What did your system look like 30 years ago?

Listening to Fleedwood Mac The Dance , Awesome
Mike

OOps it was a threshold Fet -9

Wow, Mirage m1 spkr, Threshold S-500 Krell Krc Denon 62L Cant remember the cd player
Mike

A "Walkman" type portable cassette player filled with fine, talc-like sand.

Desert Storm.

I was 24 and it was my first stereo

SAE 2400 200 WATTS P/CH
SAE 2900 PRE AMP
Thorens TD 124
TECHNICS SB E200

McIntosh MC225 amp
Music Reference RM5 mkII preamp
Pioneer TX9800 tuner
Rega Planar 3 TT
Nakamichi BX125 cassette
Onkyo DX530 cd player
Pro Ac Studio 1 speakers on 20” filled Chicago spkr stands

My 1st real system was a Dual CS5000 with Shure V15 MR that I still own. JBL L112's. Sansui AU-X1 with Audio control EQ. Sansui TU-919 tuner.And to think, I practically gave this stuff away to get into home theater. 

Thorens TD 166 turntable
Nakamichi Cassette Tape Deck Bx-125
Acoustic Research 48s three-way speakers
Adcom GFA 535l amp
Adcom GT-400 preamp

Harman Kardon HK590i Receiver
JVC XLZ1010 CD Player
Dual CS 528 Turntable
B&W DM 640

Let's try that again:
Pioneer SA-9500/TX-9500, Thorens TD-160 w/Stanton 681, Teac A-4010SL RTR, Teac AN-180 Dolby Noise Reduction Unit, AR-11 & Genesis Physics Model 1 speakers.
Did not own a CD player until 1994..didn't like the sound of early models.

30 years ago I was 20.
Vandersteen 2Ci
Aragon 4004
Counterpoint SA1000 pre
California audio labs Delta CD transport
Aragon D2A converter
All Cardas Quadlink 5c cables. 

Pioneer SA-9500/TX-9500Thorens TD-160 w/Shure cartridgeTeac A-4010SL RTRTeac Outboard AN-180 Dolby Noise Reduction UnitAR-11 and Genesis Physics 1 speakers
Didn't buy a CD player until 1994 or thereabouts.....didn't like the sound,  but had to give in eventually.

Pioneer SX-750 receiver, Rotel turntable, Sharp cassette player, HPM100's.  Pieces were all about 13-14 years old, then.

Correction- Magnepan SMGa's

JVC- Y5F
Grado Signature- 8MX
Nakamichi- OMS 1A
Nakamichi- BX 100
Amber- FF 17
Amber- Series 70
Magnepan- MMG
Kimber Kable- IC's and speaker cable(entry level cables)
Last-record cleaning kit(could not afford a VPI machine)

Not bad for someone in there mid 20's!!!

All McCormack electronics

• DNA-0.5 Deluxe amp
• TLC-1 preamp
• SST-1 transportDAC 1 
• Thiel or Monitor Audio speakers

NAD 3240PE int. amp
Polk Audio monitor 5b speakers
Technics CD player
Monster cable 
Realistic single tape deck

Tandberg TR2060 receiver
Tandberg TCD310 cassette deck
B&O 2400 turntable
Canton LE900 speakers

What did your system look like 30 years ago?

More like 40 years ago, an older school version of what I have now.
Accoustat 2 + 2’s then made into 1 + 1’s even better imaging with Kelly Decca ribbons from 12khz up and two Kef B1814’s in 12cu ft ported enclosures custom by Neville Thiel (rip) from 60hz down.
Massive own made water cooled 150watt Class-A
Linn Sondek LP12, FR12,,Supex 1000 MC

Cheers George

Mine was bought from the owner of Audio Connection before John his name was Hart Hutchins I believe. It was a P S Audio pre amp with a separate power supply, P S Audio mono amps, a J A Michell Gyro Dec floor model don’t remember the arm or cartridge and JSE model 1’s.

