First System :
In the mid-70s, growing up in Germany before the Walkman, most kids I knew played music on mail-order mono tape players.
I remember my grandad spending an extra 40 DM—a significant amount back then—on an ITT Schaub-Lorenz recorder. It shared the same brand as my grandmother’s kitchen radio, offering a gentler tone than the bulky, expensive “ghetto blasters” of the time. The device featured a sleek silver metal finish and a high-quality microphone that captured clear audio without the typical motor interference. It also included DIN input and output.
My first mono setup consisted of that tape player paired with a 1960s valve radio, using its built-in speaker via a 3-pin round mono DIN connection.
A red plastic record player with a speaker in the lid, combined with my big brother’s Emerson, Lake & Palmer self-titled album, set the focus on the endless pursuit of perfection in music reproduction. This kind of music clearly demanded a completely different translation.
So I spent a lot of time studying mail-order catalogues, looking at specs, guessing what they meant, and wondering whether the gear would reproduce bombastic church organs and give depth to this progressive music.
My mother had run a music pub a few years earlier, and I remember as a toddler seeing bar staff with dark posters of hairy rock bands on the walls. They seemed far away, from a different world—but now they were getting closer.
Tape Era :
Until my teens, I grew up in different circles.
Living in a small city with a large university teaching philosophy, sociology, and religion—with active Christian and even Communist networks—and the freedom to roam in the 70s had its perks. As a kid, I could “visit” student flats, play, go to markets with them, eat porridge, and of course listen to music.
A Christian once gave me tape copies of Manfred Mann, Supertramp, and maybe UFO, which I listened to on my carefully chosen, budget, bulky Walkman copy. I’m still grateful for those long hours diving into progressive rock.
As a young teen, I spent most of my time with what would be considered intellectuals—and so were their friends. This meant exposure to top stereos like Uher and Revox, and a refined musical taste. Genesis was big news then, and I still have time for Peter Gabriel.
I checked every music system I was allowed to touch. Clever rock was even in the charts, ready to be recorded on my mono system.
Sadly, I felt something changing in the air on German mainstream radio—a hyped song with an endless intro followed by a simple drum beat that made No. 1 in the charts.
Rise of Separates :
At 15, I moved back in with my grandparents. My first stereo system was an ITT 3500 receiver, bought for 80 DM, paired with a Sansui SR-222 turntable and 3-way speakers I had spotted miles away at a wholesaler.
That formed my hearing of music until now. It was little dated looking even back then, but dipped boards sound just great.
I now have the same receiver again in the workshop, and it’s as good as I remember. At least two engineers have asked, “Where is the sub?” 🙂
The next amp i owned was a Dual CV 1100.
Good enough to bring to a party, but with only 2 × 25W and 0.5% THD, I knew there was better out there
Now that I was earning some money, it was time to upgrade—to separates.
An Onkyo A-35, sold as B-stock in a well-known hi-fi shop for over half a month’s earnings (350 DM), left me a little disappointed by the lack of grip in the low end.
My grandad, a carpenter, made me two 10” bass extension cubes, connected to the low speaker in the 3-way cabinets and used as speaker stands. The future was clearly in separates.
The tape deck was a basic but reliable Sharp RT-100 with only a DIN output, which lasted me over 20 years of heavy use. The two mic inputs got some use much later.
This setup got well used and refined with Xovers in the Subs , while doing a few years apprentice in electronic until I left Germany nearly 20 years later .
Tapes got sold in many Shops at big Displays just like sweets.
Thick 60-minute tapes, the common 90-minute ones, and the thin, fragile 120s—which were no good for constant use.
Noisy ferrite tapes had strong low-end drive; chrome offered top-end clarity; chrome ferrite lacked character; and expensive metal tapes required a true high-end deck to record properly above +6 dB and keep the noise floor well below the music.
All the Generic names, some bargain some just bad. The big brands with the matching price tag. There must have been hundreds of types and all had different Characters and performance, and loaded the Space of imagination. I upgraded the Tape Deck to much more refined sound with a TEAC V 770. later and the sharp moved into the Practice room.
The Reel To Reel Tapes in the Picture below were just a gimmick
Separates became fashionable in the 80s and a source of pride. Despite all the CDs, EQs, buttons, lights, and towering black boxes, most stacked systems were full of gimmicks and low-quality components, leaving the CD player to carry the sound.
