The stereo store where I bought the Beogram had dedicated rooms for B&O, Sansui and SAE. I used to love going to that place and lusting after things I couldn't afford. My first system was that used Beogram 3400 ($295), a pair of Infinity Qb bought on closeout for $207 for the pair and used Marantz 1030 integrated amp bought from an upper classman for $100. Lots of guys in the dorm had nicer, more expensive systems, but I was happy with what I had.
Forgot about this one. It was very natural and green sounding but lots of work running round and round the stumptable in circles though. It’s really an-a-log
1st "serious" turntable was a Systemdeck iix back around 1980....i see them for sale occasionally and it reminds me what slick table they where
My first turntable after having one of those cheapo all in one units with pull down turntable to open it and detachable L&R speakers was a Thorens TD150 in 1970 for a high school graduation gift from my parents.
First that was truly my own? This one, early in junior high school: All that newfangled electronical tomfoolery came much later.
Akai linear track. Roughly 1985. Bought new. First TT I ever owned. Considering the compact disc, it was also the last.
I inherited my father's Sonab 85S late 70s. This was a Scandinavian version of the Yamaha CS-50P. Lovely deck, really, and gave a good account of itself. I think my mum still has it. From there I jumped to a Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace, which was quite a different proposition.
A Marantz 6025 R in 1978, like the one in the picture. Kept it for a couple of years and bought a Thorens TD 160 with SME 3009 Series II Improved tonearm in 1980. I still have the Thorens and use it every day. I have not felt the need for another table since then.
The first record player I inherited in 1974 was my Mother's (possibly her 21st birthday present), BSR Monarch UA8, 4 speed autochanger very similar case as below, with integrated mono valve amp and speaker. It sat on my bedroom floor, I would play a record, close the lid and do my homework resting on it. A couple of years later, it was re-wired with an output socket for stereo and partnered with a solid state amp and a pair of speakers. I played DSOTM almost daily for a couple of years on that system! It was finally retired in 1980 when I bought my first turntable, a Rega Planar 3 with the R200 (S-shaped, Acos Lustre derived) arm and Rega (Supex) R100 cartridge.
Grew up with a GE Trimline suitcase system that my dad owned in the 1960s: The first one I bought for myself was a Philips with auto return in the mid 1970s. Can't remember the model, probably one of those ones from the AF "Direct Control" range. Could definitely have been an AF 677 In the early '80s I had a Rega Planar 2, which was the starter "audiophile" table of choice in those days I guess, but in the end I didn't think that was a very good turntable, so I took the arm off it, modified the arm with better wiring, different end stub and weight, VTA adjustment; and got a Merrill Heirloom, a set up something like this:
About 48 years ago: My records were those of my parents (Gilbert Bécaud, Frida Boccara) then I discovered Patsy Galant, Kiss, Styx, Tangerine Dream...
Mid 60's when I was about 10yrs old my parents bought me a cheap suitcase table so I could play my top 100 45's. Several years later I graduated to albums and got a cheap Radio Shack separate system with a tiny integrated amp, separate speakers and turntable that had no adjustments and a flip stylii. My first real turntable came with a system I purchased after my freshman year in college with the money I earned working that summer. I bought a package from an Illinois Audio catalog with a Sansui 661 receiver, Dynaco 35 speakers and low end Dual turntable. Not sure what cartridge it had but I still have those Dynaco's which still sound great to me. Still remember when the UPS truck drove up to my dorm in the fall of 1974 with that system. I played that system to death that sophmore year and had that table until 1980 when I bought a Technics SL-1700 MK II.
Late 70's guy here too, problem is the only thing I'm sure of is in 1981 I bought a 1200 Mkii (a big deal for me back then). But I bought two or three before that, starting at 15 yrs young in '77 --- they were all Technics, but I can't recall the model. They weren't a 1600 or 1700 I know for sure because they were manual! I do know my first TT was purchased at Silo on 20th St and Camelback Rd in Phoenix though... lived about a mile from there growing up. Just don't ask me the model, I can't recall.
First separate component turntable I ever owned. AR-XA91. Bought this from The Music Box in Oak Ridge, TN, in 1973. Owner's advice for me, was downgrade cartridge to a Shure M 75 EJ, I had him install and set it up for me, and he let me buy it for $49 ($69-less cartridge downgrade). Brand new. Used it with the Dynakit Stereo 70 power amplifier, and Dynakit PAS 3-X preamplifier, and Dynaco A-25 loudspeakers I bought in 1973, and kit built. Paid for with my first radio paycheck as studio engineer/announcer. Paid $179 for all. Roden Electric was closing out their Dynaco and Eico kit electronics, and the Music Box had lost their AR dealership, when Teledyne bought the company. Got 4 free LP discs with the AR (a gift from Bill Pollock, the Music Box owner). I was 9 years old when this happened. Bill Pollock lent me a trade in Kenwood receiver while I was building my kits, had the option to buy it (and I did to replace my stepdad's Fisher 400 which had a bum output transformer).
The first turntable I owned was an Aristona 1312 that originally belonged to my uncle. It looked like this: About a week later I got a second turntable that belonged to my father, a Technics SL-23. It looked like this: These were my first two decks in my DJ setup. Obviously not really suitable for DJing, but what did I know… DJing was cool in high school back in 2006, but “modern” USB DJ controllers and CD decks were still too expensive for a 14 years old. So I went with vinyl. It was dirt cheap. It was the poor man’s DJ setup. That DJ setup got more serious in the first two years by changing to Reloop RP-2000mkII but I discovered that I’m a total noob in multitasking - one of the most important skill requirements for DJing. That’s why my DJ setup slowly developed into a proper HiFi setup. It’s the reason I’m playing records nowadays. If I never had owned any records back then, I wouldn’t have taken the effort to get into it now, because records have become ridiculously expensive. I just happen to have grown up with it, right before the vinyl revival took off.
Pioneer PL-630. Late '70s, early '80s, I think. I got rid of it because after a while it gave me electric shocks when touching the buttons.
My first was a Dual, but I do not remember which. My favorite, last (back in the '8os), and undoubtedly the sexiest, was a B&O Beogram 4000.