Is your now then?

in 1979 by chance I walked into a store in New Haven, and they played the Levinson HQD system I believe it was called
...quite amazing...

I see it as the gear is getting better, but my ears can't hold out forever. :-)

Regards

About 1979 I purchased a very highly rated Onkyo tape deck (award winning). It sounded good. I though the tape head could be better optimized so I took it to and audio guy… sounded terrible after that. He screwed it up and couldn’t fix it.

So I went to a truly high end store and told him my problem. He said, “Here, take this home and try it.” It was a 7 year old, first generation Nakamichi cassette deck… wood around the outside, weighed a ton. Absolutely dropped my jaw. The bass was an order of magnitude better, with far greater detail. That piece of junk Onkyo was thin and virtually without bass in comparison (even before I took it in), That is when I learned that truely high end gear is something else, in a different league, and stays there. The highest quality designs and components never show up in mid-fi and lower high fi. True audiophile equipment is in a different class.


Since then I have upgraded piece after piece as i could afford it. Always concentrating on one piece at a time and making sure an upgrade cycle stopped with all components roughly matched. Each decade my system has been far greater than the decade before. The levels of performance now where unachievable when I was younger.

I never trade sideways, only up. Up, only 2x in original cost or more (sometimes I bought used). Each plateau blows away the previous level, so, no nostalgia for me.

@oldhvymec +1
Hearing Andrew Jones’ TAD1 system at 2002 CES stunned me. My current system is satisfying but I just remember how his room floored me.
I still hang out with some high school buddies who have their systems from the 70’s—Marantz receivers, JBL speakers, Thorens or Philips TT’s. They’re happy with that but I remember those systems sounding better back in the day.
I have sense moved up the audio food chain. A modern well thought out system is far more enjoyable to me now.

jpwarren58

Do you think we strive to return to the past and remain in those influential times?

It's impossible to return to the past. What would be the point of even trying?

Technology, the foundation that hifi is built on, has advanced a lot as one would expect  over the last 50 years or so. So that’s that.

Newfound best friend had Dynaco quad system setup with Linn LP12. No other system I'd heard prior had that sense of realism. I tried to replicate that sound for years with various systems, no dice. Finally figured out I was trying to recreate that initial sense of wonderment. Took me a long time to understand at least some of those systems were objectively better.
Nowadays, my system objectively leagues better and emotionally far more involving than that Dynaco setup. You can choose to live in delusion and nostalgia or you can move on.

My experience is quite similar to @ghdprentice.  Incremental changes have slowly upgraded my system & the sound. I research my purchases and make sure they help in a weak area. One step at a time until I believe I could happily demonstrate my system for anyone. Can it be better? There is aalways better. But I have worked within my budgetto make a very good system but it took time. 

About 20 years ago for 10 years prior I adored my Quad 57s! My overall system did not compare to my current but I will always love the ESLs. I only turned away to get the dynamics of cones. Using my system every night for HT, can’t imagine the Quads for theater.

My dad was an audio nut. And my first encounter with high end sound was the Heathkit mono system he soldered together on the kitchen table in the late 1950’s. He took me to a couple audio shows at the Ambassador Hotel in downtown L.A., where I heard my first stereo. I was truly impressed by the bass that came from a rig’s 36" woofer-ed Bozaks. At any rate, I always had a system, mostly hand-me-downs from my father. The only time I didn’t have a system was when I went away to college. And lemme’ tell ya, my biggest pleasure whenever I went home was switching on my tubed Kenwood stereo receiver.

But to get to the subject at hand, there’s no question that my current system -- SOTA Sapphire, Sony SACD, Mytek, PrimaLuna, NOLA, all strategically set up in a dedicated room -- is by far my most enjoyable.

My first experience with quality sound was a pair of klipschorns that had been painted around four times and now i have the true vintage sound that i have always lusted after and you can not compare that sound to the new stuff at all, no contest, the vintage stuff will always win in performance, quality, sound, timbre, bass, and dynamics.

