The first encounter with Hi Fi, a great sounding Grundig console belonging to my parents. A record changer on the left and a fine tuner on the right. The warm delicious sound came through tube amplification and three speakers arrayed along the bottom.
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As a very skint student I resorted to the Audio-Technica ‘Soundburger’ with ‘phones or little speakers. It was supposed to compete with the ‘Walkman’.
Jogging was out of the question for obvious reasons.
G
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A Trio KD1033 B with Shure cartridge did great service for me through university, it was replaced by a Roksan Xerxes in 1985 or so. Lovely deck, googling for an image I see they are readily available on the 2nd hand market for fifty to ninety quid, it’s quite tempting to get one to fed the Nova.
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My first cassette recorder - a Philips EL-3302. I played the pre-recorded cassettes of The Jungle Book and The Aristocats almost to destruction with this one. I still have it - pictured here;
I also still have its replacement, a Panasonic RX-5020 stereo radio cassette. It’s had a tough life though, but I use it almost every day out and about in the workshop, doing any decorating or maintenance about the place. Still sounds good, and never had any reliability issues. Amazing! Here’s a pic (not mine);
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Great thread! Osprey … I had a Philips N2205 way back when. I remember buying the musicassette of Led Zeppelin III when it was released.
My introduction to stereo was the HMV Stereomaster, purchased by my father in 1966, on which I enjoyed ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ by some obscure group from Liverpool:
The first stereo system that I could actually call my own comprised the mandatory Garrard SP25 MKIII with a pair of truly dreadful Apollo 66 speakers, which were soon replaced by Wharfedale Tritons. The amplifier in this system was the Duette SA400:
It was a dreadful system but I loved it. I recall playing Savoy Brown’s ‘Looking In’ to death on it!
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Lovely thread.
Osprey - I had the Philips n2205 too, it’s what got me started circa 1971 I think. For late night listening out of Parents’ earshot I would use the old fashioned pneumatic headphones (the sort they used to give on aeroplanes in the 1970s) with the open end over the loudspeaker, held in place with a weighty book ! The mathematics test book was quite good for this purpose.
Paul
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I bought a pair of these B&W DM70 (Improved) loudspeakers in 1972. I recall they cost me £550, which was a lot of money at the time. This is a photo off the web, as my contemporary pictures will be a box in the loft somewhere. They had excellent bass courtesy of their 15 inch driver, but the electrostatic unit that handled midrange and treble was what made them special. That and the size, which was considerable in our small flat.
Best
David
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I had a Keletron 7x7watt stereo amp with some home made speakers and a Philips n2207 cassette player as a source. Did ok for me right through to uni.
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I started with the pye version of the same cassette player Richard started with. Think it was away being fixed for 4 out the first 6 months.
Luckily in the meantime my parents went into debt to buy me one of these Ferguson stereos. Think it was £39.99, and I thought it sounded great!!
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Amazing how Philips cassette recorders crop up frequently, sign of the times, taping from the radio perhaps? :0)
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The joys of making C90 ‘compilation’ tapes!
G
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Probably later than this my parents had a Panasonic equivalent…we thought it was the Bee,s Knee,s as they say. Then Uncle Dave bought the first separates system in the family…a Goldring Lenco deck, Goodman,s amp, wharfedale speakers…all in lovely wood. Xmas I would plug-in a headphone and listen to Floyd…happy days.
When I was about 8 my dad had a similar unit, from Fisher. I remember going with my parents when he bought it at a department store. It was a big purchase for him but it made him very happy. Having that in the home really opened up my interest in music. He bought a cassette deck a short while after, and I started borrowing friends’ albums and taping them. That got me listening to a lot of music.
I found a photo of that Fisher long ago online, but can’t seem to find it again.
Many systems over the years, starting with a Bush portable cassette player and a Pye record player (from Argos) and a Grundig Melody Boy 1000 radio in the mid 70s which I moved on from to this system by the end of the seventies;
For the sharp-eyed, this comprised a Sansui SR-222 MkII turntable (fitted with Ortofon VMS20E cartridge), JVC JAS-11 amplifier, JVC JT-V11 tuner, Hitachi D-75s cassette deck and some unknown speakers that I can’t remember (anyone know what these are?) on home made speaker stands (covered with orange fablon!). Headphones (pictured on the speakers) were the Sennheiser 414s with the famous yellow ear pads.
For some reason I thought the large VU meters (bought second hand from a surplus electronics shop in Tottenham Court Road) looked cool - ahh, the naivity of being a teenager!
A brief dalience with a Strathearn STM4 Electronic Servo direct drive turntable (made in Ireland and costing £25 in a bankruptcy sale in Tottenham Court Road) ended when I dropped it on the floor!
Early 80s saw me sell all my records and buy a A&R A60 amplifier, Acoustic Research 18BX speakers from Billy Vee in Lewisham and a dodgy Trio DP-750 CD player from Laskys! Definitely not source first!
In 1994, I upgraded to a Audiolab 8000S amplifier, Marantz CD-63 MkII KI Signature, Nakamich BX-125 cassette deck and B&W CDM-1 speakers on Kudos S100 stands. I still have the speakers (part of my A/V system).
From there, onto a series of A/V systems with Pioneer 5.1 amps, Pioneer disc spinners and the B&W CDM-1 (now accompanied by a centre speaker and a second pair of B&W CDM-1 speakers for the rear). The Nakamichi deck was sold off in 1997.
This kept me going until my first Naim purchase in 2012 - NDX with Supernait and B&W 804D2 speakers. I’d first seen Naim at the Bristol HiFi show in the early 90s and had aspired to Naim ever since.
The journey from there is in my bio up to my current system (ND555/2 x 555DR/ 552DR/ 500DR/Uniti Core/ B&W 803D3/Super Lumina ‘full loom’/ PowerLines/ Fraim).
I still also have my separate A/V system, now fronted by an Oppo 205 disc spinner, LG OLED TV and Pioneer SC-LX85 A/V amp (from 2011).
Lots of fun, a few regrets (Strathearn turntable and the Trio CD player!), but music aplenty!
ATB. George.
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This is the system of my parents of the 80s and my first perceptions of music. It was a magic cupboard that has been sealed in my mind to this day.
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My first TT…
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Super thread, I grew up listening to these…
Powered by 2 of these…
With this as a source…
All library shots but I still have it all, my late Dad put it together in the early 60’s
Oops forgot the preamp,
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Fantastic system, Hollow. I’ve just watched Chesil Beach and there’s a similar Quad system featured in the film.
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