What were your humble beginnings on the path to high end audio?

Circa 1977, Montevideo, Uruguay.

My first serious job as a young (very young, -19 years old-) clerk in a bank and I could afford...

Pioneer SX-650 that a co-worker´s brother brought from the US
Garrard TT with Shure cartridge
DIY loudspeakers with Phillips drivers

Nikko reciever, dual turntable 12XX ?, and I believe they were ar speakers. They had a big orange looking tweeter, looked like a fried egg! that was around 1970 I believe.

As a little kid, I remember a small record player with an assortment of colored 45's...most likely Disney stuff.  My next recollection was a portable Zenith player that was wedge shaped.  By then, I was purchasing albums that were often times sold within grocery stores on the West Coast...this goes back many years.

My parents had purchased a Sear's Silvertone stereo console...my next memory and a major improvement over my Zenith player. From there, my dad purchased a Sansui receiver and Garrard Lab 80 turntable. I think he had Sansui speakers....

My first purchase was a 30wpc Sony receiver, Sony cassette player, and a Sony turntable. I purchased JBL100 speakers...which were most certainly under-powered.

Next system was a Mac 1700 receiver, Tandberg cassette player, Dual 1229 turntable and Grado cartridge.  My speakers were ESS Translinear II's and ESS AMT's (don't remember model number).  I thought this was a killer system until someone told me to listen to Quad ESL's.  I should note that Bose speakers were very popular at that time and the same person who told me of Quad's suggested that I listen to the Bose for at least 30 minutes, I did and I would found myself suffering from fatigue.  Listened to Quad ESL's and I was high-end audio HOOKED.  Sold off my entire system for Quad ESL-57's, a Quad pre-amp, Audio Research D-51 amp (highly modified for a UCLA music professor per Jonas Miller), a Sansui tuner and a Linn Sondek LP-12 with Grace 707 tonearm....I was in music heaven. For the first time I could hear fingers sliding up and down frets...could hear singers inhale before singing...could even hear a mouse fart in the recording studio.

Next, a divorce. Sold off my system as well as my prized Corvette.  Bummer....but it needed to be done.  Between then and now, purchased nothing to brag about JVC, Denon, more Sony, Dynaco, ITT tubed and other equipment.  Now, many, many, many years later...I have Audio Research, Esoteric, Manley, Acoustic Signature, Martin Logan and some other gear waiting to be energized.  And, yes....I still believe LP's offer the best sound.  My progression is nearly complete...the only thing I see might be speakers and/or cartridges.   


 

My first room speakers were the SpeakerLab 7's, built the kit in '76 and used them into the '90's.  

When my father was in the Navy, someone from his squadron left behind his copy of Magical Mystery Tour after a party at our house. He was killed in action a few days later. He and 30 other men on a reconnaissance mission were shot down by a North Korean MIG, over international waters. I ended up playing the album a lot during my youth on a Fisher Price record player. That was the beginning of my audiophile journey.