This joint needs some more vintage hifi

15657596162

Comments

  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,972
    The ElectroBrand 9700 mini receiver, about the size of a cigar box.
    772nar4ssa7a.jpg
    Technical info on it is scarce, but based on the research I did, it's probably about 12WPC.
    Here are the very basic guts:
    s2ucjcpdsxfm.jpg
    Here is the rear, but I can tell you that the 'Phono' input is really just a line-level input.
    The FM tuner worked fine for me.
    i644iw9gy1k3.jpg
    Also, you can see that the speaker outputs are RCA proprietary, but I can confirm they work!

    I plan to give this to a family friend for use in his garage. Nice small footprint for the receiver. I'll also construct appropriate RCA speaker cables for him, plus I found a pair of wall-mounted indoor/outdoor Infinity speakers in my dad's collection to include.

    More info about the receiver here:
    https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/bizarre-mini-stereo-receiver-electro-brand-9700.769401/
    "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
  • BlueBirdMusic
    BlueBirdMusic Posts: 2,060
    Jody, was the ElectroBrand 9700 in your dad's collection? I like the tower orientation.
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,972
    Hi Harry. Yes, it came from there.
    "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
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,420
    edited July 2020
    jdjohn wrote: »
    The ElectroBrand 9700 mini receiver, about the size of a cigar box.
    772nar4ssa7a.jpg
    Technical info on it is scarce, but based on the research I did, it's probably about 12WPC.
    Here are the very basic guts:
    s2ucjcpdsxfm.jpg
    Here is the rear, but I can tell you that the 'Phono' input is really just a line-level input.
    The FM tuner worked fine for me.
    i644iw9gy1k3.jpg
    Also, you can see that the speaker outputs are RCA proprietary, but I can confirm they work!

    I plan to give this to a family friend for use in his garage. Nice small footprint for the receiver. I'll also construct appropriate RCA speaker cables for him, plus I found a pair of wall-mounted indoor/outdoor Infinity speakers in my dad's collection to include.

    More info about the receiver here:
    https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/bizarre-mini-stereo-receiver-electro-brand-9700.769401/

    Nothing proprietary about them. Growing all my mom and dads audio gear had them for speakers. I remember dad going to musicland to buy 3 25' RCA speaker cable extensions to run so he could have tunes in the driveway. I cringe today to think of the resistance on the 20ga cables.

    Shudder
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,972
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    jdjohn wrote: »
    I plan to give this to a family friend for use in his garage. Nice small footprint for the receiver. I'll also construct appropriate RCA speaker cables for him, plus I found a pair of wall-mounted indoor/outdoor Infinity speakers in my dad's collection to include.

    Nothing proprietary about them. Growing all my mom and dads audio gear had them for speakers. I remember dad going to musicland to buy 3 25' RCA speaker cable extensions to run so he could have tunes in the driveway. I cringe today to think of the resistance on the 20ga cables.

    Shudder
    You're right...bad choice of words. Just not your typical speaker binding posts or clamps or whatever with black/red connectors.
    "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
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,874
    edited July 2020
    They were very typical at one time for loudspeaker connections -- typically (but not exclusively) on lower-end components (and loudspeakers).

    Even (e.g.) some pretty respectable and decent hifi receivers (typically in the late-60s/early-70s) had "RCA" connectors for their "B" (or rear channel, in the case of quad receivers) loudspeakers.

    Radio Shack :p loudspeakers in those days often had a pair of screw connectors for bare wire (or spade connectors) and an RCA jack (in parallel to the screw connections). The RCA jacks sometimes even sported little plugs to maintain the air seal of the cabinets (and/or to keep crud outta the jack)! B)

    y2wy7qb2kib8.png

    pffxtnhtzffw.png

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    the little black plastic plug in the RCA jack is visible in this photo :)

    (borrowed images all -- there are one or two pairs of R/S loudspeakers here, but I am too effing lazy to take a photo of the back side of any of them! ;) )


    EDIT: back apron of a Radio Shack "Realistic" QTA-753 quad receiver showing two flavors of loudspeaker connectors :) I actually had one of these (same model) for a while (dump find, of course)... worked fine, but, I mean... why? Even I have my limits (i.e., only so much space in the basement). ;)

    e4yxzz7jvhz4.png

    source: http://vintageelectronics.betamaxcollectors.com/realisticstereoreceivermodelqta-753.html

  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,972
    Yep, I've got some vintage KLH speakers sporting RCA jacks.
    "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
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,874
    edited July 2020
    jdjohn wrote: »
    Yep, I've got some vintage KLH speakers sporting RCA jacks.

