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.
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
In college I listened to OP systems (other people’s). I couldn’t afford a system.
Got a good job and started putting a system together. Before the internet I subscribed to a monthly high end used equipment sale paper. I couldn’t afford B&W 801s so I bought a pair of Mirage M3Si. IIRC, about $2k in the 80s. Guy was 400 miles, away, we met behind a gas station in a 40 mph wind in Bakersfield. we loaded to big items in my truck and I gave him a wad of Benjamins. Looked like a drug deal, I remember thinking at the time.
Well, I powered them with my humble Yamaha reciever while I saved for other gear. but I got distracted with other hobbies. Mountaineering, rock climbing, and triathlon all required expenive gear and travel. Then I got married and raised a family. So 35 years after I bought the M3Sis I started buying the rest of the system. Of course they had been overtaken by new speakers and they got sold too. But then I had plenty of money and the system came together pretty quickly, even with lots of gear getting upgraded/rejected promptly.
In 1980 I was 16. My first "real" system consisted of:
Technics SA-404 Receiver (50wpc)
Dual 1264 Turntable with Ortophon cartridge
ADS L520 Loudspeakers
I added a Technics SL-P8 in 1983. I didn't upgrade that system for a long time. Although the CD player hasn't worked for some time, it more than held it's own against the constant stream of newer players. The ADS were traded in 1990. I will say this, they are still outstanding speakers and are a great recommendation to anyone that has a hankering for vintage gear.
After paying my last tuition bill as a senior in college, saving up a bit, started with: Dual 1219 turntable Shure V15MK2 cartridge Wollensack reel-to-reel Dynaco PAT-4 preamp McIntosh MC225 power amp Large Advent speakers
1971: AR 2AX speakers, a KLH Model 51 receiver (yes, KLH made receivers and it was actually a good one), and a Garrard Zero 100 turntable. The best part was that I wrote a music review column in graduate school, as a result of which I received hundreds of free LPs from every major record company from 1971 through 1974. It's a wonder that I got any schoolwork done.
As a teenager in the 70s, I started with mid fi stuff, but purchased a Advent 300 (Tom Holman) reciever and Rogers LS3/5a speakers. I read the Audio Critic, and was fortunate to have local dealers for both of these products so I could audition.
I got the smaller bang and olufsen turntable (replacing a dual) which had a special suspension that you could not scratch the records. Great for around siblings and friends who were ignorant.
the great thing with the advent 300, was that you could split off the preamp, so you could add an amp. I started with a Marantz 8, which I paid $200 for and sold for $175 when I needed cash for college. Damn thing would have been worth a bundle today. Then dynaco st70, Conrad johnson mv45 later in college, then upgraded to better preamp and turntable once I was out of school and earning money.
i remember paying $495 for the Rogers back in 1976. Finally sold them for $2500 around 2000. Pretty good appreciation, but have regretted the sale ever since. But not as much as selling the Marantz 8.
First stereo in the family was a Curtis Mathes (I think) from the late 1950's console era but, was a two box affair with the turntable, controls, left channel amplification and left side speakers in one box and the right channel amplification and speakers in the other box connected via a long interconnect.
My first stereo system was a Kenwood receiver, Dual 1219 table and a pair of Sansui speakers.
My first "hi-end" system was an Audio Research SP-7 preamp, an Audire Forte amp, a Linn LP-12 table and a Pair of Phase Research RT tower speakers.
It was around 1978 or so. I got bitten by the bug in college when a classmate had a component system that had a receiver, turntable and speakers in his dorm room. Shortly after graduation I was blown away by the sound of a friends system with Rectilinear 3 speakers, Phase Linear pre-amp and amp and an AR turntable. My first system consisted of Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers, Hafler amplifier, Conrad Johnson pre-amp and a Technics turntable, which was later replaced with a used Linn Sondek turntable, Linn Itok tonearm with a high output moving coil cartridge that didn't require a pre-pre-amp. The system I really wanted was Snell Model A speakers, ARC SP-6B pre-amp, Threshold amplifier with the previously mentioned Linn turntable and tone arm, but with a Koetsu blue or black moving coil cartridge. I had discovered Harry Pearson's Absolute Sound magazine when it came out quarterly and was the size of a pamphlet and accepted no manufacturer's advertising. Very fond memories of those days.
