[PRELUDE]

I was in the antique store yesterday and guess what?!
I saw the first amplifier that got me in this hobby.
Do not even ask me about the speakers because,I do not think it had a name.
The left channel died on me after a week or 10 days.No wonder it was free.
Here is,
STROMBERG CARLSON ASR 444

[SHV]

H. H. Scott Type 399

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vg6IBVU3aQ4/TzVU4o1pv4I/AAAAAAAADEE/3pdD22t5NhY/s400/hh%252Bscott%252B399blog.jpg&imgrefurl=http://stereonomono.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html&h=271&w=400&sz=29&tbnid=KCjQRxFoEpT6kM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=133&zoom=1&usg=__0NC_3-ElOzXLRKw2HMLd2N-6h2E=&docid=8CMGfjSbLhLt1M&sa=X&ei=yUmXUPC8FYLe9ASDr4HgDQ&ved=0CDAQ9QEwBA&dur=529

Steve

[SHV]

On second thought, the 399 is a receiver.  My first power amp was a McIntosh MC 275.

Steve

[srb]

My first amplifier was an all solid state Lafayette Radio LA-224T.  15W/channel and ceramic phono input.
 

 
A few years later when I contracted my first case of upgraditis, I got an Allied Radio Knight KNI-935 (actually a Pioneer SA-400 OEM).  8W/channel with 6BM8 tubes.  Half the power, but they were TUBE watts!
 

 
Steve

[FullRangeMan]

Hard to forget that crap, Quasar QA2300, ''295'' Watts IHF of pure rubbish.

[HsvHeelFan]

I sure do.

I started out with a Heathkit AA-181 that I got from my dad when he bought a new Sansui receiver around 1970.

http://www.heathkit-museum.com/hifi/hvmaa-181.shtml




I bought my first piece of audio equipment in the mid 70's.  It was a Pioneer SX-535 rated at 22 watts:

http://vintageelectronics.betamaxcollectors.com/pioneerstereoreceivermodelsx-535.html



Next was a Yamaha Natural Sound A-500 in March of 1984.  I also bought Yamaha NS-1000 speakers, the Yamaha CD-2 CD player (single disc) a 3 head cassette deck and a Yamaha direct drive turntable.

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/yamaha_natural_sound_stereo_amp_2.html

 

Mine was black.

When the Yamaha started to die in early 2000,  I started looking around at new stereo gear (I had replaced the NS-1000's with the KEF Q70's in 1995),  I was considering the Adcom GFA555II and the Parasound HC1000A or HC1500A.   A co-worker said "I have the amp for you" and loaned me a late Bryston 4B that was THX certified for a long 4th of July weekend.  He also had some interesting other gear including Spectral Amps and a Spectral CD transport.  He's a big fan of the big Thiel speakers.  He currently drives them with Goldmund mono blocks.

I borrowed the Bryston over a long 4th of July weekend.   I used a Parasound PH-850 pre-amp (that I continue to use) to front end the Adcom, both Parasounds and the Bryston.  I listened from the evening of July 3rd all the way through July 8th (a Sunday).  I had to return the Parasound and Adcom amps on Monday, the 9th. 

There was absolutely no comparison. 

After that, I started looking for a Bryston dealer.  I ended up purchasing mine, a 4B-ST,  in Franklin, TN on the third Saturday in Sept, 2001.

The Bryston was amazing.  It still astonishes me often.

HsvHeelFan

[G E]

I had a Sansui receiver, don't recall the model but it was tube!  Put out quite a bit of heat. It had a channel imbalance that meant turning the Balance control to the 3:00 position.

Moved up to the Big Leagues when I got my Sony 3200f power amp  in January 74. Built a Dynaco PAT 4 which worked at first power up. KLH 32 speakers were upgraded that summer to ESS 7s.

