Back in 1993 ...
ADCOM 545 power amp
ADCOM GTP 500 tuner/ preamp
Magnavox 630 CD player
Beogram RX2 turntable
KEF Q60 speakers
Radio Shack Gold series interconnects and speaker cable
None of that original system exists today. I did pick-up a nos Magnavox 630 cd player and am using it in a bedroom system.
Rich |
I was running a Linn Sondek LP12 with an Linn Akito arm and a Linn K9 cartridge as well. PS Audio "phono link" pre. Audio Research LS3 solid state Preamp. ADC Soundshaper 2 graphic equalizer, Nakamichi cassette decks (bx300 and bx125). Had a Rotel am/fm tuner. Theta Digital Basic 2 transport and Theta Digital Pro Gen 5 DAC, Krell mda300 monoblocks running Martin Logan Quest Z's, and a Velodyne F18 sub. Audio Quest Dragon speaker cables (bi-wired) and Audioquest Diamond, Lapis, Ruby, Opal interconnects throughout, (RCA and XLR terminated depending on which components accepted balanced and which did not). I also had a red Zerostat too. Still have it today. Even have my original Disc Washer kit.
I was jamming to electric jazz fusion. Chick Corea Electric Band, Jeff Lorber, Richard Elliot, The Rippingtons, Joe Sample and the Crusaders, Al DeMiola, James Newton Howard w/the guys from Toto. Classic rock too.
Oh how those were the days! Great memories! |
I had Snell C IV speakers, Classe DR5 pre, DR8 amp, Proceed CD player, Luxman TTable. Still have all that stuff, but it now lives in boxes in a basement closet. |
Fort'e 3 amp
Threshold Fet 2 preamp
Magnum FT 11 tuner
Kenwood 500 tt with MMT arm and Grado MCZ cartridge
Kyocera cd player
Vandersteen 2ce speakers
Audioquest cables |
And here is 30 years ago!
Luxman M4000 amp
Luxman C12 preamp
Luxman T88 tuner
Denon 60 tt with stock arm and Shure V15 4 cartridge
No cd player was new to the market back in 1983
Dahlquist DQ 10 speakers
Cables ????? |
Wow- 30 years ago? Nothing, nothing at all. I was in grad school and my gear was packed away in Florida. I used a boom box for tunes. But what was packed away was a Kenwood KD1033 turntable, Shure V15 type 3 cartridge, Pioneer SX-450 Receiver, and Studio Design 46 Speakers (Tech Hifi house brand) . I also had a Teac A150 cassette deck.
When I graduated in 85 I bought a Thorens Turntable (traded towards the Rega), Shure v15 type 5 (traded at the same time) AR speakers (gave to a friend, still has it), Aiwa cassette deck (it's in my basement right now) and an Akai receiver( gave to another friend, still has it). I always figure my Thorens table as my first piece of high end gear. |
Legacy 1 speakers (now called Classics)
Coda Model 20 amplifier
Coda Model 2b preamp
Proceed PCD 2 CD player
Magnum Dynalab FT 101A tuner
Tara Labs Temporal Continuum cables |
Sonic Frontiers SFT-1
Monarchy DAC
Mission 776/777
Infinity Kappa8's
That combo lasted for years with some biamping. |
My system in the early 90s
Apogee full range speakers
Mark levinson active cross over
Bi amped with Krell KSA250s
Ariston TT with sumiko Blackbird cartridge
PS Audio CD player
Van den hull silver cabling
Talk about bright ! |
Sansui B2101 amp
Kenwwod C-2 pre
Sony 5 disc cdp (forget model, although I could call my daughter as she still has it)
Teac V800X cassette deck (wish I still had this one)
Technics SL1500? tt with various carts
Bose 901s (forget which series)
A SHortly after that I sold the 901s and purchased a pair of Paradigm 9SE MkIIIs. |
Linn LP-12/Ittok/not sure about cart
JVC CDP
Spectral MS-One or maybe Melos SHA-1
ARC Classic 30
Quad 57s |
In '93 my system hadn't changed since the mid-70s. Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers, Epicure One amp (125 WPC), Audio Research SP3A1 preamp, Lenco L75 turntable, ADC XLM III cartridge, Nakamichi 550 cassette deck. No CD player then, and still none today. |
I was just out of college and flat broke, so all I had was a crappy boombox. As soon as I really started making money, sadly nearly 8 years later, I immediately started assembling a good stereo. The rest, as they say, is history. |
SOTA Sapphire/Magnepan Unitrac/Grace F9E Ruby (still use them, w/Soundsmith cartridge re-tip)
Mark Levinson ML-1 preamp (still use its phono section, accessed via tape outs). Also briefly owned a pair of Marantz 1's and a Marantz 7 around that time.
