This joint needs some more vintage hifi
Comments
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The Citation 16 was a pretty good ss amplifier although I think there were some design issues that resulted in a "run time" upgrade version -- or am I concocting memories again?
at any rate...
"Care is required when using or testing it" sounds a little ominously ambiguous.
You know, like those old used car dealership ads: "This one won't last!"
ahem
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Polkaguy58 wrote: »Side system I've put together from gear in my dad's garage. Check it out...dual Duals! Top one is a 1228, bottom one is a 1215S. That's a Rotel RX-602 receiver; it has two phono inputs, so I just had to try playing two-at-once and toggle 1&2. Realistic Optimus T-100 floorstanders with JBL 2500 bookies on top. The tweeters in the Realistics aren't that great, but the little JBLs fill-out the top end nicely. I'm going to sell this to a long-time friend at work...but with only one of the turntables.
I wish I had those T-100's.
I once took a 50 dollar pair of those, braced the cabs, replaced the fiberglass packing with cotton batting (an old sleeping bag donor) added a high end cap at 3500 Hz. and replaced the stock tweeter with a KEF silk dome.
These speakers run twin 16 Ohm woofers wide open, with just a cap and Lpad on the tweeter, but after my mods, I swear, they were the best speakers that I'd ever had.
Like an idiot, I sold them off.
They cost 100 bucks to make and I wish I still had them.
Nice looking vintage gear...Top table is definately NOT a 1229 though...might be a 1218?? Those 1229's are full size tables....and built to last too..bought mine in 73 and except for some minor maintenance,it's still going strong... -
Does this help any?
LRE 1973 Dual tts (1) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
Sorry I can't do any better. I am not a Dual guy -- there are a couple-three down in the basement, but they just don't do it for me.
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aprazer402 wrote: »Here's one you don't see everyday. No affil.
I lusted after that amp for years. The 16a was the preferred version.
No real issues, other than the A version sounded a bit better.
Meters are nice, but watching the LEDs light up was a real treat for me.
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
sucks2beme wrote: »aprazer402 wrote: »Here's one you don't see everyday. No affil.
I lusted after that amp for years. The 16a was the preferred version.
No real issues, other than the A version sounded a bit better.
Meters are nice, but watching the LEDs light up was a real treat for me.
yeah, the 16A -- that's what I was quasi-remembering
Speaking of the jiggly LED power display -- which was exceedingly high-tech for its time... I do have an example of its (very) little brother here
hkA402 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
Sorry the lights aren't actually jiggling in the photo
The amplifier does work (it's a pretty nice piece of hardware,in fact) -- and it doesn't look as smeary IRL as it does in this (flash) photo. It's a very handsome piece of hardware (as was most of the h/k stuff of that era) -- although the 'detailing' around the LED power display is a little contrived looking.
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My JBL C50 speakers with custom JBL 2397 horns and JBL L100's.
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Very nice JBL gear!
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Here are a few vintage receivers I have been eyeing not too far from me to go with the newly rebuilt Tandberg TL5010 speakers:
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Drool:
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As seen elsewhere -- here's a unique opportunity at, arguably, a not-insane price. The ethical question would be: build or hold 'as-is'
https://westernmass.craigslist.org/ele/d/vintage-heathkit-aa-151-new/6375686202.html
disclaimer: Not mine, no affiliation
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If your speaking of value? To a collector unbuilt would be more valuable as I'm sure there is some built for sale somewhere at sometime but unbuilt in box probably the only one!Main Rig:
Krell KAV 250a biamped to mid/highs
Parasound HCA1500A biamped to lows
Nakamichi EC100 Active xover
MIT exp 1 ic's
Perreaux SA33 class A preamp
AQ kingcobra ic's
OPPO 83 CDP
Lehmann audio black cube SE phono pre, Audioquest phono wire (ITA1/1)
Denon DP-1200 TT. AToc9ML MC cart.
Monster HTS 3600 power conditioner
ADS L1590/2 Biamped
MIT exps2 speaker cable -
Plenty of old ones floating around; but, yes, of course -- unbuilt kits have a certain cachet.
But it would be awfully tempting to build & enjoy it. It would need some rehab (those NOS electrolytics are probably as dried out as used ones would be in 2017!) but it was a better than average integrated amplifier and would be fun to have as a brand new model.
