Your first system

[ironcoder]

My first was on my 12th birthday, a Sanyo 3 in 1.

Rob, you had an addiction like me. I was just earning money back in the 50s to buy hifi and ham equipment. At 16, I got a part time job driving a truck with a Teamsters card. Suddenly I had to the money to buy good ham equipment and HIFI. I was like a heroine addict who just got money to feed his addiction. I am not proud of being so addicted but during our teenage years we can get pretty fixated on some things. So, I am blaming my addictive behaviour on my youth. Works for me

But it had to stay in main living area - parents quickly invested in a pair of headphones, no respect for my love of disco and upon reflection there is only so much Boney M adult ears can take before they start bleeding.

Next, I was 14 and worked doing letterbox drops to save for a similar Kmart offering from Audiosonic. I wanted something for my bedroom.

Then I graduated from Dept. store shopping to real hifi stores. At 16 (1981) I bought a Technics SL-BD22 P mount belt drive turntable, long gone to the great audio gods in the sky - landfill?!
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Sony TA-AX4 Amplifier which I still own - nothing special except it had a push + or - button and cool green volume indicator - should have bought the Sansui AU-414 like the sales person tried to get me to buy. In 2014 I bought a AU-414 to see what I had passed up, and yeah, the Sony sux in comparison

Matching Sony ST-JX4 - it was O so 80's - still in the collection today

Speakers, Infinity RS7 - still have these as well

Finally, a year later after being a Friday and Saturday stalwart in the hifi store they gave me a full time job as a sales person and the rot (addiction) set in! Less than a year later there was a Technics SL1200MKII, Audio Technicia AT125LC Cartridge, Monster Cable and JBL L15 speakers added (still own it all and in regular use). Regularly I was carting home AR94's or JBL L96 and many others to enjoy at home.

Had out grown Boney M and replaced it with everything from Yazoo to Durran Durran to Queen to Judist Priest. So my parents built a 3.5m x 7m dedicated insulated music room within the garage, moving all my audio gear into there at the end of the garden. Wonder what motivated them to do that?

No kids of my own, but I am foster carer, loads of kids through the house but so far managed to avoid teenagers. But I suspect cosmic karma would ensure if I did get teenagers I am sure I would be punished like I punished my parents. To suffer hours with Justin Bieber or Kenya West, are they even relevant anymore? Hope not! A bit outta date I suspect, what about Iggy Azalea or Nicki Minaj are they still there, ah who give a poop!!

Rob

 

[Blast]

Nice collection you did at age 14. Lawn mowing money makes it tough to buy anything.

Yes, at $3, $3.50 or $4 a yard it took some time and work!

 

[slow_jazz]

First system was an Electrophonic Total Music System. AM/FM, turntable, 8-Track, plus it had a guitar input and a huge dust cover. Still own it and it still works!!!

 

[Bahamayellow]

Ha ha my first true system was a fisher boom box with surround sound in 1990. My mom is now using it still listening to cassette tapes. The first receiver I bought was in 1995 was a pro logic JVC receiver with 90s Klh speakers an infinity center and Atlantic technologies rears. The JVC has been sold to a friend over the years then bought back and serving duty in a 2 channel setup with JVC CD player and tape deck and advent 1s. Sounds better then it ever has.

 

[eidolon]

My first real one was a Yamaha Natural Sound stack I got out of a storage unit auction lot with my dad, in the late 90s. Had it all through high school and a few years following. M-80 amp and the C-80 counterpart pre-amp/receiver, with a matched equalizer, AM/FM tuner, CD player, and tape deck. All of this was set up in one of the Yamaha branded short 19" racks on casers that were sold as an option for the line. Had a Technics SL-1500 on top of the rack. The M-80 was driving a pair of Advent Prodigy Towers. I sold it all when I left the state I grew up in, think I got something like $300 for everything except the SL-1500, which I shipped down with some of my stuff and still have today.

 

[Athers-Aud]

I was impoverished ... no money... <deep sigh>
1981 and I was at college ... all I could get my hands on ... not very good to put the Stranglers , Bowie , Numan on

....and I remember the amplifier sucked... it must have had a damping factor of 1

 

[bergun]

My first REAL stereo… I do not count my 1980 Pioneer all-in-one system or my 1981 Kenwood rack system. In 1983, I bought a Kenwood KA-9, integrated amp, KT-9 AM/FM tuner, KD-9 “programmable“ turntable and KX-7 cassette deck. I then bought a Kenwood GE-9 EQ and a Kenwood reverb unit. I rounded off this system with a DBX 128 single band range expander/decoder unit. By no means an true audiophile system, but a solid upper Mid-Fi system, which was good enough for an Army Sergeant/E-5.

 

[BMC]

Soundesign all in one 80s BPC hooked up to some decent 70’s Fisher ST-440 speakers. Magnavox CDB-482 CD player. I was not aware of the TDA1543 DAC inside at the time. Thought it was ok at the time, but I later scored an MCS 3253 receiver, which I remember being a serious upgrade over that Soundesign.