Half Your Age

[tomlinmgt]

I’m 47 now, so going halfway back would put me in my last year of college where a late 80’s-era Techincs “class A” integrated, a Sharp casette deck, a Pioneer cdp and a pair of CV D-3’s had served me well over the course of the prior five years (picked up that system the summer before my senior year of HS).
Many musical epiphanies were had on that rig and the visceral experiences provided by those CV’s (which would soon be retired for Bose 301 III’s because of cabinet damage sustained at the hands of Greyhound freight) planted a seed for a hifi hankering that would re-emerge and go into full-on bloom some two decades later.
Grunge was the dominant genre amongst most of my peers at that time, but I was paying closer attention to 60’s and 70’s rock, jazz fusion and the Grateful Dead.

 

[Dazaa]

23 now, when I was 11/12 all I dreamed of owning was a basic turntable to get started with vinyl, it wasn't till I was about 15 that I got my first Akai separates system. Things have improved since then.

 

[AdamAnt316]

35 now. When I was 17.5, I was just discovering the world of tubes. I had recently built my first tube amp as part of my junior year science fair project, and it had displaced my father's old Sansui AU-999 as the heart of my main system (though the AU-999 still served as preamp for the tube amp, once I figured out it could do that). Turntable at the time was my father's old Garrard 730m changer, though his Sony TC-127 top-loading cassette deck had recently been displaced in favor of an Akai GX-F31 front-loader given to me by a relative. CD player had been an Aiwa portable, though it was stolen from my booth during the science fair. I soon replaced it with a Sony CDP-CE275 carousel CD changer, which may count as the last piece of stereo equipment I bought brand new (unless you could iPods). Speakers were my father's old Kenwood KL-5080s, which were sensitive enough to work well with the 3 watt output of the tube amp.

Meanwhile, at my high school, I manned the 'tool crib' in the electronics shop. This allowed me to set up a stereo system on my workbench (well, other kids in the shop often had stereos on their benches, but they were usually crappy boomboxes and whatnot) which I stowed in a storage cage outside the crib during non-shop weeks. The heart of it was a Heathkit AA-151 tube integrated amp (which I thought was a PA amp when I first saw it) belonging to a teacher, which was eventually given to me. Through shop donations, I had a Bang & Olufsen Beogram 3000 radial-tracking turntable, and Realistic MC-500 bookshelf speakers. The source material was a stack of what classic rock records I'd managed to acquire up to that time, including Pink Floyd - DSOTM, Black Sabbath - Paranoid, Jethro Tull - Benefit and Aqualung, and Rolling Stones - Through The Past Darkly. It was a wonderful-sounding system, and after I graduated the following year, this setup (minus the speakers) followed me home to become the basis for my first fully-tubed audio system, shortly before I acquired my Dynaco ST-70. Anyway, here's a picture of me when I was roughly half my current age:

 

[skbubba]

1986, Technics SL-B3 turntable (recently tried to resurrect it, couldn't), Advent Loudspeakers, I believe at that time a JVC receiver with a built in equalizer, and a Marantz cassette deck.

Was recently looking through my LPs and in addition to all the rock it appears I went through a fusion/soft jazz phase. Stanley Clark, George Benson, The Crusaders, Tom Scott, Jeff Lorber, stuff like that. I think Kenny G finally cured me of that.

 

[alteclipsch]

I think Kenny G finally cured me of that.

Now that was funny. And I agree!

 

[musichal]

When I was 30 we had a Technics SA-450 receiver, a Technics SL-j2 table with a Stanton cart, and a pair of EPI Magnus 12 speakers. Probably just added a Technics SL-P220 CD player (or soon after that time).

I still have all that stuff. The SA-450 is in my office at work. The SL-P220 is in daily use in my bedroom system. The SL-j2 is a spare table. The cart is currently on my
SL-1200 MkII

I still have the EPIs, but the drivers are removed and boxed up (anyone need them?) and the speakers are loaded with much better drivers and a real crossover...

Oh, and my truck is fifteen years old, too

Music then was the same as now. Very eclectic. Rock, bluegrass, classical, country. AC/DC to Led Zeppelin, Bach to Vivaldi, Allman Bros to ZZ Top, even my wife's Enya and Sarah McLachlan CDs.

I still enjoy new artists, but not into any of the current pop. No Cyrus, Gaga, Pink, Bieber, etc. Bruno Mars is a great entertainer...

Sounds like we could be listening buddies, especially if you add jazz to all you mentioned.

 

[Ross6860]

Sounds like we could be listening buddies, especially if you add jazz to all you mentioned.

