Your very first hifi!

Can all of you share with us your very first hifi setup that you afford with your very own money. Please exclude the ones from your dad and uncle setup. My very first amp is an AR60, an energy bookshelf and a Samsung LD Player (surprisng good sound)

Please think hard and be honest!

Yamaha KX200 cassette deck, Yamaha AX300 amp, B&W 110i speakers, followed by a Rega Planar 3 tt ... back in 1987! Took me 6 months to pay off. no credit card then. dealer was close friend of close friend of mine.

Technics SL-D2, Technics RSM-14, NAD3020 and Celestion Ditton 100. All with my savings from scholarship money, early 80's. Then added MISSION DAD7000R.

CT-Boy wrote:Technics SL-D2, Technics RSM-14, NAD3020 and Celestion Ditton 100. All with my savings from scholarship money, early 80's.

wow...u must still be in diapers then if compared to your stated age now...

Marantz CD-53 CD player
NAD 3020i amp (still with me now)
Mission 760i speakers (probably still with my friend)

All passed to me by my brother in 1993 when we were still in school/college!
Then I went to buy the Monster Interlink 400 MkII @ Sim Lim Square in Spore. Big deal then!

Yamaha AX 400 amp, Heybrook Point Five spks & Aiwa ADF400 tape deck back in 1987. & was at Berita/MPH book store almost daily drooling over the latest products from mags.; HI FI Choice, What HI FI, HI FI News & Reviews, Stereo Review......well still drool but lesser extent...hahaha

NAD 3020 (what a classic!), Mission 700LE and some Technics early generation CD player that I can't even remember the model. Only surviving item to this day are the cones that I had under the Mission speakers which are still being used under some of my components.

My first Hifi setup was Technics amp, Rotel Turntable, Mission driver with DIY speaker box. All about 1k. That my first impression about Hi-fi and play along Earl Klugh and Sade.

Talking about magazine, a friend of mine gave me a What HiFi magazine way back in 1985. His brother brought it back in UK. I will read it over and over again. I really drool over the equipment even though most of the content goes to budget decks. I cannot understand back then why bookshelves speaker as i am used to the 12" woofer speaker. Worst is the award Diamond speaker, sure kah? I have no chance to hear any of it as i was a student in a small town Kuantan...But i do agree with them about minimalist design, without fancy led and knobs which ruin the sound. What they term as Bell & Whistles...Now how i wish they add that subsonic filter or rumble switch and some VU meters or led bargraph display to brighten up my life i.e like the Nakamichi 1000zxl meter.....

Till date I still have the magazine.

Marantz Cd 53
Cyrus 1 integrated amp
AR 8 speakers

Back in 1989 in the UK bought at Audio Excellence in Cardiff...

Mission Cyrus One
Philips CD Player (built like a brick!)
AR 7 speakers

1985
1st CD - Sting: Dream of the Blue Turtles.
Life was so much simpler then

Hmmm.... mine was a Polk Audio speaker with A&R integrated amp. Extremely basic. I used a cassette deck, forgot which model. Then later when I went for training in Singapore, I saved up my meal allowance and bought a portable SONY discman.

Back in those days, I was already actively seeking out systems to listen to. First it was friends systems. Then I started to make friends with acquaintances at my hifi dealer (Uni HiFi in Pertama Complex and Eastland Trading at Jln Tun Razak at that time). It was at Eastland Trading when I encountered my 1st nasty experience, something which I can never forget and which till today influences me a lot. This guy & I were for CDs (Eastland lets us play the CD on their system before we decide whether to buy or not). I ended up chatting with him. I remember as a young naive chap, I started discussing about the sound of various hifi equipments I have heard. And being naive I just talked out about what good and bad points I find about some of the equipments, including some rather expensive ones. I am not sure if the guy owns one of those or not but he casually asked me what I am playing and when I explained, he looked at me and sneered and then mumbled something like "sony discman, I dunno throw away how many already. Bin Tou Then tak (how to listen to such low-end equipment). That humiliation continues to hurt till today....

Source: Creative Labs Sound Blaster v1.0 sound card
Speaker:Labtec computer speaker.

Still have the Sound Blaster. The Labtec cubes have since long been migrated to some landfill dump site.

First hi-fi - 1990s
Source: Marantz Cd63 KIS, Yamaha cassette deck
Amp: Audiolab 8000S
Speaker: Monitor Audio Studio 2SE bookshelf
All placed in my tiny bedroom 10ft-d*11ft-w, can only put 1 chair to listen...

Cheers..It is indeed a pleasure to hear others' comments on this topic. At the end of the day, it's all about people who love the music....

Orelle SA100 Integrate
NAD C524 CD Player
DALI Evidence 370 bookshelf Speaker

Sweet memories.....

DIY amplifier, DIY loudspeakers, Philips GA212 turntable.
That Philips turntable is still with me.

