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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
harrylavo's avatar
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harrylavo
346 posts
 
Summer of 1956 as a soon-to-be senior in high school, I built a system starting with a modest Electro-Voice SP-12B in an Argus bass reflex cabinet.  A Garrard RC121 with a Norelco moving magnet cartridge and an Eico HF-20 amp (built from a kit) completed the system.  I also bought my first two LP's at the time (through the Capital Records Club): Rimsky-Korsakov's "Le Coq D'Or", and  Stan Kenton's "Kenton in Hi-Fi".

The following year I added an Eico FM tuner (again from a kit) and built an equipment cabinet to take the rig to college with me.  The year after that I replaced the speaker with a 15"Jensen Triaxial installed in a corner horn built from plans from somewhere, and this system remained with me through my last three years of college and two years of grad school.

I must admit that my system was adequate, but still a let-down from my father's system that I grew up with - a large JBL corner horn (C-31) fed by a Newcomb 25wpc williamson amplifier with umbilical preamplifier. The electronics in turn were fed by both a Garrard RC88 with GE variable-reluctance cartridge (for the family) and a Rek-O-Kut turntable and (I think) a Grey tonearm and Fairchild cartridge.
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bailyhill
53 posts
 
I started with and Eico ST-40 integrated amp, Garrard TT, Shure M91E cartridge I believe, and Jensen 12 inch coaxial drivers mounted in birch wood boxes that I made in shop.  Now 55 years later have Naim NDX streamer, Naim DAC  V1, Naim Unity Core, Krell KSA-80B and Apogee Scintillas One Ohm all thru Inakustics Reference interconnects and speaker cables.  Upgrade soon to Naim ND555 streamer, and a Rockna DreamDac. 
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speakerbox
14 posts
 
Fascinating!  My first decent system was a dual tt, Harman kardon 330A receiver, and audio analyst speakers.  I was about 14 at the time.  Early 70s.   The journey taken me through amps from SAE 2400L, Amber 70, Proceed Amp 3, and a pair of Rowland Model 1s.   I have designed my own speakers since the audio analysts.  Still have all my designes in active use.  One pair being a pair of ls3/5a clones that I love.  Funny thing though as my journey has taken me full circle.  I now use a fully restored/upgraded Pioneer SX-1250 as my main amp, and to my ears it beats all the others I have had.  Love that beast!
motown-l
188 posts
 
My first stereo was a Pioneer SX-525, a cheapo Garrard idler drive and a pair of KLH 2 ways (maybe 7's or 11's, can't remember). I went through a broad range of upgrades and swaps, over the years including a 10 year stretch of no audio equipment (nasty divorce, had to sell a NAD pre-amp, a PS audio amplifier, JBL L-166's and a Philips TT with a Shure V15 IV). Now in a wonderful 2nd marriage, my wife not only lets me indulge my hobby, I have a dedicated listening room! Nothing I have is reference level, but some of the equipment edges into low end audiophile. I love this hobby! 
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stvgray
23 posts
 
Got my first full-time job after college in 1972. A few months later, realized I could actually afford a good stereo. Went to Tech HiFi in Ann Arbor and listened to Large Advents, EPI 100s ... and the most expensive speakers in the store, Ohm F's. They F's blew away everything else. I think they were $400 -- shocking at the time.
My first wife -- bless her -- said -- "You might as well get them. You know you won't be satisfied with anything else, now that you've heard them." She was right.
So I bought them, and an AR turntable with Shure V15III cartridge, and a used Heathkit AR-1500 receiver. Ahhh ... sounded so good! Would love to hear those speakers today and see if they sounded as good as they do in my memory.
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