[jack]

Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!

[[email protected]]

jack wrote:

Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they
started out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too
much money --

My first real system was purchased when I was in the Army at a large audio
store for GI's who were stationed in Europe. It consisted of a set of JBL
L-100s (my barracks mate bought AR 3's which we switched between depending
upon our mood), a Pioneer SA-9100 integrated amp, and two turntables: an AR
with Shure M-91E, and a Dual 1229 with V-15 III.

My first so-called high end system consisted of a set of tall, slender
Acoustat panel speakers. I'd been using an Amber Series 70 amplifier with
Polk model 10s, but the damn thing kept blowing up when connected to the
Acoustats. So I replaced it with their own TNT-200 FET amp (along with a
Counterpoint SA-3 tube preamp). There were no CD's in those days; I used a
Denon DP-75 on a large base with two tonearms: a Grace 707 (with a
Highphonic MC); and a Denon 307 tonearm (with a 103D MC cartridge). I had
a Marcof pre-preamp (a little battery powered device which I later
understood to be a shameless rip off of Marshall Leach's Audio Magazine
design project), and a PS Audio pre preamp.

mp

[bob]

jack wrote:
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!

1978:

Technics SA-200 25w/ch receiver
BMI 2A speakers
Aiwa AD-1250 cassette deck

Up till then, I'd been listening to prerecorded cassettes on a mono
tape recorder, hence the rather odd choice of source component. A
friend later gave me an old Technics direct drive turntable with a
Stanton 681EEE cart.

bob

[record hunter]

jack wrote:
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!

In 7th grade, something that looked like a suitcase when it was folded
up.

12th grade-1st college, Lafayette.

2nd college stereo, KLH (my mom liked the Lafayette stuff, so she
bought me a new stereo for college).

3rd college, Scott components and a Dual turntable.

three years out of college, SettonH-Klarge Advents

Some years later, Kyocera/Magnepan

now, RegaDenonParadigm

[---MIKE---]

Miller AM tuner (from a kit), homemade preamp, homemade copy of a Brook
amplifier (2A3 output tubes, UTC transformers) Utah 12 inch speaker in a
bass reflex cabinet. This was in the mid forties. I lived in New York
(Queens) and listened to the Toscanini broadcasts from studio 8H. Where
the audio did not have to go over long distance telephone lines, I could
detune the tuner and get good highs from the sidebands. The Sunday
afternoon NY Phil broadcasts were also very good.

---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

[David E. Bath]

In article ,
"jack" writes:
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!


During college in the mid 70s my first system was a all Radio Shack
Quadraphonic with a RS turntable.

Later in the 70s I assembled a system with Advent Loudspeakers, a
Kenwood KA-7100 integrated amp (DC coupled, dual power supplies, 60W),
and a Kenwood KD-3070 turntable with a Ortofon VMS20E Mk II.

--
David Bath - RAHE Co-moderator

[[email protected]]

record hunter wrote:

In 7th grade, something that looked like a suitcase when it was folded
up.

My parents had one of those things and it was our first record player. Ours
had a cheap ceramic (I guess) cartridge with a flip over needle for playing
either Lps or 78s. But even back then I don't think anyone had any 78s.
It was my first introduction to recorded music. It must not have sounded
very good, but at the time it was a great thing to have.

mp

[record hunter]

wrote:
record hunter wrote:

In 7th grade, something that looked like a suitcase when it was folded
up.

My parents had one of those things and it was our first record player. Ours
had a cheap ceramic (I guess) cartridge with a flip over needle for playing
either Lps or 78s. But even back then I don't think anyone had any 78s.
It was my first introduction to recorded music. It must not have sounded
very good, but at the time it was a great thing to have.

mp

I wish I'd realized my parents would have sprung for something better,
but at the time, I enjoyed the hell out of it. We bought it at the same
store where we'd bought our refrigerator, TV, washer & dryer, etc. It
was for Christmas, the year Kennedy got shot, and it's what I played
all my Beatles albums and Supremes 45s on.

I've always been happier when I'm collecting music, rather than fussing
over stereo equipment.

[JimC]

Mine was pre-stereo. A 10-watt Knight-kit that I wired together; a
turntable with a ceramic (forgot the manufacturer) cartridge; and a
12-inch coaxial (house brand) speaker purchased at the audio shack in
Ciscero, Ill, mounted in a corner enclosure that I assembled from a kit.
OK, it doesn't sound like much of a system now, but aren't lots of
today's high-end systems tube-based with vinyl sources? (If I understand
the story correctly, J A rejected double-blind testing for Stereophile
partially because he discovered that he liked a tubed amplifier more
than a SS unit that was favored in dbt tests.)

In any event, the dynamics of that 10-watt system played through the
corner horn enclosure were enough to get me hooked on audio for many years.

Jim

jack wrote:
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!

