Who remembers component stereos?

[bwstl01]

Ordered mine overseas through PACEX while in the Air Force in 1972. Still have it and it still works.

Pioneer SX-600 Receiver/Amp, Dual 1229 turntable, Akai GX-260-D tape deck, 2 Pioneer CS-99-A speakers (5-way, 15" woofers).

My plan was to play each record once and record it on tape, then play the tapes to death and re-record as needed. Figured the records would last forever! Who new the digital age would make them obsolete?

My oldest daughter "discovered" the record collection when she was 13, and I had to refurb the turntable and put it back into service. She couldn't get enough of the Monkeys, Beatles, PP&M etc. Nice legacy...

[rwrrwr]

In my living room right now,

Technics SA300 receiver
Pair of EPI 140c speakers
Denon DP11 turntable w/Pickering cartridge
Sanyo RD5030 Cassette Deck (did my first professional recording on this. It worked amazingly well.)
Nothing world class but good enough for the last 30 years.
I also have a Lafayette solid state 4 channel amp that will decode quad after a fashion. Still works!

[kydave]

I remember back in the mid-70s, there was a group of young doctors/nurses who were fan/friends of mine and they rented a huge old brick 3 story Victorian in a cool old section of Louisville. They worked hard and partied harder.

We'd sit around in the downstairs living room passing joints & tequila with a mega watt McIntosh quad amp and receiver system cranking through 4 Voice of the Theater cabinets; one in each corner of the room.

[jseth]

Sure, I remember them... there is a really good one in my living room right now!

I got my own component stereo when I was 16; a cheap little Concord amp/receiver with speakers and a separate Garrard turntable... probably $100 in 1967...

I bought my current amp/pre/receiver in the late 80's, after inheriting a little money... it's been solid ever since; an NAD "Power Envelope" 7600... currently using some little B&W bookshelf two-way speakers that are marvelous; I don't really listen to music nearly as loud as I used to, but these little guys can get plenty loud enough for me!

Recently got my Dad's old Dual turntable worked over; I only use it as a single play and it works fine...

I'm no audiophile, by any means, but I enjoy listening to GOOD sound when I choose to listen to anything... I have a decent collection of vinyl, about 150 or so... and probably 1,000 CDs, with nearly 400 of those being jazz recordings...

Funny, but, even with my 63 year-old ears (that have stood WAY TOO CLOSE to the stage at a lot of concerts, back in the day!), I can easily hear the difference between a good recording and an MP3 file... a lot like the difference between AM radio and a good home stereo!

I'll take the "Real Deal" everytime if it's music I care about hearing...

[philjs]

What's to remember? I still have (and use) all of mine...as others have said, quality sound for the flat screen is a must and my only concession to anything remotely "modern" is a Newcastle 5.1 receiver. My other components -- most of which I've had since the early to mid-80s -- include a Technics SL-10 (linear tracking turntable), Harmon Kardon dual cassette, Aiwa dual CD/CD recorder and a Sony MD recorder/CD player combo. For speakers I'm still using a pair of BIC Soundspan TPR200 speakers (surround front pair, and the stereo pair. These are 360 degree radiators bought in the late 70s(!!!) that are still going strong), a pair of Wharfedale 2-way bookshelf speakers (back pair, bought in the early 80s but now running off a recent LG wireless receiver/amp to prevent cross-room wiring), and a late 90s Paradigm center channel and matching subwoofer.

To be honest, I've been dreading the day the Newcastle gives up the ghost...you just can't seem to get anything comparable (with phono, dual tape loop inputs, etc.) these days. But I've held on to one of my Presonus Inspire 1394 boxes for the phono preamp and the RCA output connectors, just in case!

Phil

PS: I've still got about 800 of my once-upon-a-time collection of >2000 LPs, some 500 or so cassettes and at least that many CDs. Most of it, but not all, has been transferred to digital and Apple no longer makes an iPod with enough storage to hold it all...thankfully, the cost of external HDs tumbled when I needed the additional storage!

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by kydave

...We'd sit around in the downstairs living room passing joints & tequila with a mega watt McIntosh quad amp and receiver system cranking through 4 Voice of the Theater cabinets; one in each corner of the room...

A buddy of mine had the home version Altec Model 19's; powered them with an early-60's 30WPC Fisher tube integrated amp - didn't take much to goose these babies to chest-pounding levels...

[taylorcc]

I built a Dynakit amp and preamp back in 1967. Added an AR turntable, AR 2ax speakers and a factory-built Dynaco FM receiver. Served me well for 35 + years.

