Post a picture of your first HF rig

[spritzer]

To expand on Steve's idea, how about we all post the first HF rigs we had as a small trip down memory lane. Guess I'll get the ball rolling...

My first HF rig (and prior to me knowing about all these crazy people and their headphones) was just a HD600 plugged into an old Kenwood integrated amp (headphone socket fed via resistors from the main amp) but since it isn't electrostatic it doesn't really count in my case. My first real headphone setup was the SRM-313/SR-007Mk1 combo, complete with a round SRE-15N extension cable and a stand/cover. After this all hope was lost...

Source was shared with my speaker rig and the interconnects used cost more then the amp. A few months later I got a good deal on a Meridian G08...

Now post away!!

[grawk]

[mrarroyo]

An old (circa 1980) Onkyo HP-220 headphone fed by a Mitsubishi DA-R10 receiver that looks like ...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2797[/ATTACH]

[nikongod]

I dont think I have photos of my first headphone rig, but here is some of my old shit for you to laugh at.

CHA-47

Allesandro MS-2

Creative Nomad Zen/80gb.

I had a govibe at some point

High voltage tubes! I may have actually built this BEFORE the CHA-47.

The first balanced amp I built. good stuff.

[Hopstretch]

Sadly I can't find any pictures of my Little Dot!

[mypasswordis]

.

Will this suffice?

[swt61]

Posted again for posterity.

And FWIW that wall holding the shelf standards has 3/4" plywood behind the fabric. I used machine screws with fender washers and nuts on the other side of the wall. It was quite stout.

[Hopstretch]

It was quite stout.

As are all Ebony Erections erections, it is said.

[swt61]

And sanded perfectly smooth too!

[Aura]

this was pretty early on

naturally i went full circle back to the same headphone

[tyrion]

Not my first rig but this is the earliest picture I can find. It was taken around the time of the first meet I organized '05, I think:

[GPH]

First full-size rig on H-F:

Needless to say, I knew little about headphones, sources and good recordings at this point. The amp was OK though, a MisterX Pimeta, and it was pretty good from what I can remember with the few headphones I tried on it.

[deepak]

Unfortunately Imageshack has made the thumbnails I posted on another music forum unclickable, so these pics are tiny (I might have the originals on my desktop). This is all from 2001-2004.

Grado SR-60, Sennheiser HD590 (shudder), Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1

And more "hi-fi"

Stax SR-404, SRM-313, Bel Canto DAC-2. I believe this was just after the Grado HF-1 came out (2005?) (not pictured)

Then I went to K1000/Aleph 30 after. Pics here.

Edited March 9, 2010 by deepak

[riceboy]

This is the oldest pic I could find and first rig(s) I put together after joining HF for a few months prior <- is because of all the gear I purchased in a short period of time and not necessarily the gear in the pic . Good times.

Edited March 10, 2010 by riceboy

[aardvark baguette]

Oldest pic I know of. Absolutely pathetic.

I had an ipod mini and Maudio transit before the 0404USB though.

[Salt Peanuts]

Here's the oldest pic I can find, back in June of 2004. MS-Pro w/ RA-1. The source was one of those FOTM Toshiba DVD player. My first real headphones were SR-80, purchased in early 2004, plugged into a Rio mp3 player. Before that, I was using stock earbuds out of a cassette Walkman or a Discman.

EDIT - oops, the pic was larger than I thought. Replaced with something more sane.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Salt Peanuts

[Asr]

CD/stereo boom box, and I plugged in an AKG K271 Studio directly into the headphone jack. Circa 2005. I also had less than 20 CDs up until early 2006.

[aardvark baguette]

I also had less than 20 CDs up until early 2006.

[Asr]

Hey, we all had to start out somewhere, right?

[Aimless1]

Looked, but no pictures. My first step into "audio" was in 1975. Bought a compact Magnavox Am/Fm Stereo record player with speakers. Walnut cabinet, fancy front, lexan cover. Didn't think audio life could get any better

[veloaudio]

My first rig was a Marantz SA8001 + ESW10s. Then I added a Woo Audio WA6. This was the next rig:

[n_maher]

[cetoole]

No pics, but HD580 out of various crap like a radioshack preamp and PC speaker headphone jacks until I got my first cmoy built.

[ecclesand]

My first "rig" was an HD580 plugged into a Headsave Classic. My source was a Turtle Beach Santa Clara soundcard. I thought I had pics of the Headsave, but can't find 'em.

[Knuckledragger]

I bought my first stereo system in 1990, at auction. All the components were from the early-mid 80s. I added a Pioneer 6-disc changer to it late in the year, and a Sony 3-head cassette deck a year or two after that. I have no photos of it. I do have a lot of gear photos from the last decade. Click through most of them for the Flickr page with notes. Earliest gear pic I know of:

10 years ago:

Picture is from about Mach of 2000, taken with a 1998 Sony Mavica. Sony Mavicas were ahead of their time. They emulated what cameraphones would do years later. Trufax: Me mum has that iMac DV, and still uses it periodically. The speakers are Yamaha NS-1000s. I still have them in use (along with two others) in my 5.1 rig.

I'm going to date the start of my "headphone rig" from the time I got my HD-650s in the fall of 2004. For a long time, I plugged them into an old Gemini DJ mixer, which mixed audio output of my soundcard (SoundBlaster <mumble>) and a 1997 Yamaha CDP (which stubbornly refuses to die, even now.) The DJ mixer allowed me to listen to video game noises and my music of choice at the same time. Until October of last year, it served the same purpose for my housemate. I never got around to taking a picture of it. Of course, I drank the head-fi Kool Aid and replaced the 650's cables shortly after getting them, but didn't get an amp or proper source until significantly later.

5-ish years ago:

HD-650s, Blue Dragon IIs, GLite + DPS; September 2005. Please note I named the image "Head Case" before I ever heard of this this place (or it existed.)

My "headphone rig" sitting on top of the heart of my 5.1 system. I never really used it here, but it made for a nice photo. I still have the same HT pre/processor and 5-channel amp. I'm not big on home theater upgrades, it seems.

4 years ago:

My 31st birthday rig. Same cans and amp, Edirol USB ADC/DAC is my source. Weirdo integrated amp I borrowed from a DJ powered some EV studio monitors (not pictured).

Late March '06, I got my first "real" source, and Adcom GCD-750. I still have it, but it has been completely usurped by my Quad 99 CDP-2.

September 2006:

I get a power conditioner, and a new camera. Receiver is my father's 1997 Yamaha, which also refuses to die.

2 years ago:

Mach 2008, I discover that home renovation is a wake to burn through cash at a rate that makes high end audio look like a savings account. In the chaos, I strip my rig down to its bare essentials. Edirol -> GLite - 650s.

I've since replaced the GLite with an HRBD, added Quad 12L Actives and an AR LS-9. One of these days I'm going to take a picture of the updated setup.