Is your now then?

Then:
Back in the day when I barely had two cents to rub together, I scratched my hifi itch via hifi rags like stereophile et al.   My "virtual" systems favored components from Nad and Adcom.  I loved the clean looks and low profile of most of  their gear.  I  also liked Carver's stuff.

Now:  
I'm still influenced somewhat from those early years.  I still favor diminutive components with clean looks.  Sound is a major factor in the now that didn't come into play with my former "virtual" systems.  I still like the looks of the classic  Nad/Adcom/Carver components but from a performance perspective they don't fill today's needs. 

1973 Sony Str 7065,Bose 901s I got used with stands and custom made based that lifted the speakers to ear level sitting down..receiver was $350 ,Bose 901 used 2 old $315,turntable was a Technics SL 1300 with Shure 100 cart that was $350 also.Now I own Caryin 50 tube in amp $1000 ,Nad 588 tt with blue ofton cart.$900,Emovtive cr3 cd player $300.Oh speakers are Polk Lsim 707 returns ,got them for $1100 a steal.I loved my 70s unit as I do my 2021 system.But always buying vintage stuff.

Started back in 63’. My friend walked around with a transistor radio tucked in his waist band. Listening to Summertime, Summer in the City, Bill Haley…
 Then I saw a pair of MBL 111es. Then I saw a pair of VAC 170iqs, then I saw a Transrotor…
I said, f#*¥! I’m in. 

in 1962 I walked into a hi fi store in Berkeley and heard a pair of KLH 9's driven by a transformerless amp.....truly a game changing experience. Several months later, heard a pair of Quad 57 ESLs, bought a pair and listened to them for many years with true pleasure. They've gone away and now using a pair of Harbeth 40.1's which sound to me like a giant pair of Quads

Like many of the audio veterans here I also began my love of quality sound in the sixties when I first heard my friends fathers Fisher amp and Garrard table and Jensen speakers and the Hammond B3 of the Vanilla fudge. My older brother help set me up with a tube amp from a console stereo, a Garrard table and a pair of AR2ax speakers. After recovering from a severe case of Guillain Barre Syndrome in '73 I treated myself to a Marantz 2270 and an ARxb table and later Cornwalls.I now stream from a Node 2 with an RME dac and some Mcintosh power. Now that our family is grown and colleges and weddings are done and paid for, its time to up the ante and upgrade my speakers to some Wilsons, Legacys or Focals . Music is my main source for relaxation and after nearly sixty years, my love of music and the journey to reproduce music at the highest level is on a never ending road. I could never understand how someone could live a full life without a hi end stereo in their home.