These days I mostly listen to Calmradio.com or MP3s on my Sonos Play 3s with sub. Getting ready to sell the old rig. I'm surprised and delighted to discover that there is a healthy market for my old stuff.

[muscmp]

i've had the same setup for many years and it still sounds great:

1960s mcintosh mx110 receiver
1970s 4 jbl 4311 speakers
1963 2 dynaco st70 amps set in mono
1963 2 mcintosh 250 amps set in mono
1970s dual turntable
1980s HUGE sony 608esd cd player

play music!

[Athana]

What do you mean still remember..
The best audio equipment was then (50's) & always has been seperate components as they are today.
You can begin here..made in Binghamton NY and built to last for at least..your lifetime.
http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Pages/Home.aspx#

I read a recording engineer write.. in my lifetime, I have experienced first hand, the death of High Fidelity.


And that is not an opinion..THAT is a freakin fact.

[Bikewer]

Mine were always made up of disparate bits.... Never could afford high-end stuff back then.
Best I recall I had a fairly decent Kenwood receiver, a Radio Shack turntable (I knew the manager...), a dual cassette deck for dubbing cassettes to play in the car, and I couldn't tell you who made the speakers if my life depended on it.

I recall spending hours painfully creating actual "mix tapes" on cassettes by taking single cuts off of vinyl albums.... Tedious.

I have to admit that once CDs hit the shelves I never looked back.

[Joe F]

I bought my stuff while stationed in Guantanamo Bay Cuba with the US Navy in 78-81.

Pioneer SX-980 Receiver
Technics SL-3350 direct drive turntable with Shure V15 Type IV Cartridge
Pioneer SG-9500 Graphic Equalizer
Pioneer CT-F700 Cassette Player/Recorder
Bose 501 Speakers.

The speakers are long gone, but I still have everything else and it all still works. The receiver being 2 channel stereo only finally became outdated when I converted to a multi-channel home theater system. It ended up upstairs replaced by a modern Teac. The equalizer and cassette deck are still in service as a part of my current system however. I have many LPs from that era that have only been played once to transfer to cassette.

[Bluepoet]

I still have some of my components...haven't used them in years, but I really mostly miss the main amp, which was a Marantz, and the 20-band stereo equalizer (I think it was a TEAC). I still have a Sony dual deck cassette player, with about 25 cassettes. I also still have a separate receiver, for FM/AM radio (analog, so annoying to use, nowadays). My favorite speakers were the Boze 201 bookshelf speakers (all I could afford). Those speakers lasted more than 25 years, and were last seen, being used in the back of a taxi, in Nogales, Mexico, ten years ago--weathered, but still working!

My favorite component system is one that my parents acquired, during my teen years. It still is in their home, and it consists of three cabinets, made of teakwood, with a Fisher amplifier, with "fish eye" fine tuner, a Viking reel-to-reel tape player, and a Gerard turntable. There are six speakers in two of the cabinets, and altogether, the dimensions of the system cover 11ft. of wall, while standing about four ft. high, and three ft. deep. The system still works, although it was made in 1964. To my knowledge, it basically only gets played during Christmas season (except for its heavy use, during my teen years!).

[Tahitijack]

I still have a component system:
Harmon Karden stereo receiver
Sony CD Changers 2 X 400 cds each
JBL speakers - Velodyne mini vee

My original and favorite
Marantz receiver 2220B (?) stolen
Technics dual cassette deck replaced with cd changers
Dual 1019 turntable replaced with ipod
AR 2ax speakers replaced with M&K S1B and sub, replaced with JBL/Velodyne

[Fatstrat]

Originally Posted by kydave

What I have now:

Marantz 2270 Receiver


Marantz Challenger VII Speakers

Man I loved my Marantz. Hard to come one these days I'm told.

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by Fatstrat

Back in the day, the best systems were mix component systems. You had your receiver, phonograph, and one or more tape decks. Way before CD's came out, so mine never had a CD player.
I don't recall exactly what all mine were. I know my favorite receiver was a Maranz that was stolen and replaced by a Poineer. And I always used the BSR McDonald turn table. I had a Teac cassette player. Never went for the reel to reel, but had friend that swore by them.
What kind of system did you have?

We had a Fisher component system... linear drive turntable, 200w receiver, tuner, dual cassette, graphic EQ, and CD player... in 1982. I remember my father buying our first rock CD - Journey "Frontiers." Might have been Journey's first CD release?