My first 'Hi-Fi' setup was back in 1990s during university

Sony CDP-591 CD Player
Technic AV Control Stereo Receiver SA-GX303
Yamaha NS-A 635A speaker

They are still in my 'museum' available for viewing only

Jvc amplifier
Sony fully auto turntable with Shure m75ed
Altec Lansing 2 way acoustic suspension speakers
Harman 3 head top loading cassette deck

That was in 1981....

If we're talking about non-waterfall gears (I had a number of these but I suppose they don't count) just those that I paid purely from my own pocket:

Denon PMA-560 integrated amp
Teac VRDS-10 CD player
Mission 731 speakers
DH Labs Silver Sonic T-14 and BL-1 cables

Simple yet musical...frankly I do miss the setup.

Made in china dvdplayer

soundstage 1.5se

kef kresta 10

Rotel RA-930AX MkII integrated amplifier
Marantz CD63SE cd player
System Audio 910 bookshelf loudspeakers
Cable Talk Talk3 speaker cables
WireWorld Oasis II interconnect cables
in the mid 1990s...

Circa 1994 upon graduation :

1) AMP - NAD 302 (European amp of the year in '94 I think) Still in my office system

2) Speakers - Mirage Book self (can't afford the bigger brother model so had to settle for the little brother - I still have them)

3) CD player - Sony 100 Disc multiplayer (bought in Singapore the year before - I still have it)

4) Replaced CD player with Marantz CD63Ki in 1997 (still with me + DIY clock)

Man oh man oh man. Those were the days. Where did all the years go ???

Marantz CD-19, Arcam Alpha 9, B&W CDM1SE's and DH Labs cabling. All nice products on paper, but a terrible combination! Live and learn.

Cyrus 1, purchased in 1984 when it was first introduced.
A Sony CD player (can't remember the model)
Audio Alchemy DAC-in-The-Box
A pair of mini Technics speakers.

All have been upgraded since
Kept the Cyrus 1 in storage till recently, re-capped it ... and WOW! It still can sing ! Glad I didn't get rid of it.

Sony Dis-man (1992)
Harman Kardon HK610 (1995)
Mission 731(1994)
saving from part time job

CDP: Denon DCD-615
Amp: Pioneer A-203
Speakers: KEF Coda 8

All still working till today. KEF is with my bro now. Pioneer is at the living hall for dad to watch astro.

cdp:rega apollo
speakers:AE aego m(speaker for PC) connected via VdH rca

1986,
Technics SL1200 turntable
Technics CD player
Denon amp
Modaunt Short MS30

1976:

1. Superscope receiver amp (bought from Tan & Tan)
sweet sounding amp, designed by Marantz & made in Taiwan,
and was really a decent start

2.Dual semi auto turntable with Shure M55ED cartridge.

3.DIY speakers from a kit.The Wharfedale Linton 2.Sold by
Eastland Trading back in those days.

All bought & paid for from a low paying job.

Aaaaah! What we'll do for the love of music


Cheers & Shalom.
teleman51

AAh, what joy and sweet pain it is to read the early early days of everyone's hifi journey... and to think of mine.

I lived with a QED intergrated amp, non descript record player and Celestion ditton 100 speakers. QED cables.
I was then a uni student in KL, and had an uncle who had just come back from the 'mecca' of hi fi back in those days... London. He came back with heybrook HB1 speakers, meridian amp, and top of the line JVC cassette deck.
He soon upgraded to Celestion SL600 speakers, Audio Research amps and my oh my.. he got a Linn Sondek LP12!!
In the days to come, he made the transition to Cds, and *gulp*... let me purchase the Linn from him at 'pay as you can' way, considering my poor student days. OH what fun i had trying to get the Linn to sing in my student dorm room, with a tiny QED intergrated amp, and (by this time) Pro Ac tabellet speakers.

One of the biggest hifi mistakes i have ever made was to sell my soul to the silver disc... i sold the Linn and got a Yamaha cd player. sigh.
Recently one of my cousins called me... Lord, i had forgotten that i passed my old Spica TC50 on to him, that was 25 or more years ago, and he asked if i wanted it back... he still had it in storage!!!
My uncle and i really had a fun time, for about 5 years, he changed so many hifi gear, from Celestion SL700, meredian cd player, then gave up on cd for a while, got the Goldmund (monster size stand it came on..) turntable, and different cartridges and arms... sigh, the sound of a Koetsu rosewood...my god. He even had the Appogee big ones, i forget the model name, taller than me and a beast to drive. By that time he was using a pair of Mark Levinson amps.
Thanks for letting me go down memory lane and ramble for a bit.. my uncle passed on some years ago... one of the low points of my life. I owe my joy from music and hi fi entirely to him and his influence on me.

Thanks again.

Bal.

Arcam cdp with arcam integrated amp
mission 731 speaker with montster cable. - still using at my ama house
both arcam kaputed, will try to consult mr oh...

It is a Sony mini hi-fi (1000w PMPO) LOL... those marketing gimmick.

