Poll - Do You Still Have Your First Speakers?

Yes. A pair of Jonzer "Medallion" speakers from the early 70's, from a now-defunct manufacturer in Tacoma, WA. They were housed in the museum that was my grandparents' living room for 3 decades. Inherited them along with the rest of the stereo several years back, the same system I've been using since my tape dubbing days in the mid-80's. They still look good, sound okay, and are loud enough for my apartment.

 

My first speakers were a pair of no-name bookshelves that I bought for $40 (new) to go with a BSR turntable - purchased with the Christmas tips from my paper route - and the least expensive Lafayette amp in the catalog ($25). I was ~13. I don't miss them. At all. My second speakers were Boston A40s. I do miss those.

 

My first component stereo system bought in 1969 consisted of a pair of Dual/Noresco bookshelf speakers.. along with a Philips amp (10 watts)..and a Gerrard TT with a Shure cartridge.

 

No.

Gave them up in 1959 or 1960.

 

No.

My first system was a receiver with a quad 8-track and separate BSR turntable.
The speakers were Ultimate, some no name brand that came with the package.
Then Bolivars, can't remember the model# but they were 2 ways so I'm thinking maybe the 125's
From there I leapt to a pair of KEF Reference 101's paired with an Acoustique 3A subwoofer.
Next step were my current speakers KEF Reference 104.2

 

The first ones I bought (as opposed to flotsam and jetsam hand-me-downs from my older brother) were JBL L100's. I loved them at the time, which was a long time ago. I don't know what I'd think of them now. I've only owned three sets of main speakers in the last 40 years--the JBLs, a pair of ESS towers with Heil Air Motion Transformers for high frequencies, and my current (and aging) Vandersteen 2Ci's. I think I'm due for some new ones; my wife doesn't see it that way.

 

Yes. Celestion SL6si's

 

Long gone, but not forgotten: Visonik David

Lived in my room at home, my room at school, my car, and my mom's living room for years until they finally suffered a fatal woofer disintegration.

 

I still have a pair of 2-way bookshelf speakers I built about 30 years ago. Bextrine (??) woofer/mid and Audax soft-dome tweeter. They're OK, but the imaging was always crap. Apart from that the sound is fairly pure.

But my first real speakers were Dynaco A30s. Those were pushed out of the way for Magnepans, and eventually Infinity speakers. All of these are gone. I have mostly given up on speakers now. I listen on headphones. Someday I might get some smaller speakers on stands. We'll see. At one point I concluded that on some level I hate speakers. Either speakers have problems, or the room has problems. I don't have a good place for speakers at the moment. Imaging is not that important to me, I'm not a bass freak, and I'm content with headphones.

 

BIC Venturi 1976 vintage. Got them for $60 when they were 4 years old. Heavy and solid construction, but the woofers always left a lot of room for a lower end. I found this pic online, but this is exactly what mine look like, stashed in the basement...

 

Reminds me of my old KLH Model 17s . . . out in a storage room here ...

 

No. Realistic 8" two way speakers, don't recall the model number. Late 70's. Can't remember what happened to them.

 

Probably the Nova 7's, I had a pair too. Or Optimus 2's. They weren't bad at all. Then I got the Nova 8's, which were a larger 12" 3-way, and was quite annoyed that a friend's 8" 2-way Fishers sounded better. Of course I wasn't about to tell HIM that, though! Every speaker Radio Shack sold was 20-20,000 Hz, regardless of the actual frequency response. Very amusing.

Here, you can browse through every Radio Shack catalog, ever. A fun way to spend a few hours!
http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalog_directory.html

 

No, long gone. 1969 vintage 8" two-way Realistic something or other bought brand new. Dynaco A-25s replaced them which were replaced by large Advents which were replaced by........on and on.

 

EPI Magnus 100s. This was the EPI of the 80s. Boomy, loud, and most importantly, cheap.

Replaced them w/ B&W speakers in the 90s and never looked back.

 

Yes I've had them since 1977 my four large Advents. Two are the original large Advents and two are the new large Advents.

That's a very long time but I had them woofed in 2008. I will never forget the sound and memories forever.
There are some pics in the systems part twelve thread.

Aren't the memories beautiful everyone?

 

I might have had a pr. of Pioneer in the 70's when stationed in the Far East, But I still have my Cerwin Vega AT10's, bought in the 80's. Had to re-foam the woofers a few years back.

 

No, but my best friend has them. She had a crappy stereo with even crappier speakers so when I left town a decade ago I gave them to her - she is now the proud owner of a pair of very early '80's Akai speakers. I believe I paid $100 for the pair and AFAIK they are still being listened to.

 

I think they were Nova 6s. They had plastic diagonal lattice grilles. The boxes were pretty substantial. I knew Realistic wasn't the best brand in the world, but they were real hi-fidelity speakers. And no, they didn't sound bad at all, at least not to me. Hooked 'em up to my Kenwood integrated amp, and I was in business.

 

Had one of those, too, a KA-7100, claimed to be "Hi Speed" as I recall.

 

Cerwin-Vega D1s. They've been re-foamed. I used them in my 5.1 setup. Very hard, cold sound. I don't like them.

 

Lafayette Criterion bookshelf speakers. Bought in 1970 as part of my first real stereo with a Lafayette 10WPC integrated amp and Garrard 40B changer with Shure cart. I later traded them in toward a pair of KLH and a Pioneer integrated.

 

That's funny -- what's a "hi speed" amplifier supposed to be?

Mine was a KA-3500, 40wpc -- there's one on ebay right now for $50(tempting...). I wasn't interested in listening to the radio. Added some kind of cheap turntable (funny, that's what I can't remember very well -- probably also Realistic) and I was in heaven.

 

Bose 301's
Long gone.
*sigh*

 

Wow!
I answered the poll "no" more just to see the results. Color me shocked there are 100 yes votes.
My first speakers were built by me when I was 14; total pieces of crap but some good listening.
I don't have any of my first ten speakers.