Where did you get that, Playback or Pacific Stereo?

Pioneer SX-525 receiver, BSR 310AXE turntable and house brand speakers with crappy drivers and almost no crossover. I started college and met someone who was working at the store where I ended up working and almost immediately started to mod the speakers because I realized mine sucked. They were OK for a while, but...

A few months after I started working at the store, I bought a Sony TA-4650 integrated amp (one of the VFet models) and used the receiver for its tuner. I traded the receiver even up for a pair of Altec 418B drivers, which I sold to a bar owner for half of what I paid for the whole stereo. I wouldn't mind having those drivers now.

Since then, I have blazed through equipment at a pretty good rate and made a decent profit on it. I really wish I could have fit the EV 30W woofers & cabinets into my house- those were spectacular!

Like an earlier thread - my dad got me hooked on Audio back in the early 80's when i was 10-11. in the disco era of the late 70's he went a bought a complete set-up - Pioneer receiver much like the one above, BIC floor speakers and a Girrard turntable.
a few years later after saving yard mowing money I bought an AKAI integrated Amp and separate tuner from Crutchfield in the mid-80's to run some speakers I was building in 8th grade shop (SOLID Walnut cabinets, 12" MTX woofers, 4" sealed back radioshack midrange and the Bi-Radial horn as well). OMG they were loud! Then a kenwood tape deck and a CD player to round it out.
I still have Most of ALL of the above components in a display in my home today. All still work. Now to hand the reigns over to my son....

I have no earthly idea the brand of our first stereo...circa 1963, playing Elvis, Buddy Holly, and then 1964/1965 B.I. hit and it was the Yardbirds, Dave Clark Five, Stones and Beatles, along with The Beach Boys.

But in 1967, my Mom bought a Montgomery Ward portable stereo record player, that would fold up into a suitcase. Speakers were detachable. Crummy... but it played in stereo and I used to lay on the floor with one speaker on each side of my head. Lots of Beatles, Jimi, Kinks, Steppenwolf, etc

When my Mom remarried in 1968, my step dad had a real nice Fisher 2x35 watt stereo receiver, Koss headphones, United Audio Turntable with a Shure cartridge and JBL speakers. Man, I was in heaven. My step dad took what was a fledgling addiction and threw me head first into the audiophile fire. He helped me build my first Heathkit Integrated Amplifier in 1970 (possibly so he could regain use of his Fisher).

I eventually blew up my Heathkit in high school and cobbled on again to his Fisher.

My first real stereo was in 1976 (out of high school). Mitsubishi dual monaural preamp, Son of Ampzilla amplifier, Klipsch Heresy speakers, JVC direct drive turntable, Micro Acoustics cartridge, JVC Cassette deck, Sony FM tuner. That was back in the day when JVC made pretty good stuff (mid to late 70s).

Of course what I have now smokes all of that. I can brown out the entire neighborhood with my set up now. ;)

JVC BoomBox with detachable speakers and a linear tracking turntable. This thing rocked. Plugged it into the wall or powered it with 8 "D" batteries. The amp was so robust that I used it to power a pair of pro JBL MI-634 speakers (15" drivers).

I had a radio shack stereo amp (optimus I think) and 4 Polk audio speakers in my room when I was 14.

The next big thing was a Pioneer Super Tuner III and some 6x9's in my Jeep when I turned 16. It still seems like nothing sounds as good as that Pioneer tape deck. I remember my first accident happened when one of the knobs fell off into the floor board and i reached down to get it and looked up to find the back of a Pinto station wagon right in front of me at a dead stop. I didnt even have time to hit the brakes.

MCS 3233 Receiver
MCS Belt Drive Turntable with this crazy little weight hanging on string!
Quadraflex ST-17 speakers

Still have them in the garage.

This!

My first system I ever bought for my house, or rented bedroom I should say, was a JVC rx660 receiver, JVC CD player, and a pair of Acoustic Research 88.6 dual 8" towers. I was carefull to cut my 12 awg Monster cable to the exact same length for both speakers. The first track I listened to was Pink Floyd, Comfortably Numb. Then Another Brick in the Wall ( both parts), then run like hell. I couldn't believe it. It was the most amazing thing I ever heard. The people I lived with likely thought it was less amazing.

I still have everything. The JVC receiver is in the garage. The CD player is in the crawl space and the 88.6s are in the corner in my basement. Typing this now makes me want to bring them upstairs and set them up for 11 year old son.

Craig.

if i first mention i wasnt born until 1975, will it make some of you old farts angry?

i would have to say my first real stereo was a car head unit. i just go my license and the pleasure to work for the summer in my step-dad's cabinet shop. i saved my first few checks to buy a new Pioneer Super Tuner III with the motorized flip down face where the casette was loaded behind the face. i wanted to add the cd changer next. i paid the shop to install it. The guy hooked something up wrong and blew up the head unit. i had to wait almost a week for the replacement. after it was installed, i went to a friends house to hang out. i left his house about 10:30 headed home. but i decided it was still early and turned around to go cruise through town and see who was hanging out. the road was a curvy narrow mountain road. just as i was about to enter a curve, She Shook Me All Night Long started to play, and i looked at the radio to crank up the volume. the curve was also only about 50 yds from my friend's driveway. the right side tires dropped off the pavement and hit the grass that was covered from the summer dew. i proceeded to slide out of control and down an road bank that was just tall enough and steep enough that my car couldnt be seen by passing traffic. i climbed out and ran to my friends house yelling "f**k" with every step, threw the door open and continued yelling as i made my way to the phone and tried to call my parents.

I got Two turntables and a microphone.... where it's at!

After I worked at several stereo places after high school I bought the pioneer tuner preamp cassette deck that was a champagne color with the charcoal grey center... Very high tech looking!!
Speakers were ESS AMT-1D with the Heil Air-motion transformers for mid and highs
They rocked!!!

The first "stereo" I bought was a Kenwood surround receiver - I think it was 70x3 to the fronts and 10x2 to the rears... - and a pair of Bose cubes with the bass module.

Eww.

Eventually I added a Kef UniQ center channel, a pair of Sony bookshelves as fronts (eww) and relegated the Bose to be surrounds.

Eww.

Do you all still feel that same excitement today as you did when you were tinkering with those relics?

I do, but its not my full time job. Full time obsession yes, but job no.

Marantz 2325, AR-5's and Thoren's turntable.
I still have it all!
It was the best setup on my dorm floor and we used it for the dorm parties (with a tape deck), LOL!
It really filled the dorm room with sound, LOL!
BTW: The parties slowed down after my roommate fell over backwards while dancing with a gal on his shoulders.