Various power amps, including:
Marantz 2's (wonderful!!)
Marantz 9's
Threshold S300
Carver M400t (vastly better than earlier non-t versions, and a very respectable performer, at least when paired with easy to drive speakers).
Stax Lambda Pro Headphones w/Stax ED-1 Diffuse Field Equalizer (still use them).
Rotel RCD-855 CD Player.
Various FM tuners, including:
Two different Marantz 10B's
Carver TX-11
H. H. Scott 311D + Fisher MPX-100
Fisher FM90X + MPX-100.
Teac Cassette Deck.
Pentagram P-10 Speakers (Revised Version) (little known and under-appreciated by some; these were excellent speakers that served me well for many years). Also briefly owned two different pairs of large vintage Tannoy speakers and a pair of B&W 801's around that time.
Regards,
-- Al |
RTR III speakers, Kenwood receiver, Harmon Kardon CD player, Kenwood dual cassette deck, 12 guage romex speaker wires. |
I'm thinking it was:
Totem Model One speakers
Sima PW 3000 integrated amp
Adcom's GCD first cd player
Straight Wire IC |
I would love to hear some of these old systems today. I imagine mine would be very disappointing, but somehow the music's never sounded as good to me as it did back then. Try as I might, I can't seem to upgrade my age. |
I was in Australia in 1983 and had a Linn Sondek (Valhalla) with the LVX arm (really wanted an Ittok but could not afford it) and one of the truly great MM cartridges, the Garrott P77.
The preamp was a hybrid design by Russell Woolcock out of Melbourne using a single 6SL7 and transistors with a separate power supply and independent volume controls for each channel. It was an interesting design with no circuit boards, lead-to-lead wiring of components, and the network sort of floating on lightweight suspension devices. It had a beautiful open sound, full of life and colour.
I was using one of Kostas Metaxas (before he became the master of bling) class A transistor amps that was originally 50w but had been revised to 100w.
The speakers were Yamaha NS1000s on stands.
The system was fantastic but I did not have a big enough room for it.
I still have the gear (except for the Yammies) in storage at my Mum's place in Australia.
Regards, |
Back in 1978 my system was comprised of a GAS Son of Ampzilla amp, GAS Thedra Preamp, Celestin Ditton 66 Speakers, JVC Direct Drive Turntable with a GAS Sleeping Beauty Moving Coil Cartridge, and a Teac A-450 Cassette Deck. My speaker wires were Mogami and interconnects were from the dreaded "M" company.
The only thing I have left from that system is all the vinyl. |
B&K M-200 amps.
Adcom GTP 400 preamp tuner
Acoustat Spectra 33 speakers
Magnavox CD 550 player (I think)
Audio DDE v 1.0 DAC |
Carver receiver
DCM TF 350
Magnavox CDB 650 |
I noticed some people going back 35 years but I'll stick to 20 years because it was the same as 35 year. 20 year ago I was only a couple of years out of college and I was struggling with a landscape business. I had a Technics receiver, tape deck and turntable with Genesis two way speakers. I also had some really nice Pioneer headphones. I beat the living daylights out of that system and it took it like a champ.