Oh yes. Jazz, folk, Motown, Soul, Rock and Roll. I'll try anything.

Weather Report, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Count Basie.

I just bought these:

Thelonius Monk - round midnight and other jazz classics
Pat Methany - secret story
Dave Brubeck - the essence of
Larry Carlton - sapphire blue

I have some Big Band. Glenn Miller, Bennie Goodman, the Dorsey bros., Duke Ellington.

I even like some crossover rap (Coolio, Ice T, Everlast, TLC, Salt-N-Peppa)

Good music is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know it when I see (hear) it...

 

[musichal]

Oh yes. Jazz, folk, Motown, Soul, Rock and Roll. I'll try anything.

Weather Report, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Count Basie.

I just bought these:

Thelonius Monk - round midnight and other jazz classics
Pat Methany - secret story
Dave Brubeck - the essence of
Larry Carlton - sapphire blue

I have some Big Band. Glenn Miller, Bennie Goodman, the Dorsey bros., Duke Ellington.

I even like some crossover rap (Coolio, Ice T, Everlast, TLC, Salt-N-Peppa)

Good music is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know it when I see (hear) it...

Yep, we could hang.

 

[SirReal63]

I am almost 54, at 27 it was 1990, I was still rocking the 1983 purchase of a JVC RX-80 (IIRC), a JVC SEA-R7 EQ (I wish I still had it), a JVC dual tape deck, don't remember the model, a Technics SL-B2 TT with Pickering cartridge and a pair of Genesis 210's. I was working about 50-60 hours a week chasing the dream, I had just got married and was usually too busy to listen to music at home. Most of my music came from being in my truck which had a nice Blaupunkt system in it.

 

[parman]

I'm 64 so back around 85 I was using a 70's receiver with some large no name speakers and I went out and bought a new fangled linear Technics TT.

 

[sdw54]

I'm at the same point you are (age 64 cut in half). Kenwood 5500 amp, , Kenwood 7001 tuner, Philips 312 w/ Micro Acoustics 2002e, Pioneer CT-2121 Cassette, home built JBL's (D130, LE175 on HL93 horns and lens, 075 tweeters in 8 cu' enclosures). The 077's were purchased second hand and supposedly sourced from the Gratefull Dead's "Wall of Sound" from the early eighties. Still using the 5500 and JBL's. Replaced the tuner with a KT-8300, the Philips with a Kenwood KD-600 w/ADC ALT arm and Stanton 680ee, the Pioneer with a Nakamichi BX-200. Still using the Philips, Kenwood and Pioneer on secondary systems.

 

[bhunter]

Magnepan 1Cs
Spica TC50s
HK PMA640
Technics TT
Yamaha CD player

I still have the HK and Maggies, but the rest is gone. Come to think of it, I'd like to acquire a pair of Spica TC50s again.

 

[Christian B]

Like our resident poet, 1986 was a good year. I was still using my old Harman Kardon 730 receiver with Realistic Nova 8 speakers. A year later I upgraded to an HK PM655VXi integrated amp, and a pair of ESS amt monitors. I also have eclectic tastes in music, then as now. In the mid 80's I was listening to everything from Bach to Brubeck to Badfinger, Weather Report to War to Tim Weisberg, and Aztec Two Step to Warren Zevon. I had also started exploring some new music heard on the World Cafe. Did I mention my taste in music is eclectic?

 

[bhunter]

Like our resident poet, 1986 was a good year. I was still using my old Harman Kardon 730 receiver with Realistic Nova 8 speakers. A year later I upgraded to an HK PM655VXi integrated amp, and a pair of ESS amt monitors. I also have eclectic tastes in music, then as now. In the mid 80's I was listening to everything from Bach to Brubeck to Badfinger, Weather Report to War to Tim Weisberg, and Aztec Two Step to Warren Zevon. I had also started exploring some new music heard on the World Cafe. Did I mention my taste in music is eclectic?

He is indeed that. I absolutely enjoy the OP's posts.

 

[Amcrebelfan]

48 so 24 years ago I had the pictured JVC system but cannot remember what speakers.

 

[reydelaplaya]

By 1995, I had already completed my full home theater setup, purchased mostly at Sears over the prior few years where I was working at the time with a decent employee discount.

It was based on a Sony STR-D990 Dolby Pro-Logic. A Sony 27” Trinitron TV. A Sony S-Video VCR (don’t remember the model number). A Pioneer CLD-M301 CD changer/laserdisc player. Bose Acoustimass AM5ii sub/satellites with matching Bose stands. A Bose VCS-10 center channel. And a pair of Polk Audio Monitor Series 2 (triangles) for the surround channel.

