The first system you had that was "high end/audiophile", by you standards

1970, just home from Vietnam.

Sherwood SEL 200 receiver
Wharfdale W90D spkrs
Garrard SL95 w/SHURE V15
Ampex reel/reel and cassette

then upgrade: (1975)
Crown DC 300A
Crown OC150 
Beogram turntable/arm/cart
Klipsch Cornwall spkrs.

1973, just graduated from college.

Almost bought Large Advents or EPI's at Tech HiFi (Ann Arbor), but then asked to hear the Walsh Ohm F's. Was blown away, couldn't not spend the money.

Ohm F's
Heath AR-1500 receiver
AR XA turntable with Shure V15 Type Whatever it was in 1973.

Those speakers were incredible. Soon after, my dad bought a pair himself.

After a while, one of mine started to separate at the seam on the back, and I got it replaced under warranty -- and the replacement sounded WAY WORSE. Took the good one to the store and compared it to their demo, and the demo also sucked. Sold the F's and moved on.

Well here is real vintage 1963.Acoustech pre-amp.Power-amp? Maybe a Lafayette Radio model, but I can’t remember..
Goodman speakersVoice of Music changer.
1967: Changed the pre and power amps for McIntosh C-26 and MC-2505. Actually got a trade-in for this purchase.Kept the 15" Goodman woofer and installed Bozak mid, tweeter, and crossover in a custom speaker cabinet. My changer was a Benjamin Miracord with a Sure V15 diamond needle.I also added a McIntosh MR-71 tuner.I remember the sound quality increased megafold.The McIntosh equipment is still going strong.

That would have to be a Marantz 2270 receiver and AR 5 speakers after I got home from the military in 1973.

It was 1968/69 and I was a freshman engineering student. I used some of my student loan money to buy a top of the line Fisher receiver, Wharfdale speakers with 12 inch woofers, and a Dual turntable with a Shure V15-Type 2 cartridge. I thought it sounded great but I’m sure it would have sounded much better with today’s cables.

The system before that sounded terrible but was the best I could afford before I got the genius idea to use my student loan money on audio equipment instead of tuition. I made some bookshelf speakers using 6"x9" drivers from a car (I was really poor!), then I bought a used receiver out of some old console model that was sitting on a table at Olson Electronics (just a naked chassis) and built an enclosure for it. I then added a Gerrard turntable with a good cartridge. The system sounded truly awful, but primarily because of my homemade speakers. I made many modification to them before throwing them out. I kept the turntable and started the component upgrade path that I’ve been one ever since.