to spend every available penny from summer jobs and after school to buy this equipment. I was only 16 when I put my first system together, and my family was poor, and did not have the money for such "foolishness". My wife asserts that I am still foolish, but I have too much fun to give it up now.