Junior high - probably 1976 - my friend Dan had his dad’s stereo. It wasn’t much but is was separates rather than the ubiquitous all-in-one systems everyone had at that time. He played The Who, Live at Leeds and I couldn’t believe how much more there was to the music.
The next year my grandmother decided to give all of her 28(?) grandkids their inheritance - $1000. I caught a lot of crap for going straight out and blowing all of the $s on a stereo. Kenwood KA-701, Pioneer PL-17 ( w/ Audio Technica cart), and AR-14 speakers. The Kenwood is still going strong with my oldest son at grad school and my ARs are with my younger son in undergrad (the TT died). Funny part is that none of my siblings or cousins has any idea what they did with their inheritance but mine is still making beautiful music all these years later.