As A Youngster, What Unit Puqued Your Interest In All This?

I could say my 8 track player and greatest rock hits but..

My friend, who worked at the local audio store, had a Big AR tube amp,AR SP3 preamp and Magnaplaner Timpani 3s.  So smooth and natural sounding.  Much better than the smaller Magnapans crammed in our dorm room.

In 1956, as a student at The Eastman School of Music, I found that it was very convenient to pass by Craig Audio which was owned by a doublebass player in the Rochester Philharmonic, Dave Craig.  It was only a block out of my way and was located in a tiny little bungalow on a side street.  It didn't take long for me to convince my parents that it was an essential part of my musical education to own a decent audio system.  It consisted of a 10 Watt Bogen amplifier [mono] , a Bogen turntable with GE Variable Reluctance Cartridge and a 12" Electrovoice coaxial loudspeaker in a tunable infinite baffle cabinet.  I still have the receipt !   The journey from then has been a joyous one and definitely the best hobby imaginable !  A set of Bozak "Symphony I" speakers still create an unbelievable sound even though they are in my garage [I'm also a gearhead] . Thanks to the OP for this trip down "Memory Lane" !

Went from GE fold down record player with swing out speakers to Heathkit receiver (AR-1500) and JBL L-150 speakers with Benjamin Miracord record changer. Tried other speakers but always came back to JBLs. Still have those L-150s, but also 4350s and DD67000 (and dozens of other models).  Over 60 years since the GE and still can’t keep from trying out interesting vintage or new stuff. Gonna be a hellacious estate sale when I kick off. Over a dozen pairs of speakers set up currently and multiple pairs of duplicates of the large format speakers, plus several dozen other pairs, and similar situation with electronics (Heathkit, Dynakit, Luxman, McIntosh, Marantz, Thorens…).

My dad’s HH Scott 222C, a Garrad turntable playing mom’s favorite Tom Jones album through a pair of 15 inch single driver Altec’s mounted in furniture grade cabinets.  Didn’t drive my Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath albums very well, so I went NAD solid state when I had enough cash to buy my own rig after college. Very harsh and grainy, but it would get loud! 

I’m back to tubes, Klipsch and male/female vocals.  What goes around comes around.  

Defining moment was listening to a Sheffield track record on a system with Klipschorn speakers and McIntosh tube amps at an audio store around the age of 15.