    Good point! I think the loudspeakers that KLH sold with/for their "all in one" systems did (and they were pretty fine acoustic suspension monkey coffins of their day).

    060.jpg
    source: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1967/h060.html

    A KLH 24 loudspeaker (yeah, I think I had one of these for a while...)

    8v45hnh431f4.png


    The little KLH 32 might have had an RCA input connector, as well. I had a pair for a while but I really don't remember. I do remember that they sounded far (far) better than their size or their rather nominal construction values (not to mention drivers) would have led one to expect! :)

    1lctelrvipji.png


  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,408
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
  • krazypolk
    krazypolk Posts: 745
    1 hour later and it's already gone. What was the listed price?
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,408
    edited July 2020
    $250. Included the factory box, packing and manual
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
  • la2vegas
    la2vegas Posts: 600
    84wv3710rc1p.jpg
    Bueno, or no bueno?
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,408
    Mui bueno
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,648
    la2vegas wrote: »
    84wv3710rc1p.jpg
    Bueno, or no bueno?

    I like the RT-909. Only drawback is it is not a 15 ips machine. Really depends on condition and price.
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, AudioQuest Thunderbird Speaker and Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,874
    edited December 2020
    tratliff wrote: »
    la2vegas wrote: »
    84wv3710rc1p.jpg
    Bueno, or no bueno?

    I like the RT-909. Only drawback is it is not a 15 ips machine. Really depends on condition and price.

    Indeed. It is a funny configuration, with 10-1/2 inch reel capability but only 3-3/4 and 7-1/2 ips tape speeds. Not a bad deck, and lovely, but not really serious tape hardware. Pioneer made some earlier "prosumer" decks that were a little more serious in intent.

    Full disclosure: I have an RT-909, and it works, but it needs a fair amount of maintenance (CLA, as they say) after four decades. Speciafically, one of the damped tape tensioners is sticking and needs to be torn down, cleaned, and refilled with silicone damping fluid. These decks require a fair amount of effort to rehab. Buying a rehabbed one will be expensive, and buying a fixer-upper will be a commitment (and still not inexpensive). Here's the scoop on rehabbing one, FWIW:
    https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/restoring-a-pioneer-rt-909-reel-to-reel.93227/

    Says Rabbi Rich:
    The RT-909 is by far the nicest consumer reel-to-reel Pioneer ever produced. It is rack-mountable, handles 10.5" reels, is a dual-capstan, closed-loop servo controlled drive, electro-motive reel braking, with auto-reverse capability. The design is truly simple, yet elegant, doing away with most of the complicated mechanism of many of the other decks in its league. The unit I just restored has playback response of 20-20Khz +/- 0.5db, at -10db modulation, which blew me away when I heard it put it all together. My main rig will never be without a one of these beauties. It is no wonder that so many of these units were sold back in the day, even as expensive as they were ($1100 1979 dollars).

    EDIT:
    Oh. Not sure why the photo shows an NAB adaptor on a 7" plastic reel -- don't do that. :#
    Also -- for reasons I (still) don't entirely understand (related to torque), one is not supposed to mix reels of different sizes (although I have been known to do it). In fact, apparently one's not supposed to mix metal and plastic reels. Many decks have "large"/"small" reel size selectors on the front panel, and I know I've seen at least one deck that let the user set the feed and takeup reel sizes separately (for Philistines like me)!

    I still like TASCAM (TEAC) decks for rugged, decent sounding use with minimal headache (FWIW).


  • la2vegas
    la2vegas Posts: 600
    The 909 image that I posted is from a local seller. He wants a hefty 200 dollars for it. He de allude to the fact that it is in need of some tlc.
  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,648
    la2vegas wrote: »
    The 909 image that I posted is from a local seller. He wants a hefty 200 dollars for it. He de allude to the fact that it is in need of some tlc.