NAD 7140--still regret getting rid of that
Ariston Q-Deck
Nakamichi BX-125 (?)
Yamaha NS-75

I don't ever remember a Harvey's in Mount Kisco. We went to the Sound Mill, owned by Martin G. (can't remember his last name)

Acoustat Spectra 33 electrostatic speakers, Kinergetics BSC subwoofer system, Counterpoint SA-220, Adcom GTF-400 pre-amp and a Magnavox CDB 560 CD Player.  My Pioneer PL-15 was collecting dust.  I still have the speakers, sub and pre, none are is use.

As way back as I can remember...
Technics turntable
Shure cartridge
Kenwood receiver
Teac cassette deck
Cerwin Vega 3-ways
Radio shack cables throughout (lol)

My last rig before a decades long hiatus...
Apogee Centaurs
Cal Audio Labs Delta/Sigma
Audible Illusions preamp
Counterpoint SA220 monoblocks
Well Tempered turntable /Grado
Kimber cable throughout 

Vandersteen 2Ci, biamped with two B&K ST200s, and Tara Labs cables (still own the cables), Conrad Johnson PV10a, Rotel CD, and VPI Hw19jr with a Sumiko Blue Point cartridge. As a college student I was living large. 

30 years ago I believe I had a Yamaha A-1000 intergrade amp, a top of the line Yamaha tt , a grado cartridge ( don't recall witch one) and a pair of jbl l100

I had to do some thinking on this one. I sure wish I had photos of it. I still have the Gyrodec /Ittok with a newly ordered Sumiko Pearwood cart. The Maggies are serving as my rear channels in the HT.

Michell GyroDec / Linn Ittok LVII arm /Linn Asak cart.
Denon DCD-1500
Nakamichi ZX-7
Luxman LV-105
Magnepan MG-1 imp.

This was 45 years ago:
1975 System

Technics SP 10 in custom plinth, AT arm, AT cartridge,* ARC SP3-a-1, Dual 75a and old Quads. I still have the SP 10 and old Quads refurbished and running in my vintage system, and the Dual 75a is just sitting, needs to be refreshed. (Early high-end Shibata)

Thirty years ago, it would have been a pair of Crosby Quads, either an ARC Classic 60 or Dual 70 mk II amp, an ARC SP 10 mk ii preamp and Well Tempered turntable that had been heavily tweaked.

Wow, you people were a heck of a lot better off than I was in 1981 - I was 24, living in my first apartment in Chicago, $385/month, and saving up for law school:

Onkyo TX-15 Stereo Receiver
Biamp 12-channel PA Mixer through which all sources were routed
TEAC 3-head tape deck
CD Player (I think it was a Sharp)
TEAC R2R
Technics TT
Boston Acoustics bookshelves
Quadraflex floorstanders
21-inch Sony TV w/remote
VCR

I thought I'd gone to heaven with all that gear.  Buddies would come over to use the mixer to make DJ-style mix tapes with crossfades. We would even mix in movie quotes I'd saved on VCR cassettes. Hi tech and high times!

1990 -

Turntable: Linn Sondek, Syrinx Arm, Accuphase AC-2 Cartridge
Headamp: Counterpoint SA-2
Preamp: ARC SP-6B
Amplifier: ARC D90
Speakers: Thiel 3.5's, Maggie II's
CD Player: Phillips 880

2020

Turntable: Dual 701, Accuphase AC-2 Cartridge
Headamp: Counterpoint SA-2
Preamp: ARC SP-6A (recapped)
Amplifier: VTL S150
Speakers: Thiel 3.5's, Maggie 1c's.
Disk Player: Oppo 105

Only the AC-2 Cartridge and the Thiel 3.5's are the same ones.
In between I had for eight years switched to a 5 channel surround system, but returned to stereo only when I downsized as I turned 75.

This system I scrimped every penny I could come across to put together at the time.It had a synergy that was hard to beat,and was awfully cool to look at,let alone listen to.Pre amp was an MFA Magus c,MFA D-75 stereo 75 watt tube amp.Most all tubes were NOS Brimar,which really made those both very sweet sounding.Speakers were Flatline hybrid,with a 6ft.ribbon tweeter and cone midrange and woofer.Flatline speakers was owned and designed by Allen Perkins,who now owns Spiral Groove turntables.My table was the RPM-2,with an RPM arm and Sumuko Bluepoint cart.RPM was Allen,s turntable company at the time,and played way above it’s price range for the day.I had a Rotel 350$ CD player,and a Cary dac.Although I wasn’t all that impressed with cd at the time,still was convenient.I had Icor interconnectes and XLO speaker cables and power cords.All sat on Sound Anchor stand with Navcom feet under everything.I sure wish I had kept that system,for the money it made astonishing sweet sound,that was hard to beat.Better than most set ups I have heard through the years.   John. 

