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What was your first "real" stereo system?

1982...I was in West Germany with The Canadian Armed Forces (3RCR)...bought all this at the base CANEX (dept. store)

Technics SL-5 TT
Akai GF-X31 Cassette Player
Soundcraftsmen SP 4001 Equalizer/pre-amp
Soundcraftsmen A 5002 Amplifier
Bose 601 MK 2 speakers

Loved it...livin' in the shacks...livin' The Dream... :yikes: :beerchug:
 
My first real stereo system was purchased in 1980 using money I saved working part time at the age of 16.
I purchased this HH Scott 355R new from Musicraft in Homewood,Il. Shortly after I purchased the Technics SL 210 used for $20.
Still have them both and they work great!
Same day I purchased the receiver I also purchased a pair of Technics SB L50 speakers from Service Merchandise.
The speakers are long gone.

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1st system I put together was in the army (1976-78) consisting of a pioneer sx750 receiver, dual cs 606 with a ortophon cartridge (don't remember which one) and dynaco a50 speakers, very good sound.
 
1995 -
Genesis/Spectral/Sony


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I built a Dynaco 400 and Pat-5 along with the matching tuner (forget the model number). To that I added a Nakamichi 500 cassette deck and Technics SL-23 turntable with Audio technica AT-15SA cartridge. The speakers were Radio Shack Optimus 7's. The only part of that system I still own is the cartridge.

FWIW, the first part that got replaced was the speakers. I sold 'em and ended up with a pair of ADS :810's. It was like trading in a Ford Falcon for a Mercedes. No comparison.
 
Condorsat said:
My Stereo rigs when I was younger were total crap ... the POS stuff you would find at a KMart store. Spent my youth in the car ... 8 Tracks were my stereo.

My 1st real stereo was purchased when I was living the UK in 1984 ... had some money in my pocket (after my career stabilized) and I just pulled the trigger all cash. None of the components are left in my current audio rigs ... I kept this rig until about 1993.

Technics SL3 TT
Pioneer PDM802 Cartridge CD Player
Cerwin Vega D7
Infinity RS 5000
Yamaha A1000

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Click to expand...
I bought a pair of those speakers from a friend about 18 years ago as something "pretty" to throw into the living room system. The comical part is she was a concert Oboe player but used her hi-fi to listen to heavy metal. She gave me the speakers but I paid her $100 for the Soundcraftsmen amp and pre-amp.
 
Scott 222C integrated amp, Garrard Turntable/changer, two Davis Enclosures with Stephens 12 woofers and Ox ford horns. Then came the Scott 350 Tuner and the Ampex F-4460.
 
I'll give an honorable mention to my old Dokorder compact system that I got in Germany, simply because, 52 years later I still own it. But it wasn't really "hi-fi" in that sense.

My 1st, was from the BX in South East Asia. A Pioneer SX-434, Akai 8-track recorder, (CR-81D, I think), and some Akai speakers with the lattice wood grills that all BX/PX speakers seemed to have at that time.

But my better was when I got out of the Army and got a job at a stereo store. Yamaha CA-810 II integrated, Thorens TD-165 w/Sonus Blue cartridge, and Yamaha NS-690 II speakers. (Later upgraded to 1000's, which I still own.)
 
Got mine in ‘77, to take to college. Kenwood 3500 amp, 5300 tuner, Kenwood KD 2055 ‘granite’ turntable, Harmon Kardon HK 400 XM cassette deck, and Electrovoice EV16B speakers. I have all of it but the speakers. Those were too big for our first house. My son has it at his house with a pair of Dahlquist DQ M9’s.

Perry
 
My first system was a realistic receiver pioneer turntable, sony tape deck and atlantis ed-2 speakers not sure of the model numbers and I've owned literally 100's of other components over the years and I don't own any of these items now . Yes the first system had no CD player , you ask why and the answer is they weren't invented yet lol
 
Depends on how you define "real." My h/k 330c stayed with me for years. Lost it in a bad breakup. I had crappy speakers through college finally replacing them in my late 20s with Magnepan 2.5Rs. Still with the 330c.
 
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1984. Yamaha receiver and TT. Only source was phono. Bose 501’s. Thought it was the greatest thing in the world. I don’t remember the model of the receiver or TT.
 
Hand me down gear from my dad about the time I started 7th grade in 1986. Featured an Allied 490 receiver (Pioneer built OEM for Allied Radio Shack c. 1972), custom built bass reflex speaker cabinets with Olson coaxial 8" drivers that he built while in college, a Technics top load cassette deck with CrO2 and Dolby B, and a late 70's Garrard turntable the model of which escapes me. Actually a pretty solid first system for a kid.

Later added his old Realistic Optimus 1's (10" 2 way acoustic suspension) that got replaced with (gasp) Bose 301's, in order to meet wife approval factor in the family room.
 
Early 1970s, I'm guessing 1973, Marantz 2215 receiver, Phillips GA-212 turntable with B&O cartridge and a used pair of Empire Grenadier speakers, not sure of the model # but they had a single mid/hi freq driver only. A good sounding system but I never did get used to the sound of the Empires. OPG.
 
Hand me downs when I was in grade 6 (1976) AR XA, Sansui 350a and KLH 17's.

The XA ia still my main table and my oldest daughter has the rest.
 
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