The genesis of this post was when I saw this picture that was posted on a Facebook page devoted to 70s and 80s nostalgia that I follow:

Do you remember growing up with console and component stereo systems?

My very first stereo system when I was growing up was my dad’s KLH Model 11 portable turntable:

Actually, that’s not 100% accurate. The absolutely first sound system I ever had was this one:

And boy, did my parent’s get their money’s worth. I spun a lot of vinyl on it; from 45s of Disney tunes as a pre-schooler to the Star Wars soundtrack album as a ten year-old (I played the crap out of the Imperial March).

I wasn’t actually allowed to touch my dad’s KLH Model 11 until I was much older, at which point I was taught care and reverence for it, and all the fussy rituals associated with caring for and playing vinyl records.

The very first vinyl record I bought with my own money was Men Without Hats’ Safety Dance (don’t judge me).

1987 was when we got our first Compact Disc player. In fact we got more than that. It was a Fisher component package, very much like this one pictured here:

It included a 5-CD changer, phonograph, receiver, dual cassette deck, honkin’ big wood-veneer panelled speakers and outboard EQ.

If there’s one thing I miss from the old days it’s the old separate EQ units with all the fiddly little sliders for each band that, just like a young Tom Cruise in the movie Risky Business we just jammed up to maximum across the board.

It was that old Fisher system that formed the nucleus of my system for years afterwards. I took it with me when I moved out, and over time added, replaced, and upgraded various pieces of it: new CD changer, speakers, MiniDisc recorder, receiver, and so on.

I no longer have any of the remaining pieces from that Fisher component system. What I do have are fond memories.

I would love to hear in the comments from the rest of you about the pieces of stereo equipment that started you on your AV journey.