Where did you buy your first audio gear?

Olsen Electronics on Dempster Street in Morton Grove Illinois. And then Music-Craft  on the same street and town. At Olsen Electronics my mother bought me my first stereo at age 15. It was an all in one deal for $99.00. Probably a week's paycheck for her. Can't remember the brand name. Then a year or so later at Music-Craft a BIC turntable then a Technics turntable, A Sherwood receiver on which the factory handwrote the actual tested watts per channel ( marketing tactic)? then a Kenwood receiver, a pair of  Boston Acoustics A60 speakers (because Consumer Reports said so) and 2 different Aiwa cassette decks. I would always buy the 10 pack of TDK SA-X blank cassette tapes. The above mentioned purchases were made between 1979 and 1982. Good times. 

Gifted Listener Audio in Centreville VA did a quick web search and bummed to see they closed last year.

Lots of military stories in the mix, here's another

It was 1980 and I was in Cherry Point NC at a USMC airbase, bought mine from a pawn shop in Havelock NC

Sansui integrated amp and preamp, oddly a stand alone Sansui AM/FM tuner, a 12 band Sansui equalizer, a Sansui cassette deck, Kenwood direct drive turntable with an Ortofon cartridge and a pair of 5 way Kenwood 999 speakers with 15'" woofers, 2 horns a midrange and tweeter

Fun times and thanks for the trot down memory lane

Early summer 1971, Pacific Stereo in LA; post college graduation and full-time decent paying job: Sony receiver, Advent speakers and a Gerrard TT... the sweet life!

Lafayette Electronics Fordham Rd ,Bronx,NY 

integrated amp AR4, and AR turntable

sounded great