[Santos L Halper]

David E. Bath wrote in message
...
In article ,
"jack" writes:
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they
started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy
horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never
noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!


During college in the mid 70s my first system was a all Radio Shack
Quadraphonic with a RS turntable.

Later in the 70s I assembled a system with Advent Loudspeakers, a
Kenwood KA-7100 integrated amp (DC coupled, dual power supplies, 60W),
and a Kenwood KD-3070 turntable with a Ortofon VMS20E Mk II.

--
David Bath - RAHE Co-moderator


1977 - system paid for w/ money saved from paper route:

Technics SA-5070 receiver (15 wpc)
BIC 920 turntable
AcoustiPhase "MicroPhase" speakers

Santos

[Dennman6]

jack wrote:
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they started
out with-

My first system was purchased in Oct.1979, when I was 17, from Radio
Shack:

STA-52B receiver, 16 wrms per channel(still have it, still works)
LAB 24A turntable(rim drive, Shure/RS R47 cartridge, drop-down
changer-still have it, keep it for the 78 speed)
SCT-31 cassette deck(clunky 'piano' keys, Dolby B-gave it to my brother
in 1983 after replacing it with a Sharp RT-150, which I still have)
Minimus-9 speakers(8inch woofer, 2inch tweeter, 10 wrms-gave to
brother)

Later 'upgraded' this system with a LAB-50 belt-drive turntable(33 &35
only, synchronous motor, Shure/RS R47 cartridge) & Zenith Allegro 1000
speakers. Finally got new gear in 1994(Pioneer SX-203, JBL speakers,
Sony cassette deck with Dolby S, Grundig PS-2500 turntable with Audio
Technica cartridge, Pioneer Laserdisc player, Technics equalizer.

Upgraded again in 2000 with a better Pioneer receiver, Infinity tower
speakers, Pioneer PDR-W739 CD recorder,
Technics 1200 turntable; kept the Sony cassette deck & also bought a
newer one. Then bought two other Sony CD recorders in 2002 & 2005.

Even at 17 I knew I could get better equipment for the money, but my
parents were dead set against my spending my supermarket stockboy money
on something 'frivolous'. We lived near Syracuse, NY where the big
audio dealers were Gordon's Stereo & Sounds Great, Inc(both long gone,
one is now an Asian supermarket). But since my parents wouldn't drive
me to these places to get gear, I got my system at Radio Shack-because
it was on a busline, & I could sneak the stuff home piece by piece. I
cut out my last two periods in high school so I could get to RS on the
S&O bus & have the gear home before my parents got back from work. It
took me four trips to get it all. Once they realized I'd done it anyway
WITHOUT their help, they were resigned to it. But at Christmas I'd run
extension speakers out to the living room & play their Perry Como
records & they seemed pleased. Plus the RS system sounded better than
their 1959 Motorola Golden Throat High Fidelity phonograph with the
Sonotone 8TA cartridge that tracked between 6-8 grams(which I still
have & use for 78s).

Dennis Forkel

[Bob]

"Santos L Halper" wrote in message
...
David E. Bath wrote in message
...
In article ,
"jack" writes:
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they
started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy
horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never
noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!


During college in the mid 70s my first system was a all Radio Shack
Quadraphonic with a RS turntable.

Later in the 70s I assembled a system with Advent Loudspeakers, a
Kenwood KA-7100 integrated amp (DC coupled, dual power supplies, 60W),
and a Kenwood KD-3070 turntable with a Ortofon VMS20E Mk II.

--
David Bath - RAHE Co-moderator


1977 - system paid for w/ money saved from paper route:

Technics SA-5070 receiver (15 wpc)
BIC 920 turntable
AcoustiPhase "MicroPhase" speakers

Santos
1971..
EPI 100 speakers ( the real wood ones)
Marantz 1060 integrated amp
Marantz 110 tuner
Phillips GA212 turntable with Audio Technica AT15S cartridge
Great sound....even comparing to a lot of today's moderately priced stuff.
Bob
PS hopefully this post will show up...for some reason they never do!!!

[[email protected]]

record hunter wrote:

wrote:

My parents had one of those things and it was our first record player...

I wish I'd realized my parents would have sprung for something better,
but at the time, I enjoyed the hell out of it. We bought it at the same
store where we'd bought our refrigerator, TV, washer & dryer, etc. It
was for Christmas, the year Kennedy got shot, and it's what I played
all my Beatles albums and Supremes 45s on.

I've always been happier when I'm collecting music, rather than fussing
over stereo equipment.

Funny, that was about the time my folks bought ours. I remember the old man
loading us all up in the Rambler and driving to a large supermarket. Back
then, almost every place sold records, and that's where we went to buy
ours.