    If it works $200 is a steal. But it is nice to have someone local that can rehab them.
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, AudioQuest Thunderbird Speaker and Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,874
    Yeah, as long as it is basically functional/resoreable, that's a ridiculous price -- given the current market. At that price, probably either long gone or a scam, though. :|
  • la2vegas
    la2vegas Posts: 600
    It was from a legitimate seller in Sin City, but yes, it is gone. Sold a few hours after posting.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,874
    surprised it lasted that long. In the Northeast, it'd have been gone in minutes.
  • la2vegas
    la2vegas Posts: 600
    Vegas is a fickle town like that...
  • boston1450
    boston1450 Posts: 7,437
    I had a rt909 & i had Electronics & More go over it before i sold it off, new rollers & tuned up & complete check up. He had it for a month. Picked it up. Played it for 20hrs & listed it for 6-700.00 ( CRS ) with 3 new reels & 1 used reel from original owner. Sold it in one day. Guy drove 5 hours from Vermont to Maine. He left very happy. It was mint as stated & with paperwork from E&M. He called me a month later to thank me again. A happy ending. Pictures were posted in this thread somewhere
    ..
    ..
    ..
    Randy/Maine
  • boston1450
    boston1450 Posts: 7,437
    The rt909 tend to bring followers. It's was beautiful with the big reels. I had Akai & Teac so Pioneer wasn't needed... I got the sa9800 amp eq & tape player & HPM100 big boys & a Pioneer pl720 (I think-it had auto or manual ) & also a cassette player that held 6 cassettes & rt909 ALL for 150.00. It was a money maker for sure. The only thing that i thought was needed was to service the rt909 before selling. The amp eq tape player sold off for 400. Hpm100 350 & pl720 250. I did not like the speakers. Even on the Yamaha 2040. So it all went except the 6 cassette player I kept.
    ..
    ..
    ..
    Randy/Maine
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,408
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,270
    edited January 2021
    Seeing that black Sony cassette in there brings back fond memories of making tapes with TDK and Maxell tapes.

    The fact that they looked cool just added to the experience. I even splurged for an electro-magnet tape eraser from Radio Shack to wipe the tapes before re-recording using $40 I found on my paper route one day. The tape eraser stopped working at some point, but I still have a lot of those tapes I made.

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    I disabled signatures.
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,972
    Need any?
    cywfuu0d5z9h.jpg
    sswzsy6o8pu5.jpg
    I also found one of those electro-mag erasers in my dad's garage.
    "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
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,270
    edited January 2021
    Wow! I've been meaning to get the tape deck set up again, just for nostalgia. I do have a couple of tapes that I should convert to digital to preserve them, some stuff unavailable anywhere else. Next on my list, Jody. You know, after I get my turntable set up again? :D

    Wouldn't mind having a couple of TDKs and Maxells on hand.

    I think I had some of those Sonys too, but for no legitimate reason whatsoever preferred the TDK and Maxell. Probably just due to marketing and/or cool names.

    I found a post on a tapeheads forum about those old bulk tape erasers. They had a use cycle, apparently. I'm sure I read that and didn't understand the consequences at the time.
    I'm pretty sure I probably burned mine up. I used to use it to wipe friends' tapes, too, and once, accidentally, a few computer floppies.
    I disabled signatures.
  • Milito
    Milito Posts: 1,905
    edited January 2021
    I always preferred the Maxells over the Sony tapes.
    Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,874
    msg wrote: »
    Seeing that black Sony cassette in there brings back fond memories of making tapes with TDK and Maxell tapes.

    The fact that they looked cool just added to the experience. I even splurged for an electro-magnet tape eraser from Radio Shack to wipe the tapes before re-recording using $40 I found on my paper route one day. The tape eraser stopped working at some point, but I still have a lot of those tapes I made.

    1z71e0ct96av.png
    lfegtpjp51hu.png

    Lemme know if you ever need a replacement demagnetizer. :)
    There's a couple-three of 'em here (although I guess I only assume they work).
    On the "plus" side, you wouldn't even have to find forty more bucks.

    Back when you were delivering papers, a nice house was, like, fiddy bucks, wasn't it?
    No, wait... that was me.

    B)