I can't recall models, but1981 Technics TT, Receiver and speakers. The cheap entry level ones. The TT was an SL model with an Audio Technica cartridge.
your first system-
I put together my first system in 1977- turntable, receiver, speakers and a cassette deck- $600. An on-line inflation calculator tells me that is $2760 in 2022 dollars. I am sure a current $1500 streaming based system can be assembled that would demolish my 1977 system. That's what I call real progress!
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1990 the year I graduated college. A pair of Def Tech BP10’s, a gorgeous built like a tank Pioneer Elite receiver and a Sony ES 5 CD carousel. Purchased from my first experience with a high end retailer called The Listening Room in Scarsdale, NY. I still have the BP10’s in my storage room and I gave the Elite receiver and Sony carousel away in 2018 to our movers. I wasn’t using them for years but They both still worked 28 years later. |
1995. I was living in Allentown, New Jersey at the time. I decided I wanted to ditch the Kenwood integrated amp and get a true hifi system. I was just starting my career in design so I didn’t have a lot of money. Luckily the local stereo retailer took trade ins. I had recently bought a Paradigm passive subwoofer from them and decided to trade it back in with some recently acquired Infinity speakers from a big box retailer. I came home with a Carver TFM-15 amp and two Paradigm 2-way monitor series speakers with 8" speakers. My CD player could go directly into the Carver and I could use the the 2 gain knobs for volume control. I was expecting sooooo much when I first played a CD on it and...I was entirely underwhelmed. There was a lot to learn. I still have the amp...it went a good 20+ years before needing service. It’s now my garage system. With a good preamp in front of it, it sounds pretty good I must say. |
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1976 Sony 80 wpc STR-6800, Marantz 6800 TT, Infinity 1001A's (rear firing tweeter) and a BIC two speed cassette tape deck 1980 First "real" one was a Hafler 500 Amp and Carver Holographic Pre, B&O BeoGram TT, Nakamichi Tape Deck, a Pair of Infinity Column II’s (Transmission line) and a Miller Kreisel Triangular shaped subwoofer. It was in a very small living room and that thing ROCKED ! |
Well, the first system is a bit of an throwback to 1978-1979...it's also still intact and plays daily. Even have the original boxes for it all. Near mint condition. Yup, good stuff they made back then. This is my secondary system today. Sony STR-V45 receiver. Acculab 440 and 320 pairs. Dual CS606 TT. ADC Soundshaper one ten. If I recall correctly there was also a Sharp cassette deck that didn't last 3 years . |
@kennyc, you may want to reconsider your speaker choice since you already have Constellation amps. I heard from a reputable source who has Magico S7’s that every time heard Magicos paired with Constellation amps, which happened numerous times going to dealerships and HiFi shows, the rigs sounded absolutely terrible.
I got a great deal on NAT Generator monoblocks. looking forward to hearing what they do in the system.
Good luck! |
@zavato I have the PAs, and I have two Dyna Mark IIIs, and the Lafayette tuner. the rest is all gone. |
A Technics SA-500, JVC QL-A2 turntable with Audio Technica cartridge, and 3D Acoustics sub/sat which was one of the first affordable sub/sat systems and had a very good review in Stereo Review. Speakers were $400. Receiver was about $275. I don't remember what the turntable cost, but I think the cartridge was about $50. Later I upgraded it to a $250 Shure V-15 Type V, but soon thereafter replaced the turntable with an NAD. I wouldn't think it would take more than a $400 pair of powered studio monitors and an $8 DAC hooked to my phone to blow it away now.