One of our first records was a copy of some German waltz by Reiner and the
CSO, on RCA. It was only much later that I realized this Lp was engineered
by Lewis Layton, and is considered an audiophile gold standard. By the
time I knew anything about THAT, the record had been destroyed from years
of playing with the sapphire needle. The old man was pretty tight with his
money, so when the Lp needle wore out we just flipped the thing over and
played records using the 78 needle. In those days, it didn't matter.

I, too, have pretty much had it with equipment. One of these days I'll buy
a new set of speakers, but until I find something that is really
exceptional and priced reasonably I'll just stick with the music.

mp

[[email protected]]

Dennman6 wrote:

Even at 17 I knew I could get better equipment for the money, but my
parents were dead set against my spending my supermarket stockboy money
on something 'frivolous'. We lived near Syracuse, NY where the big
audio dealers were Gordon's Stereo & Sounds Great, Inc(both long gone,
one is now an Asian supermarket). But since my parents wouldn't drive
me to these places to get gear, I got my system at Radio Shack-because
it was on a busline, & I could sneak the stuff home piece by piece. I
cut out my last two periods in high school so I could get to RS on the
S&O bus & have the gear home before my parents got back from work. It
took me four trips to get it all.

This discussion is bringing back a lot of memories. I had a similar
experience. Our suitcase record player (see previous post) was about shot,
so I mowed lawns one summer and bought a Panasonic "receiver" with an
8-track cassette. The old man convinced me that 8-track was the future.
But I wanted something to play my records on, so one day I hitch hiked
(back then you could reasonably do that without risking being murdered) to
a large appliance store and bought a Garrard SL-72 (I think) which had a
cool looking octagon tube for a tone arm. It came with a Shure M-44 (I
think) cartridge. But I had no idea about these things, so when I finally
made it back home (ever hitch hiked with a turntable?) I found out that the
Shure would not play through the high level aux input on my Panasonic. So
I bought a mag phono box from RS which pretty much did the trick.

mp

[Norman M. Schwartz]

A Bogen tubed (RF-35) receiver, Rek-O-Kut turnatble and speakers marketed by
"Sam Goody", model no. long forgotten.

[[email protected]]

I have one more memory that sticks out in my mind. It was the first time I
ever heard a real stereo system. When I was in high school (about 1970) I
was at my friend's house. His dad was retired from the Army and had
brought gear back from Germany. I remember he had a top of the line
Dual--it must have been a 1229. He wouldn't even let us look at it very
long, much less touch it. He once claimed that he'd kill anyone that laid
a hand on it, and I believed him. Hell, I think it would have been better
for us if he'd found one of us in bed fooling around with his wife than for
him to find us fooling around with his Dual. But once I saw that precision
piece of German engineering I knew what my lifelong hobby would be.

mp

[mueller]

jack wrote:

Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!

At age 16 I bought my first
Marantz 1060 amp
Marantz 105b Tuner
I think the TT was a pioneer
Speakers were Layfette Electronic that were later used to build my first
custom set.

This was followed 6 years later with
A Luxman Intergrated Amp
A Marantz TT probably with a shure cartridge
I kept using the Marantz 105 b

I added a Luxman CD when they came out

Next system was
Luxman MO2 power amp
Luxman CO2 pre amp
Luxman TO2 tuner
CD player was a Sony
TT went by the way side
Speakers continued as DIY

Next-switched to Tubes and have never looked back

Mike M

[Michael L. Squires]

In article ,
wrote:
jack wrote:

Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they
started out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too
much money --


1963, in college: AR-XA turntable, Eico ST-70, Warfedale W60D (not what I
wanted, but what I could afford). I eventually upgraded to a Dyna PAS-3X,
Eico HF60, and Altec 605A's.

Mike Squires

[DJBohn]

Seeing some of the equipment others have listed here, I guess I'm one
of the young "dogs" here. My audio experience started in elementary
school when my grandfather gave me his old up-right Philco 37-116 "High
Fidelity" AM/Short Wave radio. He first purchased it because it was the
loudest radio he could find for sale at the time. He would open up the
windows in his house, crank it up, & listen to it while he was on his
tractor in the fields! It had a large (16" or 18") driver and 3 each 8"
drone speakers with no wires connected to them (one of the first
examples of passive radiators?). There was also a jack on the back for
a mono record player. Along with the "tone" control, there was even a
bass control built into the off/on switch!

But my first "real" home system (late 70's, early 80's) was several
years after I was out of the service. It consisted of a 40x2 WRMS
Yamaha integrated amp that allowed complete bypass of the tone control
circuits, a Sanyo T55+ AM/FM tuner, a B&O turntable (model just under
the BeoGram) with a B&O MMC-20 (or 30?) hand calibrated cartridge, a
Pioneer RT-707 reel-to-reel, a dbx 124 (128?) with a single band
compressor/expander/dbx NR, and very large pair of 2-way home made
speakers consisting of Harold "Muscle Magnet" (early Eminence) drivers.
I also had a Kenwood KX-710 top loader cassette deck in it, purchased
when I was in the service. I really liked that old system! It sounded
better than what most of my friends had at the time.

