My memory from the early 1970's is a little hazy, but I believe at one time my system consisted of a Sansui AU 9500 integrated, Thorens TD160 with Grace 707 and Supex SD900 Super. Speakers were a woodworking project with my father. JBL 15" woofer with 15" passive radiator, along with a JBL horn midrange and tweeter.
My room was 10' x 10'.
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cgtomash,
Why didn't you get another system since way back then?
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I can trace every piece of gear I own to my first cheap stereo system, I never started with a clean sheet, I always upgraded one thing at a time. I learned a lot doing that way over the decades.
russ69, that is absolutely brilliant. It's like the guy who owns a vintage 1954 Porsche Speedster ... who has replaced the seats, the engine, the chassis .... Seriously, talk about lineage!
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In 1979, I became a proud owner of a Bryston 4B, paired up with the Apt Holman preamp, Rega Planar 3 turntable with an Ultracraft AC-30 tonearm. The cartridge was a Supex SDX-1000 with a Jeremiah Braithwaite ST-17 Phono Amp. All this going to a pair of Shurlyn 820 speakers.
I had a pair of Energy 22 Reference monitor speakers on loan until the Shurlyns had some modifications to them for better sound. I also had a Connoisseur BD2 turntable until I received the Rega. I still have the Connoisseur today.
Unfortunately my system and about 130 vinyl albums were stolen in 1981...
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Great topic.
My first two systems were MCS or Modular Component Systems back around 1974 or so. Don’t remember much about the model numbers but my second system had a MCS 3233 receiver, 33 WPC. Had MCS speakers, turntable, cassette deck, headphones. Also a Realistic 5-band EQ. Wired up with the included interconnects and upgraded 18-guage zip wire. System sounded great and this second system was put together around 1976. Totally enjoyed it but it did push me to move on to a high end system after that one. Mowed lawns and did odd jobs like land scaping and working in restaurants to finance my audio fix.
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The mid 70's were a time when a teen with a dream and some side job/hustle could walk into one of the ubiquitous stereo stores that were around and say- one day. And the dudes who worked in the stores, often half stoned, didn't mind the company
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1976 bought at the PX in Torrejon Spain. Sanusi 9090,Pioneer PL530 Tt, Teac 5500a RR, Pioneer CTF 8282 cassette deck and four Sansui 7500SP speakers. Rocking the casbah. The neighbors loved it. I still have it all.
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@ghdprentice
Clearly you have put a lot of research into that system… it should be a very detailed and revealing system.
Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I have a ridiculously large spreadsheet w over 100 tabs of researched product comparisons. I wanted a transparent, linear, neutral system which will help future component upgrade evaluations like when I move up to better DACs.
I also wanted to explore tube magic (colorization?) so got a flea watt 300b and will likely get Volti Rival 100db speakers (seems relatively linear/neutral for a high efficiency speaker)- bummer price just increased by $3k recently
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First system, way back in 1971 was a Sansui 20wpc receiver, Rectilinear 1A speakers, BSR record changer with a Shure cartridge and a Sony cassette deck (pre Dolby B). System was around $575.00 give or take a little. Speakers were connected with 16 gauge lamp cords and the RCA cables were a couple of bucks per pair. I listened to Tull, Zeppelin, ELP, Floyd, Yes , etc. I bought everything brand new with the money I saved over the summer from working at Burger Chef. I felt like I was on top of the world.
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Heathkit hifi separates -- power amp, preamp, and AM tuner. A Garrard record changer. I watched Dad solder together the Heathkit components at the kitchen table. Of course, the Heathkit stuff was all tube, as trannies had yet to make their way out of cheap, drugstore-bought AM radios. Monophonic, of course. I can't remember the cartridge brand but it had a switchable needle when you wanted to play a now-obsolete 78. Was it a Shure? As for the speaker, I'm pretty sure it was a Utah. Boy did I love that thing! Naturally, I played my sister's Elvis singles, but my favorite records were a Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony and a "This is Hi-Fi!" demonstration record that featured a recently-released recording by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony.
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Telefunken tube console stereo was my first system in late 70s
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Fiesta75 - that sounds remarkably like my first real system circa 1976, Sherwood receiver (second hand from a college buddy), BIC turntable with Empire cartridge (Christmas gift from my parents), and large Advent speakers (bought with my first real paycheck). The speakers stayed around the longest. I sold them when I got a pair of Magneplanars in 1987. Music was Allman Brothers, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, etc.
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About 1961. All in one record player, preamp,amp and speaker. I was about 9-10.
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Probably 1967 or 68. Garrard 40B, Sansui 350 receiver (or is $350 what I paid for the set up?) and 12" Utah speakers.
A dear friend of mine got KLH speakers, a Scott receiver, and the original AR turntable.
Mine played louder and deeper, but his made music.
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My first jump up to hi-fi in the early 70s was when I sold my Bose 901s and bought a stacked pair of Infinity 1001As with a Harman Kardon Citation amp, using my Pioneer receiver as the pre-amp. 4 twelve inch woofers really got my ELP albums thumping.
I can trace every piece of gear I own to my first cheap stereo system, I never started with a clean sheet, I always upgraded one thing at a time. I learned a lot doing that way over the decades.
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Sherwood s7910, large Advents, BIC 960, Teac 250. Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin and Cat Stevens.
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1969 (Just in time for Led Zeppelin!):
Kenwood KR-77 low-power (18 wpc) SS receiver
Allied Radio Horn speakers (12 inch woofer) similar to my current Forte 4s
Gerrard SL-95B TT with Pickering cartridge (I think)
Red and white RCA interconnects with zip cord speaker wire
Pure heaven when you're 16 years old!
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@kennyc
Clearly you have put a lot of research into that system… it should be a very detailed and revealing system.
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Fun topic! 1977 for me as well. Amazingly, my parents surprised me with it, probably for my birthday. (I wonder if they later regretted it!) It was a Harmon Kardon 330c receiver, a Garrard 55b turntable ... and Acoustic Research speakers, though I can't remember the model. Mostly I remember the green lights on the receiver. I bought Get Yer Ya-Yas Out and Zep2, added some Koss headphones, and never looked back....
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After 6yrs in depth research, I’m almost done putting my first bucket list high end audio system together. Constellation Inspiration Pre and Stereo Amp, Chord MScalar, Denafrips Terminator, Innuos Zenith, VPI Avenger, Lyra Etna, VDH Grail SB, SR grounding block, EquiTech 1.5, TimberNation and HRS racks, Kimber Palladium PCs, Tara Labs speaker cable. Only have Magico A5 and remaining cables to purchase to get things running. Also started to put my second flea watt system together with my purchase of Coincident Frankenstein 300B amps. Buying used whenever I can to save $.
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My first system was a Lafayette’s LR3500 and Lafayette T1000 turntable with Lafayette 3 ways all for $600 new. Crazy my interconnect are more than that….
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First system was in the mid 70's and consisted of Marantz 2230 receiver, Pioneer PL-10D turntable, Empire cartridge, Creative Lab Standard speakers. My next step up was a NAD 3140 integrated amp and Large Advent speakers. The jump in sonics really got me hooked. :)
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Yes… progress.
I think my first system was centered around a Marantz 2040 integrated amp (I still have it), Philips turntable… and I don’t remember the speakers… 1972… I’m guessing $500… same as one semester of tuition.
Every few years my system improved. My first real high end amp I took out my first loan to buy: $5K… Threshold S500. In today’s dollars $18,800! 1980. My current amp is $22K, preamp is $17K…. And performance wise… there is no comparison… different universes. So similar prices and incredible performance increases.
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