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What were your humble beginnings on the path to high end audio?

Recently there has been a discussion as to the “price point where mid fi tops out and hi end systems begin”. I’d be willing to bet that there are not many folks who started out in this field of interest spending $100K, $50K or even $10K. Going back to your very beginnings, what was your first serious audio system?

I’ll jump in the wayback machine with Mr. Peabody and Sherman and give you a look at my beginnings.

My journey began at around age 13. I started out with a Lafayette KT-630, stereo tube amp that I built from a kit in my 9th grade, “electronics shop” class. The speakers were built at home from plans in the 1968, July issue of Mechanix Illustrated. I upgraded the cabinet construction from plywood, to solid mahogany. The twin woofers in each cabinet were also upgraded to 5” from the specified 4” units and the tweeters were also upgraded from the specified 2-3/4” units to the deluxe 3” units. The inductors in the 6db per octave passive crossovers were hand wound and the caps, terminal strips, L-pads, magnet wire and grill cloth were from Lafayette Radio Electronics as were the woofers and tweeters. The turntable was a purchased Garrard SL72B with a Shure M91E magnetic cartridge.

Check out the amp specifications on page 42 of the Lafayette 1968 summer catalog #648.
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Allied-Catalogs/Lafayette-1968-Summer.pdf

The raw speakers are shown on page 55 of the Lafayette 1971 catalog #710. Woofers, 99-F-01554, figure D. Tweeters were at the bottom of page 55, 99-F-00499. The Garrard SL72B is on page 69 of the same catalog.
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Consumer/Lafayette-1971.pdf

I still have the speaker systems and the amp and they all still work! Alas the SL72B is long since gone. I mowed a lot of grass and shoveled a lot of snow in the neighborhood to buy all that high end gear at age 13! :-D By todays standards, not very impressive, but to a 13 year old in 1968, it was awesome!

So to reiterate, what was your first serious audio system?

P.S. - If you are interested, check out some select old Lafayette, Allied Radio, Heathkit, Radio Shack, Olson and other old catalogs from what I think of as the “good old days” of electronics and my youth.
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Electronics_Catalogs.htm

vintage_heath
jerrym121
8 posts
 
Sansui AU222 - amp
Sansui TU555 - tuner
AR 4ax -Speakers
Pioner Pl12 - Turntable

Oh, and I don’t want to forget my Kight kit color organ. You know, it really was a very decent sounding system.  A little soft on the top end it's sins were those of omission but what it did it did well. 
nitrobob
238 posts
 
My into was a loan.. Yep, went to Beneficial loans and borrowed 168 dollars to buy my first Marantz Turntable. Made monthly payments on it for a year or two . I had a 200 customer daily paper route that was earning me 40 dollars per week .  Model 6300 (I think.) . I believe the bill is still laying around here somewhere. A few years later I bought a Hafler 500 Amp and matching pre-amp kit that my future wife threw a fit over after it sat on our kitchen table while I assembled them … Good times ! And that system kicked out ALOT of rock and roll..... Thanks for asking
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,741 posts
 
@broockies - In 1952, I was but a twinkle in my Father's eye! The true "Golden Age" of Hi-Fi...
blueranger's avatar
blueranger
719 posts
 
Around 45 years ago I won a $5 am radio selling magizines. I have fond memeories listening late into the night to stations in Chicago and NY. My first decent stereo was a 50 watt Sansui receiver and some Altec Lansing speakers at 18 and then at 20 some NIKKO equipment and a linear tracking Mitsubishi TT. A B.I.C. T4m 2 speed 3 head cassette deck about the same time. I progressed up the chain for 45 years. For me Rome wasn't built in a day. I savored each upgrade.
firstnot's avatar
firstnot
248 posts
 
$1/hr at General Cinema in Dallas in 1969  plus all the tickets you could sell at the end of the line!! I saved and bought a Marantz 3300 preamp-$350 model 120 tuner $400 -and a Phase linear 400 amp also $400.. AR XA turntable $59, Speakers - Bose 901's series 1 or 2. Really wanted the JBL century 100s but they were a bit too much.. A week after I finally got everything it was all stolen while I was at work. A few months later I replaced it all at a new locale except the Bose. I went to a new store called Speakerlab in Seattle on 35th Ave and bought the kit based on the Klipsch corner horn. Came with plans and a material list plus all the speakers and crossovers. It was the best kit they sold and set me back about $400 as I recall. Then I bought 5 sheets of high density particle board and went to work. 
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