Catchgroove’s Musical Memoir: First Stereo(s)

When I was a kid (born in 1959) my parents had a two-cabinet Magnavox stereo console. I was able to find a picture of the model on eBay. In one cabinet was a record player/changer and an AM/FM radio. In the other cabinet was record storage. You would turn it on and then have to wait a bit for the tubes to warm up. I recall it sounded good – it was both a nice stereo and a nice piece of furniture. It was in perfect shape except for a small cigarette burn on the top of one of the cabinets. This kind of electronics/furniture was all the rage in the 60s – the console was the typical configuration for stereos and TVs. I wish I still had this console.

My parent’s record collection was: Irish folk music (they were from Ireland and the Clancy Brothers were actually a big deal in the early ’60s), elevator music (Mantovani, 101 Strings, Percy Faith, etc,) some kids’ music (e.g. Disney greatest hits), big band music, etc. My favorite of the bunch was Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. I didn’t use the Magnavox much as I didn’t have any of my own records (beyond those few kids’ records) and my parents’ collection was of no interest to me.

As mentioned in another blog post, my primary tool for listening to music when I was a kid was a portable cassette player and a 9-volt transistor radio. I was able to upgrade those options to a more “hi-fi solution” by taking some hearing protection ear muffs (my dad gave me an old pair from work) and installing speakers recovered from 9-volt transistor radios and the cord from an earphone. I was pretty pleased with myself.

My first real stereo was a Soundesign integrated unit (AM/FM radio, turntable/changer, and speakers) that I purchased from LaBelle’s (a catalog showroom store in downtown Minneapolis in the 70s and 80s) and paid for from paper route money. That stereo got me started on the audiophile and music bug. In hindsight, it wasn’t much better than a current-day Crosley suitcase record player, but I didn’t know any better. Having my own stereo in my bedroom was a game changer. I could now listen to whatever I wanted. I remember my parents being out of town and bravely smoking some weed in my bedroom and listening to a borrowed copy of Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon in high school – that was an out-of-character risk for me at the time.

I brought the Soundesign unit to college in the fall of 1977 and quickly learned it was not a real stereo and I needed to pick up my audiophile game (don’t recall audiophile as even being a term back then) and get a real stereo – AKA separate components (receiver, turntable, and speakers). After hearing the component systems of my new college buddies, I quickly realized the Soundesign was crap. The music of the day (what has become labeled “classic rock”) demanded to be heard on a proper stereo.

A few months into my college career I bought a used receiver and turntable (components) from a college buddy (Uncle Paul) when he upgraded. I bought some huge no-brand speakers from one of the local audio stores. That new system was a major upgrade to the Soundesign – now I was a true fledgling audiophile. I played my stereo frequently and loudly given the dorm situation. I remember seeing those speakers literally jump off the shelves of my college dorm room as a result of cranking the system. The speakers survived for a couple more decades – they were bruised, but not ruined.

Soon I was on the upgrade path myself. On a trip to Chicago in the fall of 1978 (sophomore) with a college classmate, I bought a nice solid-state amp from Scott.

The trip to Chicago was a wonderful adventure – my first unsupervised road trip. We did the Chicago tourist stuff, but the highlight (besides acquiring the receiver) was a night at the Jazz Showcase where we saw jazz vibes legend Milt Jackson of the Modern Jazz Quartet.

I obtained true audiophile status when I purchased a very nice Sony turntable from the Sony Sound Center in downtown Minneapolis:

I upgraded the cartridge on the turntable to what was state of the art at the time: a Shure V15. Between the turntable and the cartridge, I spent $600, which was a small fortune in 1978 on my meager student budget (the equivalent of $2800 today).

The combination of the Scott receiver, the Sony turntable, and the giant no-name speakers served me well for many years. Every few years I would upgrade some part of the rig. This is how the obsession with audiophile sound began and that continues through to today.