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Your first stereo system

What was your first stereo or hi fi music system? What do you remember best about it? What were its strengths? Its weaknesses? What music provided you the most enjoyment from it? What did you trade in first and why? My first system was from Lafayette Radio Electronics. It consisted of a very small integrated amp, two small book shelf speakers, and a turntable I don't remember much about. I was thrilled to have the tiny amp, it provided much better sound than an a.m. radio, in such a small package. My system was in the basement of my parents home, with the speakers on opposite sides of my round water bed! The first "up grade" was to a cool looking Garrard turntable with a clear plastic hinged cover. My favorite music of the time was by Jim Morrison and the Doors. That system did its best to light my fire, and the memory of it still does.
richardmonk
jrt
18 posts
 
My first venture into "call brand" audio components came in the early 80's, but I always think of the first system my parents bought for me when I was a kid in the middle of Junior High School...a Panasonic FM only Receiver with 50 watts of power, a BIC outboard 8-track in a beautiful walnut cabinet, a BSR/McDonald turntable with a Stanton cartridge. It had the arm, but I used the single disc spindle instead!, speakers were a pair of A/R Model 2's...I would sit in the middle of my bed- the sweet spot!, and listen for hours on end. My memories of this drive me still in my quest for "that sound"... The sad part is, that was probably as close as I will ever get to that innocent pleasure of music, I'm now so critical of the equipment, the recording process, etc. Still, if I could convince myself that I should buy a Turntable again, a Phono Pre, some cables...
david99
1,467 posts
 
Jrt,GO ANALOG!!!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!! THAT is the music you remember!!
slowhand
610 posts
 
Hey David99, sounds like you are as much of an analog lover as I am. My first system consisted of a Kenwood KT-7300 intagrated amp, a Kenwood KT-7500 tuner, a Kenwood direct drive turntable that had a granite base [that thing weighed a ton], and American Moniter speakers. I have come a long way since then, but I still have the tuner in my system today, and it still works fine. Boy, that really brings back memories.
woodmann
17 posts
 
My first real system circa 1983-4: Dynaco ST-70, Dynakit pre (don't remember model), Dual turntable (don't remember model)with pickering cartridge, The Fisher AM-FM tuner (don't remember model, but was made around '67), Tandberg open reel deck (don't remember model, but it had cool cathode VU meters), Aiawa cassette deck , and these big Sony two ways with a passive radiator. I later upgraded when Radio Shack introduced a POLY 8" woofer....the whole thing sounded like mud! Wish I still had the ST-70 though.
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,758 posts
 
In 1966 I bought a Dynaco SCA-35 integrated amplifier kit and by the time I was done soldering I'd found enough money to buy an AR manual turntable. That left the obvious problem of a complete lack of speakers. But when I took the completed amplifier in for a bench test, the dealer took pity on me and found a pair of small AR speakers gathering dust in the warehouse because someone had special ordered them in 'fruitwood' finish and then hated it (no kidding.) He sold them to me for just enough money to keep from being embarassed by the deal and I was a happy boy, ready for all the musical enticements of Austin in the late 60's. I had a long and happy relationship with the dealer, High Fidelity, and they more than made back the money they lost on those first speakers.
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