I grew up with multiple HiFi systems in the house. My dad's main system included:
- AR3 speakers
- Dynaco Stereo 70 amp
- Dynaco PAS 3 Preamp
- Dynaco FM 3 Tuner
- Tandberg Series 12 (?) reel-to-reel
- Rek-O-Kut Turntable
- Grado tonearm
However, he always maintained that his Heathkit W5-M amp was the best he'd ever heard, with a flat frequency response out to 100kHz (he measured it), and that his biggest regret was only buying a single W5-M (which powered an upstairs mono system). In 1983, when I purchased my first system after college, I duplicated the Dynaco rig (used), purchased new B&W DM-17 Limited speakers (which I still own), a Technics turntable with a Shure V15 Type V (?) cartridge, and then moved on almost immediately to Hafler kit components. I still use the Hafler components in a rig in the basement with Klipsch Heresy speakers to play drums to. In 1991, for dad's 60th birthday, I bought my parents an ADCOM GCD-575 CD player... which prompted them to upgrade their entire system.