My first stereo...

[Muck]

I was lucky growing up in that my parents always had decent HiFi gear. However the very first stereo they bought that was solely mine was in 84 or so.

I'm not 100% positive that the receiver is the exact same model but it looks pretty much how I remember it.

The speakers on the other hand are definitely the same ones. I always thought the flat woofer cones (they were a honeycomb plastic) were so cool.

There was also a dual cassette deck but I couldn't find a pic of it.

It's amazing how much my parents spend on that back in the day.

That system served me very well through high school & my first year or two in the 'Corps.

Edit:

I almost forgot about the BSR EQ I snagged from my dad....he wasn't using it since mom got all of their stereo equipment in the divorce and he hadn't purchased anything else yet.

 

[scarletandgrey]

...

 

[PlanetFrnd]

You should have left the pictures unlabled to see how many current BP posters could even name the components...

And a CD player in 84?? Faaaaa-aaaaaaancy

 

[BUCKYLE]

[quote='BusNative;156645;2]
And a CD player in 84?? Faaaaa-aaaaaaancy[/quote]

No shit! We had a VCR w/Remote when I was like...six or seven...there was a cord from the remote to the VCR. I tripped over it about a week after we got it. Broke that shit. Got my ass whooped for it.

 

[Muck]

[quote='BusNative;156645;2]You should have left the pictures unlabled to see how many current BP posters could even name the components... [/quote]

Hell I couldn't name them and I owned them...I spent years trying to figure out the name of the speakers because I've never seen any others with flat woofer cones.

And a CD player in 84?? Faaaaa-aaaaaaancy

Yeah the selection availabe wasn't exactly awe inspiring...the first CD someone bought for me was from my grandma.

It was Barry Manilow. :(

 

[Muck]

My second stereo system...

After settling in with my aging equipment at Camp Pendleton (and having disposable income) I knew it was time to upgrade.

A guy in the barracks was getting shipped out to sea duty & couldn't take his stuff with him so I picked up his amp on the cheap. It was a Carver TFM-25...

I needed a pre amp to run it so I picked up a matching Carver C-11 at a local Hi-Fi store...

The speakers were replaced with a set of Celestion 3000's (another barracks pick up).

I was lucky enough to get sent TAD to Japan & while there I managed to pick up a new CD player & cassette deck.

Pioneer PD-3000 (Pioneer Elite PD-91 was the equivalent US market version)

Nakamichi DR-3

The Celestions were soon replaced by a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce.

Sadly everything mentioned so far went bye bye when X1 & I split up.

 

[wadc45]

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

When I got stationed in western-most Tokyo in June 1976 right out of Air Force tech school, I bought a Pioneer SX-1250 receiver, a Pioneer turntable (can't remember the model number right now), and a pair of Kenwood speakers (model number was 777-something). The receiver cost $450, which was more than my monthly base pay back then. Still have the receiver and turntable in storage...one of these days I need to see if they still work.

 

[Muck]

Since the divorce left with me nada it was time to start fresh...funds were tight so I definitely bargain hunting which led to two perceived "giant killers" of the day from RatShack...

Optimus Pro LX5-II Speakers

Optimus CD-3400

Neither was quite as stellar as portrayed but they got the job done (and I got them super cheap in one of Radio Shack's ever present sales).

Paired with them was an NAD 310 integrated amp...also a "budget" product but one that was of very high quality (and more than exceeded the hype).

I also picked up an external DAC for the CD player...an Audio Alchemy DITB (DAC-In-The-Box).

Still have the receiver and turntable in storage...one of these days I need to see if they still work.

Vintage stuff is coming back in popularity in a big way.

 

[MaxBuck]

Vintage stuff is coming back in popularity in a big way.

Tell me about it. Take a gander at the below amplifier from Jolida, 8 W/ch and priced at a bargain-basement $2,400:

 

[Gatorubet]

When I got stationed in western-most Tokyo in June 1976 right out of Air Force tech school, I bought a Pioneer SX-1250 receiver, a Pioneer turntable (can't remember the model number right now), and a pair of Kenwood speakers (model number was 777-something). The receiver cost $450, which was more than my monthly base pay back then. Still have the receiver and turntable in storage...one of these days I need to see if they still work.

I had the SX-1050. Lots of Robin Trower and Steely Dan played through it. :p

Edit: found a pic

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Those high-end old-school receivers sound great. My brother is a bit of a gear head, and trades, if you will, in alot of the old receivers/amp/PAs/speakers... all that stuff still sounds great, and without the 239,408,348 surround configurations and cheesy-shaped speakers

Edit: Muck, it sounds like you know you're stuff, but if anyone out here has old audio equipment questions, I happen to know that MondayAMGenius is a very good resource - try a PM.

 

[Muck]

I didn't love the Radio Shack pieces so in relatively short order they were replaced with...

Sony CDP-X505ES

NHT Super Ones

The Super Ones were amazing little speakers. It's a shame that NHT went out of business earlier this year. Their only weakness was that they didn't dig deep into the lower frequencies (what small bookshelf speakers do?) so a Paradigm PDR-10 sub was picked up to supplement the bottom end...

Tell me about it. Take a gander at the below amplifier from Jolida, 8 W/ch and priced at a bargain-basement $2,400:

Tube stuff is almost always crazy high.

 

[Taosman]

My first "serious" system used some SAE separates.
SAE Mark XXX1B amp with a graphic equalizer Pre that never worked without making noise/humming. Ugh! Crappy speakers that I forget the name of.
Went to a Yamaha receiver and Bose 901s(yes the infamous 901s that everybody seemed to dog). This setup sounded pretty great in my new house with a cathedral ceiling. Got a Sony cd102b? player in "83" (perfect sound forever?) No pops or scratchs!
The Yami started making noise so........Nad C320BEE integrated. Another Sony Cd player "ES" model but not as expensive as Muck's lovely!
Now I have a "minimalist" system based on a Logictech Squeezebox, a Musical Fidelity CD player and a Nuforce class "D" integrated and Bowers and Wilkins speakers. This is the best sound by far! Not impressive to look at. But the Squeezebox has opened up the world of Internet radio and I listen it constantly. Highly recommended!




'

Nuforce IA7 Integrated

 

[Fungo Squiggly]