When I was 2 weeks old my father was shipped off the Viet Nam for several years. During his tour, he shipped many boxes home. One of the earliest memories I have from my childhood was going with my mother to the post office to retrieve one such shipment, his new "screeching" SS stereo. This new stereo, which my parents still use on a daily basis, taught me to appreciate both the music and the machine. My father always let me "play" with the controls, so I could figure out what they did. I was able to load RTRs before I could ride a bike. The music that came out of those speakers also set the mood for every Christmas since 1970, when we were stationed at Presidio of San Francisco. That Christmas my father recorded on the RTR a day's worth of Seasonal tunes off of KFOG. For years after, that was the only Christams music we ever played (I can still hear the fog horn blow as I type.)

Yeah, the Far East stuff the GI's brought home might have killed the American Hi-Fi industry, but it was the beginning for me.....Colin