I was into audio since the 70's but my first quality system was in the early 90's. That system consisted of a Yamaha B1 power amp, Superphon preamp, & Empire troubadour turntable. What impressed me the most about that system was how well it imaged & I didn't get that until I changed the speakers from small Ohm's to Epos 14's. Suddenly, I had an actual soundstage in front of me. That system is long gone but soundstage accuracy is still important to me, which my current system does very well.   

What was your first significant experience with quality audio (then) and how does it compare with your present system (your now).
Do you think we strive to return to the past and remain in those influential times? Are our choices psychological, nostalgic even....?

God no- on all counts! As a kid in the 70's I spent endless hours researching and shopping, eventually building a classic "vintage" system of JBL, Kenwood, Pioneer, and Technics. This was wonderful for back then and better than anything I heard all through college and for years afterwards.  

Therein comes the problem. In the beginning I was in band, and comparing components to real live acoustic instruments. 20 years later the system itself had somehow become my standard. It wasn't nostalgia, I still had it! 

When shopping my ears were so attuned to this sound I was actually turned off by gear I now am quite certain was actually a whole lot better. Will spare you the gory details of how I eventually broke out of this cycle, and skip to the punchline.  

After buying some much better Linaeum Model 10 speakers it took me a while to find a buyer for the JBL L7 speakers. The ones that had replaced my vintage L25 Jubals. Many weeks went by listening to the Linaeum, long enough for that JBL sound to be a distant memory.  

When a buyer turned up and I had to hook the JBL up to let him hear, the volume was turned way down low at first but even so it was like an ice pick in my ear. No kidding. Physical pain. The buyer was a co-worker, and I was earnestly trying to talk Ron out of buying them.

That is how much disdain I have for systems then vs now. Now is so much better, it is like the Enterprise Holodeck compared to a flickering old silent movie. No going back. Never again. 

There are usually latent motivations, such as a connection to a parent, or saving money, that make such discussions fraught with disagreement. My rule has been nostalgia is the enemy of SOTA. I like the feel of nostalgia, but I love the sound of contemporary systems. I have tried a fair bit of nostalgia gear, and kept none of it. Usually it lasted in the rig 1-2 days, as the performance was so compromised. Today is not about hearing worse sound from back then, imo.  

ghprentice, the average audiophile has no idea how many such levels there are. Several years ago I stopped trying to count the performance levels. There is no limit to improving systems. I have broken through so many "sound barriers" that I no longer pay attention. But, like you, if I make change, it must be perceptually dramatic and I never go backwards for any length of time. That was then, and this is now, and now - if you are willing to go beyond budget audio -  sounds a LOT better. YMMV (Remember when people used to post that, too, rather than try to impress the world with biased definitive statements?)    :) 

I struggle to think of a single speaker from 15+ years ago, aside from something truly exotic, not just popular, that I would wish to own. I wouldn't listen to it. I do not show love to pieces of equipment; I use them and dispense with them. Never had one complain about it yet! 

As with many others, my first entry in to audio was back in high school with a Technics receiver, and old Garrard turntable, a Sony reel-to-reel and Pioneer cassette deck and JBL speakers. As I went to Grad school in the late 80's I really got into what was then considered high-end audio -- Thiel speakers, SOTA turntable, Klyne pre-amp, PS Audio 200CX Amp, Nakamichi Dragon Cassette, Sony 707ES CD player and Cardas cables that cost more than my entire high school set up. This system served me well for many years but as settled down and started a family, career, etc. I essentially abandoned this hobby (where would I find time to just sit and listen??). 