Heathkittuners1964 2 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
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Couldn't go wrong with either the Sony and the Marantz. Dunno about the Sanyo.Conradicles wrote: »Here are a few vintage receivers I have been eyeing not too far from me to go with the newly rebuilt Tandberg TL5010 speakers:
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I find myself dinking around with "helper tweeters" again. Can't call 'em "supertweeters", 'cause they probably don't do much beyond 18kHz... but, still.
DSC_9766 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
DSC_9764 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
DSC_9771 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
There's a method to my madness, although it's beyond the scope of this thread.
I am doing this for a friend, you see. Not for myself. Honest!
DSC_9773 (3) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr -
mhardy6647 wrote: »I find myself dinking around with "helper tweeters" again. Can't call 'em "supertweeters", 'cause they probably don't do much beyond 18kHz... but, still.DSC_9766 (2) by Mark Hardy, on FlickrDSC_9764 (2) by Mark Hardy, on FlickrDSC_9771 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
There's a method to my madness, although it's beyond the scope of this thread.
I am doing this for a friend, you see. Not for myself. Honest!DSC_9773 (3) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
I've just started my 3rd glass of wine, so I thought I'd bore the socks off you with my story of augmented tweeters. Well, maybe augmented tweeters/upper midrange. Sometime in the early 80's in London, I was brushing my mullet and wondering how to improve a pair of super cheap Yank KLH 317 speakers that the British HiFI press had raved about saying the're built bad but sound good. Actually they did sound good - I was driving them with a Cambridge (Before they became Cambridge Audio) P40 amp, designed by Stan Curtis of Quad fame (Still got it here in the closet - needs 120v PS conversion). We were always into lower power integrateds back then, as we were with cars that went round corners but without V8s.
Through the less mainstream press I became aware of a guy in Edgware (on the outskirts of London) called Alex Shackman that was making electrostatic panels that could be added to any speaker to replace tweeters. I went to see him, and like most inventors, he was absolutely bonkers and just kept going on about reducing sibilance. So I bought a pair of them anyway. Got them home, connected them, and these were my first real taste of magic. Old age obscures why i got rid of them or when, but although they were not superfi, I wonder why I did. -
The 317, if memory serves, may have used the Peerless KO10DT much enamored of classic Polk Audio Monitor Series fans... at least some of the KLH loudspeakers in that line did. Those also, if memory serves, had green (or bluish-green?) foam surrounds on the woofers, no?
memories -- at my age, I just make 'em up... and no one can corroborate nor deny most of 'em
My normal helper tweeters are a pair of B&C DE35s which do a very nice job of adding some sparkle to the JBL 2441s on the EMILAR EH500-2 horns.
As far as electrostatic add-ons, the idea goes way back...
source: www.radioshackcatalogs.com (1961)
(and the R/S add-on ES tweeter was a JansZen OEM or near-"clone")
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Come to think of it, I have a pair of the R/S ES add-ons here
I've never had the nerve to even plug them in.
(fortunately, there's also a pair of ESL-57s here, too...)
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mhardy6647 wrote: »I find myself dinking around with "helper tweeters" again. Can't call 'em "supertweeters", 'cause they probably don't do much beyond 18kHz... but, still.DSC_9766 (2) by Mark Hardy, on FlickrDSC_9764 (2) by Mark Hardy, on FlickrDSC_9771 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
There's a method to my madness, although it's beyond the scope of this thread.
I am doing this for a friend, you see. Not for myself. Honest!DSC_9773 (3) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
I've just started my 3rd glass of wine, so I thought I'd bore the socks off you with my story of augmented tweeters. Well, maybe augmented tweeters/upper midrange. Sometime in the early 80's in London, I was brushing my mullet and wondering how to improve a pair of super cheap Yank KLH 317 speakers that the British HiFI press had raved about saying the're built bad but sound good. Actually they did sound good - I was driving them with a Cambridge (Before they became Cambridge Audio) P40 amp, designed by Stan Curtis of Quad fame (Still got it here in the closet - needs 120v PS conversion). We were always into lower power integrateds back then, as we were with cars that went round corners but without V8s.
Through the less mainstream press I became aware of a guy in Edgware (on the outskirts of London) called Alex Shackman that was making electrostatic panels that could be added to any speaker to replace tweeters. I went to see him, and like most inventors, he was absolutely bonkers and just kept going on about reducing sibilance. So I bought a pair of them anyway. Got them home, connected them, and these were my first real taste of magic. Old age obscures why i got rid of them or when, but although they were not superfi, I wonder why I did.
