| nobody special |
Maybe this has been posted already, but I was just a little curious...
What was everybody's first stereo (or "hi-fi", there may be some here who pre-date stereo) system? How old were you? How did it get you interested in audio?
I am 27, so mine isn't exactly "classic". When I was about 8, my parents bought me a Marantz receiver, tape deck, turntable, and some speakers for Christmas. I had already wore out 2 or 3 of those cheap record players, and was continually messing with my parents system- recording cassette copies of lps to play back on my portable panasonic cassette player (used to carry it everywhere) that I got after my sister "rinsed off" my portable AM radio while swimming at the lake.
Here's the details:
The receiver: Marantz SR221- your basic 40wpc stereo receiver. It is still working- my dad is running his TV through it. It has never even been recaped!
Cassette- basic Marantz single well- analog counter, mechanical mechanism, dolby B. Dual record level dials.
Turntable- Marantz direct drive with AT (i think??) cartridge.
Speakers- two way- 10" woofer- 3" cone tweeter. Trying to remember the name- RTR I think. Closed box. Great bass (even if a little exaggerated)
It wasn't a bad sounding system at the time (wasn't great, but for an 8 year old?). By the time I was starting high school, I had managed to collect about 150 LP's, bought with newspaper delivery route and birthday money. My parents have always been really supportive of my passion for music. I hope to be able to pass it on to my kids some day (if they're interested, of course).
Sorry if this is cheesy- just thinking about Christmas' past, you know?
-NS |
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| cyclotronguy |
Well, I went over the edge pretty darn quick. Back around 1972 I bought a Sony 6045 receiver and hooked it up to a pair of old HH Scott speakers, additional inputs were a Sony 7" reel to reel and pioneer turntable.
Two years later is was all replaced by a used system, state of the art for the time. MacIntosh pre-amp/tuner, Mac poweramp,
KLH-9 electrostats, Transcriptors hydraulic reference TT and a new Revox 77 reel to reel. Kept that system for many years.
Cyclotronguy |
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| jackinnj |
| mine was a Pioneer SX838 (which has a great tuner, I still own it), AR3a's, DUAL turntable -- the latter two pieces are gone in the mysts of time. |
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| JBL |
err... hehe
It was something my grandmother was having. I still hae som component of it.
The most important part of it is that it was my first experience with a turntable. Fall in love the indtant I've made a sound come out of it. Wasn't a good one so I can imagine what a good TT sound like. |
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| SY |
My first "store bought" system was all Dyna and AR: PAS 3 and ST-70 (kits), A-25, and AR-XA. IIRC, I was using a Stanton cartridge. I upgraded the speakers to Rectilinear IIIs, then added another pair when quad came along.
Am I showing my age? |
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| SuppersReady |
This was a Garrard SP25 Mark VI, through a Rogers Cadet III integrated valve amp, with some baby Wharfedales (pre-Diamonds). This was about age 15. It took just eight years to get to a Linn LP12 and Naim amps, via a great many changes. The word upgrade did not apply to some of those changes.
A word about manufacturers model improvements, the Mark VI Garrard was quickly replaced by a friend's Mark II which sounded, IMHO, far better. It must have been quite a few years older too! Everybody's ears are different!!
Regards
Paul |
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| dorkus |
| my first "very own" system i assembled in 1995 while in music school... a pair of Tannoy 605 2-way monitors, Rega Brio integrated amp, Radio Shack Optimus CD-3400 discman (cult favorite at the time), and homemade cables. everything wound up being modified within a couple months, so the DIY bug bit me early. apart from the Radio Shack i still have everything, i use the Rega as my rear channel amp. still good-sounding stuff. hmm, wonder what i did with the Optimus, i can't recall... |
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| pinkmouse |
Celestion Ditton 100 mk II speakers, Dual 505 TT, and a NAD 3040 amp.
Of which I still have the speakers left, I gave the NAD away, and the Dual got trashed in a house move.
Ahh... Those were the days... I could carry all my system round in one go when moving, now I can't even carry one side of the bass and mid/ high cabinets at once:) |
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| dorkus |
| yeah, my system used to be very portable, the cd player, amp, and all cables fit in my backpack and the speakers are not so big. a simpler time... i might even argue i enjoyed the music even more back then than i do now. audiophile neurosis is a terrible disease. |
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| roddyama |
My first system was a Hitachi receiver stereo system I bought in high school back in the late '60's (the time had just past when they would advertise how many transistors were in a piece of equipment). I also bought a Garrard turntable with a Shure phono cartridge. The cartridge wouldn’t work until I bought a Sherwood tube phono pre-amp. The music was like magic.:note: :cloud9: :note:
Rodd Yamashita |
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| eLarson |
I was bit by the music bug from age 3 or 4. My first
system came when I was 10 or so. It was my dad's
old H. H. Scott 388 receiver (about 60Wpc, IIRC)
and a couple of Archer (or maybe they were from
Lafayette?) 6" drivers that I left in the cardboard
boxes. They didn't sound as good as my dad's AR
2ax's, though. Not by a long stretch... but they
were MINE!
Later I was able to finagle him out of his ARs (I
guess I was about 14 or 15 by then). When the CD
era began some years later I got his Elac/Benjamin-
Miracord turntable! Loved that!
When a wire popped loose on one of the ARs, I
bought my first speakers: Epicure Model 4s. Still
have them in my downstairs system. Still enjoy
them, actually.
The Scott is long gone (wanted to save the walnut
cabinet for a project--too late!). I wonder if those
old ARs are kicking around.
I'm SURE I can fix them this time...
Erik |
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| dkemppai |
Quasar all in one Unit. Dual Tape (dolby), digital PLL tuner, and shortly after a 5 disc CD changer. Amp is rated at 100W Avg/Ch, with on demand fan cooling. Came with a set of quasar bookshelf 3-way. speakers (Which with a good amp are very good speakers)
DIY bug... ....The quasar sounded good until I built my first amp, a 450W Agv. DC coupled amplifier. Since then I hurts my ears to listen to the Quasar!!! The DIY Amp... ...it's still mounted on the same chunk of wood I first tested it on about 6 years ago. (Getting married, buying house...)
Since the quasar now hurts my ears, I have not listened to music in the last 6 years (not much anyway). The new amp also turned me off to most of my CD collection, only a pro test CD was up to par with the amp...
...sometimes I wish I'd never built the dumb thing!
-Dan |
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| Dennis Hui |
I finally got my own audio equipment in 1993.
The system consisted of a Marantz CD52 player,
Sonographe SC22 preamp and SA150 amp and
Paradigm 9se speakers. I still have all this stuff. |
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| SkinnyBoy |
My first stereo was a Realistic STA-225 AM-FM stereo reciever, a Challenge Solid State Reciever Mark IVA, and a pair of Acculab 550 speakers... I got them when a was 15... hmm, that was last year.. :D
Ohh, yeah, and my subwoofer... :)
The Challenge amp will give about 65watts into 8ohms... (with only 1 channel driven...
The Acculab speakers are total rubbish... bad bass, bad trebble, bad midrange.. :) |
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| nobody special |
Thanks guys... great stuff.
-NS |
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