I still have that old Sony and the ESS speakers

[HsvHeelFan]

My father-in-law still has a working Yamaha A-1000 amp, in silver.   It looks like this:




He bought ESS speakers back at the same time (most likely 1982 or 1983) and just recently had the ESS speakers refurbished. They were whatever ESS AMT variant was available back then.    I thought they had nice highs but were a bit hollow in the mids.    I haven't listened to that system in a couple of years.  I'm over there a lot, but it's never on.



HsvHeelFan

[Elizabeth]

Amplifiers I have owned:
First one 1965: Fisher integrated SS. Do not remember model.
Kept that system a long time.
around 1980 Carver 4.0 then a 1.5 Carver. Long time...
Next amp was Forte' 4a kept that one a long time too.. 18 years??
Then my current Brystom 4B-SST2 and plan on keeping this for at least another 20 years...

[S Clark]

My first amp was also one of my first attempts to improve my sound.  I had a sony TC 355 RTR, a Dual TT, and a pair of large Advent speakers to go with my Marantz 1060 integrated amp. It was ok quality, but less reliable than the Sherwood 7900s receiver that followed it.

[Laundrew]

My very first amplifier came out of our local dump, er - landfill site. I do not remember what make it was as it was only the chassis and if I remember correctly, it came out of the large stereo consoles that seemed to be "more" furniture than music orientated. On the bright side, it was a tube amplifier.

Be well...

[HsvHeelFan]

Laundrew,  that's what my father-in-law replaced with the Yamaha Integrated amp and ESS speakers in the early 80's.  I think his was an early 60's Magnavox or Quasar stereo "cabinet".  It did look like furniture.  It was similar to this:




In the early 80's, getting replacement tubes got difficult.

HsvHeelFan

[jarcher]

Excluding boom boxes & mini-component systems, guess it would be my father's Sansui 5000A. Subsequently replaced with some Technics "Class A" integrated amp that while "cleaner" wasn't nearly as powerful.  This summer I got a Sansui 2000A out of nostalgia.  Sounds awesome & brings back a lot of memories.

[HAL]

I built the South West Technical Products Corporation Tiger 0.01 25wpc stereo amp and DIY SWTPC preamp and phono stage in 1972.  Had the phono stage as that is what I had for media in the mid 1970's besides a 1/4" stereo tape machine. 

Still have the amp and the last time I used it, it was still making music.

[srb]

I built the South West Technical Products Corporation Tiger 0.01 25wpc stereo amp and DIY SWTPC preamp and phono stage in 1972.

Brings back memories.  At the same point in time I built the SWTPC Plastic Tiger amp and the Dynaco PAT-4 preamp kits.  We were rockin' DIY separates.
 
Steve

[Alphonse]

First amplifier was a Dynaco 120 with a Dynaco PAT4 preamp, Dual turntable, and EPI 150 speakers.

Al

[bjski]

My first amp was a Lafayette that my brother gave me when he bought his Fisher receiver. I followed in his footsteps and bought a Fisher receiver. It had great blue lights but was a piece of sh...... Junk. My girlfriend had a Sherwood receiver which was much better than my Fisher. I then moved to 2 different Kenwood integrated amps. I purchased Bryston in 1985 when my Kenwood KA-901 could not power my Polk SDA speakers. I sold that Byrston 4b this summer. It was only serviced once by Bryston.

[simoon]

Crown DC-300A.

Better for professional sound reinforcement than home audio, but worked for me. I know bass players used to love them.





I had it driving a pair of these. Technics SB7000. Pretty far ahead of their time.





A friend of mine still is using the speakers. We upgraded the x-overs and reconed the woofers. They still sound pretty good.

[PierreB]

Oh yes, it was 35 years ago.
Marantz amplifer 140 with the pre-amplifier 3200 and a Marantz tuner model 125.
My brother now have them. They are very nice.

[WGH]

I wonder what happened to my first amp?

The classic Heathkit AA-14 with the walnut veneer cabinet. I built the speaker boxes which had a single driver with a whizzer cone.



The Heathkit was all but forgotten when I upgraded to the more powerful Dynaco SCA-80.



Speakers were now the punchy KLH 17