Thread: Your first

Thought it would be fun to recollect our gateway drugs. What do you remember about your first foray into "hi-end" audio? Your first "serious" gear, first audio store, etc.

I recently seriously surprised myself when I realized this started for me almost 40 years ago. It made me recall the first things I was so excited to get, and where I got them.

The first store I really spent any time at was Innovative Audio, originally located on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights iirc, and since relocated. Innovative Audio Video Showrooms

It was Elliot who probably first set the hook Where the Rubber Meets the Road Elliot Fishkin of Innovative Audio Video | Stereophile.com . Years later he met - or maybe I'd introduced him to - my ex-girlfriend, and iirc they got married.

The first gear I remember buying were Linn Helix speakers and a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck.

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Wasn't high end by todays standards but back 45 plus years ago it was a Pioneer receiver, Dual TT and AR speakers and 16 gauge lamp cord, sounded good to me !

My first gear of any significance was also a receiver my dad bought me when I was 16, a Realistic, I had a cheap pair of Centrex speakers by Pioneer, 12" 3-way.

While working at a stereo store I wondered into the service department where they had a Mac tube amp hooked up to just a set of Kenwood speakers used on the bench, that sound showed me there was higher ground.

I wondered into a real high end store many years later and heard a Krell system driving Dynaudio speakers, my untrained ears didn't immediately get the difference. I thought my Infinity Kappa had more midbass. It takes time to realize hearing accuracy and such. But when my CDP died guess where I went, back to that same store, my first purchase was an Arcam Alpha 10. I could be an exception but sometimes spending time with a customer that may not buy at first will eventually yield something. From there could be a book, LOL

Back in the mid 70s I upgraded my first stereo to Pioneer CS-A700 speakers, an AR-XB turntable, and I have forgotten the receiver (Sansui maybe). Anyway, got lots of compliments over the years.

I grew up watching my oldest brother build Heathkits, Dynacos and Hafler hits on the kitchen table after dinner each night. He went on to help David Hafler tweak his kits for better sound when he was in Pensauken NJ. My second oldest brother had several pairs of ARs that the builds would be put thru their paces with.

I had a Heathkit when I was 12 or so. When I got my first income tax check at 16, my brother took me to Soundex in Willow Grove PA where I bought an Onkyo Receiver and Tape Deck with Infinity RSb's as my first real stereo. After some gear from Audio Advisor that included an Audio Alchemy DAC with a Marantz 67SE, I went back to Soundex and got a Hafler 945 Pre-Tuner and the 9180 Amp with Mirage 790s.

I went back to Soundex a few years later and bought a pair of Dynaudio Audience 82s to go with a Sound Valves 101i and an Odyssey Stratos+.

Soundex was an awesome store before they closed with a 22 room shop. 2nd floor was mostly HT and all of the first floor was 2 CH. Room #1 was whatever was the latest and greatest of High End and I spent many Saturdays spinning my own disks with the door closed while they thought someone was getting a serious demo

I was about 9 years old when I came down the stairs on a Saturday morning. My Father was sitting on a faux brown leather sofa with his arms folded. On the floor was all his audio equipment (pulled out of the rack) and cables everywhere. This would have been about 1977. There were no fancy cables. These were cheapo RCA’s and stock power cables.

On the floor lay Sony monoblocks. They were very long and thin amplifier and only produced about 60 watts if memory serves me correctly (6th Street Bridge: Refurbishing a vintage Sony TA-3120A solid-state amplifier). A Pioneer quad preamp. A Pioneer turntable and an Akai reel to reel. A Marantz tape deck rounded off the list of equipment.

With arms folded, my Father looked at me and said “you’re going to learn. Put it back together.” Of course, I had no idea. I was 9 years old. This was a foreign world. My only exposure had been my Dad insisting I sit in this chair and listen to DSOTM in quadrophonic sound. Of course I obliged. A peculiar experience, but impressive for 1977.

I proceeded to sit on the floor and examine the cables. I hadn’t the foggiest what went where. My Dad got off the sofa and began to teach me and there began a life long obsession with hi end audio.

After learning, my Father still insisted I didn’t touch anything unless he was there.

At that point, I wanted my own system. My Dad was super happy to hear this, but I was going to earn it. At about 11 or 12, I got a paper route and then another paper route since, well, I was already doing laps around the neighborhood, why not carry two bags and make twice as much?

It took me a full year to save enough to buy my first turntable. It was just before Christmas when my Dad took me down to the local Hi-Fi store and I bought my first turntable. It was a CEC. I was so proud to have my first audio component. In the basement under the window, my Dad put it proudly on a single 4 shelf rack. I now had my first piece and could work toward building the rest of MY system.

About a week later, at about 1am in the morning, our house was broken into by the “Break Dance Gang” and a kid I went to school with named Steve Crooks (his real name) broke our bedroom window and stepped on my brand new turntable as he entered the house and smashed it to bits. The police were called, they were caught. I was absolutely crushed.

