My parents had some sort of all in 1 system from K Mart--turntable, receiver with 8 track, and two Bo's speakers attached to opposite sides. For years it was my mainstay.
In college I finally saved up for a Pioneer Entry level receiver, a Garrard txt, and eventually a Nakimichi cassette player. With Advent 3 Speakers. That I recall lasted about 10 years until the amp section of the receiver died

 

First system aged 17:

Having earned some money working in a hotel kitchen, I bought:

A belt-drive manual Akai turntable, integral tonearm, basic Audio Technica MM cartridge which got replaced with an Ortofon FF15E as soon as I could afford it. Basic Rotel cassette deck, a bit wonky. Eventually I managed to add a Sansui T-60L tuner.

Pioneer SA-408 integrated amplifier (this was a decent little amp).

Videoton Minimax II speakers from Hungary (very good sounding; I should never have sold them and struggled to find anything that performed as well for years afterwards. I was seduced by size...)

 

I started with Denon set, can't remember the codes, my parents started with the Philips 100 CD player,they still have them .

 

I put together my first Stereo system in 1978. A Sherwood 20 watt reciever, Bose 501 speakers, Dual turntable, and Nakimichi cassette deck. Ah, those were the days! The Sherwood didn't really cut it, so about a year later I bought a nice Yamaha receiver.

Remember these ugly things? I don't remember what I did with them? But Mr. Bose became a rich man selling his over rated speakers.

The Yamaha was nice! Wish I kept it.

 

Not counting the "music system" that my parents had.
My 1st "hi-fi" was
Manticore Mantra turntable. It's still in the loft (requires repairing)
Onix amplifier, I'm sitting looking at it now. Still doing sterling service over 30 years old and sits in my system now.
Heybrook HD1 speakers

All from small independent British manufacturers.

 

That's quite fancy for a 'first hi-fi', if you don't mind me saying so, cwarchc. I couldn't afford desirable independent British gear like that for a good while after I first got interested. A Heybrook TT2 was my first decent turntable, though, partnered with a much loved second-hand A&R A60 amp.

 

My first setup consisted of a Sansui SR222 mkIV turntable, Rotel amp and pair of Kef Coda 2 speakers. Still have the turntable (but don't play vinyl anymore) and my son still has the amp and speakers.

 

In the early seventies, a Philips set: tuner, amplifier, turn table, speakers. A little bit later a telefunken tape recorder.

 

When I was 16 years...

 

Blimey that's historic , that is :tiphat:

 

The pick-up used to be from my father,the radio was a birthday present,my father varnished the radio anew and cloth for the loudspeaker.Many hours of listening in my bedroom,UKW of course and I was very proud if I could listen to BBC3 and the discovery of "st martin in the Fields",Beethoven 5 with Andor Foldes,Vasary with Chopin,Solti with Beethoven Vienna and one of my most happy memories,the Gran Partita with Edo de Waart.:tiphat:

 

Pre Hi-Fi equipment:

As a kid I started out with an AM transistor radio, then got one of those mono record players build like a small suitcase. My first stereo was a cheesy plastic two piece junky portable thing that had radio and 8-track (circa 1973). Then I moved up to a cheesy Electronphonic with a radio and turntable.

My First Hi-Fi:

Finally in 1979 I bought a Yahama component system with 65-watts-per-channel amp, FM tuner, cassette deck and turntable, all Yahama components. The speakers were the New Advent, a budget wise but great sounding speaker set. Still have it, but haven't had it hooked up for 20 years.

 

Zenith Integrated Stereo System. I still use it. The turntable doesn't work and the tape recorder died, but the radio works, and I have a turntable hooked up to it. It's not my primary system, but it's in the living room.

 

I bought a Dual Noresco nc-341 back in 1971. It had a turntable with a middling amp, powering two 6" speakers. It was very loud and was an invited guest at a lot of parties when I got to university. The speakers just couldn't handle any bass reproduction, so about a year later I bought speakers that I had made, with each with a 10" Philips woofer, two 5" midranges, and two dome tweeters. I then added an Ampex 7" reel-to-reel tape deck and lived with this system for the next ten years or so.

 

Late 60's we had a turntable with built-in speaker. It closed up and latched. Ugly, scuffed up and blue. But it played Beethoven and I didn't know any better at the time so I thought it was great. Maybe I still do.

 

I skipped over the entry level stuff.

I had the advantage of having a cousin who worked for a stereo shop at the time, so he was able to get me the equipment for less than dealer cost.

My first system consisted of:

A Crown DC-300A amp. Known to be bullet proof, used mostly by bass players at the time. Also good for hi-fi use. A bit harsh sounding in the upper frequencies.