Stvgray you know OHM is still there making "Walsh style" speakers inspired by those Fs. Smaller pair start at just over $1000 new. I have two pair currently. My larger pair use 12" Walsh style drivers mounted in refurbed OHM F cabinets. I've had those for about 10 years now and sounding better than ever.
Although I had the usual foray of auto players (a varety of 8 track and cassetts players) aside from adopting my sisters old Magnavox LP counsel, I didn't develop a real interest in home audio until the mid 70s. My first, rather humble system, consisted of a Pioneer Direct Drive TT, a set of BIC Venturi speakers and a Fisher receiver. In 1978, after finishing construction of our country home, wife and I decided it was time to upgrade our music system. By chance, we found a new audio dealer, in a community some 90 miles away, who had some wonderful stuff we'd never heard of - amps sa. Conrad Johnson, Audio Researsh, Mark Levinson, etc; speakers sa. Thiel, Spendor, OHM, Magnapan and Vandersteen; high end TTs, CDPs and so forth. Thus began our audio adventure. Having recently invested a good deal of our money into a construction loan, we went the frugel rout - starting with a HK receiver, Polk Audio tower speakers, a Tandburg casset player and keeping our old Pioneer LP player. We soon upgraded to a PSE Studio II amp with a Audible Illusions, Modulis IIC pre-amp, a Nakamichi ZX-9 casset player, Vandersteen 2c speakers and a Thorens TD 105 TT with a AudioQuest B100-M cartridge. Many fine speakers, amps and components have come and gone since, but I still have my trusty Audible Illusions pre-amp, my Thorens TT, a very reliable ADCOM, GFA 5500, for back up and just recently sold my Nak. And the journy goes on...Jim
1990- I was finally able to buy my dream system- or at least, the one I could afford at the time. I was frequently in a store called Target Hi-Fi, where my imagination would run wild. At the start however, I had to settle for an all JVC system, speakers included- a CD player, integrated, and the speakers, all about 1,000 dollars worth. Boy, was I happy. I went home, turned up the volume, listened in the dark all night. Next day when I came home from work, my system was gone- stolen. Guess the tennants up stairs loved my first system too:)
Got my first full-time job after college in 1972. A few months later, realized I could actually afford a good stereo. Went to Tech HiFi in Ann Arbor and listened to Large Advents, EPI 100s ... and the most expensive speakers in the store, Ohm F's. They F's blew away everything else. I think they were $400 -- shocking at the time. My first wife -- bless her -- said -- "You might as well get them. You know you won't be satisfied with anything else, now that you've heard them." She was right. So I bought them, and an AR turntable with Shure V15III cartridge, and a used Heathkit AR-1500 receiver. Ahhh ... sounded so good! Would love to hear those speakers today and see if they sounded as good as they do in my memory.
My first stereo was a Pioneer SX-525, a cheapo Garrard idler drive and a pair of KLH 2 ways (maybe 7's or 11's, can't remember). I went through a broad range of upgrades and swaps, over the years including a 10 year stretch of no audio equipment (nasty divorce, had to sell a NAD pre-amp, a PS audio amplifier, JBL L-166's and a Philips TT with a Shure V15 IV). Now in a wonderful 2nd marriage, my wife not only lets me indulge my hobby, I have a dedicated listening room! Nothing I have is reference level, but some of the equipment edges into low end audiophile. I love this hobby!
Fascinating! My first decent system was a dual tt, Harman kardon 330A receiver, and audio analyst speakers. I was about 14 at the time. Early 70s. The journey taken me through amps from SAE 2400L, Amber 70, Proceed Amp 3, and a pair of Rowland Model 1s. I have designed my own speakers since the audio analysts. Still have all my designes in active use. One pair being a pair of ls3/5a clones that I love. Funny thing though as my journey has taken me full circle. I now use a fully restored/upgraded Pioneer SX-1250 as my main amp, and to my ears it beats all the others I have had. Love that beast!