Too much wine. Too many words.... -
Polk SDA CRS
Picked these up about a month ago. Replaced 1 frozen driver and 2 tweeters. Disconnected the dimensional tweeters. It was blade/blade and one was broken so I did the Speakon upgrade. They only cost $40 but I had to drive to Connecticut to pick them up.
I'm in the process of building a decent set of stands.
Because I am The Pumpkinking
A Kind Word Is An Easy Gift To Give -
Good deal.
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Peer pressure (finally) led me to (mostly) de-clip-lead the Frankenaltec XOs today
DSC_9782 (3) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
DSC_9779 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
Details if anyone's interested:
http://www.hifihaven.org/index.php?threads/curse-you-o-youth-of-rouge.3093/
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mhardy6647 wrote: »Peer pressure (finally) led me to (mostly) de-clip-lead the Frankenaltec XOs todayDSC_9782 (3) by Mark Hardy, on FlickrDSC_9779 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
Details if anyone's interested:
http://www.hifihaven.org/index.php?threads/curse-you-o-youth-of-rouge.3093/
Is that "hockey puck" part the inductor? I assume all they had to do was lacquer a strip of brass and wrap it up. Looks a lot different from the standard wire wound ones (and probably more expensive to make).
From a sonic perspective I am wondering if one design is better than the other. -
It sounds better to me than the 18 ga perfect wound one I had originally tried in this configuration. The Goertz copper foil inductors are expensive, but not scary expensive.
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/goertz-14-awg
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mhardy6647 wrote: »It sounds better to me than the 18 ga perfect wound one I had originally tried in this configuration. The Goertz copper foil inductors are expensive, but not scary expensive.
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/goertz-14-awg
Sorry, I was confused. I thought the inductor was an original part of your vintage speaker that you remounted for testing. I was thinking the inductor was the old school way of doing things that was lost to cheaper production methods.
This thread gets confusing..........(or maybe it was a few beers on a Sunday night).
But, Thanks, now I have something new to consider for my next rebuild
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The original XOs for the Duplexes (at my house) are Doug Sax' MasteringLabs XOs. The Inductors in those are awesome...
borrowed photo of ML XO guts from teh webs.
... and a photo of the outtards of one of mine from way back when I was originally testing the 604Es after I got 'em.
604Etest2 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
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Right now, I am running the woofer sections of the Duplexes topped by JBL 2441s loaded via EMILAR EH500-2 horns. The crossovers are first order at ca. 500 Hz. There's 'supertweeters' added on top of everything -- crossed first order at (nominally) 20 kHz.
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Another trip to my Dad's, and I pulled some more gear out his stacks - mainly receivers/amps this time.
Technics SA-300: FM is out, but other inputs work
Tandberg TR 2030: nice Norwegian design, beautiful cabinet, but I'll need some DIN/RCA adapters; interesting output design - I don't see any sets of transistors or heatsinks inside
Sansui AU-999: powerful integrated amp, but left channel is out; I'm interesting to hear what this one can do once working properly
Marantz 2235: as you can see, a lamp kit is in order; works and sounds great, though
Mac 1700: this is the gem of the bunch; six tubes in the preamp stage, solid state output; I think the FM tuner needs tweaking of the reception, although it does work; I tried one of the phonostages tonight...sounded really good; cabinet has two little chunks out, but overall in good condition; faceplate needs a lot of cleaning/polishing, but really clean inside
Also brought back these KLH Model Twenty speakers. I had to fashion an RCA speaker connector for the back of these speakers, but all good. They work! The surrounds may look bad in the pic, but they are rubber-coated fabric, not foam, and still intact. Listening to them now through the Mac 1700...very sweet sound.
I think a small investment in new crossover caps will be worth it."This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
Nice, get a wood case for the Marantz 22352-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
The AU-999 is a warm sounding amp. Go to audiokarma and look up
the rebuilding and troubleshooting info. The au-999 improves greatly with a few changes on the preamp board. Good news, almost all the electronics are on removable
circuit boards. Easiest amp to service I ever owned. It's not at the same level as the au-717, but with the modifications it gets much closer to the same sound.
And that Mac 1700 is well worth a rebuild."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
JBL C50 with custom 2397 horn and JBL L100