Movie nights and parties were the norm in my college apartment (some could argue that’s why I’m back in college again now, and they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong ). For what I knew about audio at the time, and for what I could afford with my job and discount at Sears, I was very content with that setup.

The Bose AM5 and Polk speakers and stands are still with me and were in use up until you all helped me build my speakers a couple years ago, so now those are currently stored. The Bose center has been given a new life as part of a PC gaming system at my friend’s house. The Sony D990 finally died in protection about 4 years ago, resulting in the purchase of my Yamaha CR-1020 and my membership here on AK. The rest of the stuff was left in the states when I moved here to PR, and was annexed by my family, though probably discarded by now.

 

[Blue Shadow]

preamp, still here +more
power amp(s), still here +more
integrated amp, still here but sick
speakers, still here, but not getting much play time with newer arrivals
turntable, tonearm, cartridge, still here, but the table can move on, the arm has a new table
turntable, tonearm, cartridge, sold the turntable, arm on a different table, cartridge in the stable
reel to reel, still here awaiting a recap, added another one to use the tapes
cdp, a portable has been retired to special ops duty and replaced.

Much more to listen to with all the CDs that I have collected. Adding vinyl as it becomes available, picking up a dozen from a friend last week. Some good stuff in there. Left another dozen that might have been nice additions.

this caught me a few years after leaving Hi-Fi House where I bought a rig to last a while because the prices were right and I had started to improve a car stereo which is still essentially the same. Alpine driving a/d/s/ amps and speakers with Goldsound subs still sounds great as does the main rig no matter what newer or old gear I'm using.

 

[rmeade]

I am 63, so we are talking about 1985/1986. I never owned a stereo until 85/86. Yes, I grew up with modest means. I bought my first stereo at "Crazy Eddies" in metropolitan NY (Hackensack NJ, I think). It was an Onkyo 4500 with a CD player. My music - formative years (70-75) focused on the Grateful dead, and other SF bands. So that is what I listened to in 85/86.

Furthur!

 

[Nightcleaner]

1951 - July 02 first system Bush arena 1972 purchased out of my mothers mail order catalogue with out her knowledge. Was a awful thing on hind site the tuner looked nice looked a bit like a B&O. The record deck Garrard SP25 £200 was a lot of dosh then . After the day I ordered it. i had an argument with a Mini it crashed into me and Broke my left leg. I worked for the Council was on full sick pay which paid for it I was on Traction in Hospital for 8 weeks. So i never got to see it till my femur healed.

My wage then was £15. 50p a week for Digging graves £15 .50 using the inflation calculator is worth £209 .25 pence in today's money

source http://inflation.iamkate.com/

c/w https://www.shpock.com/i/XBJviS4UNwp_Rp7V/

 

[Rdenney]

A necrothread, but a fun idea, worth reviving.

I’m 60, and in 1988 I was using a used Spectro-Acoustics amp a new Onkyo Integra P3030 preamp (date of acquisition is fuzzy on that one), to replace a Kenwood KA-3500. TT was a Technics SL20 with an Ortofon Concorde 10 cartridge. I can’t remember what cassette deck I had, to be honest—whatever it was dated from 1978 or so—but it was a little after that when I acquired a used TEAC 3-head deck (RIP). I had a TEAC R2R (RIP). And freshly reconed New Large Advent speakers, which I’m still using, despite a dalliance with a pair of Linn Index Plus speakers in the 90’s (now fronts on theTV system).

It was about then that I bought a Magnavox CDB650, still in use, but unwilling to read many CDs.

I replaced the amp with a Carver PM300 (?) commercial amp in the early 90’s, and moved that to a different system a couple of years later and put in a Samson Servo 500 PA amp. I replaced that just now with a B&K Reference 125.2. Much better!

Maybe half a dozen years ago I bought a cheapie Yamaha cassette deck because I couldn’t keep the TEAC deck running.

It’s all undergoing replacement now, which the stuff from 1990 I wish I could have afforded. The amp is part of that. I replaced the Technics with a Thorens TD-166 II and Grado Green cart. The now-flaky Onkyo has been replaced by an SAE P102, to which I will add an E101 parametric EQ that is on the way. I’m replacing the wowy-and-fluttery Yamaha with a Nakamichi Cassette Deck 2 (two heads are fine—I doubt I’ll be recording many new cassettes), and the Magnavox CD player with a Denon DCD 1560.

All of that was nicer upper-middle stuff ca. 1990, nearly back to that halfway point. Old stuff will become a restoration project, maybe for an office system.

Rick “who would consider KEF 103.2’s if compelled to replace the Advents” Denney