What was your first "audiophile" system...the one that got you hooked?

My parents had a Heath kit system that my dad put together in the '50's. Mono at first, then converted to stereo. In college, I started with an AR TT, back in 1963. I was in Cambridge and the AR factory was across town. I remember having a problem with the TT and I took the MTA (before there was a T) over to AR. They fixed it on the spot and upgraded it to the newest model, all for free. Much later, in the late '70's my first real high end equpment was a pair of Magnepan 2167-F (IIRC) the predecessors to the MG-II's. I had bought an early copy of the Absolute Sound which had a rave review. A local store carried them, and I bought a pair after listening to them.

Larry
 
18 years ago, i saved a lot just to get this. This is my first audio system. Every time i drop by the store i audition this until i have enough money to buy. It was expensive back then.. This was loud and the bass is crazy.. Borrowed the pic from the net but this is the exact model i have..

We are talking about thousands of PMPO power he he he

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I was hooked on music before gear. I gravitated to anything music came from as long as I can remember. I didn't have money as a kid but spent any I got on 45's, LP's at yard sales. I got a record player in 5th or 6th grade.

I talked my dad into buying me a Realistic receiver at 16, earned the money to buy a cheap set of Centrex 12" 3-way made by Pioneer. Bought a used Pioneer PL-51 turntable. Man, I thought I arrived at that point.

went through receiver and stuff from there. I kept the PL-51 for over 20 years though.

My first taste of quality gear in the late 80's I worked for a stereo store and was able to purchase a Kenwood 3300d components. Kenwood occasionally put out some mid to high gear just to show they could. This KA-3300 integrated actually had a built in DAC, talking about being ahead of the time. I matched it to a set of Infinity Kappa 7's. I was going to buy a set of Electro-Voice Pro speakers, my first encounter with WAF, LOL. She couldn't be convinced road carpet cabinet would match the décor.

I had that system for several years, wondered into a true high end store that sold Krell, Dynaudio, Linn, Merridian etc. One day my Kenwood CDP went out and the parts to fix it couldn't be had. I remembered how this store was open to my visit, was hospitable and played me some systems, so I wandered back in, left with an Arcam Alpha 9 and from there............ Once I realized all the music could sound better and better I was hooked.
 
I believe that John Sollecito was the major engineer of JSE speakers (John Sollecito Engineering=JSE). He is still making great louspeakers at Sourcespeaker.com!!
 
Adcom GFA 555, Adcom GFP 565, Rotel RCD 865 BX (finally died last year) & Cambridge Soundworks Ensamble. ...from that point on, I was hooked!
 
My first full size system way back in 1991 comprised the following gear;

- Nakamichi Amplifier One integrated
- Infinity Reference 60's
- JVC XL-Z1050 cdp
- Technics RS-BX626 tape deck
- Cambridge Audio T-500 tuner
- Standesign audio rack
- Audioquest Slate biwire sc's
- Audioquest ic's

That was a really nice system. The Infinitys, JVC spinnner & Nakamich amp were a great combo for the money, and I got 18 years of joy from that :).
 
College days in the Frat house. I was older and had a single room.
-Pioneer Turntable
-Pioneer Receiver
-Advent Speakers
Couldn't tell you the models - not the bottom of the line. I had a job and a little bit to spend.

Light my Fire and Touch Me - both by the Doors - were played countless times for visiting Sorority girls.

Fond memories of that system, and the girls.:)
 
College (post-grad) with Densen electronics (CD/Pre/Power), Triangle speakers, Clearaudio Evolution t/t, Nordost cabling.
 
In university:

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... with my system. Mission 760i speakers, NAD3020i amp, Marantz CD-52.

That was my first system with separates, at least. Prior to this I had computer speakers driven with a Sony Walkman.
 
This was my first system after I got out of the Navy and got a real job in the early to mid 70's. To call it "audiophile" might be a stretch, but it got me started to where I am today.

Sansui 661 receiver
Elac Miracord turntable
Radio Shack Nova 8 speakers ( which I still have today ) but long ago put on the shelf )
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This got me through to the mid 80's when I upgraded to a Sony receiver and Garrard turntable. Then to the early 90's when I went to my friends house and he had a Pioneer CD player. I was fascinated and started to save for one and when I went to my local HiFi shop to buy one and got to listen to B&W and Paradigm speakers, I was hooked.
 

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This - a His Master Voice (aka HMV) all in one record player and it comes with a pair of bookshelf speaker.

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Jack in Wilmington said:
This was my first system after I got out of the Navy and got a real job in the early to mid 70's. To call it "audiophile" might be a stretch, but it got me started to where I am today.

Sansui 661 receiver
Elac Miracord turntable
Radio Shack Nova 8 speakers ( which I still have today ) but long ago put on the shelf )
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This got me through to the mid 80's when I upgraded to a Sony receiver and Garrard turntable. Then to the early 90's when I went to my friends house and he had a Pioneer CD player. I was fascinated and started to save for one and when I went to my local HiFi shop to buy one and got to listen to B&W and Paradigm speakers, I was hooked.
Click to expand...
Hi, Jack.
Beautiful "retro" Radio Shak speakers.
Do you remember what was the Pioneer CD model? Was it one incorporating the "Legato Linear" DAC circuit?
I'm interested in that type of filterless DAC behavior, since my separate Luxman DA-07 DAC uses a filterless "fluency dac" converter, one that obviates Shannon-Nyquist conversion method, and it sounds simply great (it does not sound "digital", in the sense that any possible harshness or arfificial character are removed).
Recently, I learned that Pioneer "Legato Linear" models used a non-lowpass filter tecnology, and since I've never heard one I'm intrigued in its behavior.
Thanks. [emoji4]

Enviado desde mi LG-E430 mediante Tapatalk
 
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