Then, upgraded to Pioneer A-403 amp with a pair of local loudspeakers. Student at that time. Not much money to splurge.

Mine was used Linn LP12 with FR12 arm, Musical Fidelity B200 integrated amp, Celestion SL600 speakers & Nakamichi BX cassette deck, CDs not born yet...

Dual CS505-1, Sansui 5050 receiver, Wharfedale XP2.

My first rig is an all Technic package. Consist of a SL2000 turntable, which I gave away recently, and can't remember the model number of the other components; Integrated amp and tuner. Sorry, cassette not born yet....

Grundig if you old enough to have heard of this brand.

It is basically a huge box with a few compartments. The tuner (analogue) is on the top, at the bottom there is a turn table section (33 & 45) occupying one side and an empty compartment occupying the other side to store LPs. Speakers are on top beside the analogue tuner.

I cannot remember the exact date but it was sometime early 70s.

I should have kept it with me.

Here's my first setup:
Infinity Reference 100 floor standers, NAD319 integrated amp, QED Qunex 3 interconnects, QED Anniversary speaker cables and TOBA (from Tesco) CD player.

...5 minutes after listening, I rushed out to get the Marantz CD7300 from Hi-way Laser. It was all heaven after that

denon pma 260, infinity reference EL speakers, source is crap, cant remember it..

My first set up:

1. Marantz PM 57
2. Marantz CD 63 OSE
4. Sherwood twin tape deck
5. TDL RTL3SE speakers

chenht wrote:Grundig if you old enough to have heard of this brand.

It is basically a huge box with a few compartments. The tuner (analogue) is on the top, at the bottom there is a turn table section (33 & 45) occupying one side and an empty compartment occupying the other side to store LPs. Speakers are on top beside the analogue tuner.

I cannot remember the exact date but it was sometime early 70s.

I should have kept it with me.

How much you buy the Grundig Radiogram? Wow very intresting hifi set you bought with your money...I rather buy a minicompo or those boomblaster way back then....

first stereo system:

1) Pioneer PL112D turntable
2) Sansui receiver
3) Videoton Saphir speakers (the mags recommended the Minimax 2) but i went for the larger model.
4) cables were the red/black lamp cord. no monster yet.

before that, a friend sold me a car cartridge player modified for home use with a pair of home-made speakers using cheap car speaker units.

1984- Form 4

1. Car stereo cassette deck, brand Takara-got it almost free from friend uncle who upgrade his car stereo. Just have to spent on trnsformer 12v.
2. Diy speaker from scrap PA speaker. Box made from discarded plywood from construction site.
That was HiFi to me those day. Enjoy it with my classmate.
Still remember have to leave the cassette deck cover open for loading and unloading the tape.

Rega Planar 2 turntable
A&R Cambridge A60E
Mordant Short Festivals
QED speaker cables

Harman Kardon HK6100 amp
Harman Kardon cdp (can't remember the model)
JBL LX22
Aiwa tape deck
BBE

Was in 1991.

first proper hifi..
Aiwa XC300 CD
Rotel 920AX
Mission 760i
in a small dingy student room in the University flats..
Ah.. the memories..

My first audio set start with Mini-Hifi from Sony, keep changing 3 times all Sony brand saving from pocket money in 1989-1994 (inside U's hostel room).

After that invest in separate start with Panasonic receiver, NAD CDP with Bose 2.1 speaker. I think my old Sony Mini-Hifi better, than change amp to Nakamichi, still keep it until now with my PC set but Bose & NAD CDP sold.

ALready 20+ years in HiFi world but now slowdown, can't afford for my dream set. I feel happy with my system already.

jemmi,
Mind to tell us about your current set-up? Sources, amp and cables

Spent my first month salary (almost all of it) on a Technics Mini-compo!
first real hifi.
NAD3240PE amp (great all rounder)
Akai turntable (cannot remember model, not great sound)
DIY 2 way speakers with Technics 8" honeycomb & philips midrange.
Cables discarded tenaga cables used as speaker cables.
hifi on poor man pay!
My mother used to say that she can hear the music as she turns the corner three houses away.

Hmm.. Guess I should share also..

All belonged to my dad; except the Sony Discman.. RM150.00(is it?) bought 2nd hand from friend.

Year 1994
- MA(MicroAcoustic) FRM-1 Loudspeaker, it has 5 paper cone tweeters firing at all different angle.
- Luxman L-80 Integrated Amp.
- Monster speaker cable, courtesy of friend who got it free as scrap from Car Audio Shop.

Really need to thank my dad for pass down all these to me...
Anyway, the amp sudah rosak. Keeping it for my retirement pass time restoration project...haha many many more years to come.

Harman Kardon Citation 2 Tube Power Amplifier
Harman Kardon Citation 11 Solid State Preamp (Still have it the store room)
It was a Pair of JBL (cant remember the model) with Audioquest LiveWIre.
with Technics SL210 Citroen Edition Direct Drive Turntable (Which i Still have and use)!