Your first ever 'hi-fi' system?

Ditto Bub

Cracking little system as you say. Loved every minute until some bugger burgled me and that was that for a few years

My next rig was Oak TT/Arm/Nagaoka MP11, Cyrus 1, Heybrook HB1. Then I upgraded to an LP12 and...........

 

Marantz CD50SE
Harman Kardon HK6100
Mission 762
QED incon/79 strand

I must have been reading too much What hifi? at the time

 

Hmm, let me think...

My first decent HiFi was a:

NAD3020, Nakamichi CDP2, Vifa Correct (DIY) speakers, with Van den Hul CS122 cables. (all around 1987)

regards,
Alco

 

My 'hi-fi fund' was a standing joke in our family since I was about 10 or 11 – I saved any cash I didn't spend on records (which wasn't much) and had this 'fund' for years until I had enough to buy the system. I've had the 'bug' as long as I can remember, certainly since hearing a friends dad's TD125 / 33 / 303 / Ditton 66 system as a young kid. This disease is not hereditary as my folks have zero interest in audio (though a lot in classical music) they always had a awful cheap music centre type thing. The hi-fi fund got a boost when a relative died leaving me a few quid – I remember paying 300 quid for the Lenco / Quad / 149 system which was a hell of a lot for a 16 year old in 79.

I've also had the record buying bug as long as I can remember, I always kept my school dinner money and starved at lunch time so I could buy a second hand LP at the end of the week, I also had a morning paper round to fuel the addiction – I was trading LPs as a kid too, finding people stuff they wanted and adding a surcharge. I remember trading for T.Rex singles in about 73 – I'd have been about 10 then! Nothing much has changed…

Tony.

 

First CD-based system was a Sony FH-B70CD bookshelf system with twin cassette deck, CPD and tuner. I got this around 1991 and the sound always impressed. This was when Sony made decent sounding micros!

First seperates system was in June 2002 and consisted of:

Sony CDP-XE370 CD player
Sony TA-FE230 Amp
Mission m70 Speakers
QED Qunex Interconnect and QED Original Speaker cable

Added the following in October 2002:

Sony MDS-JE480 MiniDisc deck
Sony MDR-CD480 headphones
Pro-Ject Debut II TT

Added the following in January 2003:

Samsung DVD player
S/H Sony Tuner

Sold the following in April 2003 to buy a Sony RCD-W3 twin-deck CD recorder (this was a bit of a mistake):

Sony CDP-XE370 CD player
Sony MDS-JE480 MiniDisc deck
Samsung DVD player

Sold the following in May 2003 to buy a Yamaha HTR-5540RDS AV receiver:

Sony TA-FE230 Amp
S/H Sony Tuner

Also bought a Pioneer DV-350S DVD player in May 2003

Bought a Sony MDS-JE480 MiniDisc deck when I got back into MD again in June 2003.

Traded in my Sony RCD-W3 for a NAD C521BEE in September 2003 - a very wise choice, IMHO, as this player's a keeper

Bought a Pro-Ject Phono Box to replace my cheapo B-Tech phono stage in Oct 2003.

Bought a Sony SLV-SE830 VCR in January

So my system now comprises of:

Yamaha HTR-5540RDS receiver
Pro-Ject Debut II TT / Phono Box pre-amp
NAD C521BEE CDP
Sony MDS-JE480 MD deck
Sony SLV-SE830 VCR
Pioneer DV-350S DVDP
Mission m70 speakers
Sony MDR-CD480 headphones
Various cables from QED and other brands

 

I started with an old valve mono record player and an old valve radio (mono). I bought a cheap ceramic stereo cartridge and worked out where to solder wires to have the radio act as the 2nd stereo channel (don't try this at home).

I then decided that I should take the speakers out of the record player and radio and build 'proper' cabinets for them. I built some plywood square things and painted them pillar-box red. Sound: awful.

I then started again with a Garrard SP25 mk II, Alba stereo amp and Wharfedale Super Lintons.

Later highlights included a speaker system of two sets of Daline speakers on top of each other, a Fons turntable and a Linsley Hood 75W power amplifier.

Friends' systems that were very influential included:

- Quad ESL 57/Quad 33/303 with a Thorens TD125/SME/V15.
- B & W DM4s (I think) with a Leak Stereo 70 amp.
- IMF Studio Monitors driven by I can't remember what.

Later I designed a car hi-fi with Ted Jordan acting as a consultant. :MILD:

That takes me to the Seventh Veil era and the rest is history.

 

1984 (I think!)

Dual CS505
NAD 3020e
ROTEL 850II

Next year I got a Phillips CD Player (140? 104?) which cost £350 and is still more than I've ever paid for a CDP!

Liam.

 

How do you define? Mine developed out of using a portable CD player with little active speakers.

