?Audio systems we had growing up?

[jami w.]

age 12 my first system was an a pioneer rack with the tower speakers tape deck, radio, tt
got at a yardsale for under 40 bucks. it was old, beaten to death an ratty was an understatement, but i was proud!!

my 2nd system- got as a gift from a family member, who was big into audio. age 14 that pioneer rack finally crapped out, an gifted to me was a set of mid 80's pioneer towers, a g.a.s. amp aka ampzilla, a marantz tuner, and pre amp. i just used the tape deck and t.t. from the rack system. that gas amp cranked!!! holy hell it shook the house

 

[shedshrine]

Good topic. Here's one in a similar vein..Your first, early, back in the day systems thread.


My first system, all in one with tiny tinny speakers. photo circa 1978.


_______________________________
Below, my first decent system began with a couple Kenwood separates my neighbor sold me.
The speakers pictured I got cheap and shortly after blew their tweeters so I jigsaw cut out space for Realistic horns.
Had no idea what I was doing, just thought they looked cool...sound was not that great.
Guitar falling into and ripping the woofer did not help, but the used AR speakers I got next changed the equation!
Photo circa 1980.

 

[JH Magnecord]

A collage of the exact components my father gave to me in the late-'80s once he'd gotten more interested in Home Theater setups:

They lasted about another five years (it was all stuff he'd bought in 1972) before they kinda got "run into the ground" and I discovered better vintage in the dirt cheap heyday of late-1990s flea markets.

 

[Treyfus84]

My first stereo was a Soundesign all in one with turntable and 8-track from TG&Y I thought it was cool. I usually listened with a pair of those huge white Pioneer headphones though

 

[Imprecise]

We had two record players back in the 1950s. There was an old one that played only 78s, which were made from fragile shellac. And there was a newer one that played vinyl 33s and 45s and could play a stack of records. I have no idea of the brand names. But I remember that when the 78 player was closed up it looked like a small black suitcase, complete with latches and handle. The fabric insulation on the power cord was patched up with electrical tape here and there.

 

[mmickk]

My first "system".

 

[Burner]

Here is mine. I got it on my holy communion day

Picture borrowed from the web:

 

[Mrv8q]

Here is what I grew up with, 1966 Magnavox Astro-Sonic. Replaced it with a Marantz 2325 and a Dual 701.

 

[slow_jazz]

We didn't have much but my neighbor had separates that got me hooked.

Pioneer receiver, Coral speakers and a Dual turntable.

 

[Harvestor]

The first system I had that sounded any good was a Scott (20wpc) 319RA with Realistic Optimus 50 front speakers and Realistic MC1201 (bookshelf-size) rears. (I returned an Aiwa LED equalizer, because I couldn't figure out how to hook it up!)View attachment 1231713 View attachment 1231714 View attachment 1231716

My very first Purchase of new Speakers was a set of Realistic MC1201 in 1981 I waited for my Radio Shack to get them in for 3 months... Those were really good Speakers

 

[drabina]

Here is mine. I got it on my holy communion day

Picture borrowed from the web:

WOW. I got the same one. Also for my first communion. Though, it was the Grundig version MK232 model. Later had the Unitra as well.

 

[Burner]

WOW. I got the same one. Also for my first communion. Though, it was the Grundig version MK232 model. Later had the Unitra as well.

There wasn't many others that I have seen in that era where I was growing up. Except some yellow, flat ones. Perhaps Unitra as well. Grundig was a bit better - with a radio

 

[drabina]

There wasn't many others that I have seen in that era where I was growing up. Except some yellow, flat ones. Perhaps Unitra as well. Grundig was a bit better - with a radio

My Grundig did not have a radio. Was exact same model as the Unitra. Mono cassette player.I think it was licensed by Unitra from Grundig. I still remember recording music thru the microphone next to a radio speaker. Everybody in the house had to be quiet.

