what was your first set up?

How far have you come from then?

 

Paradigm Studio 60 v2
NAD C320BEE
Rega P3-2000/AT 440
Rotel RCD-991AE

still have the Rega! gave the NAD to a friend recently

 

You're a good friend, has that rega stood the test of time?

 

never even a slight hiccup. been through a few carts on it

 

Oh man, back in 1993 when I moved out of my parent's place the first thing I bought was a Yamaha RX-385 amp and a pair of Boston Acoustic HD-9 speakers. I got a crappy RCA 5-disc CD changer as a wedding gift the next year. I bought a really cheap Onkyo Turntable when I moved to Chicago a few years later. That was my setup until 3 years ago when I finally decided I'd had it with mp3s and decided to see what all the hifi fuss was about. I've changed all my stuff since then.

I still have the Yamaha amp - it's doing split duty between the office and the back patio. It still sounds great. Speakers were donated to a friend a few years ago, but they were great while I had them - even replaced a split woofer at some point. I slapped an At95 on the TT and used it in the bedroom for a while but also gave that away recently.

So, I'm hoping my current Harbeths and Rega P5 will be with me for the next 20 years. I'm pretty satisfied with both of those right now...other stuff might change, but I'm keeping those two pieces for sure.

 

Pretty far.

 

I remember spinning Meet The Beatles on one of these:



My first "separates" were a Garrard/Shure combo, Lafayette integrated and Criterion speakers.

 

From this thread:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/your-first-hi-fi-system.201947/

 

My first real hifi, circa 1978, was the following:

• BIC 960 turntable (cartridge unknown, probably a Shure M91ED) - went bad in the mid '80s and was replaced with a used Technics DD
• Pioneer SX-450 receiver - used it until 1988, worked fine the whole time
• Teac A170-S cassette deck (top loader!) - used it until 1988, worked fine the whole time
• unknown speakers - went bad in the early '80s and were replaced with some Pioneer speakers

 

First set-up as a university music student and it took some saving up to buy: Dual 1214 turntable, Yamaha CA-400 integrated and Dynaco A-10 speakers. This was all stolen about three months after I bought it, so the first system I had for many years afterward was: Technics SL-20 table, Yamaha CA-410 integrated and EPI M50 speakers. I still have the EPIs and enjoy them to this day with an Onkyo TX-4500 Mk II receiver in a kitchen system.

Things have improved a mite since then with some CJ tube gear and a couple TOTL 70s integrateds from Yamaha and Accuphase around the house in various systems. I like the whole house audio concept, but just one system at a time, not one for everywhere. Variety can be healthy.

 

RCA, mid- to late-50s

 

Probably 6th or 7th grade, took apart a bunch of old clock radios and made "stereo" speakers from cardboard model car boxes and wired them up around my room, connected to a GE clock radio. I wanted to be like my older cousins who were playing jethro tull and david bowie 8-tracks on their panasonic all in one.
we had great radio stations back then- the days of FM free form progressive rock.

 

A 1960s Dansette Viva record player and in this colour too! The platter was slightly different though - blue/grey affair.

 

My first setup was:

Infinity Crescendo 3008 from Circuit City!
Rotel dolby pro logic processor
Onkyo cd player
Carver TFM 35x amplifier

Still remember how proud I was of that Carver amplifier.



- Buck

 

I had some small portable radios, cassette players, and a fairly large portable stereo 8 track player, but my first real plug in stereo where I could spin vinyl, I got free from my friend. A Longine symphonette record player.

Seems his parents started with their record club and got one free, a few days later a second one arrived, rather than return it they were told to just keep it, and I ended up getting it.

I was 8 years old, 1967. The speakers were iffy, so about 2 years later I got my mom to buy me some Radio Shack Minimus 2. From then on it was upgrade path.



Minimus 2, sealed cab, 6" & 2", real walnut veneer. $80 a pair in 1970



For what it was it sounded pretty good, the table was full size, and it had a magnetic cartridge. Bass, treble, vol/bal controls and headphone. No radio. All the more reason for me to procure vinyl ASAP, and I did by golly.

 

Used to spin the Grease soundtrack, and Flinstone and Popeye 45s with this. Still have it too, but I've got to repair some of the electronics and replace the cart with a Shibata . . . assuming it's possible to get into it w/o destruction.

 

Some mediocre Bush or Pye all-in-one from the mid 80's. TT, dual cassette decks, tuner with some storage space for lp's underneath.

 

$120 Zenith solid cardboard console, bought at White Front in Glendale around 1975. I've improved on that somewhat since then.

 

All hand-me-downs from my Dad.

Kenwood 9050 receiver

I still have the receiver, 200 watts and 60 lbs of power. Unfortunately it's in such disrepair being a hand-me-down, and not really well taken care of. Noisy phono pre, the aux inputs didn't work... I figured the cost of getting it fixed up would probably be the same as a new receiver, so I just went for the Fisher 500c and haven't looked back, except for the Kenwood's looks. If there's one thing I miss is the VU meters, always been a sucker for VU meters.

Marantz 6150 Turntable

I don't remember much about the turntable, it seemed pretty serviceable, but I had it before I'd say I cared much for good sound.

Sony SS U420 speakers

Those sony speakers were friggin' horrible. I've had bookshelf speakers a fraction of the size that were the same weight, not even kidding. I remember the crossover was practically non-existent when I opened them up. I remember being ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY when I got Tannoy Mercury V1s used for 150 USD and how much better they were. I remember finding it hilarious when I saw them in a thrift shop for a whopping ten bucks.

 

9 transistor pocket radio at age 10. The excitement of hearing "Girl" and "Michelle" was unequalled for many years.

 

AR XA Turntable, Shure M91-ED
Pioneer SA-500A, only 10 watts per channel, sounds very tube-like.
Pioneer CS-66 3 way speakers, sealed enclosure 10 inch woofer
Sony TC-255 reel to reel

 

Garrard record changer
Realistic Receiver
Realistic Minimus speakers

Those were the days!

 

From my university days-
AR 77 turntable with Stanton 681EEE cartridge
Dynaco Pat 4 preamp
Dynaco Stereo 120 kit power amp.
Tangent RS4 speakers.
A very competent system.Perhaps the preamp was the weak link but suspect it had a good phono stage.
The speakers were fabulous in a very BBC way.I should have never sold them

 

AR Legend turntable\Linn lvx\Grado cart. Mission 778 amp Heybrook HB2 speakers

 

(2) JB Lansing C-36 cabinets with the 030 set (D130. o75 tweeter)
Garrard Lab 80 TT with Shure m55E cart
Fisher X-100- C integrated
Koss Pro4 headphones
Back in 1965 this was my high school graduation present (a few years early) I kept this setup for 15 years. Used it constantly for the next 15 years...

I would say, now, nearly 50 years later My system is a little better, but no more enjoyable.

I would, if I could go back get a 400C or 500C instead of the transistor X-100-C