This joint needs some more vintage hifi

[Deleted User]

So I cleaned her up and Deoxit as best I could and hauled her over
to a keyboard playing friends house. Plugged her in and besides
having some stranges noises on somes channels and needing the
pots cleaned, it was quieter than the amp he's using.
Needless to say, he was very happy to take it off my hands.

rednedtugent wrote: »

well not hi-fi per se but I just picked up this mixer amp;

mhardy6647

Well, that's a "win" then, isn't it? :- )

[Deleted User]

I have to admit I heard the potential there and it put
a smile on my face. Had it set on "2" and the
Yamaha's were cranking!

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Well, that's a "win" then, isn't it? :- )

mhardy6647

604E by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Dust, dirt, grunge and all :-P

littlewoodboats

This might not count but it is vintage and for the time fairly HiFi. This is my dad's photo squadron, Yokota Air Base taken 1952. 2nd Photographic Squadron, Photographic and Air Charting Service. Dad is 4th from the right, front row. He would have been 21 or 22 here.

mhardy6647

I like the equipment! Great photograph.

littlewoodboats

Thanks Mark. From an A/V standpoint they had some pretty cool stuff. Any idea what the box with the angled front might be? There is not enough resolution in the original photo to zoom in far enough to get the brand name of the tape machine.

sucks2beme

just picked up some stuff tonight for a "all you can carry"
price. Kenwood ka-7100, SAE P102 pre and A502 amp, Sansui A710
Kenwood is hooked up and playing. The controls are due for a serious cleaning

sucks2beme

mhardy6647

littlewoodboats wrote: »

Thanks Mark. From an A/V standpoint they had some pretty cool stuff. Any idea what the box with the angled front might be? There is not enough resolution in the original photo to zoom in far enough to get the brand name of the tape machine.

I don't know -- reminds me of a signal generator but could be most anything. I've been resisting the temptation to try to suss out the ID of the recorder ;- )

mhardy6647

sucks2beme wrote: »

The KA-7100 is a pretty nice amplifier -- as you probably know, it has a slightly low-rent variation of a true dual-mono power supply. It has only one power transformer, but the PT has dual secondary windings, and the entire power supply downstream of the PT is split for the two channels. Note the four P/S filter capacitors in the photo below.

P6280009 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Are the 'knobs' on the toggle switches on the left side of yours anodized, colored with markers, or painted? They're... interesting.

Oh, I just noticed that some of the knobs don't appear to be the originals... in fact, they look like knobs from one of the later Kenwood integrateds. Interesting.
Here's what a bone-stock KA-7100 looked like (note the different looking knobs on the right side of the amp).

KA7100frontal by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

... and I am envious of those STAX earspeakers! :- )

sucks2beme

I use a pair to test with. The transformer box can handle a lot of abuse that speakers can't. I have a nicer pair for real listening.
It appears to be paint on the switch knobs. As far as the rest go, at least they match.
It's working pretty good right now. But it's filthy inside.
The same guy had a Sansui au-717 I missed getting by 10 minutes.
$20 for an au-717 would of made my day.

mhardy6647

I would call using STAX electrets as bench test mules luxurious! :- ) I am now doubly envious.
They're wonderful "earspeakers", they really are.

Yes the carpet does match the drapes... umm, I mean... the replacement knobs do all match, which is a plus. In fact, I'd say that they're more elegant looking than the rather chunky originals. The volume control knob on your KA-7100 does appear to be original, tho'.


Yes, 20 for an AU-717 would be a bit of a... scroe (as they say on a certain other hifi site).

I'd like to have an AU-717; much nicer than average SS integrated amplifier of its time. Fully "dual mono" P/S in those rascals, too. And built like a brick privy, fer shure.

sucks2beme

The au-717 or the au-719 are on my short list of must haves.
I drove over there for the au717, but the ka-7100 and SAE stuff was
certainly ok.

cnh

I have a Kenwood KA-7300 which seems to have a more dual mono construction? A very nice sounding unit if ONLY it would continue to start up! lol A tech has looked at this and assures me that there is NOTHING wrong, but every time I get it back it takes longer and longer for the relays to kick in and then finally NOTHING happens and there is no sound! Don't really know what to do when the experts don't "believe" me. It sounds VERY VERY nice with my Monitor 7s-when working!

I also have a AU-517 (in the shop for its phono section) that sounds a tad "dark" by comparison. I suppose a recap is in order but that's a lot of coin and time, and few around here are willing to entertain the "fantasies" of a vintage boy or girl?

littlewoodboats

sucks2beme wrote: »

I like the old Kenwood gear and was looking for something like this before settling with the Yamaha CA-1000 (if that can be considered settling).

There was a little bar back home in Missouri where the owner would paint switches and buttons on the audio gear so the employees knew which buttons to touch and which ones to leave alone. The place did great deli food at lunch and half the time we would go in and there would be no music. The little lady would have not been paying attention and hit the button next to the power button and would not be able to figure it out.