First the speakers went for a pioneer A-103 amp and my grandparents old B&W DM2 speakers. The portable CD went for a marantz CD63, and then the speakers for B&W DM602s. Somewhere in there you'll find whatever you care to define as my first "hi-fi" system.

None of that stuff remains now (a mere 8 years down the line). The progression from there:

jan 2000, A-103 replaced with Marantz PM-66SE
Jan 2003, PM66SE replaced with Rotel RA-971mkII
Feb 2003, CD63 replaced with Rotel RCD-991
July 2003, RCD-991 clocked
August 2003, Project Tonne Control completed
Sept 2003, DM602s replaced with Meadowlark Kestrel Hotrods
November 2003, M-Audio Superdac added
November 2003, RCD-991 replaced with Marantz CD-16
Nov/Dec 2003, M-Audio superDAC modified.
Feb 2004, RA-971mkII replaced with NAD S300
April 2004, Room sorted, Speaker plinths added.

It accelerated a lot last year as you can see, but I think that will stop pretty much now, as money is a bit tighter, and the system is pretty well balanced now. A few cables still to be bought (shush all you non-believers!), and a few bits of tidying (and clocking the CDP). After that perhaps a wadia DAC or something, but nothing desperately stands out for attention.

 

In 1976 I splashed out first pay packets on

Pioneer PL12D turntable
Poineer SX450 receiver
Celestion Ditton 15 speakers

The PL12D is languishing in attic but did do a turn with first daughter when she became 14 and started buying/playing records rather than cassettes or CDs.

The SX450 is currently doing a turn with youngest daughter.

The Dittons have only just been retired to second dining room system.

I had a Systemdek and a set of Yamaha separates, an Arcam CD72T, an AudioLab 8000a and two s/h Meridian CD combos before settling on what's in my sig.

 

I have one child - who probably won't care because she's a girl.
I hope to raise her not to be a slave to the joy of owning things so maybe she'll one day have a ghetto blaster from Dixons and just enjoy the music she wants to play.

I only ever met one woman who was impressed by how good music could sound through a good hifi. Reader, I married her.

If there are any female correspondents on this forum, please prove me wrong!

Seriously.... I heard a few years ago about a speaker system that consisted of intersecting beams of tightly focused ultrasonics. The interference pattern between the beams would give the effect of sound emanating from empty space. I never heard any more about this but sounds interesting.

 

Speaking of ghetto blasters from Dixons - I was visiting my nan last week and she was after a new one for her conservatory. We ended up going into Dixons and listened to a Hitachi. For £40, it offers a quite respectable and enjoyable sound. Includes a CDP, tape and tuner.

Not bad for the money at all, but I had to keep refraining from comparing it to my setup whilst giving it a quick instore listen. Difficult to do - and I'm sure others with seperates on the forum would agree.

Having said that, during the week, my Sony MZ-N510 MD portable /Sennheiser PX-100s get more use than the main rig. Great for getting through the day at work and on train journeys! Plus they sound pretty good too!

 

First "proper" hifi system was:

- Marantz CD50SE (still used in my office system)
- Kenwood integrated :shame: who's model number I can no longer remember
- Pair of Heybrook Point5 speakers on some Target stands (still have the stands allthough they are unused)
- QED79 speaker cable.

Also had a Kenwood tape deck which I still have (well, it's on semi-permanent loan to a friend) and I still think is rather good allthough I can't remember it's model name anymore.

Oh, and I also had a Cambridge Audio T50 tuner (which I still have but it's languishing in my "junk" pile). Still works, but I don't really have a need for it.

Michael.

 

My first ever home sounds if you like were 2 years ago (yes I'm a newbie to home audio)

Arcam DV27
MF 3.24 dac
Arcam Avr 200
Kef Q55.2's
Kef Q90 centre
Kef Q15.2 rears
QED Gensis Silver spiral
Soundstyle xs310 rack

It all seems so long ago now

 

A sideboard-sized mono radiogramme (can't remember the manufacturer), complete with bakelite knobs, non-functioning tuner, and a turntable with multichanger that required, as they all did, a penny taped to the headshell to stop it skipping. This was around 1976, and was what I listened to all my formative music on, from the Faces and Slade, to the Pistols, via the Clash, to the Buzzcocks, Doctor Alimantado, King Tubby, and beyond that to Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire and the like. I had that until I went to university in 1983, when I bought the obligatory NAD 3020/Dual CS 505/Mission setup which I continued to use until about 3 years ago, when in a fit of madness (and flushness) I decided to start spending some real money on hi-fi.

-- Ian

 

My first seperates system back in 1997 consisted of:

Technics SLPG590
Cambridge Audio A1Mk3
Mordaunt Short MS812

Replaced it last year with:

Rotel RCD-02
Rotel RA-02
Quad 11L

But I gave the old stuff a nice new home with my brother.