1993 was right about when I spent $2000 on one of the early in dash CD players. Funny thing was I had it installed in a 1978 Ford pickup truck I bought for $800. It sounded amazing, it was a great truck and my girlfriend was a great soul and she was smoking hot. |
I was just into my first teaching job and had been house sitting and living here and there while getting my credentials so....a pair of Proac Tablettes, Naim 62/HiCap/140, Linn LP12 and a Meridian MCD. All very portable (except the LPs!) and very musical. |
HarmanKardon Citation amp and preamp, Infinity speakers, RekOKut turntable with Grado Lab arm and (don't remember the cartridge) |
Hmmmm. 1993. AR XA table w stock arm and Signet TK7E cart (been w me since grad school), NAD 6300 cassette deck, NAD 504?? CDP, Yamaha C-2a pre, Moscode 300 amp, Monster cables!!!, and Vandersteen 2ci. Still have the NAD 6300 at my house at the beach if anyone wants one, PM me.
Hmmmm, Hmmmmm, Hmmmmm. 1978- Same AR XA table, CM Labs CC-3??? pre, CM Labs 911 amp, Monster cables, and Infinity RSbs. That amp was a beast, I drove those Infinitys to nosebleed SPLs until a lightening strike fried it. BTW, the infinities are sitting in my basement. Cabinets fair, EMITs and polypro mids working but foam surrounds on the woofers are toast. Anyone??? |
Vandersteen 1Bs, Acurus A250, Adcom preamp, Rotel CD. |
Thiel 3,6 speakers, Classe DR-10, ARC PH-1, LS-2, VPI 19 Mk3 with ET-2, JVC CD player. Nothing remains in my system today, but the VPI is still spinning just fine in my son's system. |
- Maggie MG3A's (very heavily modified). Still have them sitting in a closet
waiting to find the time to repair the midrange panels.
- Moscode 600
- Counterpoint 5.1
- VPI HW19 MK2
- ET2 (still use it)
- Monster, Grado, ??? cartridges
- Straightwire cables
In a closet was also my first pair of Stax F-81's which frustrated the heck
out of me because I couldn't understand why my Moscode's 300 watts
couldn't drive them worth s**t. And then that same year I bought a Dynaco
ST70 (!?!?!) for $50 and FINALLY my Stax's sounded like music; not very
loud, but beautiful. What an education THAT was. |
Sonograph turntable, Blue Oyster, B&K Pro 10, B&K St-140, Vandersteen IIs, Monster Reference ICs & speaker cables. |
Luxman R-115 Receiver
Carver DPL-33 Surround Sound Processor/amplifier
Pioneer VHS Hi-Fi VCR
Sony ES CD changer
Polk Audio RTA-11t speakers (still own)
Definitive Technology CLR1000B center channel speaker
In-Wall speakers for surrounds (forgot brand; bought from home depot) |
Frogman, great story! The same thing happened to me. After trying ever more powerful amps to drive my Thiel 3.6's, and being frustrated at the lack of dynamics, I hooked up a rusty bone-stock Dyna ST70, Music!! Of course, I couldn't turn up the volume to ridiculous levels, but I knew immediately that tube amps had.a more natural tonality and more natural micro-dynamics, at least to my ears, and there was no going back. |
I had an Acurus 250 amp, like Wolf-garcia, but with the Acurus linestage and P-10 phono stage. Turntable was a Yamaha PF-1000; CDP was a Luxman D-105u; tuner was a Luxman T-02 (which I still use); speakers were ADS L-880II; cabling was all Audioquest. Being an avid Deadhead at the time, I had two Naks at the heart of it, a BX-300 and BX-1. |
My gear that I bought in Autumn 1981 was still playing beautiful music in 1993..... Yamaha receiver (forgot the model, but it was their first line with a "digital" AM/FM tuner,) Mission 717 speakers, and a B&O Beogram 3404 turntable with MMC 20 cartridge. In Autumn 1985, I added an original a Sony CD player. Wow, those were the days my friends ..... |
Garrard 401 with Ortofon
RM 10
Golden tube SE 40
Conrad Johnson PV 10
Vandersteen 2ce
Sound Dynamics 300ti
Marantz CDP
Mostly listened to vinyl, often visited Princeton Record Exchange & Audio Connection. Great memories. What has happened to my beloved Giants. |
Correction
1993 TT was Sonographe SG-3 w MMT arm and Sumiko Blue Point special cart. The AR had been loaned to my b-in-law at that point.
