Show us the systems from your yoof!

Prompted by a comment by George, under the ‘Show us your transistor’ thread, and my love of vintage hifi, here are some photos of systems from my own youth:


Audiotronic LS4000 (with microphone input!) and Pioneer tuner (can’t remember the number).


Philips 212 turntable


Grundig TK46 valve RTR (old machine ‘borrowed’ from my father).


Grundig speakers (number unknown and also ‘borrowed’)

A later system developed into a disco!


Twin dual turntables, Eagle mixer, reverb amp and graphic equaliser, Quall 33 preamp, JVC SEA Power amp (a prototype, with fab VU meters) and Tannoy 15 inch Lancasters (not in photo), a home made sound to light modulator, various bits and bobs, empty bottles and fag ends! Happy daze.

Now show us yours!
ATB Marc

9 Likes

Those early Grundigs were replaced by a pair of Kef Concertos:

And I acquired a DJ sound to light unit (sorry about the awful photos).

4 Likes

Hi Marc - Great systems and many happy nostalgic days I’m sure!

BTW, I remembered another thread that covered something similar started by @TheKevster (Link), but as it’s now closed, this renewed thread may attract some additional photos & stories!

The only photographs I have of previous HiFi system from my late teens (& early 20s) are here - note that I used to occasionally use the kit to run a disco at the University Student’s Union bar (end of year parties, etc.). The sound to light system was home made, as were the lighting units connected to it. The smoke in the disco photos is from a home made internal pyrotechnics actuator that used commercially available internal pyrotechnic cartridges. Now in my sager, more ‘risk aware’ years, I’d probably steer people away from these!


System is 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.

ATB. George.

4 Likes

My dad bought one of these - or a unit very similar (ours had a walnut look case) - in the very late 1960’s (or early 70’s??). It was good enough for me to play records on, and to start taping records onto cassette tapes when he later bought a cassette deck.

3 Likes

We played this game back in Jan 2017 on the old forum, but it was fun, so here goes.

5 Likes

Dunno what they were, but my dad loved them!

1 Like

Those look like they’re Meridian M2s. Active monitors with the amps inside the cabinet.

2 Likes

And more recently, in Jan 2019…

Rather than reprinting the pic and details here, this is a link to my own post in that thread:

2 Likes

Scan from an old photo. The inevitable LP12, 42/110 and unseen Kans. obviously I had a cassette deck of some sort.

5 Likes

My first proper turntable was a Sony PSX-800 with an XL-44L MC cartridge. I don’t have a picture of my actual deck, but here’s one from the catalogue;

Stereo Review in the US had declared it the best turntable in the world (probably). So when I saw one in the window of Potter Bros. in Tenterden at a price that I could just about afford if I broke all the piggy banks and picked fruit all summer, I knew it could be mine. The only trouble was that it took another year for me to save up enough to buy a matching amp and speakers, a JVC AX-3 and some Wharfedale something or others. The MC stage in the AX-3 wasn’t up to much so an A-T 630 SUT followed soon after.

Next, after a lucrative summer job, came a Nakamichi RX-202, followed by a NAD amp and Monitor Audio speakers. The Sony went with me to Uni, but after hearing a friend’s Sondek with Quantum pre/power and Heybrook HB2 system, I sold it and bought a Manticore with Linn arm, then an LP12.

2 Likes

:small_blue_diamond:@NigelB,…I just love the look of the Linn Kan,.and the sound.

When I bought my Isobarik in 1990-91,.I wasn’t as impressed with the look as on my Linn Kan. Linn Kan is just a classic Hifi-icon.

/Peder🙂

6 Likes

Yep - it’s an iconic look I remember from my teens. I’ve always liked the simple, understated look of the Kans on the Mk2 stands. The fact that they can sit unobtrusively against the wall is another plus.

6 Likes


Before I moved 3 years ago.

5 Likes

This was my first decent system, I did use a Sinclair Project 60 before my first upgrade, but I never mention it 'cos I built it and it hummed and picked up radio stations. I used a Micro Acoustics QDC1e strain gauge cartridge in Garrard. A friend bought LP12/SME/V15 soon afterwards and I thought how silly, no tangential arm, no strobe and old fashioned magnetic cartridge. Then some company called Naim brought out an amp with no tone controls and no rumble or scratch filters: how I laughed. Only goes to show how wrong you can be.

3 Likes

I changed my speakers to HB2s many years later and really liked them. One mad day I tried a Jimmy Michael Hughes on them and they never quite sounded as good afterwards,

1 Like

I do like linear tracking turntables and it’s a shame they’re not more widely available. With no tracking error or distortion as a result, they also look really cool!

1 Like

Not fair you got an extra driver in your Wharfdales :disappointed_relieved:

1 Like

If only I knew which one to choose. . .:grinning:

1 Like

Didn’t he advocate positioning speakers so they faced backwards? IIRC he had a flat in the Barbican with an interesting split level glass fronted room - maybe something that worked fine there, but perhaps not so well in a more conventional space.

3 Likes

They do look cool - the PSX-800 looked great and had real heft to it. It sounded pretty good too. About 5 years ago I thought about revisiting it for old times sake. The difficulty was finding a good one at the right price. Many have developed faults over the years and repair is either very costly or not possible. Instead I happened across its cousin and forerunner - a mint Aiwa LP-3000. A very large and also rather hefty bit of kit that sold for about double the cost of a Linn Sondek back in 1980. That was fun to play with and had lots of cool programming features. It must have seemed like it had beamed back from the future when it was first released. However, I sold it on a few years back. Here it is in action:

Unfortunately linear tracking arms, while trying to solve one problem, tend to introduce all sorts of new ones so they aren’t a panacea by any means.

5 Likes