I started with and Eico ST-40 integrated amp, Garrard TT, Shure M91E cartridge I believe, and Jensen 12 inch coaxial drivers mounted in birch wood boxes that I made in shop. Now 55 years later have Naim NDX streamer, Naim DAC V1, Naim Unity Core, Krell KSA-80B and Apogee Scintillas One Ohm all thru Inakustics Reference interconnects and speaker cables. Upgrade soon to Naim ND555 streamer, and a Rockna DreamDac.
Summer of 1956 as a soon-to-be senior in high school, I built a system starting with a modest Electro-Voice SP-12B in an Argus bass reflex cabinet. A Garrard RC121 with a Norelco moving magnet cartridge and an Eico HF-20 amp (built from a kit) completed the system. I also bought my first two LP's at the time (through the Capital Records Club): Rimsky-Korsakov's "Le Coq D'Or", and Stan Kenton's "Kenton in Hi-Fi".
The following year I added an Eico FM tuner (again from a kit) and built an equipment cabinet to take the rig to college with me. The year after that I replaced the speaker with a 15"Jensen Triaxial installed in a corner horn built from plans from somewhere, and this system remained with me through my last three years of college and two years of grad school.
I must admit that my system was adequate, but still a let-down from my father's system that I grew up with - a large JBL corner horn (C-31) fed by a Newcomb 25wpc williamson amplifier with umbilical preamplifier. The electronics in turn were fed by both a Garrard RC88 with GE variable-reluctance cartridge (for the family) and a Rek-O-Kut turntable and (I think) a Grey tonearm and Fairchild cartridge.
My first "audiophile" system in 1979 consisted of a Marantz direct drive turntable (model number forgotten) with an Audio Technica cartridge, a used Sony integrated amp from the early 70's, and pair of EPI 110 speakers. A Magnavox CD player was added in 1985. I used those components until about 2000 and then began upgrading...
My first system besides my Panasonic all in one system, I thought it was so cool because the turntable was separate,and the 8 track player was built in,but that got me interested in audio , so I saved my money and got an akai receiver and a pioneer cassette deck, onkyo turntable, which I still have by the way and a pair of EPI T-120 speaker, later upgraded to Advent legacy speakers, nothing really high end but at the time it blew away my friends realistic boom boxes, I remember I used to stare at the RadioShack catalogues, wished I could get a pair of the big minimus speakers with the 15" woofers
1972. Got a steel related job just outside of Pittsburgh. Had my draft board number, but wasn't called up for Viet Nam war duty, although some of my friends were. They needed men to work in the mills. We ran thousands of miles of dull, flat, army green , sheet steel, for ammo boxes. I was against the war, had my flag ,peace sign on my old 64 buick, and here I was making ammo box material for the Vietnam war. Had to make a living, and no money for college. I was making $2.25 per hour, but I managed to save for 6 months or so, and visited a place called The Audio Warehouse on Saw mill run Blvd. Plunked about $600 down for large advents, a sherwood receiver, and dual turntable with a shure md1ed. I can remember getting it home, setting it up in my bedroom, and the first record that I played on it. Neil Young Harvest. Just freshly bought. I still have it in my collection. I heard the orcheastra in "A man needs a maid". After using a cheapo Capehart all in one unit for years, I was mesmerized by how gorgeous it sounded to me. Hardly high end by todays standards, and I now have Proac, Quicksilver, and Oracle, ARC, (and it sounds leagues better), but its kind of like the first time you get a really good buzz, or make love. Somehow that initial thrill is never recaptured. Pity. Mg16
Growing up in Communist time USSR, hi-fi, mid-fi or even low-fi was hard to come by. Started out with a Soviet-made Melodia turntable receiver with stock speakers (see link below if you are having hard time imagining turntable receiver). https://www.flickr.com/photos/macmad/6833766576/sizes/l/in/photostream/ It was nowhere near as nice as the one in the pic, but knowing what I know now, it actually sounded pretty good. Later on added a Hitachi dual well cassette deck (similar to D-E1, but dual well). We went through hell and back to get our hands on that thing. Great deck, a real workhorse. One must mention a couple of Soviet tube reel to reels, Astra and Yauza, the latter was a somewhat decent copy of a Telefunken. The smell of an old tube reel to reel (mix of smells of oil, hot metal, hot tube glass, tape flakes and rubber belts) is the very definition of "smell of analog" to me. I need to get me a tube reel to reel just to smell. I am getting side tracked... I think I'll start a topic on that. What's your smell?
