What was your first hi fi equipment?

Danny Linguini said:
Ok, seriously taxing my memory here, because the first parent-pisser-offer came around 1980-ish. I thought it was anchored by a Nakamichi SA-2A (still in my basement in the original box!), but a quick lookup tells me I’m at least 10 years too early for that. So my next guess is a Technics SA-202, because 1, it sounds strangely familiar; and 2, it’s right around the correct time period and looks like something I could afford at the time (i.e., not much). Speakers were some no-name 2-ways that the stereo store was pushing that actually sounded pretty good as I recall, good enough for the regular nagging from upstairs to turn it the hell down. Last piece was a Technics belt drive turntable. I do remember that it stood out because it was wood-grain on the top and all sides, which weighed heavily into why I bought it. You know, like picking teams in the football pool based on uniform colors. Dark Side of the Moon nearly got worn out on that unit.

Holy crap - it was the SA-202. I remember the analog tuner and those LED’s now like it was yesterday. Talk about instantly being taken back 45 years... :eek:
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Oops, I sit corrected again. My first (and only) turntable was not a Technics, it was a Rotel RP-2400. In poking around some other stereo-related stuff, the Rotel brand popped up and lit that little light bulb over my head. A quick search of 1980-ish vintage Rotel turntables turned this baby up, and once again I was taken back to those days of my misspent youth.
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anyone who happens to pass dietikon in switzerland by coincidence 😉 should visit the 'revox world'. analog heaven.

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This Harmon Kardon PM665 was my first amplifier in uni. It was a beast and was way too much for my small room. I ended up giving it to my business partner's son rather than having it stashed in a box in the basement unused.
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The speakers were a pair of Kef C40s.
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For a week or so I’ve been trying to remember my first “good” stereo system. I knew it was a Technics but I could not at first remember models so I started searching online AND pulled out family picture albums and I figured it out.
* Technics SA-626 receiver
* Technics DL-SL-1 linear tracking direct drive turntable
* Kilpsch KG-4 Speakers
* EPI 100s for a zone 2

I also bought a Technics CD player but can’t remember the model. Not in any pictures.
 
JimBob said:
For a week or so I’ve been trying to remember my first “good” stereo system. I knew it was a Technics but I could not at first remember models so I started searching online AND pulled out family picture albums and I figured it out.
* Technics SA-626 receiver
* Technics DL-SL-1 linear tracking direct drive turntable
* Kilpsch KG-4 Speakers
* EPI 100s for a zone 2

I also bought a Technics CD player but can’t remember the model. Not in any pictures.
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Also had a cassette player. I think it might have been a Technics RS-BA85 from looking at the vintage Technics website pictures based on time period…. JUST Too long ago.
 
Danny Linguini said:
Oops, I sit corrected again. My first (and only) turntable was not a Technics, it was a Rotel RP-2400. In poking around some other stereo-related stuff, the Rotel brand popped up and lit that little light bulb over my head. A quick search of 1980-ish vintage Rotel turntables turned this baby up, and once again I was taken back to those days of my misspent youth.
rvhjuklhbnzgvm4hwc50.jpg
Click to expand...
Follow-up - I just passed this down to my stepdaughter and her husband, who expressed an interest in getting into vinyl. After sitting packed in a box for probably 20 years, I had no idea how or even if it still works. When they unpacked it, they found the belt was broken, but they scavenged one from another dilapidated player they had laying around, and the damn thing still works like new. It lives! I ordered a new belt for it, and to my surprise you can still get replacement cartridges. She sent me a video spinning a badly warped Elton John album, but it actually sounded good! Made my day.
 
I‘m a new player of hifi since 2024, my first amp is Cambridge Audio CXA 81, sooner replaced by NAD C389. Now I’m playing with vintage amps+WiiM Ultra, Revox B285, T+A 800M, etc.. Vintage recorder players from belt drives THORENS TD320, 115, 150, 160, 145, 126, 125, to direct drive Revox B291, Pioneer PL-510, etc…
 
In a follow up to my original post first REAL hifi was a Kenwood KA550 integrated amp with Wharfedale Diamond 3 speakers. These were hooked up to the Fisher AD24 CD player from my midi system.
The amp and speakers were bought from Richer Sounds in Lincoln with my first RAF pay packet in February or March of 1988. Within about a year I had upgraded the Fisher to a Dual branded CD player (a 5070 if I remember correctly) also purchased from Richer Sounds (one of the London branches I think).
I still have the Kenwood - I haven't used it in a could of decades, might break it out, check out over and give it a run.
 
My first real setup in the 70s was a Lafayette receiver, a Pioneer cassette deck, a JVC turntable and a pair of Linear Design speakers that were nearly as tall as me!
 
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