Advanced case of CRS, sorry. |
In the 90's, my system was Krell KSA100s->FPB600, Sonic Frontier SFL1->SFL2, Mirage M3si->Gallo Nucleus Ref (ones with 2 balls and a can on top), Krell CD players, Technic Turntable and MIT ICs/SCs. |
I auditioned an Acurus preamp in that system and it was MUCH better than my particular Adcom although I couldn't afford the Acurus at that time...you live and learn. |
Forte 5 amp, Forte 40 pre, Sony CD Discman-yes, the first one, crappy JVC double cassette deck, Monster interconnects, and Hartley Mini Reference tower speakers. My ex wife and I spent everything we had for the amp and preamp on clearance when Threshold was going out of business. The sales guy said, you really should get the Threshold if you can afford it, but we couldn't and the Forte was as close as we could get and it provided lots of Nirvana, REM, and other alternative 90s music. I still have the set and had Jon S recap and upgrade them for backup duties. |
California Audio Delta/Alpha
Counterpoint SA5000A
B&K M-200
Dahlquist DQ30I
Cardas Hexlink Golden 5C |
I had Maggies MG3a's biamped with 2 Musical Design D140s Dahlquist LP-1 crossover
2 Dahlquist DQ-1 subs driven by Nak PA7 LP-1 crossover
CAL Icon
Musical Design SP-1 preamp
VPI HW 19 mk4 Grace 707 Shure-V15 v Kenergetics KPA 1 for phonostage.
It was a nice system. |
Back then, my system comprised :-
1. Pioneer Stable Platter CD player
2. NAD 3020 integrated amp
3. Spica TC 50 speakers
4. Kimber interconnects and speaker cables |
Cerwin Vega speakers, Technics table, Yamaha tape deck, Harmon Kardon receiver. |
B&W 801s and Quad ESL-63 speakers
Krell KSA-100 mk I amp
Krell PAM 2 preamp
Linn Sondek LP 12
Yamaha T-1 tuner
Sony X77ES CDP
Nakamichi CR-7 cassette deck |
Vandersteen 2Cs, McIntosh MC60's, ARC SP-6, SOTA TT w/mmt arm and Alchemist cartridge, JVC 1050 CD player and cheap homebrewed cables and straightwire speaker cables.
|
When I graduated high school in '93 I had a Kenwood cd player, pioneer receiver, Advent Baby II speakers and monster cable connecting everything and I felt like the biggest bad ass on the block. |
As a follow-up to my previous post, I put that system together between 1982 and 1985. Kept it until 2010. Replaced the Vandys with Sound Dynamics T3i in 1995. Still have the turntable with MMT arm. |
I read Drubin's comment that "somehow the music's never sounded as good to me as it did back then".
Yes, Dan in virtually all ways that has been very true for me also, until quite recently. The main reason that made me finally recognize it through the years is how very important the room came into play that made that system so enjoyable. It NEVER sounded the same after we moved into our new home in a room I thought would be perfect but wasn't regardless of what I tried and so began the chase to capture what was lost including finally relocating the listening room. I could literally listen for hours on end back then. |
Dahlquist DQ-20i speakers, Bryston BP 10/20 (not sure which) preamp, Bryston 3B power amp, Luxman PD-441 turntable with a Magnepan tonearm, Denon DCD-2700 CDP, and a Kenwood L-01T FM tuner. Missed the Luxman and Kenwood enough that I snagged both again in the past couple years. Miss the DQ-20i's, too, but you can't keep everything, right?
Thanks to the OP for an interesting trip down memory lane! |
Perhaps nostalgia is the ultimate system upgrade.
Unfortunately, it only upgrades the systems we no longer hear. |
Early 90's: Eminent Technology LFT-6 planar magnetic speakers, Audio Research SP-14, an early Well Tempered Classic tt with square motor and aluminum-arm, Audio Research D-160 amp, AQ Lapis and Diamond Interconnects, and AQ Clear-Plus speaker cable. I have fond memories of this system! |