A bit later dad came across some Technics 3-way speakers and a Pioneer integrated amp. That combo stood the test of time and sounded very good. Don't remember model numbers...think classic silver Pioneer and fake wood finish on the speakers. I do remember they were sealed and had at least an 8" woofer. Very similar to pic below: https://reverb.com/item/8004771-technics-sb-3030-3way-speaker-system
The crown jewel of the system came last, right before I moved to US - it was an Akai tape deck, pretty high up in GX series, 65, I think. My dad still has it, it’s close to 30 years old and still sounds magnificent and never needed anything. That’s when I fell in love with Akai and just last week picked up a fully restored GX-635D reel to reel. But that’s another post...
In 1974, splurged for a Marantz 2230 receiver, large Advents and AR-Xb TT with Shure v-15. Set me back $700 (about $4,000 today) and worth every penny. Had the Marantz refurbished in the 90s and still use it daily, while the refoamed Advents are in the closet awaiting their next life. Traded in the TT, wish I hadn’t.
To PC: High quality sound is measured by your ears, not someone else's. High dollars spent can give you an edge, but with all the variables at play (cartridges, amps, speakers, etc, let alone differences in individual hearing patterns), no one can say to all: "this is best", even if it's costly. Beauty is in the ear of the listener! Bo
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
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.
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.
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.
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....
1973, Dynaco SCA 35, Dynaco FM 3, Garrard 40B w/ Audio Technia . Bulk 10 ga speaker cables, cheesy red , white and yellow Interconnects . Advent small speakers . Then I switched to JBL L-19’s , homemade shielded interconnects , 8 gauge copper ( AC lamp cord ) crimp/solder terminations. We had Layafette too, but had a huge radio/diy store called Sparkeys . It was like a Costco version of Layafette . After that I switched to Dynaco MK III’s and built a preamp kit by Southwest Techinal Products . I built many speaker systems as I was a wood shop junkie and the teachers assistant in Electronics . There was a local stereo shop ( Sun Stereo ) that had their own line of local made speakers “ DWD “ . They were lower end items . But at the time they did subcontracted work for ESS. I went there many times for assistance or repairs . The local high end shop was called Audio Sales and they had the “ Tube Guru “. At the time I was cost driven. Today, I still am . I guess my Niche is small scale with clear imaging . Thanks for firing up “ The Way Back Machine “ ! Cheers , Mike B.
I saved and saved so my first real system which I took to college included AR 3a speakers, JVC preamp with equalizer, DIY Dynaco Amp, B&O turntable and a Sansui tuner. Then I added micro-acoustic tweeters to the AR's, my friends called them hiss boxes and an Akai 10" reel to reel ... that system put me on this nearly 50 year journey.
You're right, pc: to re-frame a familiar phrase "Beauty is in the ears of the auditioner"! Like so much else in life, appreciation of reproduced sound is a subjective (personal) experience. I'm weary of the unending commentaries assuring that this or that amp., speaker, cartridge etc. is unquestionably the best. Every such report should begin with the qualifier "to my ears - - -". Audiology tests confirm that EVERYONE"S hearing is unique. Add this variable to the variables in equipment performance plus your own sound "memory bank" and the sonic perception will be a personal one.
Some of us may be heavily influenced by cost as a measure of "high quality" sound. In the end, however, it's not what others hear, but what YOU hear that counts ! Bo
Ha! I started with dumpster diving into a Lafayette Audio junk bin and buying a $5 mono tube amp (that's right just ONE) and buying a run of the mill 12" woofer that I hooked up to a portable Sony TC-60 cassette player.
