It was 1977 and I saved up by bagging groceries and bought my first "real" gear from an older friend who was working at the same grocery store. I got a Kenwood KA-7100 amp, a pair of JBL 4311s, a Sankyo cassette tape deck, one of those top loading kinds, and a Sony turntable, not sure which one. He made me a package deal because he was trying to get up enough money to buy a motorcycle.
The only pieces I have left are the amp, which I recently had gone over by a guy who used to work for Carver, and the speakers. The speakers are what brought me here. After serving me well through high school and later in college, they needed a refresh and I got the lowdown from this site and recapped them. They aren't perfect and have the odd gouge here and there, but I upgraded the crossovers and binding posts and made the cabinets more presentable.
I use them in my office with the amp and a Sony PS-X600 turntable, so they're still rocking. I have my new-to-me Sony SS-M7s at home and they are a much better speaker, but the JBLs bring back memories of college parties at the house I shared with four other guys. Unfortunately, that's where the drink ring on the top of one of the speakers probably came from. Unfortunately, when you are the one who owns the stereo you're on constant patrol pulling half-filled solo cups off your gear.
Prior to this purchase it was whatever console or all-in-one my dad dragged home for my mom, various portable radios and your basic mono cassette decks. But it was all good, just different.
We had my uncle's old Fisher hi-fi console, but every time we tried to play a record it would work for awhile and then start a high pitched whine. Bad tube, who knows, my brothers and I were in elementary school. I ended up being the all-in-one, tuner, 8-track and turntable stand and then later the all-in-one tuner, cassette and turntable stand.