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What were your humble beginnings on the path to high end audio?

Recently there has been a discussion as to the “price point where mid fi tops out and hi end systems begin”. I’d be willing to bet that there are not many folks who started out in this field of interest spending $100K, $50K or even $10K. Going back to your very beginnings, what was your first serious audio system?

I’ll jump in the wayback machine with Mr. Peabody and Sherman and give you a look at my beginnings.

My journey began at around age 13. I started out with a Lafayette KT-630, stereo tube amp that I built from a kit in my 9th grade, “electronics shop” class. The speakers were built at home from plans in the 1968, July issue of Mechanix Illustrated. I upgraded the cabinet construction from plywood, to solid mahogany. The twin woofers in each cabinet were also upgraded to 5” from the specified 4” units and the tweeters were also upgraded from the specified 2-3/4” units to the deluxe 3” units. The inductors in the 6db per octave passive crossovers were hand wound and the caps, terminal strips, L-pads, magnet wire and grill cloth were from Lafayette Radio Electronics as were the woofers and tweeters. The turntable was a purchased Garrard SL72B with a Shure M91E magnetic cartridge.

Check out the amp specifications on page 42 of the Lafayette 1968 summer catalog #648.
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Allied-Catalogs/Lafayette-1968-Summer.pdf

The raw speakers are shown on page 55 of the Lafayette 1971 catalog #710. Woofers, 99-F-01554, figure D. Tweeters were at the bottom of page 55, 99-F-00499. The Garrard SL72B is on page 69 of the same catalog.
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Consumer/Lafayette-1971.pdf

I still have the speaker systems and the amp and they all still work! Alas the SL72B is long since gone. I mowed a lot of grass and shoveled a lot of snow in the neighborhood to buy all that high end gear at age 13! :-D By todays standards, not very impressive, but to a 13 year old in 1968, it was awesome!

So to reiterate, what was your first serious audio system?

P.S. - If you are interested, check out some select old Lafayette, Allied Radio, Heathkit, Radio Shack, Olson and other old catalogs from what I think of as the “good old days” of electronics and my youth.
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Electronics_Catalogs.htm

vintage_heath
co93
61 posts
 
Age 15, a Nikko Receiver....

Age 17, a marantz 1060

Age 20, an Accuphase c200 and SAE amp

Age 23, a luxman L-450 (had to downsize to afford grad school ha, ha, ha).   

Now older with my kids through college...have graduated to ARC reference gear (one system), vitus (a second system), boulder/PS audio (a third), Hegel (a fourth), and my trusty 1982 luxman for a fifth system....

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,304 posts
 
When I was about 6, there was a record player with no needle in my house. I took one of my Mom’s sewing needles, stuck it in there, played a record and voila, music! I believe the record I played was a recording of Ma Vlast on Somerset records ( P-/SF-15000 - Moldau: Les Preludes - Gunnar Stern & London Philharmonic Orchestra [1961] , http://www.bsnpubs.com/miller/somerset.html). I think I got an electric shock or two in the process as well. This is a true story.
colokoch's avatar
colokoch
6 posts
 
I got started with my Dad's cast offs  He gave me a mono system; Rec o Kut Turntable, Sherwood tube Amp and an AR2a speaker.  I wanted stereo so I used my lawn mowing money and added a KLH Speaker, another mono amp from a used store (a Pilot) and added a stereo Shure cartridge to the table  I stuck a speaker in each corner of my little bedroom and rocked out to the Doors,Who, Beatles and Jetro Tull.
rollintubes
84 posts
 
In the late 50’s my dad and I built a mono system, I think is was Heathkit. Then we graduated to stereo with a Knightkit 20wpc amp and a Knightkit AM/FM tuner with a Garrard changer. He built the speaker cabints and used a tri-axial driver. It sounded pretty good but real bass heavy.

Then after marriage I bought an RCA Stereo console from the company store. We listened to that for several years until I finally broke into components again. It was a packaged system whose manufacturer eludes me, also with a Garrard changer and nameless bookshelf speakers. That system lasted until the mid-seventies when I bought a pair of JBL L100s, a Pioneer receiver (something like 100 wpc) and a Garrard TT.

Then a work friend in the mid-eighties wanted me to really hear. So he took me to Fat Julian’s and got me a C-J PV6, an Acoustat Trans Nova Twin 120 and Magnapan MGIIa’s. The turntable is a Denon DP-60L with a Grace F-9e. I didn’t like the Maggys and soon retired them using the JBLs as a replacement. That system still sounds fantastic, with all the C-J and Acoustat Cap upgrades and a fancy new crossover for the JBLs designed by Troels Graveson. The Grace has the Sound-Smith Ruby OCL F9 replacement stylus.

Still on the "quest" though, I went through a myriad of phono preamps and have finally settled on a BAT VK-P6SE. It sounds right. The tube chain is followed by a Prima Luna Dialogue Premium preamp and HP power amp. I’ve settled on ATC SCM-19 Bookshelf monitors for that system.

Vinyl playback is done on a VPI Prime Signature w/ ADC and Periphery Ring and a Sound-Smith Helios cartridge.

Digital sources have come and gone. From the basic Sony single disc player to the Sony 75ES 5 disc changer to no CD player at all. My digital is warehoused on a computer using a Lynx Hilo Reference A/D-D/A converter via usb. I also have Sony and Panasonic DAT player/recorders and 100’s of live shows recorded on portable DAT equipment.

What a long strange trip it’s been.
whitestix
716 posts
 
Rectilinear III's were my first fine speakers and still are, to my knowledge, excellent speakers.  I had HK Citation I, II, and V components, all upgraded by Don Sachs, but I got tired of tube gear.  My first TT was a $100 AR TT with a modest Shure cartridge, but I had the best audio system amongst my college friends in the early '70's.  

I upgraded to a couple of Thorens TT's and then 30 years ago, to a SOTA Sapphire vacuum TT which I had until 6 months ago when I abandoned vinyl. I had a ton on Dynaco and KLH speakers and the KLH Model 5, recapped, were venerable speakers with deep bass and an sweet mid-range.

This thread takes me down memory lane and it is joy to chime in on it.   Nice to see GK contribute in a thoughtful fashion.   I have had a Berning preamp and await a listen to the Rogers LS3/5a's as they might sound sublime to my ears.   Great thread.  Whitestix
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