How about in the late 1970's?  Philips turntable, Shure V-15, PhaseLinear 400, stacked wood Advents, Kenwood tuner.  1979:  Kenwood marble TT and SME arm replaced Philips.  Forty years ago:  The same amp and pre-amp brand I have now (Audire), but upgraded models, plus stacked B&W DM14's, which are still in use on my televisions, one with Hafler electronics donated by a friend.  

1991: I remember it well,

JBL C50 Olympus w/001 System
Crown DC 300
Crown IC 150
Technics SP-10 w/Grace arm
Grado cartridge
Sony CD player

I'm going back to around 1980:

Rega Planar 3 turntable
Perreaux amp
PS Audio IV preamp
Nakamichi 481 cassette deck
Klipsch Cornwalls speakers
Monster Cable speaker wire at $1.00 per foot

All of this cost about 5K and probably could out-perform systems today costing way more. What does that tell you? 

Snell Type J IIs w/lead loaded Snell stands & Apature Accuflow speaker cables bi amped with a pair of B&K ST140 amps, Audible Illusions Modulas preamp, PS Audio Digital Link, Magnavox CD650 cd player used as a transport, AR EB101 TT w/Infinity Black Widow arm and a Sumiko Blue Point, all Linn interconnects. Total cost = $4,500.00 all purchased new. Enjoy the music

30 years ago I had a Sansui AU217 driving mission 700s on Target stands and fed from either a Sansui cassette player, a NAD4020A tuner or a Townshend Rock mk2 with Rega 300 and a Dynavector 17D2 with a Tom Evans phonostage (the board was made by Tom but most were put in a box by Michell Engineering and sold as the iso, mine was a pre production test sample and I sourced my own box and an over sized transformer). 

First post on the forum and funnily enough, as I just got a completely new system following a ten year hiatus (due to the fact that my now ex-wife hated any kind of noise, mostly including music), I was reminiscing about my old systems and the path that brought me to here:
1990
- Sony CDP-490, which was my 18th birthday present
- Trio Kenwood Ka2000 integrated amp inherited from my grandfather
- Kef concentric driver speakers inherited from my father
This was installed in my bedroom which was tiny, maybe 2m by 3m. The speakers were mounted on the wall above my bed and the CDP & amp in the space built into the underside of the bed.

1995 - bought from Moorgate acoustics in Sheffield after I graduated from univeristy
- Arcam Alpa One CDP and Integrated Amp
- Moraudant Short MS10 speakers
I only had this system a very short time as it travelled with me from Sheffield to London where I started my 'career'.

1996 - bought from Hifi Lounge as was at the top of Tottenham Court road in London. I remember vividly they used to sell very high end systems and my exceptionally modest system felt paltry in comparrison to sounds eminating from the other demo rooms
- Marantz CD 63SE MKII ostensibly because that was the MUST HAVE sub £500 CDP at the time
- Cyrus 3 integrated amp; added the PSX-R later
- Mission 771 stand mount speakers
- Audioquest Indigo interconnect & speaker cable

This is the system I owned the longest and travelled with me from London back to Manchester when I did my Masters and then to Chester.

2005 - bought from Adventures in HiFi in Chester
- Naim CDX-2; later added XPS-2
- Naim 202/200; later added Hi-Cap
- Dynaudio 52SE; later swapped for Shahinian Arcs in 2006
This was the system that made me feel I'd reall 'arrived' in the world of high(er) end audio. It was very exciting to buy and a crazy purchase only made possible by cashing in an endowment policy I no longer needed. Thish was the second poorest financial decision I ever made (after selling my flat in London to finance an MBA. I should have kept the flat, rented it out and borrowed the money!) But poor as that decision was, the system gave me a huge amount of joy. It moved with me from Chester to Croydon (where I lived happily without a TV for six months) and then into my girlfriend's house and then the family home after we married. I had it in a dedicated listening room for a few years and then when kids arrived and my wife's tolerance for noise and me disappearing upstairs to listen rather than watch telly evaporated, I ended up selling it all on.