[pgaron]

Around 1972, I put together my first stereo "system." I purchased a
Pioneer receiver, Dual turntable (the basic model at the time), and a
pair of Large Advent loudspeakers. As I recall, it was a pretty
great-sounding system. I still listen to and enjoy the Advents; Mahler
really rocks on those speakers! Due to inertia, they probably will
continue to stay in place in my living room, since I no longer have the
strength to move them around.

In the early 80's, I upgraded to a better-quality Dual turntable, which
I also still own, though I can't get to it because it's buried under a
stack of CDs in my stereo cabinet. I really should listen to some of
my LP's once again.

From the Pioneer receiver, I moved on to a Yamaha and, in 1991,
purchased an HK 3400 receiver (35 watts/channel), which I'm still
using. It continues to power my Advents just fine.

As you can see, although I continue to follow news groups such as this
one, and enjoy fantasizing about the audiophile equipment that is
described therein, I tend to stick with the same old stuff.

Thanks for the memories!

pgaron

[abbeynormal]

Y'all asked for it, so here's my 2-cents worth- My first system, [not
high end or any end except the very bottom in a dug-out trench] was a
"GE Wildcat" portable phonograph system, ceramic cartridge/flipped for
78 rpm, 2-2x4" speakers per side enclosure. No bass, no treble, much
mistracking on inner grooves, but it was better than a "transister
radio". This was circa 1968, when I was a little boy. My parents
upgraded to a Sears Silvertone console fm radio/phonograph, still no
bass and no treble but not "telephony-sounding" at least. My own first
system was a RadioShack 5wpc 4-channel receiver, 4-Nova 6 speakers,
Scott turntable with low-end Ortofon cartridge, with no bass and
shrieking trebles [it didn't like being matched up with the crap
table/arm], but the Nova 6 speakers smoothed over most of that. My
first "above ground level" system was a pair of Small Magneplanars
driven by an MCS 125-wpc stereo receiver, Yamaha "Superwoofer" and
Technics linear-tracking table with Shure hyper-elliptical [stylus]
p-mount cartridge, and to top it off, the first Sony Discman, circa
1983-85. I still use the maggies, a Shanling upsampling cd player,
Carver Amazing Subwoofer, Denon table with Denon MC cartridge, and an
old Denon 50wpc stereo amp. I listen to [phonograph] records only
after processing with a CEDAR DC-1 Declicker [bought at a bargain
price, off of Ebay] and Roland SN550 Digital Noise Eliminator, and then
only as part of transcribing them onto [a Phillips] CDR, as I never
could stand crackles and pops and hiss and rumble.

cheers all,
abbeynormal

wrote:
jack wrote:

Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they
started out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too
much money --

[zekor]

jack wrote:
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system was a Madison Fielding 440 receiver and a pair of diy horn
speakers (the drivers were from Olson Electronics). I still have the
receiver, although it has been modded on many occasions. I never noticed
the fact that there was no multiplex adapter!

I don't know what year/ 63?
Got two Utah 12 drivers and two Olsen Electronics horn tweeters,
along with my Knight Kit int. amp 15 WPC, and Garrard turntable, and
Empire cartridge.
Also had an Eico FM tuner.

greg

[Ed Presson]

"jack" wrote in message
...
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they
started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system (1960) was a used system purchased from a friend in a
college dorm: a Bogen turntable with a GE cartridge, a Heathkit amplifier,
and a Stephens 15-inch coax speaker in a homemade Carlson enclosure.

I later upgraded to stereo with two Quad electrostatic speakers, two Quad
mono amps, a Dynakit preamp, Dynakit FM tuner, Rek-O-Kut turntable with an
ESL arm, and an Ampex tape deck (which for several years was the primary
source--playing quarter-track open reel tapes).

Ed

[Harry Lavo]

"Ed Presson" wrote in message
...
"jack" wrote in message
...
Thought it would be interesting to hear from folks what system they
started
out with -- obviously devotion to music has caused us to spend too much
money --

My first system (1960) was a used system purchased from a friend in a
college dorm: a Bogen turntable with a GE cartridge, a Heathkit
amplifier,
and a Stephens 15-inch coax speaker in a homemade Carlson enclosure.

I later upgraded to stereo with two Quad electrostatic speakers, two Quad
mono amps, a Dynakit preamp, Dynakit FM tuner, Rek-O-Kut turntable with an
ESL arm, and an Ampex tape deck (which for several years was the primary
source--playing quarter-track open reel tapes).


Nice early systems. Bet they sounded good....the Stephens 15" could sound
very fine...never heard it in a Carlson, though. And the Bogen TT was a
good one. The rest speaks for itself.