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In 1978 I bought a pair of Boothroyd Stuart Meridian 105 monos and matching 101B preamp with an Oracle tt (the second ever produced, first after the prototype) with Dynavector Ruby cart driving a pair of KEF 105s. Cost at the time was $7000.00. That was sota at the time and I really don't think sq has come much further imo. What would 30 grand do now? Probably about the same. Could you hear the difference between a 10,000.00 dollar tt vs one ten times that cost in an ABX today? Maaaybe. |
Thank God for student loans!!!! Walked into my local stereo store in Santa Barbara Ca. ..in 1976, and dropped about 1000.00 on a Yamaha cr 800 reciever, a Nakamichi 550 cassette deck and some ADS speakers....when I got every thing home, it turned out the Nakamichi was defective.....so the next dayI took it back, and upgraded to the 600 model.I already had a Phillips 202 electronic turntable.......... I wish I still had the speakers...but I blew out the tweeters after 10 years.... |
@mammothguy54 the Monster Cable was a big deal till it started to turn green! |
@unreceivedogma Do you still have any of the Dynamo stuff? Over the decades I have had ST70’s, FM3’s and various Dyna preamps come and go; I wish I would have kept an ST70’s and an FM3. |
A Sony quadraphonic system that I purchased at a going out of business auction. Sadly, it was when catalog sales put the last audio store in our town out of business. I waited the entire auction with my mom for that system to go on the block. It was the very last thing auctioned off and everyone were already up and forming a line to pick up their winnings except mom and a middle aged man who gave up when it hit $100 and I got my stereo. It took an entire season of berry picking to pay for it but it was worth every second on my knees in mud with rain on my back picking strawberries, in the rain picking cucumbers, and sweating in full sun wearing long sleeved shirts to protect my arms while picking raspberries. |
Your system is damnably close to a system I actually had at one time...as my dad would regularly hand down stuff that was a victim of his upgrade-itis. The Wollensak reel-to-reel. The Kenwood KW-40, which I remember first seeing at the L.A. Hi Fi Show at the Ambassador Hotel. The Dual TT...but with one of the cheaper Shure cartridges. |
@4krowme "This is when I learned that if want something bad enough, you have to work for it. That lesson payed off very well." I wish the more current generations would learn this lesson. No offense to others, just saying nothing should be free. Work hard and reap the rewards. |
Probably about in 1961 I got a Kenner plug and play type of record player. I was fascinated by the steel needle and horn type design. Plus, you could put little army men on it and they would fall off when you started it up! My next set up wasn't much better. This is when I learned that if want something bad enough, you have to work for it. That lesson payed off very well. |
OK, I'm really dating myself now...in 1971 when I went off to college, I was interested in becoming a computer programmer and remember being told "garbage in, garbage out". With that in mind, relative to audio systems, I thought it best to put more into my source equipment with the very limited dollars I had to work with. |
@ejr1953 There is a purity about your original system- simple, classic. |
At about 10 years of age I convinced my patents to get me an all-in-one stereo. You know, the lid opens up to reveal a record player, the speakers fold out and you then lift them off of the hinges and about 8 feet of wire comes out of a small porthole in the speakers so you can spread them across the room, making for "stereo". That started my journey. In 1973 I bought my first real hi-fi system. A Marantz 2270 receiver, a Philips GA-212 turntable, Stanton 681-EE cartridge, Koss Pro-4AA headphones, and a pair of 12" 3-way speakers (can't remember the name) that was a brand Altec bought in order to sell box speakers with a dome tweeter. Each year I made a change, for instance, moving up to an Audio Technica AT-15SA cartridge, then a Soundcraftsman dual 12-band EQ. This system lasted until 1978. That's when I made a major step up by getting a full component system. A big stack of Accuphase consisting of a T-100 tuner, C-200 preamp, P300 power amp, a B&O turntable with upgraded MMC-6000 CL cartridge, and McIntosh 12" 4-way speakers. Two years later I added a second P-300 power amp and Infinity active X-over to drive a set of Infinity RS-2.5 speakers. Then a Micro Seiki turntable and tonearm, Ortofon MC cartridge and Luxman SUT. Everyone wanted to party at my house! I've been hooked ever since. I put together a home theater system for while the kids were growing up. Real hi-fi took a back seat for a good number of years. Now, in retirement, I am building a higher resolution and very satisfying hi-fidelity music system. Not yet complete but getting there. And the journey in life continues... |
What started my journey was an old table-top AM radio my uncle gave me at age 6 or so. One day I was listening to it and laying on my bed, I reached over to turn it up and pushed it off the night stand - I heard a breaking of glass and that was the end of my tube audio experience!
(moved on to buy two MCS systems, then Soundcraftsmen, McIntosh, and now most recently a full TAD Evolution system.) |
I started the hi fi audio journey back in the late 70s was my brother's system with a stack of Marantz pre/power/turner 3200/140/104 (or may be 105), a Technic DD TT and a pair of AR 11 or 12 speakers. My first system, Mac MC2505 amp (maybe MC2105 can't remember), Mac C26 preamp, B&O TX2 TT, Teac tape deck and a pair of Design Acoustics PS-10A speaker. I wish I have kept that pair of Mac! |
Well, my first audio device was a transistor radio purchased in 1960. I was 11 years old. My father co-signed for a loan at the JC Penneys store. Had to use my parents console stereo throughout Jr high and high school. First real system was purchased on Okinawa 1970, Pioneer 63DX speakers, Sansui AU555 Integrated, Dual 1219 TT with Shure V15 type II cartridge, Teac RtoR deck. Owned that system till 1982. Wasn't in possession of it over many of those years as I spent much time traveling trying to find myself.
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roxy54, I used the money to buy a 1969 Ford Thunderbird 2-door with a 429 engine with the insurance money. I have mixed feelings about not replacing my stereo, but I also don't regret buying the car as there are many, many good memories in it!
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