I started off with a very meager setup. I had a Fisher RS-1050 and a Fisher RS-1060. The RS-1050 had a broken amp section, and the RS-1060 had a broken preamp section. I didn't have the money to get them fixed, so I used the RS-1050 as a preamp and used the RS-1060 as a power amp. Barely visible in the bottom left is one of the Cerwin-Vega D-9 speakers I had at the time (lost most of my good pics from that era). I eventually upgraded to running two pairs of D-9s stacked (
which I eventually sold to my buddy). It's amazing that the RS-1060 didn't catch on fire and/or explode.
Back in 2002 my uncle gave me his JBL L150 speakers. He had bought them in Germany in the early 80's when he was in the US Air Force and stationed there, and then brought them back with him. I powered them for a year or two with my RS-1050/RS-1060 combo before I convinced him to give me his Yamaha M-2 amplifier also, which he had also acquired in the same fashion. I used a tube-based headphone amplifier (that also has preamp outputs) as a basic preamp.
Not long afterward, I was able to find a pair of JBL L100T speakers on Craigslist to compliment my L150 speakers. During parties, etc, I powered both just using my Yamaha M-2 but that was clearly testing it's limits. I was able to find a Yamaha P2201 amplifier in good condition, and I bought it to compliment my M-2, so that each pair of speakers could have it's own amp.
Next step for me was when I got my Yamaha C-80 preamp, which allowed me to retire the basic headphone amp/preamp that I was using before. The C-80 also has inverted pre-outs, which allows amps to be bridged even if the amp doesn't have that capability on it's own. After that, I found another P2201 amplifier and bridged the pair so that I could give my L100T speakers a bit more power.
After that, I was able to find a pair of JBL 4412 Studio Monitors on Craigslist. I had them connected to my M-2 for a while, before I found a Yamaha P2200 (same as P2201 but with meters also) on Craigslist so I could give them their own amp also.
Since then I have got yet another P2201, which I paired up with the P2200 as a 2nd bridged pair. Now I can give my L150 speakers extra power also, compared to what they were getting from the M-2. I also picked up a pair of JBL L5 speakers for fun. I'm currently in the middle of doing a major reorganization and stuff is mostly disassembled on the floor at the moment, so no pics of the L5s or my 5th amp setup yet unfortunately.
I like my music to be very emotionally engaging. I'm not a purist and I'm not afraid to use EQ, even on the low-end, to get the sound that I want. I often switch between my speaker pairs, or sometimes run multiple pairs simultaneously depending on my goals at the time and what I'm listening to. I like to have the ability to listen very loud when I want to, where every beat of the drum feels like someone just punched you in the chest, and low-end bass that might make you wonder if a train is approaching. I almost stuck with my two pairs of Cerwin-Vega D-9s, but despite how amazing they were, the JBLs get me even closer to my goals; especially with abundant amplifier power