 

[Burner]

My Grundig did not have a radio. Was exact same model as the Unitra. Mono cassette player.I think it was licensed by Unitra from Grundig. I still remember recording music thru the microphone next to a radio speaker. Everybody in the house had to be quiet.

My bad. I have never seen one without a radio. I remember recording "Gummy Bears Cartoon" via DIN cable Great memories...

 

[Ds2000]

First fully my own stereo for $5, garage sale. Readers Digest clamshell. Also had a Sony tabletop cassette deck I bought for $6.60 at another garage sale (it’s all I had lol.)

 

[drabina]

Here is my story.

I have started with Grundig MK232 mono cassette player which I got when I was 7 or 8 years old.



Then I got a hand me down radio so I could record music. The radio was a Zodiak (stereo). At some point I had a color organ connected to the radio for some cool light effects.



Next upgrade was a Finezja stereo cassette player which had a problem with one of the channels recording lower volume (had to fiddle with the sliders to level the sound levels). Still liked it a lot.



Then my parents bought an Unitra stereo system which had a cassette player, tuner, amplifier and equalizer. This to me was a state of the art back in the 80s (I think). The annoying problem with this set was that the silver was sort of matte and would show all fingerprints.



After that I got my own system. Panasonic SC-CH7. Pretty cool small system with all pieces separate. The speakers were bi-amped from the factory. I think my parents still have this stereo set.



Somewhere in the middle, I also had a Sony Walkman II which I put countless hours on. Belt was changed at least twice.



For the vinyl playback we used Daniel record player which my parents still own after all these years.



That's all history that I can remember. We also had a real to real deck and I had a Teac stereo tape deck but I do not remember specs. All photos taken from the internet.

 

[Burner]

Good story @drabina I had a Zodiak too on some stage. Mk232 P connected to it via DIN and old Unitra speakers like the one below:

Then I have changed the amplifier to Unitra WS-503:

I have been using these until I bought my Onkyo I think. In 1999 I think I have bought a Denon CD Player with a jog to change the tracks, and I remember I hated it as it was very picky. The tape player was Sony. I should still have it in my parents house somewhere.

 

[Ross6860]

In high school (mid seventies), I had a Craig all-in-one something like this. Steel needle and all...

I had buddies with "real" stereos, but I had a car and had to finance my hunting and fishing hobbies. Oh, and beer and that nasty crap we used to get from Mexico and Columbia.

With the wife's permission we spent what was a lot of money to us on a Technics SA-450 receiver, Technics SL-j2 table with a Stanton 737 cartridge, and a pair of EPI Magnus 12 speakers. That was 1984. I still have it all (even the cart and stylus), and that receiver is in daily use at my office.

 

[Imprecise]

A bit off topic but I was at a large warehouse type store a few years ago. Bathtubs, floor tiling - that kind of place. On a platform reachable only by ladder was an old Fisher quad receiver with built-in 8-track slot. I could not see the model number. One of the employees told me this had been playing 12 or more hours a day 6 days a week for at least the 16 years he had been there.The speakers were small stained wood boxes high up on the wall, brand unknown, and all four were within 15 to 30 feet of the receiver, apparently each pair in series. Due to my physical limitations I could not judge how hi-fi the setup was, but it sounded pretty good to me. And this in a less than ideal listening space to put it mildly. But to see that old and heavily used piece of equipment still soldiering on made my day.

 

[drabina]

Good story @drabina I had a Zodiak too on some stage. Mk232 P connected to it via DIN and old Unitra speakers like the one below:

Then I have changed the amplifier to Unitra WS-503:

I have been using these until I bought my Onkyo I think. In 1999 I think I have bought a Denon CD Player with a jog to change the tracks, and I remember I hated it as it was very picky. The tape player was Sony. I should still have it in my parents house somewhere.

I had those speakers too but in black. Completely forgot about them till you have posted the photo. I guess we grew up in the same country.