With working from home for the last 1 1/2 years with this Covid crisis, I actually got back into this hobby. Remarkably, I was able to find many on the components that I used to own -- Thiel Speakers, Klyne pre-amp, PS Audio 200 Delta amp -- all of which had been updated by the manufacturer or reputable technicians -- and I was able to restore my SOTA turntable back to good order. Wow -- I realized what I had been missing out for many years. Over the past six months or so, I have been getting into tube based equipment and have focused solely on upgrading my components with used (I guess sometimes referred to as vintage) equipment (Audible Illusions, Sonic Frontiers, Modwright modified Sony SACD player, Linn Sondek LP12, Threshold S/300 Amp) initially because of the sonic bang for the buck...but I realized that (as the original poster asked) that there was another benefit -- that of returning me to those days when I really got into this hobby. As I put on Abbey Road or one of my original CDs, I am transported back to those Boston evenings when I had far fewer cares and I could just sit and listen to the latest Chesky records releases for hours. I think that for this reason (and the economics) I likely will likely live a little bit in the past. Don't get me wrong, my system sounds tonally accurate to my ears but I think for many folks, including myself, this audio obsession is about more than simply seeking out sonic purity -- I think we all have that record, riff, musical interlude that transcends the equipment and takes us to our "happy place". As I read all of the debates about this component or that tweak or the other, I remind myself that it is all about enjoying the music!

1972, when I was living in Manhattan: AR 2A speakers, Garrard Zero-100 turntable, Sony receiver. 
Since then, I have owned a ton of equipment. including three
pairs of Maggies, three SACD player's, both the original and the 
new Technics SL-1200 turntables, amps from B&K, Adcom
and Conrad-Johnson, and a prized Apt-Holman pre-amp.  

Is my now then? It is now.
My first experience with hi-fi was as a child being taken around Seattle as my parents shopped for a stereo system. This was in the early/middle ‘70s and they eventually acquired a Macintosh ss amp, preamp, tuner and speakers, B&O turntable and Sony cassette deck.
I drove that system hard in my teens, eventually blowing the speakers. Mile Nestorivic, recently moved to the area, swung by the house and retrieved and fixed them.

As I got a bit older, I started paying better attention to what I was hearing music on and had my parents system as my basis for comparison. I learned I like tubes after hearing a Marantz system, and that sound stuck with me.

I bought what I could afford when I was single, and less when I got married. Phase Linear, Carver, (Bob was a client of my father), dahlquist, entry level Nakamichi tape and CD players, “build your own” speakerlab kits (those were fun), etc… always knowing that there was better out there…. Just out of reach.
Fast forward 30 years, divorced and with means, I thought I’d revisit my youth so I purchased a Marantz 7, 8b & 10b, a Thorens td125mkII, along with a modern Marantz sacd-30n that streams as well, and a pair of Klipsch Cornwall IV’s.
To me… it sounds glorious. But I know there is so much better. And there always will be. That’s the nature of the game.

That’s why I purchased a Luxman class a integrated (second hand, arriving tomorrow!).

Because chasing that “ sound in our heads” is also the nature of this game.

thrive!

When I was in college from 1970-74 it was JBL Century 100 speakers. a $400 Pioneer Integrated Amp (can’t remember the model) received as a present, and a Dual turntable. I’ve tried to keep the system simple as possible, adding only a CD player and power conditioner, and upgrades of the original components and wiring.

Mike

My first "job" was working and the Pacific National Exhibition in my hometown of Vancouver, Canada. I was paid $1.17 / hour to clean up after the farm animals. I used the money ($200.00) I made to buy a pair of big German speakers. To me they were everything I was missing in my life listening to AM radio.    

I have been on this journey ever since.

First stereo was in 82, an AKAI system (turntable, tuner, dual casette, equalizer) with "Hitachi" speakers, it was a complete package and if I recall around 1100$. 

Mid sixties - friends dad had a Garrard 301, 3 X 16 inch SME arms, ortofon cartridges, Leak amplification and Wharfedales built into the room corners - 5-6 feet high.  He used to play our Dylan and Stones albums for us kids when we brought them around.  And I was off......

Have from time to time heard systems (my current one being no exception) which have to be better and surely outperformed that primal system.   One of the other systems was a million dollar set up, with several being in excess of a couple hundred grand.  Not a single one has given me the same chills!   It was the sheer musicality, I think, which I am still searching for.  But then, what do I know.

