AVS Forum banner

How old were you when you first started getting into hi fi stereos, speakers, amps

9K views 62 replies 52 participants last post by  Trainleader 
#1 ·
#52 ·
At 16 (in 1975) when I heard my neighbors' Sony (compact) system for the first time. I had to have one.


At 17, I spent almost all my HS graduation money ($400!) on an entry-level (but genuine component) system.


At 32, I stopped upgrading for the sake of upgrading. My wallet has been much happier.
 
#53 ·
I was six, almost seven when my father brought home a Voice of Music console with detached speakers. Strictly radio and LPs. He had some Jill London, Gilbert & Sullivan and some Miles Davis (that I remember). He was gone from home a lot and so he made me his apprentice so that the stereo could be played while he was gone. I had to learn about turning off and on the equipment, volume control, speaker damage, handling and cleaning of LPs, needle placement and cueing, etc. No one else was allowed to touch his stereo except him and me. So whenever my Mom or sisters wanted to hear something and my Dad was't home, I had to operate the stereo. Later on that year, I got serious mononucleosis and ended up in the hospital. My dad brought me a tiny crystal portable radio to keep me company. I remember listening to Fibber MaGee & Molly, Amos & Andy, the Lone Ranger, Hop Along Cassidy, and the music! Ray Charles, Marty Robbins, more Miles Davis... that was it, I was hooked.


Three years later, I bought my own first "stereo." It was a portable turntable with an amp and speakers built in. I remember my first "argument" about who was the biggest star, The Beach Boys or Connie Francis. (Guess which one I was arguing for 8^). I collected 45 RPM records and my family took a trip from France to New York on the USS United States the next year. Naturally, I brought my "stereo" and my three volumes of 45 RPM records (about 120 records). The Beatles had just come out with I Wanna Hold Your Hand and I had one of the first copies. I was the hit of the younger teen agers on the ship. They gave us our own room to play music in and dance (we did other things too but life was much simpler then...). (I remember one incident when I was dancing with a gorgeous girl who was fifteen - I was "almost 13" - and I apologized for stepping on her toe during a slow dance. She smiled at me and told me I was old enough to be a gentleman. I melted with (I'm sure) a silly grin on my face. Life was very good indeed!) For every spare moment on the entire voyage, every teen who could was in that room and was dancing to my "stereo." The Captain even came down to see what was going on at one point and I ended up explaining the "stereo" to him. He was amazed and told me that he was going to put up a plaque on the wall to commemorate this "happening." Don't know if he ever did that (I doubt it), but my life and music were inextricably intertwined from that point on.
 
#54 ·
I remember my dad being into Herb Albert and his band listening to it on one of those old RCA ceder chest sized console tube stereos.

I still remember my dad getting our first stereo recievers with the speakers and remember the different color RCA jacks.

Have you ever made a set of speakers out of light concrete ?
 
#55 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jinjuku  /t/1410226/how-old-were-you-when-yo...-hi-fi-stereos-speakers-amps/30#post_22034326


First setup was Crown DC300A/DC 150A/IC150A/ Crown OC150A.
I envy you.


I was 12 when the hi-fi bug hit, coinciding to when by best friend bought his first stereo receiver. But I was too poor to do much about it until I was 16, and got a H/K 402 setup (A402 integrated amp, T402 tuner) with a pair of Celestion Ditton 33 speakers.


The DC-300A had to wait until I was 18. I still have it, and the flight case Gary Gand (guitarist and owner of Gand Music & Sound, nee Gary Gand Music) made for it.
 
#56 ·
Wow, the gear you all have mentioned really brings back memories.