Later I "upgraded" to adding a cheap tweeter (out of the same bin) and soldering a cap as a "crossover."
If I recall this was circa high school freshman. Later I had on a long term load a Realistic 2W per channel receiver.
At this stage I received a junked speaker and was proud of my actual mismatched speaker for real stereo.
My brother (out of pity) bought me my 1st pair of real speakers for Christmas, a set of the smallest Advents (I forgot the model name).
Later, I managed to scrape up money to later buy his Kenwood Integrated and soon bought my 1st table, a Dual 1218 (1219?).
I traded in the itty bitty Advents for Infinity Qa speakers and bought a NAD tuner (4155?) which I still have today, unused but still working.
I later bought the Nakamichi 410/420 preamp and power amp and soon upgraded to a Technics SL-1300 Mk.II.
After some shifts back and forth with various pieces I got a pair of VMPS Towers which to this day was unmatched in bass response of any system I ever owned.
I also ended up buying from a starving grad student Aragon 4004 Mk. II amp (still in operation) and 18K preamp.
The preamp eventually was replaced by an Audio Alchemy DLC with external power supply.
My father was something of an audiophile, so I grew up listening to Kef 105.2 speakers and a Carver Cube/Holographic sound amp system. It sounded absolutely incredible.
In the 90's I met my wife and when we moved in together she brought in a Harmon Kardon receiver/amp and old Thiel 02 speakers (monitors, box-shaped, even before Thiel went to time/phase coherent designs). Those speakers never failed to entrance me with their beautiful tone and incisive, neutral sound.
Upon hearing a friend's Quad ESL 63s I got bitten by the high end bug, bought a pair, and the journey I'm still on essentially continues (many speakers since).
But I still own those old Thiel 02 speakers. I simply can not get rid of them because they remain, in some ways, a benchmark. They combine warm tone, with sparkling transients, and an absolute air-moving palpability within their frequency range, that still blow me away. Sometimes no matter what far more expensive speaker I own, I setup the 02s and think they do some things "better."
I was born into the hobby. My cousin's Doc Watson and my aunt & uncle owned a private charter jet biz for entertainers, so I always had cool HiFi and recording gear around me.
From the 70's: Original Advent speakers (with walnut case work) Harmon Kardon 630 receiver Dual 1219 TT with Shure cartridge
Best price / performance / sound I have ever encountered. To this day, and even with inflation adjustment, I don't think it will ever be touched by anything.
Wow! Many years ago as a lowly Airman I ran across a dealer in Hawaii who was VERY generous. Even though I knew about the "High-End" I never thought I would be able to afford it. Much to my surprise and benefit, this dealer built my first system: Maggie Tympani 1D CJ MV45a AI Dual Mono VPI HW19 Syrnx Tone arm Koetsu Black
From then on I've been hooked on great audio. The system was all used of course, except the table and cartridge. In exchange, I referred MANY soldiers who heard my system to him and he extended the same benefits to them and for the 4 years I was there this relationship flourished as he let me try new gear, etc. I've tried finding him to this day with no luck. But I'll always be grateful.
We had a wind up, mechanical, record player with steel needles. Just replace the steel needle with another one when it got worn. It played 78's.Peer Gynt with Antrina's dance and on the flip side, The Hall of the Mountain King was my favorite.
Now a lot will say that the purely mechanical reproduction was in no way high fidelity. In many ways that's true. Still, I remember the sounds I heard and the songs I listened too better than a lot of the systems and songs I've heard since.
That was many years before the tape a nickel to the top of the head shell days...
When my father was in the Navy, someone from his squadron left behind his copy of Magical Mystery Tour after a party at our house. He was killed in action a few days later. He and 30 other men on a reconnaissance mission were shot down by a North Korean MIG, over international waters. I ended up playing the album a lot during my youth on a Fisher Price record player. That was the beginning of my audiophile journey.