It was my fathers system… Dyna Kit Pre-amp and Amp. Very large (brand??) Speakers, an AR belt driven turntable and a Revox reel to reel.

All the switches, volume bass and treble made noise.

Simon and Garfunkel had just released Sounds of Silence and to this day, I miss the sound the crumpled tape made right at the beginning of the first track.

I must have been about 6 or 7 years old and remember spraying something on all the pots and replacing tubes on that old amp with my dad. Gosh…he would love what I’m listening to now. He’s been gone a very long time.

I’ve been hooked ever since.

The system I took to college was that Kenwood amp with the big knob and a pair of JBL L100’s. I remember that amp kept blowing the tweeters until I put a fuse on the speaker cables. I went thru those fuses like candy…!

That would have been 1978 when I heard the HQD system for the first time. (Hartley, Quad, Decca) Not only is my current system better sounding but it is way more reliable. We blew Decca ribbons and Quads all over the place. I am not a romantic and have no attachment to the past. There is absolutely nothing mythical about it. Technology soldiers on. I am after the best sound not romantically colored sound. There was this one system centered on Pyramid Metronome speakers and Threshold electronics that is my Pantheon of all time great systems. It was the first system that I ever heard image correctly. If it hadn't been for that system I wouldn't know how far you can take it, what to shoot for.

I worked for Federal Express ,I delivered to a apartment in Manhattan,  standing outside the door I heard music , the maid open the door , and  the sound just beautiful ,like I never experience before. One day a gentleman answered the door ,And invited me in ,  It was Victor Goldstein , That’s were it all started 30 years ago.

fedie ... great story!  Can you elaborate on your impromptu meeting w Victor?  Do recall anything of his system?  

At Lafayette Radio on Rte 17 Paramus, NJ, l was there to buy my first stereo, a KLH 11 suitcase, and I asked to hear the best they had. The proprietor put on Rectilinear 3s with a Mac amp. Wow. Next, in Chicago at Victor’s I heard IMF Studios playing Cat Stevens Angelsea and Quad ESLs (57s) playing a Mozart chamber orchestra and I was set on my path. I’ve never had the disposable income to own the best, but the pursuit has been great. 

1970 Lafayette LA-950 integrated (have repurchased for nostalgia), Garrard 40B, Criterion 100B speakers … tremendous improvements over suitcase stereo and portable 5” Aiwa R2R.

Thinking of recreating that strictly for nostalgia, but probably won’t. I’ve already recreated my college/post-college system (ca 1978 JVC integrated, Pioneer table, Polk Mon7) partially for nostalgia but also respectable SQ … I could listen as only system if necessary.

Nothing holds a candle to modern system wrt SQ.

A technics tt,pioneer receiver, parallex speakers was my first system in the early 70s.After many different configurations over the years I'm very happy with CDs, a tube amp,and Zu speakers.I'm feeling that 70s live concert vibe again. Totally satisfied.

I remember a baby grand piano ,behind it was a jades amplifier, and two speakers on stands , the setup was simple, no rack , Many people  in the building were talking about Victor , with a new invention that would make cd, sound better .   Many years later I called him , his company was fanfare int. I purchased a audio  valve  , second hand from a store, and he was nice enough to send me the literature I needed. 

Inscrutable, we had a Lafayette store in our neighborhood for a short time when I was a kid, Really had no sense of high end audio, but seeing inside all this electronic equipment brought about sense of wonder. As an adolescent, good friend purchased a Lafayette receiver,  best memory of that, Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf played over and over.

My first exposure to the high end sound was in a stereo sales shop in the mall. Perruex amps driving large ADS towers with Teac reel to reels. Wow that sound coming from those speakers! Tight bass, quick, dynamic. I never heard percussion so good. The smooth sounding equipment was the Yamaha line. It was 1981. The salesman played Crime of the Century from Supertramp on Mobile Fidelity half-speed master recording and it was amazing. Anyway, that started it all. I just got my ADS L1590 Towers restored by the tech that does them now. He used to work in the factory long ago. 