Painting the power on button Red made it easy for her.

mhardy6647

You need to learn to use a DMM, cnh! :- )

Something's definitely not right -- possibly a power supply issue (generally the delay 'waits' for stabilization of proper operating voltages), could be a tired component in the amplifier circuitry (capacitor, resistor, or an 'active' component, i.e., transistor/IC), but maybe as simple as the relay(s) is/are failing.

sucks2beme

The protection boards sometimes have issues- or there's issues with the power supply voltage- a quick trip to audiokarma will yield common issues with
those units. Those guys have a lot of crash and burn with old gear.

Polkie2009

+1000 AK is a fantastic site with excellent tech help.

boston1450

.
Cnh who is your tech now ? I heard Pete wasnt open OR was only taking appt now ???? Electronics & More did my rt909 & he said he rather not work on anything that wasnt band related. He told me Sansui & Pioneers he would do for me. Its getting hard to find audio techs up here

boston1450

Nikko & Kg3's

mhardy6647

Interesting and uncommon integrated amplifier. I've never seen nor heard one.

boston1450

Gonna give it a try tomorrow. Ive heard the receivers & to me they sound kind between Onkyo & Pioneer vintage. Not too bad imo. Small 22wpc i think

boston1450

Picked up another 2252 Marantz also with the balance slider also. Not the B. Gonna try the Klipsch on the Nikko then the Marantz. Kinda hoping the Nikko does well. Its small in size & perfect for the area i need to fill

pumpkinman

I had a Nikko receiver many moons ago. My dad loved it's FM reception. Don't remember what ever happened to it.

sucks2beme

The Marantz 2252 is a pretty good receiver. I also had a Nikko receiver
for a while, also good. My guess they both have good sound, but different
in how they get there. You'll end up keeping both!!!

cnh

boston1450 wrote: »

.
Cnh who is your tech now ? I heard Pete wasnt open OR was only taking appt now ???? Electronics & More did my rt909 & he said he rather not work on anything that wasnt band related. He told me Sansui & Pioneers he would do for me. Its getting hard to find audio techs up here

I'm still with Pete. He thinks I'm nuts on that Kenwood though, otherwise he's done great work for me. It's a "gremlins" thing. I take it down, he plugs it in, relays pop, it's fine. He keeps it a couple of days. Turns it on and off, successfully a few times, puts a test or two on it, gives it back to me, I return home. Fire it up. FINE. Next day, it takes five minutes to kick on. The following day 10-15 minutes, then 30 minutes, then nada? Down to Pete again. No problems? It IS driving me nuts!

Yeah, I know, he's got a new job and only takes on a few projects. I got him to take a look at the Sansui because he knows I won't complain if it take him over a year to get to it! I've been unbelievably understanding with him and given him tons of slack. Plus, I really don't need any of these units as I have a lot of back up here! lol

But, it is a problem getting something done in a timely fashion, not sure who else is up here. Although perhaps we should take up Mark's advice above and learn to read some of those circuit diagrams, etc. Think we can handle that stuff at our age, wait, you are a bit younger than I? lol

sucks2beme

Old gear needs work to be reliable.
Recapping is a good thing to restore the gear
to a daily driver.

boston1450

cnh wrote: »

boston1450 wrote: »

.
Cnh who is your tech now ? I heard Pete wasnt open OR was only taking appt now ???? Electronics & More did my rt909 & he said he rather not work on anything that wasnt band related. He told me Sansui & Pioneers he would do for me. Its getting hard to find audio techs up here

I'm still with Pete. He thinks I'm nuts on that Kenwood though, otherwise he's done great work for me. It's a "gremlins" thing. I take it down, he plugs it in, relays pop, it's fine. He keeps it a couple of days. Turns it on and off, successfully a few times, puts a test or two on it, gives it back to me, I return home. Fire it up. FINE. Next day, it takes five minutes to kick on. The following day 10-15 minutes, then 30 minutes, then nada? Down to Pete again. No problems? It IS driving me nuts!

Yeah, I know, he's got a new job and only takes on a few projects. I got him to take a look at the Sansui because he knows I won't complain if it take him over a year to get to it! I've been unbelievably understanding with him and given him tons of slack. Plus, I really don't need any of these units as I have a lot of back up here! lol

But, it is a problem getting something done in a timely fashion, not sure who else is up here. Although perhaps we should take up Mark's advice above and learn to read some of those circuit diagrams, etc. Think we can handle that stuff at our age, wait, you are a bit younger than I? lol

He had my cr2040 for 3 mnths & did a very good job with it. Worth the hour drive too. I gotta get ahold of him. Thanks for info.

mhardy6647

pumpkinman wrote: »

I had a Nikko receiver many moons ago. My dad loved it's FM reception. Don't remember what ever happened to it.

Nikko was, and still is, known (by those in the know) for some excellent tuner designs and products. Their "gamma" series of tuners (statement pieces from a company not quite known for 'statement products') were superb. Indeed, I don't think I'm telling tales out of school to recount that well-known tuner and tape deck guru Charles "Stellavox" King has & uses a modified Nikko Gamma tuner (a Gamma I, methinks) to which he added a vacuum tube output section (probably just a cathode follower; I actually don't remember the details). He brought it to a local shindig some years back and we got to see & hear it. It was excellent.
http://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/nikko/gamma-i.shtml



I would imagine that the tuners in their receivers were likewise very good -- I have little ears-on experience, though.