What was your first 'stereo?'

[matthew2]

Well, Excluding boomboxes, my first stereo is the one Im using now. Sony MHC-BX5 Mini system. 95wpc, and 3 way bookshelf speakers. Its loud, and hasn't caught fire yet. Im 15, and cant aford anything else riht now...But better then all you old people and your turntables!!

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Matthew

[soundog]

I started with a mono set=up when I was in junior high in the 50s. I had a mono EICO kit pre-amp and a mono 30-35 watt EICO kit power amp with a University diffusacone 12 in a University enclosure kit. Latter I addded a University tweeter. I had a Rec-o-kut 16" tonearm kit (yea a tonearm kit!) with a Pickering magnetic phono cartridge. My turntable was made out of parts recommended from a kit builders magazine I increased the platter from 10" to 12" by adding a cement ring to the outside acording to instructions in the article. It took a couple of revolutions to get up to speed but was great after that. Latter I built an EICO stero preamp and added another identical EICO kit amp. I also replicated my University set up to which I latter added a University dual voice coil woofer which served both channels for low bass (a 1960's sub-woofer!) I had an early stereo reel to reel tape recorder and a EICO kit stereo FM tuner. My friends and I used to thrill to trains, planes etc. crossing my room which would upset my parents. (today I listen to DVD movie helicopters circling the room and explosions and gun battles which upsets my wife ... guess I never grew up!) I also remember getting the first Stereo record that hit Albany and looking at its grooves through a microscope. I lusted after the Klipschorns which I have today. Its been a lot of fun and a lot of good listening.

[DwK]

Hey, Mathew.... Someday you will learn, that Turntables arnt all that bad...

Give it time he's still a youngin.

WHAT?!

I'm a year older!

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Living Room:

Yamaha Natural Sound A-500 Stereo Amplifier

2 Klipsch Heresys on A switch

2 Fisher STV-873 on B switch

My Room:

Klipsch Pro Medias

2 Fisher Surrounds

[ckt]

Around late 60s. A Bogen 50 watt tube PA amp. A 8 inch coax speaker and cabinet kit from Lafayette. A hand-me-down Garrard turntable (think is was a lab 55) with a cheap Shure cartridge.

The Bogen was also abused by my bass guitar.

[Charles Turner]

First stereo (1972) Sansui 5000X receiver, large

Advent 2-way speakers, Dual 1215(?) turntable.

Traded Advents + $450 for six month old cornwalls...seller's wife hated the big, black, ugly speakers in her living room.

Late 70s added Nakamichi 600II cassette deck, Stax elecrostatic headphones...upgraded to B&O turntable

Late 80s upgraded to Adcom separates

1992...mistakingly switched to buying CDs...added Adcom CD player

2000...upgrades to Rega 25 turntable, Micro Benz Glider cartridge, Nitty Gritty record cleaning machine

In process...upgrades to McIntosh separates and ALK crossovers for cornwalls

Future...more old records from Goodwill and estate sales

[Pete C]

My dad owned a pair of Magnovox 3-way speakers with 15" bass speakers, so I new what LF was. I ended up sharing a system with a roommate: Sansui receiver (can't remember which model, but not cheap) a pair of black Cornwalls (labelled Cornwall II with vertical horns: I still have one) and a Garrard crap turntable. All I ended up with at our split was one Cornwall. I had to kick him out due to problems with his girlfriend and the equipment was gone when I returned from work. I built a copycat speaker, bought a Marantz 2270 and an Advent cassette deck. That kept me happy for 10 years. Then I got a pair of LaScalas.

[drobo1]

It was 1969. After much study and consultation with the dorm experts at college, I bought an AR turntable, the AR amp, and a pair of AR 5 speakers. Jimi Hendrix, the Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, the Yardbirds, King Crimson. The setup really cooked.

drobo

[WMcD]

For me, late 60's Heathkit with an AR turntable.

Gil

[Allan Songer]

The hi-fi I grew up with (late 50's/early 60's) was a mono system. My Dad had a single MC-60 McIntosh, a

c-8 MAC preamp, a Garrard turntable (may have been a 301, but I really don't remember exactly) and a single Klipschorn. I don't think I've ever heard a better system. I remember my mom dancing by herself in the afternoons listening to the Four Freshmen and Peggy Lee and Sinatra at FULL VOLUME and my dad spinning his Brubeck and Miles Davis records on the weekends.

I bought my first "stereo" when I went off to college in the early 70's: a Harmon Kardon 330 receiver, an AR turntable and a pair of Advent speakers. By the end of my sophomore year I had a Fisher 500C and my love for old tube gear was fully established!

[MarkF]

My first system. The year was about 1967 (was 14 years old) and my Dad bought me a Marantz 8b amp, a PAS 3X preamp, Altec A7 speakers and a REK-O-Kut turntable. I latter sold it,...stupidly, in 1972.