I was raised in a house of music. My dad had a McIntosh system playing through a set of Klipschorns. 1970s and the music was getting so good but my dad was stuck in the 50s. Had to play my albums when he was at work, he just could not get into Led Zeppelin. But dam I could rock the house when he was not home.
My first personal system was a massive Sony receiver and a top of the line Sony bio-tracer turntable thru some Advent speakers. I took that system to college for four years but upped the speakers to Klipsch Cornwalls. My room mates and neighbors loved me but only on the weekends.After college I married my high-school sweetheart and moved into a nice townhouse. She was soooooo pissed when she came home one day to a set of Klipshhorn (in a freaking townhouse). That quickly faded after she listened to them for a while. She married crazy so she has to deal with crazy.Twenty years of kids and work slowed me down but music was always playing in our house. My oldest son got the bug early and took advantage of me and my gear when he got his own house. He took all my albums and the Bio-tracker turntable and some of my dads old mac stuff and built a killer setup while I was playing Golf.So not to be outdone by a kid (he's 29) I kicked it up last year and now it is game on. He can try but I have crazy on my side and a wife who loves music and puts up with crazy. 

I started my journey in 1975 with B&O receiver and TT with small B&O shelf speakers.Graduated to Luxman L81 amp and Linn Sondek TT feeding Rogers Studio 1 speakers in 1979. This has been replaced with my current system only in the last 6 weeks. The new system comprises,Sonus Faber Sonetto V speakers, powered by NAD C298 power amp & C 658 preamp, still with the Linn. Also a 6 year old NAD CD player.
I'm still on this journey and so much has changed in the last 40+ years. Surprise surprise. I have so much to learn. I am happy with the new system but still refining it with cables etc.
Needless to say it is a completely different experience to my old system. My son will get use of the old gear. Love to hear your thoughts on my new system,suggestions and comments welcome.

"Do you think we strive to return to the past and remain in those influential times? Are our choices psychological, nostalgic even....?"

Woody Allen referenced this perennial dream in 'Midnight in Paris'.
A tourist gets picked up by a vintage car and driven to a party taking place in the 1920s.  He stands at the same spot the next evening and the same happens.  He decides he would like to stay in the 1920s.  There he starts with a girl who has a similar experience but is taken to the Belle Epoch - the 1890s.  She decides she wants to stay there and they split.

Allen is making the point that everyone thinks the golden age was prior to that in which they are living.  It is probably a delusion.

My first was a Sansui 7070 receiver with Bose 901’s Pioneer pl112d turntable, the year is 1978 At this time it was all albums with some radio. I lived in a fringe area for radio so I installed a 50 foot mast and fm antenna. The combo of Sansui and Bose would vibrate nick nacks off shelfs of houses across the street. The Sansui could double as an arc welder on weekends. My first over budget addition was a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck that is still in my system today and I still does not receive the respect it deserves. Our best outlet for equipment was American tv who carried everything you could want. They had a licked high end room that I was able to visit after my Dragon buy. We got to play with the new Carver system they set up. I can’t recall the speakers think they were B&W. I sat in there for over two hours damaging my ears with pure joy. This was the first time I recall hearing things in a recording that never came through the radio of my Pioneer entry level tt. Last thing I recall was walking out of the room extremely disappointed knowing I could never afford to spent that much money on a “stereo” system. Now is today and I am in a position to buy what ever I want and I happily progressing through the journey. I am now hoping to pull the trigger on a high quality r2r DAC. To answer you question. Am I trying to get back to that day with Carver? Kinda of but also aiming way higher because I can!

@notnow0329
You brought back Seinfeld to me with George and his future in-laws “you want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts!”

Do you think we strive to return to the past and remain in those influential times? Are our choices psychological, nostalgic even....?