 

well .... avoid the ghetto blaster, it will have to be played loud to get full appreciation and you may not enjoy her music!!

when first daughter reached those teenage years, that's when I took opportunity to earn brownie points and gain an upgrade.

Loaned said daughter the PL12D, Receiver, Denon Cassette Deck and some s/h speakers in her room - introduced her to the 'loundness' button on the receiver (which gave extra width/depth at low volumes). Deal was that she could not sell it on.

The sound quality is/was so much better than ghetto blaster, and many few arguments about boom-boom from teenage room ...

Also, with managed to slip in upgrade to music & Av in living room - though the Ditton 15s lived on.

 

First one for me was some Alba minisystem when I was about 7. The idea was to stop me messing about with the Trio system that was living downstairs at the time. It still didnt stop me though, the Trio was like a veritable shrine

Replacing that was a Philips minisystem, this time with a CD player. Got that when I was about 10, after the Alba died. Tried to kidnap the Trio for my bedroom when my folks got rid of that, but they said it was too loud

Eventually, when I first got a job I bought some Sony P-11 Microsystem, which I was not very happy with but stuck with it until my folks decided they did not really listen much with the Kenwood, and so swapped it for my Sony (more living room friendly).

I was happy with this system to be honest. The headphone socket died on the TV, so I persuaded my folks to get a proper amp to connect everything to. So I got a Cambridge Audio A500 and a B-Tech headphone amp (using PC with Soundblaster Live as a source). I had to get some speakers for it too, so I got some Wharfedale Diamond 8.2s. So that could be called my first seperates. Since then, much chopping and changing...

 

Had done my best to interfere with Dad's hi-fi choices thoughout my early teens. Our first Stereo system was in about 1970, with a homebuilt system based on:

Garrard autochanger
Sinclair pre-amp and power amp modules
1 Kef Cresta (original model, not recent revival)
1 Goodmans 10" elliptical in homemade box

When I persuaded Dad to upgrade his speakers (to Ditton 15s - a lot more than he intended to spend; after writing the cheque he looked rather sick at how to explain this to Mum), I got my own first system, based around yet another PL12D - which is still "in" the system, in intimate contact with the Wadia :MILD: although nowhere at present to actually plug it in.

System bought/given in Aug 1976:
-------------------------------------------
Pioneer PL12D (incl cart Shure M55?) - £45
Eagle AA6S - £42.50 (complete with graphic equaliser )
Dad's cast-off speakers
Rather old and even-then-corroded bellwire

Followed by:
May-1977: Eagle AA102 tuner - £54.90
Sept-1978: Added JVC KD21DB cassette deck (still owened, now dead)
Oct-1978: Shure M75ED mk II - £15.25 (still owned athough no longer used)
Early 1979: Speakers replaced by S/H Wharfedale Linton IIIs
May-1979: Eagles replaced by Technics SA-200L receiver (approx £120), which continued to do duty until about 2 years ago.
Dec-1983: Ortofon VMS20E Mk II - £24.90
Mar-1988: Speakers replaced by Monitor Audio R352 - £237.50
Similar time: Added Philips CD473 CDP
Can't remember when: Sennheisser HD-410SL headphones

Then remained like that until about 2 years ago.

johnhunt - think you either have date or model wrong on your 2nd tt (or were already going 2nd hand by then). The PL12D was replaced by the PL112 in (IIRC) 1977

 

Mine was way back in 83', consisting of:

- Walker CJ58 record deck. It was an attempt at a cut price LP12 and pretty much fullfilled it's role, as 5 years later an LP12 did replace it. Used an Ortofon MC10 cartridge, no idea about the arm now. This deck is presently with a friend.
- Quantam IA100 integrated amp. Bought after a direct dem against the usual Nad 3020, which in my opinion it wiped the floor with
- Tannoy Mercury speakers (Mk1s). These are still in use with a friend of mine.

 

First proper system:

Aritson Q-Deck with Goldring Epic 2 cart, on a lightweight shelf made from the old wooden lid off aHotpoint Twintub washing machine

Trio KA-4002 amp (50p from jumble sale)

Philips CD373 cdp (very good machine, still got it)

Aiwa AD-R460 auto reverse cassette deck

Trio KT-2001 Tuner (ressurected from a S/h shop in Angelsey whilst on holiday)

B&W Dm100i speakers on Sound design stands

QED 79 speakers cable and freebie interconnects

This was all in 1988 and I was about 16. Trio amp was replaced by a Marantz PM-35 soon after this, but the above set-up was the first proper sperates system. As it grew there had been some Goodmans car speakers in enormous cabinets on the end for about 4 years, and the Trio suceeded a Cambridge P50 that had been running these before.

Cheers