Where did you buy your first audio gear?

Harman Kardon citation team Electronics Sheboygan Wisconsin

Really cool to see all those small Hi-Fi stores, many I am sure are gone... tragically. And the great classic audio components and brands....wow I guess I am an old timer. This is when and where we got infected.... haha!

First stereo was a Sanyo rack system from Crazy Eddie's, probably 1979 or so.  First high end gear was from Ear Drum in Nanuet NY.  DB Systems 1B/2A/4B preamp, Bryston 3B, Logic DM101 turntable with a Signet tonearm and an Signet MK55E cartridge, and a pair of Energy Pro 22s, somewhere around 1983,

JC Penney's technically....1979, I had ordered an MCS receiver, cassette deck, turntable and speakers by mail order. System came in, receiver was broken. Took it back/return. Found out that Playback-The Electronic Playground in Danville, Illinois, was having a big sale. I went in and came home with a Project-One receiver, Pioneer cassette deck and Pioneer HPM-40 speakers. A Pioneer turntable came a little later on.

This started me down the road to this fine "hobby". Oh the money I could have saved had I just left it be at that. But then I would have missed out on a lot of fun and excitement! I certainly do miss a lot of the brick and mortar stores of the days then, Playback, Good Vibes, CMC, Graham's Electronics, even Radio Shack of the time. Nice memories! 

Rogersound Labs in Canoga Park, CA. I was a commercial real estate broker at the time and worked a deal to pay me a commission in stereo gear at cost from their high-end showroom - Upscale Audio. A pair of Acoustat 2+2 speakers, New York Audio Lab Moscode 600 hybrid tube amp (300w/channel), New York Audio Lab tube preamp (Minuet in A), Oracle MkII turntable, don't remember the arm but incuded a Koetsu Black cartridge. I don't think I've ever been more excited in my life. I had just moved from a condo into my first single family home - 1980. That system kept me very satisfied for more than 20 years. If anyone remembers that company, the original owners remain friends today.