During my grade school days, my grandad had one of those console stereo units, with everything built-in. Dad always had a nice Bogen receiver and a Garrard TT that I was allowed to use, along with my little 45 record player (for all those new Beatles releases). In high school, I had a cheapy all-in-one Symphonic unit that I loved to play albums on. I made constant trips to downtown Lexington’s Barney Miller’s tv/radio/record store to ogle the latest Marantz, McIntosh (and other) gear. Then, there was the local Fed. Employees store for the latest Pioneer, Sansui,(and other popular brands of the day) until I saved enough money to buy my first Marantz 2230. That 2230 was traded-in after college for a Phase Linear 400 Series II system, JVC QL-Y5F w/Grace F9E cart, and a pair of Marantz DS 940 tower speakers. When surround sound/home theaters and big screen tvs were all the rage, I set all the silver face stuff aside for decades. At this point in life, I enjoy searching and collecting alot of those old silver-faced gems from yesteryear that I could never afford when new. Ahhh....."old days, good times, I remember." :)
As A Youngster, What Unit Puqued Your Interest In All This?
I figure a lot of us here started hearing music through stand-up furniture stereos and/or composite units (mine was a Craig tt, receiver, 8-track). Then, one day I saw and listened to my cousin’s Pioneer Spec amps (with equalizer and oscilloscope) supporting a Beogram 4004. He also had a Teac R2-D2, but it was the 4004 that had the ever-lasting magnetic effect. What piece of equipment got you?