If you don't enjoy music today as much as you did in the past, this would probably be true. I do think I enjoy it as much as before - both the music itself and the thrill of improving my sound system. Difficult to say though; what I find most enjoyable today (detail, timbre, tone) is not what I was craving as a teen (volume, bass, bass and more volume)

Then #1 – late 60s, 70s. Revox A77 reel to reel, Revox amp, Thorens TT, Dynaco and then Bose 901 speakers. Formative period. Looking back? Sometimes yes. But mainly nostalgic, such a sense of freedom back then, progressive and engaging music - not due to the sound.  

Then #2 – 1980s – I was into programming and bought into the digital delusion at the time. A bit is a bit, right? Bought DAT recorders, taking over from the reel-to-reel. Looking back? Not at all. Never play my DAT tapes (and seldom, my CDs).

Then #3 – 90s, 00s – I was told my system would sound good if only I got a big beefy amp. So, moving up the Krell line, I ended with the big FPB600, plus huge Dynaudio Consequence speakers. Looking back? Sometimes, yes. The bass was mighty. But all in all, no.

Now – last ten years – OTL amps with matched speakers, plus an improved vinyl setup.  Closer to the sound I was always looking for.

Technology «marching on»? I don’t believe in the theory of the march of productive forces through history. What happens is development in some areas along with setbacks in others. Often due to tech over-optimism. The naive idea that solid-state sounded as good as tubes, and that CDs would be ‘perfect sound forever’, are examples.

In the late 50's-early 60's my parents bought this "375 watt" console, beautiful woodwork, very lousy sound quality.  One of my high school buddies brought a scope over and found that this system produced only about 8 watts per channel before the distortion climbed "through the roof".
When the Sgt. Pepper album was released, I set in front of one of those plastic stereo portable units with the "fold down" turntable, my first experience of "stereo sound"...and was "hooked" on audio.
I went off to college with a Kenwood integrated amp, Dual 1219/Shure V15, Wollensak reel-to-reel and Large Advents.
Since then I've had lots of other components, am now at a point where I'm pretty much "done" with upgrades!

My 1st exposure to a 'high-end' system was in 1969. Consisted of:
AR3a speakers, Dynaco ST-70 amp, Dynaco PAS3 preamp, AR XA turntable. Doubt it could compare to my current system. That said, I can't help to think that I would enjoy the older system today should I have a chance to listen to it.

I own a ST-70 and a AR XA. Can't seem to justify the cost of the PAS3 and AR3a speakers at current prices to put said system together. 

I don't regret a single upgrade I've made over the years. Yeah, I still do sometimes miss the tone of my ancient Denon 103(?) but I don't miss its terrible tracking and end-of-side distortion. The same goes for the Koetsu Black I had for a while. Yes, there might have been a few missteps along the way (and I'll be damned if I could remember 'em), but what can I say? I'm just happy with my stereo.

Early exposures to the Infinity's, AR everythings, ESS ribbons, the original Ohm f/r Walsh's, Phase Linears', Marantz, Revox, Crown anything.....

Yeah, a lot of that.
Bought when I could, DIY'd if I couldn't, periods when I had next to nil.
A lot of digital of late.

I 'amuse' self and my muse.....it's enough. ;) *s*

I’m not sure if I’ve romanticized the memory of the sound the came out of my Technics SL1800 TT’s into an 85 Watt Marantz 2385 receiver into some big fuzzy brown Cerwin Vegas, but I remember it as visceral and glorious. I’ve yet to hear vinyl sound stronger than it did in the 70s.
And it’s been about 45 years since I’ve heard ’Sinatra At The Sands’ slam like it did out of that rig- and I’ve had some fine & powerful rigs through the years.

I don't regret a single upgrade I've made over the years

I don’t regret my upgrades either, but I sure regret all the downgrades I have made. And I made many. 

First real stereo was back in 1980 with all Yamaha - receiver, turntable, speakers and tape deck. Cartridge was micro acoustics. That was the entry level of the local stereo store that had higher end stuff that I thought I would never be able to afford (that was true then as a college student). 

