It was 20 years ago today. . What was your system?


I've ha a stereo in one way or another since the 70's.

Right now I am listening to an Art Pepper LP I've had more than 20 years so I got thinking, what was my system like 20 years ago.

Here's the snapshot-

Magnepan MG2.6R speakers
Bryston .5b preamp
Bryston 4b amp.
Rega Planar 3 with Linn K9 cartridge
CAL Icon CDP
Onkyo T9090mkII tuner.

I think I had Naim speaker cable and Audioquest IC's.

The only thing I still have from back in the day is my Zerostat (red) and Shure balance beam tracking force guage.

What were you listening through in 1993?
128x128zavato
Was an expat living in Rep of Ireland in the early 90s and had my 115v, 60Hz system in storage.

In Ireland
Roksan CD player
NAD tuner
Classe 6 preamp
Classe 200 amp
Sonus Faber Electa Amators
Siltec ICs, Transparent speaker cables

Stored in US
Rotel CD player
AR the Turntable, Signet cartridge
NAD tuner
Acoustat PNP preamp
Acoustat TNT 200 amp
Acoustat 2+2s
Audioquest/Monster cables
20 years ago I still ran Apogee Caliper speakers. They're gone.
I still have the CAL Delta/Sigma. Still works.
The cj has been upgraded to another cj.
I sold the Sumo Andromeda II in Audiogon a few years ago. I hope the guy who bought it is still using it.
IIRC I had Acoustat 1+1 driven by a GAS Ampzilla II with a full Gasworks reference mod, a Mission DAD7000 CD with a reference mod by a mid west company that I forget, a Audio Alchemy DLC pre. and an Audio Pro B2-50 sub. Speaker cables were Tara Labs Space & Time with TFA return and the IC were Monster M1000. I miss that system and can't believe I remembered all this LOL. Oh, the signal from the Mission went to a Magnapan X01 box that cut the lows at about 100hz using Wondercaps and which I modded with better RCA jacks an silver wire.
Magnepan IIIa speakers
Audio Research D240 Mk II power amp
Audio Research SP-14 preamp
Oracle Delphi MKIII turntable
SME IV arm
Monster Sigma Genesis 2000 MKiII cartridge

NO CD
Remember it like it was yesterday. My daughter was born 20 yrs and 2 months ago. I had ProAc Studio 1's percariously perched up on spiked & lead-filled Chicago stands...would have to get rid of them as soon as she began to crawl and find some baby-proof speakers and the system would have to be stacked up on the living room built-ins. That journey led me to owning 4 different tube amps within a 6-7 month period.

The system was: ProAc Studio 1's, B&K EX442 Sonata, Music Reference RM5 mk II, Rega Planar 3, Pioneer TX9800, Onkyo cd player, Nakamichi BX125 all neatly displayed on a Target TT5T rack

In the next 6-7 months:
TRADED: ProAc's for super ugly but great sounding 8417 based Paoli M60 monoblocks
SOLD: B&K ex442
TRADED: Paoli's + $200 for cj MV50
ON LOAN: CELESTION C-7'S & Infinity Qe's
TRADED: cj MV50 + $325 for Music Reference RM9 as cj didn't mate up with Music Reference preamp
ACQUIRED: The smaller Advent loudspeaker - couldn't afford anything else with the new baby
TRADED: Music Reference RM-9 for AMC CVT3030 + CD6
ACQUIRED: Chateau Reference 1.5 speakers

A few months later hit audio rock bottom as I had a Mitsubishi DA-R7 receiver, ADS CM6 spkrs, and gave away 100's of Stereophile and TAS magazines and then got completely out of audio for the next 3 years as raising a child was much more important