1st Quad or Surround Piece, and 1st Stereo Piece, What are Yours?

[Doug G.]

My very first piece of audio equipment was a little crank record player just like the one the little girl is using in my avatar. I was about 2 1/2.

My first quad piece was a universal quad decoder and amplifier we made for Western Auto to add to an existing console. The decoder/amp mounted in a space in the cabinet and you added two speakers that matched the console styling. I just got the decoder/amp for free as it was defective (a cold solder joint) and I fixed it and added it to my stereo and built two more speakers. It sat on the equipment shelf.

Not much but a beginning.

Doug

 

[winopener]

Well, i suppose we're talking *personally* bought items... the first stereo set of my parent's house is one year older than me, so this doesn't count.

First audio gear mono: cassette recorder


Later: portable 8 track player (believe it or not, a car 8 track player arrived *very late* in the house, after a Wollensak deck). Italian RCA player named Baby8, very stylish, here picured with the carrying bag.


First audio gear stereo: this, but on silver and with a Garrard deck, not a BSR

+
stereo cassette deck, bought togheter with the above


First audio gear quad: this player, which had been heavily modified by myself.

 

[phydo]

On my first tour in Vietnam I purchased a Pioneer SX-6000 receiver and two CS-06 speakers; a Dual 1219 turntable, and a TEAC 4010 RTR.

My first piece of Quad equipment was a Marantz 4400 receiver which I quickly traded for a Sansui QRX-9001. I incorporated my existing stereo equipment into my new quad receiver until I was able to upgrade those items.

Justin

 

[quadjoe]

My first piece of Stereo gear was a portable Sears Silvertone phonograph with detachable speakers, in 1968.
My first piece of Quad gear was a JCPenney quad receiver (made by Panasonic, I'm guessing, though a friend claimed Sansui parentage, which I doubt.) The receiver decoded SQ and QS and had a synthesizer in it. A little later, I purchased the Fisher version of the JVC-4DD5 CD-4 demodulator.

 

[Quad Linda]

Most of the MCS (Modular Component Series) from JC Penney was made by Matsushita Electric (Panasonic/Technics.) There were other suppliers later, including NEC. At the time of Quad, it would have been a Matsushita piece.

...My first piece of Quad gear was a JCPenney quad receiver (made by Panasonic, I'm guessing, though a friend claimed Sansui parentage, which I doubt.) The receiver decoded SQ and QS and had a synthesizer in it...

 

[Hepcat]

The first piece of stereo equipment I ever bought was a Seabreeze record player with detachable speakers in 1968. The first stereo LP I bought shortly thereafter would have been either "Wheels of Fire" by the Cream or "This Was" by Jethro Tull:

I'm not sure what happened to the Seabreeze stereo but I may have turned it over to my older sister in 1974 when I bought a Garrard SL95B turntable with a Shure M91ED cartridge, a Sansui AU-101 amplifier and matching pair of Sansui speakers.

 

[leevitalone1]

those amps from the 70's were really well made and offered very nice sound quality. Even the Laffayette stuff that was around was well made. I'll bet that little Sansui kicked. You had a nice table also, for 73. MY cuz bought into Laffayette stuff. Then, you had not much in the way of choices where I lived anyway. When I went into the Army I got an education. The PX's then had everything. Especially overseas, in asia the selection was nuts. Of course I got stuck in a whole different setting.

 

[elroy]

Used some of my student loan in 1975 to get my first stereo separates from Pacific Stereo. It was a Pioneer receiver (don't remember the model), Advent loudspeakers and a AR turntable.

My first surround piece was my 2004 Acura TL! Wasn't even thinking about surround when the salesman put the demo disc in that played China Grove in 2 channels followed by 5.1. SOLD!

Which has since led to about $10K on two different home surround systems and a 2009 Acura TL!

 

[Hepcat]

those amps from the 70's were really well made and offered very nice sound quality.... I'll bet that little Sansui kicked.

Yes it did! It never gave me any trouble whatsoever and I used it until 2008 when I finally replaced it with a 70 watt per channel Marantz PM5003 amplifier. I plan to have the Sansui AU101 power a second system in my bedroom which will be anchored by a fresh out of box old store stock Garrard GT55 turntable!

Since the Garrard GT55 didn't come with a base, I'm going to get a thick custom base built for it consisting of alternating layers of acoustically dead baltic birch with some sort of dark oak or walnut veneer. I'll keep the same basic shape of the stock base so the end product will look something like this only thicker/taller:

What's holding up the project though is I also need a C6 headshell which are not easy to find.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Stereo----well, a cheap component (receiver & TT in one) from a very obscure japanese(?) brand: "Dyn"...But the REAL one was a Technics SL-Q2 Semi automatic TT

-Quad-I have NEVER had a "Quad"(70's gear) anything (My stepdad had a Panasonic receiver with a built in Q8....the one below)




So, I'd have to go for SURROUND (even though it's Quad):
my oppo 980 and my Pioneer receiver with my 4 JBLs

 

[Quad Linda]

Sure, it would play everything except Q4 reels. It would play those, too, although few people would have added a Teac 3340. Full disclosure: it couldn't decode SQ worth a damn, although most SQ decoders of that time couldn't either.

 

[CobraJet]

I vaguely remember my first stereo gear was an 8-track tape player. I was in high school and had this 8-track "deck" on layaway for about a year, paying a few dollars every couple weeks that I earned by mowing lawns. When I finally made the last payment and brought it home I had to take it back because the speakers were missing! That's when they educated my about the difference between a deck and a player! They were obviously mad because the deck was so old by the time I paid for it, that it was obsolete. But, I was able to return it and put the player on layaway for a few more dollars. . That player didn't survive my teen years.

My first quad unit was probably my QRX-9001, which is still the centerpiece of my main audio system.

 

[Hepcat]

What year was this? Do you remember the name brands of those eight-tracks?

 

[CobraJet]

What year was this? Do you remember the name brands of those eight-tracks?

I can't remember exactly, but it would have been some time between 1970 and 1973. Brand name? Who knows. Definitely not a memorable name. It was a piece-o-crap. Could never keep the tape guides aligned. Severe cross talk!