My first full-on System 20 years ago...

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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My first full-on system over 20 years ago:

Celestion SL6si ($600)
Velodyne F1200 Sub ($600)
Denon Integrated ($250)
NAD 5000 CD player ($350)
Audioquest Crystal Cable/Emerald Interconnects ($600)

With the extra budget, I would probably switch for a nicer NAD integrated, switch the Celestion for an old Apogee Stage and maybe tweak the speaker cables for a pair of TA Ref second hand.
 

LL21

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Johnny Vinyl

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I had a pair of Celestion Ditton 66s for a short time. Then I heard a pair of Klipsch Heresy Signature Edition II's (the ones with the built-in slanted riser) and sold them for those. Many would say that was a step back, but IMO it wasn't at all. I was playing a lot more hard rock at the time and the Heresy could take a beating like no other speaker I had heard/liked. Even though I now own a beautiful pair of Genesis G7.1f's, I don't think I ever enjoyed a speaker as much as I did the Heresy.

I still have some vintage gear, but no speakers...hmmm....maybe I should consider getting a used pair of Heresy's again.
 

Joe Galbraith

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Mine ca. 1975

Sansui AU6500 Integrated amp
Thorens TD165C turntable w/Audio-Technica mm cart
AR 3a Loudspeakers
Assorted zip cord speaker cables, stock ICs and power cables
+ ongoing collection of vinyl (still playing many of the LPs that spun on that rig)
 

Ronm1

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Feb 21, 2011
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I guess I'll jump in
67/68 Sansui AU777/TU777, ElacMiracord 50H picked up on Med cruise. On return AR2ax's. 1970 went to AR3's, both pairs were reconed in early 90's at AR serv Ctr in Norwood Mass before they closed down. Pots bypassed at same time. An Akai and Teac RTR decks on diff cruises.
 

JackD201

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Apr 20, 2010
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My 1994 system was a bunch of hand me downs. I loved it and love my family members who were handin' 'em down! :D
 

rblnr

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May 3, 2010
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B&K Pro 10MC preamp/ ST 140 amp. Epos ES14 speakers. F irst time I had a little money and must have auditioned 20 pairs of speakers around NYC in a fashion not possible with the retail landscape now. Great speakers.
 

dcc

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Around 1993:

Infinity Quantum 3 handed down from my Dad who had just purchased new speakers at the time
Sumo Polaris and Athena
Nakamichi CD4
Nakamichi RX 202E

The Nak cassette deck is still working fine and now resides at one of my friends' place. Though it had been stored in a closet for several years, it was difficult to let it go.
 

thedudeabides

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Jan 16, 2011
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I thought this thread was about recommendations based on current products and not systems that people owned 10 or 20 years ago.

Maybe I misunderstood.
 

Jazzhead

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By some luck , had a pretty decent starter system, the electronics atleast ...
Had brought myself a Wadia 861, Dynaudio Contour 1.3se speakers and Acoustic Zen cables. My friend a dealer lent me on an extended loan (God bless him) :
Jadis JPS2 pre
Nagra VPA power amp
And so began the journey .
 

FrantzM

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I started a long time ago .. more than 40 years ago when I wasn't even a teen... . My dad was an audiophiel and we had some rather serious gear... But like many audiophiles went backwards and up and sideways ...
On this I wouldn't mind getting my hands back on his Yamaha B-1 and C-1 these were VFET ... and may sound better if coupled with today's speakers
.
Twenty years ago,1994, I had a much more than decent system .. I was in transition and left behind a Quad ESl 63 with Maggie Panel , Conrad Johnson MV75, Hafler DH-500 (for the Maggie bass panels)< crossover was a brand that was designed by some people at Spectral or was it Bruce Brisson? Athena (?), Preamp Audible Illusions Modulus something and Linn Sondek with Syrinx PU3, Koetsu Black , Wire Were Audioquest or XLO, can't remember.. I, then was a serious cable believer .. Oh my! How much we learn in this hobby ;)
 

microstrip

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94? I think it was around my Cello period - Cello Audio Palette + Cello Duet, Forsell CD player and DAC, Quad ESL63 alternating with big Dynaudio's (a model I do not remember anymore, having the Esotar T330 tweeter). I still own the Cello String cables, as I was and I am a cable believer - and I consider that I learned a lot since them.
 

FrantzM

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94? I think it was around my Cello period - Cello Audio Palette + Cello Duet, Forsell CD player and DAC, Quad ESL63 alternating with big Dynaudio's (a model I do not remember anymore, having the Esotar T330 tweeter). I still own the Cello String cables, as I was and I am a cable believer - and I consider that I learned a lot since them.

The Cello Duet were to me quite impressive. I never warmed up to the Palette, think its corrections was too broad... A friend had Cello Duet (can't quite remember what preamp it was) with Duntech Sovereign and this was an impressive system.
 

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