After my Father wrangled with the insurance company for months, I finally got a brand new turntable. A Pioneer PL-71 turntable with a Shure Cartridge.

After that, I was heavily into Popular Mechanics magazine and I built my own FM Transmitter. My goal was to put on a record and listen to it through my transistor radio while I did my paper route. As expected, I would only get a handful of houses done before the record was over. Hmmm…didn’t think that one through. But none the less, it was a good learning experience.

After that, I purchased some IMF transmission line speakers from my Dad and as they say, the rest is history. Throughout the 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s, 2010’s and to this day, I have always had an unwavering passion for hi end audio.


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Maybe not true "high end" but in the late '70s I had.....a Sansui AU20000 170 wpc integrated amp, Sansui manual TT with Stanton cartridge, ADC fully automatic and programable TT with Shure cartridge. Fisher cassette deck, Kenwood AM/FM tuner, Pioneer 2ch/4ch modular reel to reel recorder (you know...the one that looked like it was built to withstand a nuclear exchange), and (count 'em) six JBL 166 Horizon speakers (four upstairs and two downstairs), dbx compressor/expander, and Gerard click and pop remover and ADC equalizer. Pretty good stuff for back then. The click and pop remover didn't work all that well. It would remove clicks and pops ok but it also removed some of the signal. Worked pretty much like a noise gate. I didn't use it much. The ADC programmable TT worked surprisingly well and sounded pretty decent. Pretty good sounding system for the day. Oh yeah, almost forgot...also had a set of Koss Pro 4AA phones.

I mowed lawns all summer then went to the stereo store at the mall and picked out a pioneer receiver, turntable, and cassette deck. I remember walking back through the mall with my new prizes beaming with pride. My uncle had a couple of speakers that were previously installed at a bar. Nothing fancy until I added large silver horn tweeters on top. We had very long speaker cable from radio shack and I would pull the speakers outside and crank tunes while we all played basketball. Heaven....

In the 70s, I saved my pennies to buy a pair of Avid 103 speakers. Was fortunate to get a “hand me down” Marantz Model 16 receiver and a Thorens table. It was a great system for a 15 year old. And, I enjoyed it immensely.

Originally Posted by HifiHandyman

This is a true story. I was twelve and worked on my Uncle’s farm for the summer picking rocks out of the fields. I made $600 and bought my Fisher “Studio Standard “ rack system. Linear-tracking turntable, dual cassette deck, equalizer, 100wpc amp, and the speakers had white 15” woofers. I was on cloud nine baby. The next year I added the matching CD player when they first came out. First two CD’s were Boston-Third Stage and Top Gun soundtrack. That system rocked my world so hard. A few years later, I got my first job working at a stereo store and began upgrading to Nakamichi components. The rest is history!

My first system was also a Fisher "Studio Standard" rack system, but it was more modest (single cassette, no equalizer, no linear tracking TT, tuner, integrated amp, and speakers with 15" woofers ;-) ). I remember working crappy jobs to save enough to eventually buy it (From Marshall Field & Company using a neighbor's discount as he worked there).

My first "better than department store system" consisted of an NAD integrated amp, Klipsch La Scala Speakers, and Project TT.

I was happy enough with this setup until I started my first "real job" (circa late 1980s) and a colleague who was into high end audio took me to Quintessence Audio in Illinois.

My audio/stereo system life was changed forever after visiting that store and hearing a system they had setup consisting of Krell Amplification (KSA-250, not sure of the preamp), Apogee Diva Loudspeakers, SOTA Sapphire TT (not sure of the cartridge), and a Theta Digital Something for CDs. I had never heard anything like that in my life and was totally blown away. Actually, I wonder how that system would hold up today (excepting the digital, which for obvious reasons probably would be archaic sounding no matter how good the Theta product was at the time)......I bet it would not be too bad.

My first high-end system consisted of a Krell KRC-HR preamp (standard phono board), Mark Levinson 332 stereo amplifier, Apogee Duetta Signature loudspeakers, SOTA Star Sapphire, and a Kinergetics KCD-40 CD Player.

Thanks,

Jmusica
Elliot is still my audio dealer. The first system I purchased from him in 1979 was Pyramid Metronome speakers, Denon direct drive turntable, Cotter SUT, Apt Holman preamp and Bryston power amp, Nakamichi cassette deck and Yamaha T-1 tuner.
Mark

Originally Posted by dcktr

My entry into this world. Had a mish mash of stuff but in about 1984 - Starving college grad student - I had a NAD 3020 integrated amp, Sony PSX-600 Biotracer Turntable, Nakamichi cassette deck, M & K Satellite 1B Speakers and a subwoofer. This system held me for 17 years. I added a sony CD player somewhere along the line and retired the cassette deck. I don't remember which one.
In 2001 I moved to a big house and the spending began.
Thanks
Ron

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