What was your first high-end component ever?

I used to love the ADS speakers!

First real high end that I remember was a Nakamichi deck. I think it was a 670zx. Love that deck. Shortly after was KEF 104ab speakers!
 
Randy

My son still has that Cherry pair of L810 S/2's with factory stands in his Family Room in Md. I still have two mint pairs of the L570 S/2 large bookshelf speakers that I picked up several years back with one pair of the open top metal stands. Really need to move those on as I haven't used them in some time. They have the same "house sound" as the 810 but with only one of the 8" woofers and the silk dome tweeter. Closest thing you can get to them now is Aerial Acoustics which is owned by Michael Kelly one of the last in house designers for ADS. Ultimately the 810's were replaced by Snell Type A's built not to far down the road from the ADS factory. I gave my Nakamichi away a couple of years ago to a neighbor who is a broadcast equipment tech as it needed work that he knew how to do and I hadn't used it for over a decade.
 
The L810's were a great speaker from my memory. But that was way back in the day for me.

I saw a Nak 970zx for sale and was tempted, but then I reminded myself that I no longer have any of my tapes and I really do not want to get back into taping... but I do have very fond memories of this deck!
 
A Classe Dr 6 preamp, pair of Classe dr10 amps, and a Mitchell Gyrodec turntable.

Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk
 
IF I recall correctly...

ARC SP-3a
ARC D-76
ARC D-51
Thorens tt/with SME arm, Decca phono cartridge
Revox A-77 15/7.5 IPS, mostly used to supply copies of my masters, as well as my playback-list tapes to the Norfolk, VA. PBS radio station
Magnepan Tympani 1B's, replaced by Infinity Servo-Statik 1s
 
Hello, my first high end was a pair of Avalon Ascendant. High price but surely not the end of the path.

Olivier
 
Jim Smith said:
IF I recall correctly...

ARC SP-3a
ARC D-76
ARC D-51
Thorens tt/with SME arm, Decca phono cartridge
Revox A-77 15/7.5 IPS, mostly used to supply copies of my masters, as well as my playback-list tapes to the Norfolk, VA. PBS radio station
Magnepan Tympani 1B's, replaced by Infinity Servo-Statik 1s
Click to expand...

You don't mess around Jim.
 
My first-ever system, put together just out of university back in the mid-70s was:

H-K Citation 11 preamp
H-K Citation 12 amp
Thorens TD160 TT with Ortofon cartridge
Large Advents in Walnut

I later replaced the Thorens with a Rega Planar 3 and SME III, which was a massive improvement over the Thorens.

I replaced the Citation 11 with a Dyna PAT-5 pre that I modded with Walt Jung's mod published in the Audio Amateur. That was stolen when my place in Berkeley was burglarized, so I replaced it with a Hafler DH-101 preamp.

Some time around 1982 or '83, I tried an Audio Amateur mod using MOSFETs published by Nelson Pass in TAA, but I could not get the amp to work.

So, I bought the NAD 3120 in '84 or thereabouts and used that until I got back into high-end around 2009 or so. The NAD 3120 was an amazing performer, and I think I paid $179 for it when I bought it.
 
I started in mid 90s with Adcom pre, McCormack DNA1 Dlx mono and Thiel. The McCormack and Thiel are glued to my room for a long time. At that time, I didn't surf internet and curious if there is something better than what I have. I only visited SoundEx, Sound by Singer...then go home and be happy with my beloved system.
 
Q3Di said:
I started in mid 90s with Adcom pre, McCormack DNA1 Dlx mono and Thiel. The McCormack and Thiel are glued to my room for a long time. At that time, I didn't surf internet and curious if there is something better than what I have. I only visited SoundEx, Sound by Singer...then go home and be happy with my beloved system.
Click to expand...

I grew up in Soundex, all 3 locations as they grew. Bought my first Onkyo - Infinity setup at 17 y/o when they were in the strip across from the mall.
 
