This joint needs some more vintage hifi

1171820222362

Comments

  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    I don't much care for the sound of most of the Superscope-era Marantz receivers.

    These? These I like.

    14476943406_1a372b8e5a_b.jpgDSC_6691_ by mhardy6647, on Flickr
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    Terribly sweet, and yes I was the one who "punched" out his other "pringles looking guy picture" eye for having such nice gear... :(
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    Very nice "vintage" gentleman...TY for sharing
  • soundfreak1
    soundfreak1 Posts: 3,374
    The yammy had a nice look amd sound back then. A clean understated look.
    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
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    Actually the CR-1000 is a little too disco for me with all the slide controls -- oh-so-fashionable ca. 1974 they were. Other than that, it's a very nice piece of hardware with a remarkably good tuner section for a receiver.

    Aesthetically, I am probably most partial to the CA-1010 and CA-2010 integrated amplifiers as the sine qua non of the massmarket Yamaha hardware (some of their statement separates are more elegant and/or more impressive, but still out of my price range... at least in terms of what I am willing to spend for vintage solid state stuff).

    11535696185_165df1328f_b.jpgDSC_6689_z by mhardy6647, on Flickr
  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,556
    mhardy6647 wrote: »

    Aesthetically, I am probably most partial to the CA-1010 and CA-2010 integrated amplifiers as the sine qua non of the massmarket Yamaha hardware (some of their statement separates are more elegant and/or more impressive, but still out of my price range... at least in terms of what I am willing to spend for vintage solid state stuff).

    /quote]

    The price range is always the issue. 10 years ago you could play with these and not worry about it. Anymore, the $$$ becomes a factor.
    I like to buy stuff non-working. I've seen broken stuff going for
    hundreds of dollars. The 1150 was $100 BROKEN (the balance slider
    was GONE). The only reason I jumped was the guy who sold it to me
    said it was the only thing wrong, It was a guy I know, so lower risk.
    The KR-7600 was more of a crap shoot.

    "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
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    edited August 2014
    The price range is a factor that has to be balanced against... shall we say... desire to acquire.

    E.g. I'd have no issue at all in paying current market price for a Marantz 8B in good working and cosmetic condition from a reliable, local seller. Absolutely no problem at all...

    9612442175_d4349ea751_b.jpgMarantz8B by mhardy6647, on Flickr

    That one's not mine, but I did the re-hab on it and I've gotta tell you it's the best sounding commercially-made vacuum tube amplifier I've had in my home (and I am not, a priori a big fan of the push-pull EL34 "sound")... even with the cheap-jack "cannon fodder" Sovtek output tubes installed in it while I was workin' on it, it sounded great.
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    I love the vintage Yamaha receivers too.... and I am a big fan of their old amps as well... they are way under appreciated...The only thing I don't like about much of the vintage stuff is the connectors....RCA and Speaker connections don't seem to age well. And yes the 8B is a classic perhaps even a museum piece.
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    I love the vintage Yamaha receivers too.... and I am a big fan of their old amps as well... they are way under appreciated...
    Don't complain ; - )
    ...And yes the 8B is a classic perhaps even a museum piece.
    Well... except that they deserved to be used not just gatherin' dust.
    The other classic commercial amp I'd like to get to know better is the h/k Citation II (FWIW).

  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,556
    The citation 16a is one that I can't seem to get my hands on.

    As far as the Kenwood goes, some more work tonight found that the
    preamp jumpers were causing issues. After some cleanup, the bass
    has improved on the Kenwood. Who'd think that could cause that
    much of an issue? I still need to pull it down all the way. Some of the pots are
    coupled to the back via long shafts. I've got to pull the back off to get to
    them. Such is life with old stuff.
    "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
  • dudeinaroom
    dudeinaroom Posts: 3,609
    Those old HK units are built like a tank. The build quality screams McIntosh. I had my hands in a citation pre-amp last week, and they sound very nice. We ended up replacing the unshielded input leads and changed the volume control to an alps. With a little chassis and knob modification it looks like no one even touched it from the outside.whgwn4g6rio5.jpg
    u6osd2n940n6.jpg
    bq1q0990ifcl.jpg
    u0x4phkabd2v.jpg
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    Jeez that is very sweet ... that my get my vote for Vintage P O R N of the year...
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • My ESS AMT 1s. Neat speakers