Many systems sounded tacky and lifeless compared to the wide soundstage of purpose-built 70s high-end systems with simple, functional turntables—sometimes even reel-to-reel setups playing first played Vinyl recordings.
Copying music in high quality was only possible with recorders more expensive than most complete stereos. Still, most tapes were destined for the car—and perfectly fine for that.
Digital Shift :
Digital converters in CD players all sounded slightly different depending on the brand and preamp design, though fundamentally similar for over 30 years. Despite the imperfections of record players, CD bitrates haven’t changed since the 80s—and modern streaming often reduces resolution even further.
It’s like watching a large high-resolution screen in 720p.
There were Super Audio CDs around 2000, but they were rare. Blu-ray audio existed too, but never became common for music.
With Records we were driving with like-minded friends to hear how Saga’s Worlds Apart shook speakers from house to house. Bringing a CD it would have been just wired.
The more “intellectual” crowd leaned toward softer rock like Barclay James Harvest or Chicago. Meanwhile, the local American Forces radio kept rock alive in the air.
Then came electronic music from my brother—Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk—but later, the second side of Black Celebration left me searching for something else.
That came through nights in pubs with Metalheads and long after-parties in different flats.
Soon I was in record shops picking what I thought were essentials: Black Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell, Dokken’s Tooth and Nail, Rainbow’s Rising, Slayer’s Show No Mercy, Accept—and of course Venom’s Black Metal, which initially made me check if my needle was damaged. I soon got used to it.
My 3-way speakers even went mobile, powered by an amp booster from the back or roof of an orange Scirocco Mk1.
Another great find was a Uher Royal tape machine left out for collection, along with over 20 reels of late 60s/early 70s music—The Byrds live, Eric Burdon, early Deep Purple, Supertramp, and more. I replaced the head, and it’s still with me today.
After moving to Ireland, the Onkyo began to wear out. I worked briefly as a mechanic, then in audio installation in Waterford. One reason I got the job was that I could properly set up a turntable, and I imported usable DJ gear at the start of the hobby DJ boom.
The Home cinema Craze also turned slowly into must have Clutter, with Speakers you would not use in a car. Rudolf’s TV stations Inciting all day long the breakdown of Society, Sue everybody, sell Your Home for Your Kids and Gambling all day long every 15 minute felt like after the calm enjoyment of having a working Civilization
Still, many 5.1 amps paired with decent speakers performed better than basic Marantz and Rotel stereo separates after 2000.
A reminder of the good times is a Thorens TD 321 turntable upgraded with a Rega arm.
Over time I used various cartridges—Ortofon Blue, Rega, OM series—but the one I enjoyed most was the fragile Ortofon 540.
I experimented with a Crown K2 PA amp—it sounded excellent, but felt like bringing work home. Mission floor-standing speakers and a massive Denon PMA-1315R followed.
It was such a good system that, during a visit from friends, I was offered a swap: the speakers and amp for a bare Musical Fidelity 270 power amp—an older model.
Back to Analogue :
Now this was a monster. Class A, drawing 100W at standby—leaving the immersion on when leaving the house became another worry. It felt like it could overheat, catch fire, or sink into the floor under its own weight.
Paired with Klipsch RP-8000 speakers from a visit to Fred Zahn—a German audio shop I had admired as a kid—the system was fast and incredibly engaging. It demanded full attention; you couldn’t have a conversation, iron clothes, or even think. But it let you dive completely into the music.
After trying several preamps, a passive Electrocompaniet EC1 proved to be the missing piece, taming the “crazy horse” amp and controlling the gain. I might still have that system if I hadn’t been given an old
Sony TA-2000 preamp and matching 3200F power amp from an architect in Waterford.
At first, they looked beyond saving—brown, silent, and worn. After a deep clean (and some risky methods), they came back to life.
The preamp needed proper repair in Galway, but once restored, the system revealed a different character: warmer, smoother, less aggressive, but rich in detail and full of 70s charm.
I considered adding a Transcriptors turntable—it would have completed the look—but function won over form.
The only recent addition is a reconditioned Benchmark DAC, connected via optical link to media player for streaming.
And the Wood panels are back.
Now that some streaming services finally offer high-resolution audio, even the classic 70s record sound may face real competition again.
Thank You for sharing the Fun..
