KLH Model 20. Great unit. Bought used, 1974, from my friend Flash (we all did because he was constantly grading). Gave it to my Lil brother. Bought another one a few years ago, just because. Sennheiser HD 414 headphones.

My first individual component stereo system, I cobbled together during high school between 1983 - 1985. Had my first job at the local Dairy Queen which gave me “spending money” to blow on stereo equipment.

I saved up for months to get my first receiver I bought at Circuit City. It was a Technics SA-222. I think it had a maximum of 30 watts per channel. Couldn’t afford speakers, so I listened to it with headphones for several months.

Next came the cassette deck, a Technics RS-M218. Nothing fancy, but it had the “peak hold” vu meters which I used to look at for hours.

Turntable was a Technics SL-Q300 automatic direct drive with those weird P-mount cartridges.

Speakers were the most expensive things I bought. I got a pair of Acoustic Research AR15’s. Those things could “shake the whole house” according to my mom.

Somewhere along the line I added a Realistic 31-2000A 10 band stereo frequency graphic equalizer.

In wood shop class in high school I built a pair of 12" 3 way speaker cabinets and loaded them with a kit I bought at Radio Shack.

This system lasted up until the early 2000’s when I got rid of it because “life changes” (kids, marriage, etc.)

Mine was cobbled together as well when I was a teen. In the late 1980s my older brother upgraded, and his Panasonic quadraphonic receiver went unused. I gave him $10. It had originally been owned by our oldest brother. I can’t even find it online. Basic, low wattage, similar to RE-7671. Got my hands on some EPI Microtower M-75 speakers from a garage sale for $25. It wasn’t a great setup, but I thought it was. Added an older Toshiba turntable, a new JVC cd player with my HS graduation money, and eventually a new JVC tape deck. I later bought a JVC receiver that matched my other two components, and upgraded speakers. The Panasonic, speakers, and turntable went to my girlfriend. Hopefully her or someone else is still enjoying them. I never did hear quadraphonic sound out of it, as none of my components were quad capable. By the 1980s, quadraphonic was just seen as an old fad.

I bought a Marantz SR2000 that I still have in a closet and I paired it with a Yamaha A700 amp ( that I wish I still had). Ran them through Advent towers and Bose 301s ( that I still have). Technics TT ( still have) and a Nakamichi tape deck. Bought all at American of Madison in Madison WI in early 80s

Ba mck in the early 70s after two years ofmowing lawns , shoveling snow , paper route, collecting btls & other chores . I bought my first stereo. Pioneer 1080 receiver Please 71 ? TT AR 3 speakers Took another month before I was able to buy a couple LPS Cream Disralli Gears , Beatles MMT , Stones their satanic majesty request

Early 90s, middle school. I liked to get free magazines in the mail and one of them was Crutchfield. I don’t remember the model numbers, but I ended up buying some dark silver JVC components, receiver and tape deck. The speakers were some boxy KLH floor speakers. Got a single disc CD player of the same JVC series for my next birthday, along with the Das Efx and Fu-schnickens albums lol

My father worked as a civil servant in the seventies; he and his colleagues had to track down radio pirates causing interference to emergency services. If those pirates were caught, their transmitting equipment and everything connected to it was confiscated. Dad used to have to destroy that equipment himself, smashing it with an axe, and taking photos of it as evidence for the official report. Twice my father stole something for himself, a transmitter he found very interesting and for me a Kenwood KA-3600 receiver with an extra light bulb added to the front for when the radio pirate was live on air. I was 12 at the time when I got that Kenny, now I am over 50. That same Kenwood is still going strong here in front of me under the computer screen on which I am typing this. First it was just an old receiver, then it became vintage, and now it’s a piece of working antiques. Thanks to that Kenwood, I became a bit of a fanboy, which is why there is now a very nice seventies Kenwood amplifier in the living room and not another brand.

Iirc

Technics amp Technics 360 cd Aiwa single cassette deck Denon 260l tuner Celestion dl6 ii soeakers 3 5mm jack from my sound card / computer to 2x phone

Mid-late 90s

I had an Allied Radio Shack table top all in one setup. Had a turntable, cassette deck, amp and tuner. I don’t remember the model but it was from like 1970-72.

It had a pair of Optimus speakers that were not terrible. Added a Teac 1230 reel to reel tape deck. It was a great setup for a 14 yr old kid.

I bought mine out of the AAFES catalog having saved up a bunch of pay, gambling proceeds, and loan fees. This was back when the Yen was still pegged to 360 to the buck. I bought the biggest, most powerful components in the exchange. Looked at them on my way back and put them on order. They all were stolen by junkies about 18 months after my ETS while I was busting out shacks, they did leave me one record though.

Shit happens and it’s all just consumer stuff, at least they left me some guitars and a amp, my chopper, and my dog. Still listen to my noise through a 9090 db and some 7 WA’s.

My first system was Akai AM2400 amplifier Leak 3020 speakers Technics SL1600 turntable

It was all bought new from money left to me from my Grandmother. Turntable was the best part. The speakers were not reliable and has to be replaced by the dealer twice.

I grew up with a Pioneer SX1500T receiver, Altec Valencia speakers and a Miracord turntable/Stanton cartridge. My father purchased them when I was about seven years old. My dad was not an audiophile; but, a co-worker of his had left his engineering job to open a high-end audio store and my dad was an early customer and ended up with a very nice hi-fi (I think it cost about 10% of his annual salary). Teenage me loved that system. I added a Teac cassette deck when I learned to drive to make tapes for the car. I still have the speakers and my parents record collection. My dad’s best friend from that time period has the receiver.

My first system was a Kenwood KA3500, Electro-Voice Interface 1A speakers, Audio Pulse Model two digital time delay with some back channel speakers I build from Radio Shack parts using wood wine crates for the box. I also had a Techniques SL1200 turntable with a Shure cartridge. I spent way too much of my money on audio gear and records. I have none of that gear now but still have my record collection.

The very first piece of ‘serious’ audio gear had to be my dad’s hand-me down Sony TC-230. It was a reel tape deck with an amp built in that had pretty decent sound. Into this I ran a rather crap BSR turntable from a plastic-y console thing, but later moved to a Technics SL-232 with an AT cartridge.

Later I upgraded to a Leak integrated amp that sounded absolutely blah and bland, leaving me wondering why all the audio magazines of the day fauned all over the brand. Speakers were some Zenith cheapies that didn’t sound awful and then some rather aged (even for the late 70s) National Panasonic speakers.

My first system probably about 1976 was a Pioneer SA5300 amp, Pioneer PL12D turntable with a Shure M75ED Type 2 cartridge and a pair of Solavox TK30 Loudspeakers. The loudspeakers were an own brand for the electrical store Comet here in the UK. My dad and I drove 120 miles to buy this system. 😊

Was gifted an Eico HF81 and matching tuner. Hooked to a pair of home made 8 inch transmission line spealers, using peerless drivers, added a RS cassette deck and I was king