How I got started in Hi Fi...

[tinpan]

[tinpan]

[tinpan]

This would be July 18, 1961 on my first birthday and that would be my father's Lowther Hegemen Reproducer in the background.

[gasfan]

Was it in Tin Pan Alley?

You look very diligent btw, doing your duty.

[Triumph Don]

My first new audio, 1972. EPI 100 speakers, Phillips turntable, Sony integrated amp about 30 WPC, all a tad under $400.

[DavidF]

And a very understanding mother! That's a lot of "HiFi stuff" in the corner of the dining room.

[NickH]

I never understood the lowther craze. I'm not knocking them though since I've never heard them. Just seems a lot to ask from such a tiny driver. Plus there crazy expensive you know.

That quad preamp isn't it? I alway like the cosmetic design of there gear.


Very cool though.

Nick

[svollmer]

My first introduction is when my Dad told us he was buying a stereo. I was excited thinking it would be this big console thing like all my friends' parents had. Then he brought home a Marantz 2220B receiver, a Dual 1228 turntable, and a pair of Marantz 5G speakers. I thought it all looked so "little" but my Dad showed me the benefits of the components.

Through the years we both came to love Hi Fi and got better and better systems. Dad was meticulous with his gear and never got rid of any of it as he moved up to better stuff. He passed last year and it's all at my house now. I'll have to be parting with most of the things soon, but it sure brings back great memories!

[gasfan]

Yea, ours was a console in '65. It came with a 45, Herman's Hermits' 'Mrs. Brown You've...', and 'Henry The Eighth'. I was 7, my sister 8. We wore it out.

[hsosdrum]

My father built our hi-fi system in 1959 or 1960: an Eico integrated amp, an Eico FM tuner (mono—Pop added a separate FM de-multiplexer unit when FM stereo broadcasts began), a Garrard turntable and a pair of 12" Jensen coax speakers. The Eicos were kits (all tubes) that Pop built (the house always seemed to smell of solder), and he also built the speaker cabinets and the equipment cabinet (with a pull-out drawer for the Garrard). From the looks of the cabinets, he must have designed them himself. (He put Formica on the tops of all the cabinets, which made them kid-proof.)

Listening to records on it by Benny Goodman, Spike Jones, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Carl Sandburg (singing American folk songs), Theodore Bikel (singing Jewish folk songs), Elvis Presley, the Mills Brothers, the Firehouse Five plus Two (Dixieland jazz), Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Artie Shaw starting when I was 8, it sounded absolutely great, as it did with all the folk music, middle-eastern music, opera, jazz and pop music that we heard on FM (plus Vin Scully calling 162 Dodger games a year). It sounded even better when I was 12, and started playing Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich and Beatles records on it, and again when I was 15 and began feeding it records by Cream, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors.

I sure wish I had pictures of it. [Edit: I found some!]

The integrated:


The tuner:


The stereo FM demultiplexer:


Couldn't find the Jensens, and I don't remember enough about the Garrard to pinpoint it. BTW, like Seawolf's dad's Sherwood (see below), my father always ran the amp and tuner without their cases, no doubt because of heat build-up.

[gasfan]

My father built our hi-fi system in 1959 or 1960: an Eico integrated amp, an Eico FM tuner (mono—Pop added a separate FM de-multiplexer unit when FM stereo broadcasts began), a Garrard turntable and a pair of 12" Jensen coax speakers. The Eicos were kits (all tubes) that Pop built (the house always seemed to smell of solder), and he also built the speaker cabinets and the equipment cabinet (with a pull-out drawer for the Garrard). From the looks of the cabinets, he must have designed them himself. (He put Formica on the tops of all the cabinets, which made them kid-proof.)

Listening to records on it by Benny Goodman, Spike Jones, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Carl Sandburg (singing American folk songs), Theodore Bikel (singing Jewish folk songs), Elvis Presley, the Mills Brothers, the Firehouse Five plus Two (Dixieland jazz), Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Artie Shaw starting when I was 8, it sounded absolutely great, as it did with all the folk music, middle-eastern music, opera, jazz and pop music that we heard on FM (plus Vin Scully calling 162 Dodger games a year). It sounded even better when I was 12, and started playing Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich and Beatles records on it, and again when I was 15 and began feeding it records by Cream, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors.

I sure wish I had pictures of it.

Same here. All ethnic Hungarian 'til around '69. My first record was a Stones 45 with Honkey Tonk Women and Can't always get... However my two older sisters led the way

[SEAWOLF97]

I got started in 62' or 3' with my Dad's system (Granada Hills, Cal.) Loved making comp tapes from the record collection. (his, not mine ...lots of TJB)

Sys was a Sherwood tube receiver (white case, but that was rarely on as it ran HOT) , a Dual 1015 TT , a Uher 7in reel deck (with "Magic Eye" meters) and some maybe Jensen speakers. For being a Doctor , now I'd think that he could do better (he bought used cars/audio all his life - (must be his German heritage ?).

Anyway, it was great for a 12/13 y.o. to learn on. I far surpassed him when access to the PX was available in 68-72. DREAMED about L-100's in the early 70's.

Now, I don't even know anyone (besides LHF members) that have even comparable (let alone better) than the 3 main systems around my home My son has my surplus L-100's and is at the top among his friends too.

[Wagner]

Loved making comp tapes from the record collection. (his, not mine ...lots of TJB)

Sys was a Sherwood tube receiver (white case, but that was rarely on as it ran HOT)

So when did that horn can't stand kick in?

Hard to beat that era Sherwoods when they're working right, even with a lot of today's "high-end" (high priced) spread, tubes or solid state.............

Remember the model by chance?

Not a bad place to start........or finish

[Don C]

You guys were pretty lucky. My dad thought that Montgomery Wards was a good place to get a stereo. The cheapest "Airline" system was good enough.

[SEAWOLF97]

Hard to beat that era Sherwoods when they're working right, even with a lot of today's "high-end" (high priced) spread, tubes or solid state.............

Remember the model by chance?

guess it was white face, not case (rarely saw the case) . The very first pic google pulled up was it.

http://vintageelectronics.betamaxcol...ls-8000iv.html