your first system-

@ejr1953 

Your system is damnably close to a system I actually had at one time...as my dad would regularly hand down stuff that was a victim of his upgrade-itis. The Wollensak reel-to-reel. The Kenwood KW-40, which I remember first  seeing at the L.A. Hi Fi Show at the Ambassador Hotel. The Dual TT...but with one of the cheaper Shure cartridges.

A crystal radio set my father bought me at about 5-6 years of age. He strung it (the wire antenna) between two trees in the front yard, and ran it into my bedroom window. It fascinated me for hours upon hours listening to what I could find, especially at night.

First was a complete stereo package around 1K in 82, an AKAI turntable, tuner, single tray cassette, and intergrated amp. The speakers were the world class Hitachi 3way towers, and the usual amp cords in the box. They even came with  printed owner manuals in the boxes!

A Sony quadraphonic system that I purchased at a going out of business auction.  Sadly, it was when catalog sales put the last audio store in our town out of business.  I waited the entire auction with my mom for that system to go on the block.  It was the very last thing auctioned off and everyone were already up and forming a line to pick up their winnings except mom and a middle aged man who gave up when it hit $100 and I got my stereo.  It took an entire season of berry picking to pay for it but it was worth every second on my knees in mud with rain on my back picking strawberries, in the rain picking cucumbers, and sweating in full sun wearing long sleeved shirts to protect my arms while picking raspberries.

Around ‘84…

• SOTA Saffire, SEAC arm, AQ cartridge
• PSE preamp and amp,
• Vandersteen 2C