What was your first 'hi-end' system?

1970 - 1975 back in University

-- JBL L88 speakers (identical to the foam cube grill JBL L100s w/o the midrange third speaker)
-- the original MARANTZ 2245 receiver
-- ELAC MIRACORD TT with Shure V15 cartridge

(geez... I think that General Washington entertained the troops at Valley Forge with the same kit ..)

OK....good for its time; but looking back now, none of this fare served up back then would remotely qualify as "hi-end" based on today's available modestly priced gear. "Vintage" as referred to today does not necessarily (rarely) mean "Good".

It was a heavily coloured "California sound" with the treble/midrange/bass controls cranked over; tailored for 60s and 70s LP rock albums in the U dorm with an acrid smell of Maui Wowwee floating down the hallways mixed in with a whiff of stale beer.

1970 or something KLH Model 20 system...the one without the tuner. Killed.

When I was 6 in 1978 I got a big Philips 'tube' stereo recorder from my Dad. I remember the smell of the tubes when I started it.

In the late '70s/early '80s, I used Kef Corelli speakers with Audire electronics and a Dual 'table.