As a little kid, I remember a small record player with an assortment of colored 45's...most likely Disney stuff. My next recollection was a portable Zenith player that was wedge shaped. By then, I was purchasing albums that were often times sold within grocery stores on the West Coast...this goes back many years.
My parents had purchased a Sear's Silvertone stereo console...my next memory and a major improvement over my Zenith player. From there, my dad purchased a Sansui receiver and Garrard Lab 80 turntable. I think he had Sansui speakers....
My first purchase was a 30wpc Sony receiver, Sony cassette player, and a Sony turntable. I purchased JBL100 speakers...which were most certainly under-powered.
Next system was a Mac 1700 receiver, Tandberg cassette player, Dual 1229 turntable and Grado cartridge. My speakers were ESS Translinear II's and ESS AMT's (don't remember model number). I thought this was a killer system until someone told me to listen to Quad ESL's. I should note that Bose speakers were very popular at that time and the same person who told me of Quad's suggested that I listen to the Bose for at least 30 minutes, I did and I would found myself suffering from fatigue. Listened to Quad ESL's and I was high-end audio HOOKED. Sold off my entire system for Quad ESL-57's, a Quad pre-amp, Audio Research D-51 amp (highly modified for a UCLA music professor per Jonas Miller), a Sansui tuner and a Linn Sondek LP-12 with Grace 707 tonearm....I was in music heaven. For the first time I could hear fingers sliding up and down frets...could hear singers inhale before singing...could even hear a mouse fart in the recording studio.
Next, a divorce. Sold off my system as well as my prized Corvette. Bummer....but it needed to be done. Between then and now, purchased nothing to brag about JVC, Denon, more Sony, Dynaco, ITT tubed and other equipment. Now, many, many, many years later...I have Audio Research, Esoteric, Manley, Acoustic Signature, Martin Logan and some other gear waiting to be energized. And, yes....I still believe LP's offer the best sound. My progression is nearly complete...the only thing I see might be speakers and/or cartridges.
Nikko reciever, dual turntable 12XX ?, and I believe they were ar speakers. They had a big orange looking tweeter, looked like a fried egg! that was around 1970 I believe.
Not long after high school I had a janitorial job working
graveyard at a local Sears store where they had some decent Fisher gear. Making
minimum wage ($1.25?), I couldn’t afford their better stuff. So I took a chance
and ordered a small system of “separates” from a catalog; and man did I get
lucky! It was a company I’d never heard of called Denon. The system had a
receiver, turntable, and bookshelf speakers - about 14 inches high, deep, and
rather heavy. With shipping, everything was
about $200. That thing sounded as good as or better than anything we had in the
store! It served me well until about 1973 when I got a Marantz 1060 integrated,
Philips turntable (don’t remember model), and large Advent utility speakers.
Thanks vintage_heath for the great starter thread! My first venture into the high end (late 70’s) was a pair of KEF 103.2 speakers and I think I recall a Onkyo receiver and can’t remember the turntable, Shure cartridge; probably $1,200 all in. A nice starter system. I still have my first speakers which I use as my surrounds in my video setup. In the early 80’s I would go to a small record shop and talk to the owner about the “good stuff” audiophile recordings. That store owner later opened Nuts About HiFi a true hi end store. I was able to sit at leisure and listen to the best the hi end had to offer which formed the ear education. Thanks for the education Bill!
For me, it all started when I was in the seventh grade (1958). Some friends and I used to go down into the finished basement of one of the guys homes after school to listen to our rock n roll records on this dads system, which consisted of a Dynaco tubed mono amplifier, preamp, and tuner and a Red-O-Kut Rondine Jr. 'table and arm with a Pickering cartridge, and a home-built corner speaker cabinet that he built from plans found in a magazine. featuring a poured concrete front baffle and housing a 15" EV coaxial driver.
I got hooked!
By 1959 I purchased my first system, also mono, from one of those stores located on "Radio Row" in lower Manhattan. It consisted of a Harman-Kardon tubed integrated and matching FM tuner, a Garrard Type A changer with a Pickering cartridge, and an Electrovoice "Leyton" single box "bookshelf" speaker system.
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