When I got into stereo equipment more seriously, I was selling systems to fellow students with gear I got from contacts. That was the crazy time when I had severe upgradeitis and went through countless amps and speakers - not as much on turntables. Happily that was only for about a year and I had to focus on graduating.

It wasn't until 15-20 years later that I realized I was doing things backwards - source is the most important, and it goes down the line from there as the signal advances through the system. I didn't really do anything with my system because I couldn't get records anymore. I had to replace my bridged NAD amps because they kept clipping. New amp sounded (B&K) a little better, but I was happy because it worked consistently. Got better speakers (Alons) - better in the bass, but not blown away. 

It was not until I got a $500 Music Hall belt drive table to replace my expensive Phase Linear 8000 that finally broke when I had a big aha moment. The sound improvement may have been the biggest jump ever. 

Since then I have upgraded the table to 2 Regas (now a P8) with a fantastic van den Hul cartridge I've replaced with the identical one, now going on 10 years. Haven't touched the integrated in 15 years, and finally replaced the 25 year old speakers due to boredom in the pandemic- nice difference, especially with bass. With the time on my hands and the kids finally off the payroll, I have learned a lot about the importance of vibration control/elimination isolation of components, especially the turntable mainly from posters on Audiogon, so thanks. I wouldn't say aha, but definitely noticeable, which at this point, takes some doing (and $$) to experience. These were not inexpensive, but worthwhile and probably less that upgrading a component or two.

I wouldn't mind reliving the experience in college of first appreciating music and building my record collection and spending every cent I had on it, but it would have been infinitely better if I had my present system back then. I am now at a very content level where I most likely will stand pat unless something breaks or I decide to experiment with a cartridge change at the next stylus wear out crisis. Or maybe if I win the lottery, which is unlikely since I don't play. Otherwise, plunking down $30-$40K for another aha moment (that may not be that revelatory) doesn't appeal to me.

Somewhere around 1966 we and a friend went into a store call the "Ear Drum" off Imperial Highway in Hawthorne CA.  The store was very dark with the equipment illuminated on shelves.  A salesman yelled at us "Hey you kids get out of here", another voice said "Let them stay, they just may be future customers" They told us look but don't touch. For me, at that age the room was amazing, the gear glowing in the dim light.  The lit tubes and the area lights on the face plates are a wonderful memory.  My system has 26 tubes.

Then:
Back in the day when I barely had two cents to rub together, I scratched my hifi itch via hifi rags like stereophile et al.   My "virtual" systems favored components from Nad and Adcom.  I loved the clean looks and low profile of most of  their gear.  I  also liked Carver's stuff.

Now:  
I'm still influenced somewhat from those early years.  I still favor diminutive components with clean looks.  Sound is a major factor in the now that didn't come into play with my former "virtual" systems.  I still like the looks of the classic  Nad/Adcom/Carver components but from a performance perspective they don't fill today's needs. 

1973 Sony Str 7065,Bose 901s I got used with stands and custom made based that lifted the speakers to ear level sitting down..receiver was $350 ,Bose 901 used 2 old $315,turntable was a Technics SL 1300 with Shure 100 cart that was $350 also.Now I own Caryin 50 tube in amp $1000 ,Nad 588 tt with blue ofton cart.$900,Emovtive cr3 cd player $300.Oh speakers are Polk Lsim 707 returns ,got them for $1100 a steal.I loved my 70s unit as I do my 2021 system.But always buying vintage stuff.

Started back in 63’. My friend walked around with a transistor radio tucked in his waist band. Listening to Summertime, Summer in the City, Bill Haley…
 Then I saw a pair of MBL 111es. Then I saw a pair of VAC 170iqs, then I saw a Transrotor…
I said, f#*¥! I’m in. 

in 1962 I walked into a hi fi store in Berkeley and heard a pair of KLH 9's driven by a transformerless amp.....truly a game changing experience. Several months later, heard a pair of Quad 57 ESLs, bought a pair and listened to them for many years with true pleasure. They've gone away and now using a pair of Harbeth 40.1's which sound to me like a giant pair of Quads