Who remembers audio from the time when ...

Caught the audio bug from my surrogate big brother, who came back from Vietnam with Dynaco, Garrard, Teac RtoR, and honkin' Pioneer (15" woofer!) speakers, not to mention a ton of classic rock.  When your friends are listening to The Archies and you're trying to introduce them to The Doors, it can make for some interesting dynamics.  Saved money from summer jobs and in HS bought my first real system:  Kenwood KA6006 integrated, BIC 960 turntable with Stanton 681EEE cartridge, Pioneer CTF2121 cassette deck, and Electro-Voice ETR-18 speakers.   By then the friends had discarded The Archies and I have great memories of many nights of listening to classic rock, progressive rock, blues, and a bit of fusion.  The joy of listening hasn't diminished over the years...

My parents had a Magnavox cabinet phonograph with 2 12" woofers! It was stocked with all Broadway show records that they had been to as well as Sinatra records.  They had seen him live many times at the Rustic Lodge in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.  Well, I played the crap outa that thing, hence I know all the popular show tunes from the 60's.  Bought my first album at Sam Goodys it was Cream "Disraeli Gears", 1968.  My parents hated it. So, I got my first stereo for Christmas that year, a Philco all in
one, fold down turntable, detachable speakers, sounded horrible.  So I decided to add some speakers to it.  Scavenged the surrounding neighborhood for thrown out stereos and cabinet TVs.  On my bicycle with my tool bag I managed to get quite a collection of speakers over time.  Started to gang them together in parallel and the inevitable happened, I smoked the Philco literally.  That was the beginning of a long journey, no one around me at the time could understand why I would spend so much time trying to get better sound.  My better half totally gets it and is very supportive and a good listener.  One day you find yourself with many tens-of-thousands of dollars in audio and realize what a long strange trip its been.

To directly answer the question posed by davesandbag ………. I do! 

I am lucky enough to still own almost every piece of audio gear I ever purchased, minus the Garrard SL-72B turntable with Shure M93-E cartridge. The mechanicals wore out and I set it out for the trash. I still regret it.

I also inherited a number of older Heathkit tube amplifiers from my father when he passed including a pair of Heathkit A7-E tube amps and a pair of Heathkit A9-C tube amps.

I still have my very first Symphonic stereo which had just a turntable with ceramic cartridge, built in amp with volume, tone and balance controls and two fold out wing speakers. My first upgrade was a switch to a Pickering magnetic cartridge and a small preamp to boost the signal level to one that could be used with the built in amp.

Then came speaker systems I built from plans in Popular Mechanics. Then the Lafayette KT-630 stereo tube amp built from a kit in junior high electronics shop. The Garrard SL-72B turntable and Shure M93-E cartridge. Then the Fisher 210-T AM/FM stereo receiver, the ADC 303AX speakers and Ampex 761 open reel. The Teac V95RX reversing cassette deck. The Heathkit AD-1304 active audio processor. The ADC Sound Shaper 20, A pair of Heathkit AA-1640 amps, Heathkit AP-1615 preamp, Heathkit AD-1307 power meters and Heathkit AD-1305 equalizer. The entire collection of the Heathkit Pro-Series audio gear, including a pair of the AA-1800 power amps, the AD-1702 electronic crossover, the AD-1308 spectrum analyzer, the AD-1309 white & pink noise generator, the AD-1706 active audio processor, the AD-1703 equalizer, the AD-1701 graphic output indicator, the AP-1800 preamp, the AJ-1600 tuner and the AE-1705 rolling audio rack. Can’t forget the Heathkit AD-1013 audio scope. A pair of Heathkit AS-101 (Altec) speaker systems. Technics SL1700MKII DD turntable with Audio Technica AT155LC cartridge. Also somewhere in there was the ADC Accutrac 4000 turntable. 

Along the way, in no particular order, I must also include my Pioneer SX-1980 AM/FM stereo receiver, Pioneer RG-2 audio processor, Pioneer SR-303 reverb with time tunnel display, ADC Sound Shaper SS-412X and ADC Sound Shaper SS-450X, Empire 8000P speakers, Harman Kardon HK-50 speakers, Marantz 2250B AM/FM stereo receiver, Marantz 4300 AM/FM stereo receiver, Marantz 4400 AM/FM stereo receiver.

After that, came the current set-up!

It’s funny, as much as I like all my current gear, I still enjoy owning and listening to the old gear. Not all of it is set up, nor is it all fully functional, but most of it is. Now that I am retired, I have begun repairing and/or restoring it. 

Never before have I bought so many electrolytic capacitors and discrete transistors! 

Thank god I don’t have any other hobbies as intense as this one, I’d be broke! 

Although wives and kids are pretty expensive. Probably even more so that audio equipment! :-D

Acquiring my sisters abandoned mono Dansett record player in the late 60’s, I fitted a stereo cartridge and ran one channel to a small guitar amplifier. Sounded OK - just, but it did achieve separation suiting the left/right recordings of the day. Later additions at Uni were Kef Kit speakers which looked far better than they sounded, and a Heathkit amplifier still using the old Dansett platter wired like Frankenstein. As with Barts "I smoked the Philco literally" this produced an impressive bang and smoke whilst departing this earth. First real system was Pioneer PL12D, Yamaha receiver - all purchased on the strength of magazine ’reviews’, and still the old Kef Kit speakers. Small success in business led to Quad ESL63, quad 402, meridian 101 pre, and Rega Planar 3 - again all purchased blind from magazine reviews. 35 years later morphed into the current system, learning to listen before buying and take a critical (jealous?) mate with you and music you know really well. Also pay the dealer price for peace of mind and don’t import (story for another time).

Great stories, everybody!  I've told mine in other threads but here's the compressed version with a few additions.
1950's -- Dad has mountain of 78's, 45's & 33's.  Plays 'em on a one-box record changer.  Me and older sis have a brightly colored kiddie 78er.  Later, Dad builds Heathkit hifi on kitchen table.  All separates, including AM tuner.
Early 1960's.  Dad takes me downtown to hifi show at Ambassador Hotel (I grow up in L.A.).  Both wowed by stereophonic.  Dad buys big Kenwood receiver for 'self. I get the Heathkit.  Later, Dad gets me a smaller Kenwood stereo receiver which I hook to mismatched speakers.
Early 1970's.  I visit my best buddy, who's in college at Berkeley.  His stereo is so superior to mine, I must go shopping.  I wind up with KEF Corelli's, which I hook to the Kenwood but which I properly align and place on stands.  In time, I inherit my dad's mountain of vinyl and shellac.
Switch to today.  Retired.  Living on an island.  Dedicated audio room/man cave.  Tweek-a-zoid electrical outlets.  Nola Boxers aligned/fine-tuned by ear.  Tons of vinyl and CDs.  Totally addicted to streaming.  But my stereo ain't working!!!!  The PrimaLuna has blown a fuse and nobody on the island sells the proper replacement. No luck at the local auto parts stores.  I guess I'll just have to sit tight until the box of mail-order fuses arrives and can see if the problem with the 'Luna is actually serious.