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"Back in the day", where did you buy your first piece of gear?

YY1

Addicted Member
My first "stereo" was a Panasonic combo that looked like a component from the front.
It came from K-Mart.

My first piece of "real" audio gear was a 30 watt (IIRC) JVC receiver that I boight at "Larrick's" in Dayton, OH.

Larrick's sold appliances but their audio section was way larger than all the other sections combined.
They seemed to have almost every brand, too. I clearly remember Sansui, Technics, Teac, and Akai, among others. I saved my lawn mowing money and bought what I thought was the best deal at age 14.
This was 1982 or very early 83.

After about a week, I blew those Panasonic speakers with that JVC, which led me to my second new gear purchase, as pair of 6 1/2 inch poly cone woofers from Radio Shack to replace the whizzer cone drivers in those Panasonic cabinets I couldn't afford tweeters for another 2 weeks, and when I did get them I couldn't afford crossovers, so my uncle helped me install a basic "bass blocker".

Those speakers actually sounded pretty good and lasted long enough to sell them when found a used set of 8" JBL's about 3 years later.

I went back to Larrick's many times just to look around but never bought anything there again.

It was kind of a hard place to find if you didn't know the area. In the middle of an industrial park next to an abandoned rail yard with neighbors like fuel oil dealers, pluming supply houses, and brick and block sellers.

Later I leaned my uncle knew Chuck Larrick personally.

I will never forget being in awe of all the cool equipment.

Those Sansui's with the clear, lighted paddle buttons, the joystick faders on overhead console car stereos, the granite based turn tables and the Nakamichi cassette decks that robotically turned the tape over to name just a few.


How about you?
 
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I was a flea-bitten husk selling audio/TV/appliances in a high-pressure environment. Took home a 40W Pioneer integrated and a pair of Fisher speakers: XP-9C’s. ~1972? It was like opening the front door to the House of the Rising Sun. Then I went to work in a real high end shop. It was all over for me and my bank account. What hath God wrought?
 
In 1968 I was stationed at Stewart AFB just outside of Newburg NY. There was a small audio shop on the main drag. From them I bought a Fisher KX-90 (kit) integrated, Benjamin Miracord TT w/Pickering cart and AR4x speakers.
 
K Mart .. my Mom was one of those folks who went running after every blue light special.

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When I was a kid .. I thought of Sears, JCPenny's .. etc as the places that people with money shopped. :rolleyes:

If I seen a Sears or Pioneer stereo component .. that was like high end to me at the time.
 
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Allied Electronics.
Purchased a Knight Kit push-pull tube amp kit, around 1968.
Of course, I sold that to get into solid-state....and now I'm back to tubes.
 
Local stereo shop, Atlantis Sound. Boy did I want a nice rig. More than anything.
I got to know the salesman pretty well. I remember we walked into the office and he told the guy in there, "get out, fat boy, we have business to conduct". The transaction was accompanied by what was later to be called "party favors".
 
Mail order, Wisconsin Discount Stereo. Technics 5370 receiver, Sony PST3 with Empire 2000 cart. Bought my speakers used from my neighbor. Shortly thereafter bought a Technics RS631S cassette deck.
 
My first "stereo" was a Panasonic combo that looked like a component from the front.
It came from K-Mart.

Mine too -- an Electrophonic all-in-one. My first real stereo was a Kenwood KA-3500 amp and Technics ST-7600 tuner purchased at Tech HiFi in East Lansing, Mich.
 
My first was a Technics SL-235 in '78 I believe. It came from Best Products in Raleigh, NC. After that, I got a Pioneer CT-F750 cassette deck and SX-780 receiver from Brendle's, also in Raleigh.
 
Sometime back in the early 70s I bought a Dynaco amp kit and a Dynaco tuner kit, but at this point, I can't remember where I bought them. There was no Internet back then, so I couldn't have bought them online. About that same time or maybe a little later, I worked for a place that sold stereo gear, and from that place I bought a pair of JBL L100s and a Garrard Zero 100 turntable, both with an employee discount.
 
1972 I was a Freshman in high school. I was buying a lot of LPs and playing them on a series of all-in-ones that I accumulated and some homemade boxes with Jensen 12" full range speakers. I don't remember buying the Jensens but I suppose they were my first purchase. I kept moving a nice B.I.C. turntable with ceramic cart to the various amps. Even though I had no cash I actually subscribed to Stereo Review mag and drooled over the high end gear. Later, when my friends started driving it was off to the stereo stores to drool some more.

Knowing I needed a good turntable to keep my LPs up to snuff I finally saved enough to purchase a Philips 212 TT with Shure cart. Along with a cheap Herald phono pre I was set for awhile until I finally saved enough to get an HK 430.

Next came marriage, house, kids, cable TV and MTV...I never did get decent speakers until much, much later. It's about the journey, not the destination, I guess.
 
Wisconsin Discount Stereo in 1976. Will never forget the day that I picked up my Pioneer CS-99A’s from the train station (sure wish I could do a “do-over” on that purchase) - but still own them!
 
My first piece of gear was from a junk bin, a $5 mono tube amp from Lafayette Electronics sometime in the early 70s (want to ask where my first speaker came from??? :rolleyes:).

My first "real" bit of audio was purchased from my brother, a Kenwood Integrated amp for $150.
 
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