I had a kind of wacky introduction. When my parents bought their first real house in 1965, it came with a really nice (mono) hi-fi in a pretty blonde finish cabinet with rollaway wooden doors. It had one of those Garrard changers with the felt-covered platter and brown metal all around. I was only 6 years old, so I didn't know how good I had it. It had this beautiful Stromberg-Carlson integrated amp with 6L6(GB?) tubes in it. I remember the amp had a black face with all kinds of switches on it, including lots of different EQ's for playing records (NAB, RCA, FFRR, AES, etc.) which I used as tone controls. The hifi also had this drop-dead gorgeous mono AM/FM tuner with a front panel glass dial that lit up like a theater. The real kicker was the big speaker. It was a floor-standing bass reflex cab in blonde wood, loaded with some kind of Altec Lansing coax (12", I think). Yeah, Altec, with an alnico magnet. I remember listening to rock n roll and Motown on WIBG-AM (Philly) in the mid-1960s. Later, when the amp needed what my mom thought were "major repairs" (probably new tubes and capacitors), she had me haul it out to the driveway for the trash truck to take away. I had no idea why at the time, but I begged her not to make me do it. But you know, I wasn't the boss. The tuner glass got broken in an accident (darn kids!) and the speakers eventually got used for guitar amp experiments and the like. All gone now.


My mom had a close friend (a wealthy guy of refined tastes) who had a Klipschorn (in a corner, of course) driven by Marantz electronics in his very large 'study.' (Wow, what a study that was. It was a converted chapel.) He also had a Steinway grand piano in there. Refined tastes, for sure.


I remember a friend of mine had a swanky quad system with a humongous receiver and big monkey-coffin speakers in all four corners of his bedroom. I remember a girlfriend's father's stereo with a big blue-and-black Marantz amp and AR-3a speakers. That would've been about 1975. I thought the bass sounded too boomy. But there was something about that old Stromberg-Carlson hifi with the Altec coax speaker.


Wow, that was kinda fun.
 
#58 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by oztech  /t/1410226/how-old-were-you-when-yo...-hi-fi-stereos-speakers-amps/30#post_23992528


What is sad is the amount of companies that are no longer in business or just a shell of their former self since I got into this hobby or way of life.

That is simply the way of the world, and is accelerated the higher tech the market.
 
#59 ·
I'd be willing to bet that there are more companies making gear today than ever before, just not the appliance conglomerates like in 30's through the 70's.


My introduction into music was when The Beatles debuted on Ed Sullivan. I was hooked.

Next were the Leonard Bernstein Concerts for Young People on TV.


In 1966, my older brother got a Philco "portable" stereo with the fold-out speakers, my sister got a flip top Zenith and our new Mercury Colony Park family truckster had an 8-track.


After getting my first job at 15 in 1972, instead of saving for a car like any normal kid I blew like $1200 bucks on a stereo system.

Like one other guy mentioned, my Dad was pissed for some reason.

Hey it's my money, shove off.


Macintosh MA-6100 integrated, Altec-Lansing 3-way speakers and a Dual Turntable with a Shure cartridge.

Boss!
 
#60 ·
My father, a serious audiophile, made a beautiful maple console for me in his workshop in 1954. I was 10 years old at the time. He equipped it with a 10" Wharfdale full range speaker, a Dual record changer, a Fisher preamp and Leek power amp. Monaural, of course, stereo was state of the art and not very common in those days. My father didn't even have stereo. He used a single Klipschorn in the corner of his living room.
 
#61 ·
As I read through this thread all I can say is that I hope those of you who are grandfathers or possible greatgrandfathers share this with the kids. One of my biggest regrets in life was not learning about my grandparents life and I try and get my kids to spend as much time with theirs as possible. Great stories all of you: and I hope your families know how great they are too!
 
#62 ·
I was about 5-6 I started with a portable rtr recorder I would record everything I was obsessed with sound and the reproduction of it.


when I was about 10 or so I took apart everything in our house that had a speaker in it and hooked them up to a portable cassette player to try and get more sound....my parents where none to pleased
 
#63 ·
1 YO.


I learned to handle the family teak-wooden music furniture where there was this built in turnable with a long stick in the middle.

You could pile up several vinyls on that and after one record was finished the next fell down and started.

The favorite album was "I want to be an echoe from heaven" with the Echoe team.

Well.. had to seddle with my parents music..


I have a picture of me sitting there in my childrens chair, singing and listening.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top