Your first sound system

mrbounce, I can beat that Mini setup. My first Mini was a base spec 850cc with no radio. I rectified that by putting my old Philips ghetto-blaster on the back seat! Def Leppard, Jean-Michel Jarre oh-yeah!

I didn't get my licence until 2002 so missed out on the whole really retro but i was in the whole max power generation, my first decent stereo headunit was for my mk1 sierra 3 door the head unit was a Sony cdxm800 it was expensive at the time, with a couple of amps 2 sets of 6x9 some components at the front and 2 12" subs, it was lovely and crisp

This is the head unit (not my video)



I used it briefly in a spare car and it got broken into and stolen (The stereo cost more than the car did) a few months ago i bought another one to put into my mk1 sierra project which is my car from then which I still have

After that I had a succession of alpine units

If I added up all the money I have spent on car audio gear over the years.

First car had a blanking plate for the radio when I got it.

That was soon cut out and a basic play, fastforward eject cassette radio was fitted.

That was soon replaced by a Sharp auto search cassette deck (that automatically looked for the silence between songs and started to play again at the start of the next song) that must have been one of the first with a digital tuner. It still had the basic two knob setup so at first glance didn't look anywhere like the two weeks wages I spent on it.
The headunit had a thick umbilical cable that supplied its external amplifier.
Sadly it didn't last too long as a few months down the line it went missing. Totally useless to whoever stole it as they cut throught the cable that fed the amp unit & it don't work without it.

Then there was a long list of Pioneer, kenwood & Blaupunkt cassette headunits. Mostly pullouts so had to carry them about with me (or stash them in the boot).
Luckily with being a electronics engineer I had started repairing headunits with blown output chips so most of the headunits didn't cost as much as they could.

At some point I got a tax rebate from work which I went straight to the local car audio shop and got my first external amp and a set of Infinity Reference 6x9 speakers. I still have the amp and speakers (in original boxes in the loft with the hope to reuse them in something at some point).

The ultimate goal was a alpine headunit but they were always dearer and out of budget & I never seemed to get many alpines in for repair so they were always the brand I was aiming for.

The first Alpine headunit was also my first multiplay controller with a cd changer in the boot.

That was also my first pop off front headunit also.
I still have a few of the cassette headunits sat on the shelf in the shed (mostly blaupunkt).

After that all my headunits have been alpine of one form or another (all mp3) including the mechless unit I have in my daily driver.

Was it mid to late 90s when the jvc chameleon was released?
I remember seeing one for the first time in a local car audio shop and being completely mesmerised by the thing.
I must have stared at it like it was my first time seeing boobs!

I've still never had one (I'm going to try and pick one up for when my cabby is finished)
I had the Sony equivalent but it just wasn't the same.

My first was in a mk2 escort, four Pye box speakers that magically fitted perfectly across the rear shelf (I might have inadvertently invented the soundbar!)

It sounded awful

A mate had a volvo 340 with bare coaxial speakers stuck to the transmission tunnel just by their magnets! As you can imagine, because there was no baffle to separate front and rear waves, they were even more appalling!

When I got my MGB it had a head unit but it wasn't plugged into anything and from memory I don't think it even had any speakers!

Soon rectified that with the help of a couple of mates, some speakers from Halfords and a head unit that I can't remember

The bit I do remember is the speakers being 'fitted' behind the centre console with duct tape as a short term measure, the drivers side one kept falling out behind my feet around left hand bends

Sounded sweet until you turned it up, but I guess your first sound system always sounds sweet to you, so in reality it was probably pants yes. I wonder how many good headunits have been assumed to be crock just because they are attached to rubbish speakers?

I did similar in my '70 mini 850 and my '51 Vanguard. A wee cassette player that ran on C size batteries. The Mini eventually got an actual car stereo in the shape of a Sanyo radio cassette unit that went on to see service in a number of other cars, and for a while as a workshop radio, and is still in one of my sheds somewhere. I even still have the box it came in.