A Hafler 101 preamp. Came as a kit, which I built, for $120 I believe.

Technics SB-7000 speakers. One of the first speakers (after the Dalquist) to take time alignment into consideration. My friend still owns these, with a re-coned woofer, tweeter/mid upgrades, and upgraded x-over.

And a Teac TN-400 turntable. This was a TT that rivaled the Technics SP10. Only Teac was using the "Magna Float" technology (the platter was magnetically suspended, so no bearing contact for less noise and wear) without permission. So they were given a cease and desist on production, and were forced to sell all stock. They were sold by stereo chain in LA for $100! Just for the table. Needed a plinth and tonearm.

I sold it to a friend many years ago, but recently bought it back. I upgraded the plinth from wood, to plexiglass (less resonant and better damped), and the tonearm to a much more modern one made of carbon fiber.

For me, the audio obsession has not abated!

But I do not let my enjoyment of the equipment get in the way of the music. The only reason why I am into audio as a hobby, is to serve my enjoyment of the music.

 

Freshman year of college (1972):

I worked with a girl whose Dad had just opened a Hi-Fi store and specialized in Dynaco equipment, hence the amp, tuner and speakers. The turntable was a Dual 1219 which was considered quite top notch in those days. With a collection of about 200 albums (at that time), it made for many hours of lost study in the dorm. I still had the speakers playing in my garage until about 10 years ago when we sold the house and I left the speakers for the new owner.

 

I wouldn't know how to define what my first stereo system was. It's evolved. I still use the same turntable I had as a kid... Thorens TD-165- And my speakers are the same too. As amps or players burn out, I replace them with something roughly the same. Audio is an evolution, not a specific destination.

 

My first hi fi
Technics SL 1500 with SME arm
JVC amp
Castle Kendal Mark 2 speakers
Many happy hours listening

 

Like my father I built my own loudspeakers.I remember having a loudspeaker without a magnet and elektricity was needed to led it work.
My first hifi player was a Braun PS500,I was18 then.

 

Like my father I built my own loudspeakers.I remember having a loudspeaker without a magnet and elektricity was needed to led it work.

Our living room console radio also had a large speaker that used an electromagnet, powered from the radio's power supply. Alnico, which made permanent magnet speakers far more practical, wasn't developed until WWII.

 

I think it was an Aiwa AX-7500

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/aiwa_receiver_ax_7500_eeax7500.html

with a Technics SL-1500:

http://www.hifi-studio.de/hifi-klassiker/technics/Technics_SL-1500/SL-1500.htm

 

Circa '73 - Utah speakers, Fisher receiver, Garrard turntable.

Related:

http://dldebertin.com/speakers/utah.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_Electronics

http://www.garrard501.com/history.html

 

About 1971-72, when I was in college:

Acoustic Research AR XA turntable
Advent cassette tape deck, might have been model 201A based on pictures from a Google search
Sherwood receiver, about 20W per channel
EPI 100 speakers

 

I don't count my GE all in one.

In 1972-3 I worked at a Korvettes discount store, which had a stereo department. With some of the money I earned I bought a Pioneer PL-10 turntable and a Pioneer SA 8100 amp to go with some Fisher speakers (all bought with my store discount). I quickly upgraded my speakers to the Large Advents, but I had the amp and turntable for at least a decade. I also added the Advent cassette deck.

I recall the summer of 1976 when I was living in NYC with a couple of friends. One had his own pair of Advents, so for that summer we had the legendary double Advent system.

 

I had the 'small Advents' and then a new roommate had the same. We experimented trying to do some sort of Quad thing, without the decoder

 

As a schoolboy I scrimped and saved my wages from a part-time job in a newsagents to buy for £50 from a customer/acquaintance a Garrard turntable, an Armstrong amp and a set of headphones (can't recall the make). I eventually sold them all to my then-brother in law when I bought an (inferior, it has to be said) integrated system when I was in my late teens.

I can't recall which model of Garrard turntable it was now but I'm pretty sure this was the Armstrong amp I had:

 

We had just got married and started a hi-fi fund. When we decided we had enough we went out and bought a Ferguson all in one system in 1974. The shop said they could deliver but we splurged on a taxi to get it home to our bed-sit .

We had many happy hours listening to folk - Steeleye Span - sitting on the floor playing scrabble.

 

I took control of the family system - a Rigonda record player/radio. It wasn't the highest quality (small wonder) but it was well made (manufactured in Latvia, not Russia) and lived a long life. The radio included short-wave, which made it ideal for listening to the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. :devil: