Back in 1971, just after I had completed my O Levels, my father bought me my first system. It was a Garrard SP25 MkIII with Goldring G800H cartridge, a Duette SA400 amplifier and a pair of Apollo 66 loudspeakers. It probably didn’t sound too good but it was better than anything else that I had owned. The first album that I player on it was Savoy Brown’s ‘Looking In’. It started a journey that ended with Linn Sondek LP12/Naim Armageddon/Naim ARO/Linn Troika, Naim NAC52/Supercap/NAP250, Naim SBL. A much better system that’s for sure but I have many happy listening memories of that first system.
We’ve all committed Argos catalogue sin in our yoof.
My first system was arguably less that the GBP250 I mentioned earlier but built up over a couple years and taking inflation into account, probably worth more than the later system I got.
First CD player: Argos catalogue Sony D121 Discman GBP100. Followed 2 years later by a second hand A&R Cambridge A60 for GBP60 driving Bose 901s I inherited. But it doesn’t really count.
Maybe ask people to give the price using the online inflation calculated for the year of purchase would have been a better approach for the thread. Someone is bound to say they bought a gramophone and a stack of shellac 78s for 3 shillings and thruppence at the Salvation Army village shop in 1933 eventually.
At the end of the 60s at the entry level to hifi it was Garrard or BSR, Goldring a lot more expensive. SP25 was Garrard’s basic ‘transcriptor’ TT, as opposed to autochanger, and cost about £10-11 at the time - the cheapest Goldring would have added as much again and was beyond my schoolboy paperround, pocket money and birthday/Xmas present savings that over a year raised £60 to create my system.
The Garrard had awful rumble from the idler wheel, and about 2 years later, after I started work and earning money, and by which time I had improved the speakers, the TT was my big jump. Goldring Lenco 75 and Thorens TD150 were similar prices and both popularly touted as the quality hifi TTs of the day, though for some reason the GL seemingly more popular - but having done my research I went for the Thorens which I believed, and still believe, to have been the better of the two. The Thorens lasted me 40+ years, though It was not long before I improved it, notably changing arm and mat and modifying the plinth. The bearing was so well machined that there was no evidence of wear after many 1000s of hours play.
Did Aiwa Midi Systems fall into that category? 
Hmm borderline. Aiwa is low end Sony. Much comes from the Sony rejects parts bin. Definitely an Argos catalogue luvvie brand though.
It was specifically the dirt cheap iffy UK brand midi systems I was thinking of. The ones that look like separates but are all one unit. 99 quid for a graphic equaliser, amp, twin tape deck, CD player, tuner and even a record player on top.
And half the fun was picking up a brand new catalogue for free. There was no internet. The catalogue was massive. And you’d sit flicking through it for hours (well I did when I was 10) thinking “That Alba stack system looks the biz.”
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Ha ha, I received an Aiwa system my my 16th birthday from well meaning parents. I always thought it was awful and ended up selling it to a mate to buy a second hand Audiolab amp and using it with a pioneer turntable and some Celestion ditton speakers. All of which comfortably pasted the Aiwa.
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My first ever hifi, bought in 1974, cost me an entire summer’s earnings, 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week in a local factory (less beer & smokes money, obviously!). I laid out about £400 on a Pioneer PL12D with Shure M75ED cartridge, Sharp SM-511H amp, Yamaha TB-700 cassette deck and Yamaha NS 625 speakers. Whilst it did sound pretty good, and I kept it until just before getting married in 1981 (house deposit forced sale, along with motorbike), I’m horrified by what an inflation calculator has just informed me - at today’s rates that little lot would set me back £4k!
When you think of the sound quality my bedroom system of Atom + Iotas gives, for just over £2,500, there really is no comparison. Love a bit of nostalgia, but we’ve come a long way in 50 years in terms of quality and vfm.
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Nope can’t beat £300, but think I have a decent system… Naim Superuniti (£995), ATC SCM11’s(£400) sat on some old speaker stands I had sat around, 10m of Naim Nac A5 for £90. Really nice system for not a great deal of cash. Grand total of £1485
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Ok just finished my second system setup. Consists of an all in one Cyrus Streamline2 purchased for £285 on ebay, a pair of Epos es11’s with stands, again purchased on ebay for £200 and 10metres of cyrus solid core speaker cable for £35. So a grand total of £520 for a pretty good sounding system. Was actually blown away by the sound of the thing when all connected up.Only use the system with Tidal which I find sounds really good. Would never ever buy brand new hifi gear again. 
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I owned a pair of ES11’s many moons ago. I can imagine that sounds very good indeed 
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I don’t know how much HiFi my basic analog system could rate but definitely brings a lot of listening pleasure (with quality tapes and recordings, not like the ones on the picture bellow the Technics) during the holiday visits to the seaside’s apartment. It consists of Nakamichi BX-1 cassette tape, Technics SU-Z22 amplifier and Bose 301 II speakers. All for less than 200 Eur several years ago.
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Wow, that takes me back. Technics amp and tuner and with 301 speakers, with an oms 1 and cd1 back in the 80’s. Still have the nakamichi’s.
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Only item I can remember the exact price of, was a pair of Wharfdale Diamond 1’s. £63 from Comet in Exeter. Bought with my 18th birthday money. Thought they sounded great attached to my Nad 3240PE amp. Which they didn’t. Wonder what they’d sound like connected to what I have now?
Probably better, but not much 
Where they really only £63? I knew they where cheap but that seems very little money even for the early 80’s !
It wasn’t that early in the 80’s! 85 actually. And yes £63. That was the cheapest price I could find.
Mid to late 80’s, from memory:
Arcam alpha+ £149
B&W DM110i £149
Linn Index stands. £39
Revolver TT £200 or so
Went pretty loud but not that refined.
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Still good value then. £63 in 85’ is around £165 today, but a new set of Diamond 9.1’s are only £119
Probably still a good entry level speaker for anyone starting out?
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