2020 - bought from G-Point AUDIO and a huge milestone in my audiophile journey. I promised myself I would buy a dream (for me) system when I finally got into my own place and this is it!
- Lukasz LDM Mini server
- Lampizator Golden Gate DAC
- Silvercore 833 monobloc SET amps
- Horns FP10
- Hifidelity HFC CT1-U RCA interconnect &  speaker cables

Nakamichi 530 receiver, B&O 2402 turntable, Magnepan SMGs (loved the sound, hated the tiny sweetspot) and a higher end Yamaha cassette deck with a "sendust" head, and of course, my speaker cables were those heavy, 8 gauge monster cables.
A good friend built me beautiful, heavy, hardwood audio cabinet with leveling feet and I'm still using it today. He was an audiophile, engineer and a hobbyist woodworker, designing and building my cabinet as a warm up for building his own. I lucked out getting such a cabinet.

Wow I had think about how long ago 30 years was

Onkyo TX-35 Stereo Receiver 
b&w DM110i speakers (monster cable) cables
then up graded to Onkyo TX 84 because the 35 just did not cut it...
Onkyo DX 2800 CD Player, also had a 1985 Pioneer CD player that was fantastic
pioneer linear LS 150 turntable with shure upgraded needle
Teac tape deck
and hi end NEC Hi Fi VCR

I'm guessing, at best, it was a Teddy Ruxpin tape player. 

30 years ago I was still using my Denon DP-60L with Grace F9e, C-J PV6 to Acoustat TNT-120 driving a pair of (45 y/o) JBL L100s (orange). I used a Sony 75ES CD player and a Sony 75ES DAT player. The analogue part of that system is still in use in my living room. Both amps have been recap’d and the speakers have been upgraded with a very high end crossover. The turntable still is on with stable speeds in both 33 & 45.

Adcom GFP-565
Adcom GCD-575
Adcom GFA-555 Mk2
Mirage M-760 speakers

I was rocking a PS Audio preamp, B&K M200 sonata Monos, Paradigm Studio 100,  Pioneer PD 65,  Audio Alchemy DAC,  Mirage Sub , Rega Planar 3,

mapman,

Philips GA-212.  Had one in a pretty bad system--that was my best piece.

Bob

How many of us still has any of the gear we had 30 years ago?

oldest piece i have is my micro seiki dd40 tt w ma-505 tonearm... had that since college in the early 80's - it still works great ... had a lovely micro acoustics and sonus blue carts - still have them but the styli are shot!

Rotel RCD 990 (still have it!)
Adcom GFP 565
Adcom GFA 565 MBs
Thiel CS 2 2
AQ Midnight speaker cable
Very poor system that was irritating and wildly unmusical sounding. Borderline unlistenable. Got a McCormack DNA 1 to replace and Adcom amps and liftoff. Then got Thiel 3.6es (also still own them) and Earth orbit achieved. Added tube preamp and better power cords and balanced interconnects (SMc modded for balanced operation) and Moon landing.

30 Years Ago....


ADS L810 series 2 loudspeakers with ADS stands

Carver C1 sonic holograph preamp

Carver M1 amp

Sony 5 disc cd player

Harmon Kardon cassette player

generic wires

Maxell AE-320. Working, with box, like new.

By the way, it is not that great.

How many of us still has any of the gear we had 30 years ago?

I still have my zerostat, but that’s about it. I’ve owned my turntable 23 years now- so 

my oldest piece of gear is a Marantz tuner. That’s either late 60’s or early 70’s (is there a Marantz serial number database?) 

my McIntosh tuner has been identified as having been made in 1973 (Rich Modaferri told me)

both of these tuners came into my possession within the past few years 

Ah yes the Milty Zerostat (anti static gun). It was red. Good times.

My older son (now past thirty) as a tyke turned up the volume all the way, gave us heart attacks and blew out my beloved three way Braun (810?) speakers. Amp was a Marantz, TT was a B&O, Tandberg Cassette Deck and hardware store 16G wire.  

Fun to remember.