Although I always had good stereo equipment my first real “high end” gear came from American Sound in Toronto. I had a Krell KSA250 amp with a Rowland Consummate for the Pre. These are still prized today. My speakers were originally Apogee Stages but I soon bought Duetta’s I would have gone further up to Divas but my wife drew the line. She decided that the flat panel would interact poorly with children. Digital was a Proceed DAC with California Audio Labs Transport. We’ve come a long way since in digital.
 
My first high-end component was the Apogee Duetta Signature. I went to a local audio dealer’s event in 1992 and listened to Jason Bloom’s demonstration of the Apogee Diva with Krell Class A monoblocks. I was stunned by the most lifelike reproduced music I had ever experienced. The dealer had a giveaway and I won a pair of Apogee hybrid speakers. I asked the dealer if they would put that money towards a pair of Apogee Duetta Signature and he agreed.

I was moving into my first residence at the time and I had two strong friends accompany me to the store, where we added the new speaker boxes to my rented moving van. When we unloaded my furniture at my new townhouse, the Duetta Signature were carried into my living room, where they remained delighting me with the most lifelike vocals and piano for the next ten years. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to high-end audio thanks to Jason Bloom and my dealer.

Ken
 
kiwi_1282001 said:
Not sure it would count as being high end (especially after reading an opinion recently that high end starts at US$100k per component) but my first "audiophile" system was a NAD 3020 integrated (it became famous after I purchased it :P), a matching NAD CDP (can't remember the model now) and a pair of KEF C30 speakers all wired with Van den Hul cables (D102 and The Clearwater).

I played it so much I wore out the CDP.
Click to expand...

Those NADs were awesome...
 
Cambridge CD player 600 series with wireworld oasis interconnect I want to say. Came from a Harmon kardon 5 disc tray with lamp cord. My ears and eyes opened up
 
I worked at a music and marine store in the early 70s' while going to college and got to partake in some cool gear. MY first was , Marantz 2270, KLH Fives and a Dual 1229. Upgraded to Marantz Mode 32 amp, a Marantz model 24 a pre-amp and a Thorens TD150, AR3a's speakers. Got of audio and got into guitars and amps and traded everything in.
 
I've had several notable pieces from the beginning ...

Carver CM-1090 integrated amp (college)
Martin Logan Sequel IIs (college)
Krell 300i integrated amp (post-college)

But I feel like I've just recently got started with my high-end journey (at least high-end to me) with my Pass Labs XP-22 and X250.8. More to come. :)
 
I think my first real high end system was in the early 80s.

Oracle Delphi table - can't remember the arm but I think I had a Denon 103 cartridge.
Meridian MCD CD Player
Audio Research SP6 preamp
Mark Levinson ML-3 power amp
Magneplanar Tympani IV speakers
Entec SW-1 servo subwoofers (stereo pair).
Kimber cables

By the late 80s, I had upgraded most of the components.
Goldmund Studio table with T3F arm
Spectral SDR-1000 CD Player
Audio Research SP9 Preamp
Cello Audio Palette
Krell MDA-300 monoblocks
Duntech Sovereign Speakers
Cello Strings interconnects and Kimber speaker cable
 
JayT said:
I think my first real high end system was in the early 80s.

Oracle Delphi table - can't remember the arm but I think I had a Denon 103 cartridge.
Meridian MCD CD Player
Audio Research SP6 preamp
Mark Levinson ML-3 power amp
Magneplanar Tympani IV speakers
Entec SW-1 servo subwoofers (stereo pair).
Kimber cables

By the late 80s, I had upgraded most of the components.
Goldmund Studio table with T3F arm
Spectral SDR-1000 CD Player
Audio Research SP9 Preamp
Cello Audio Palette
Krell MDA-300 monoblocks
Duntech Sovereign Speakers
Cello Strings interconnects and Kimber speaker cable
Click to expand...

Wow! My shop - Audition - in Birmingham, AL, was a dealer for ALL of those products back then, except for Oracle & Kimber! We sold Rega, Linn, & Goldmund tts, Fulton cables in the early days, then MLAS, & Cello, and from then on, Transparent Audio cables.

Who was your dealer? Definitive?

The products I most revered - in no particular order - were the Duntech Sovereigns, the Cello Audio Palette, all of the various Goldmunds - especially the Reference, & the Entechs.
 
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