    33yn6bwea7xu.jpg
    j763ymmi54s3.jpg
    cfazv7400qbc.jpg
    HT System:
    Marantz NR-1403
    Front: Klipsch CF-4
    Rear: Paradigm Atom V3
    Center: Boston Acoustic VR12
    Sub: Bowers & Wilkins ASW600

    2Ch:
    Restored Fisher 500C
    Yamaha P-500 Turntable

    Living Room:
    Harman Kardon 3380
    Restored Polk Monitor 7B

    Bedroom:
    Harman Kardon VR-3750
    Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble
    Polk PSW10

    In and out of rotation:
    KLH Model 6,
    Polk LSI7
    NAD 7100
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    The h/k preamp and the ESS speakers are very nice...
  • TNHNDYMAN
    TNHNDYMAN Posts: 2,145
    The ESS AMT 1A's are what I grew up listening to on my dad's system. Not for everyone, but it certainly pushed me towards a quality speaker with nice bass and detailed highs. He still has them, and I'm acquiring parts as I can to rehab them in the future. The HEIL tweeters are really nice and you see the same principles being applied to a lot of new offerings.
    2-ch System: Parasound P/LD 2000 pre, Parasound HCA-1000 amp, Parasound T/DQ Tuner, Phase Technology PC-100 Tower speakers, Technics SL-1600 Turntable, Denon 2910 SACD/CD player, Peachtree DAC iT and X1asynchorus USB converter, HSU VTF-3 subwoofer.

  • dudeinaroom
    dudeinaroom Posts: 3,609
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    The h/k preamp and the ESS speakers are very nice...
    I wouldn't mind giving those ESS speakers a listen. That H/k was nice mhardy, save ofr the couple of blemishes on the back under the tubes near the input jacks, it was in pristine condition. We fired it up before freshening it up and it sounded congested. After it just sung right, very nice sounding vintage pre. I wouldn't mind having a citation I like that to rotate through the mix.
  • dudeinaroom
    dudeinaroom Posts: 3,609
    edited August 2014
    y4385wpb0lxl.jpgjpx978kjbp15.jpg
    Here is/was a basket-case of a Scott 290 amp. I had to rewire much of it, as a chunk of the wires were burnt from the heat of the dual rectifiers. Most of the wiring in that thing ran between those 2 hot tubes, now there are 2 in that location, and only because that is were they need to connect to. All other wires were ran around the outside of the tubes. We also greatly increased the wattage dissipation of the dropping resisters to help cool things down under the chassis. I wish I would have gotten pics of the lk-150 I did about a week or so ago as it was very very clean, and also another nice sounding unit. I should note that the 290 in the pics above had a "tacoed" chassis, as well as the far right control on the face was smashed back in about 3/8 of an inch. A little bit of wood and a hammer can make things straighten out pretty decently.



    Post edited by dudeinaroom on
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    edited September 2014
    Finally had some bandwidth to test the trifecta of MX5050 MkIII-2 decks. They all three work pretty darned well and sound quite good, as is.

    The two on carts are pretty grungy, but it's a Velveteen Rabbit rather than a Curt Cobain kind of grunge... they were clearly much loved ;- )


    15210908585_26c410df81_b.jpg
    DSC_0056 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

    Nice thing about these decks -- they're half-track decks, but they come with a quarter-track head stack, too. A switch under the head cover selects the 2 vs. 4 track playback heads. Easy as that.



  • boston1450
    boston1450 Posts: 7,438
    edited September 2014
    Just got my Yamaha CR-1000 & love it. Cant wait to use it this weekend
    ..
    ..
    ..
    Randy/Maine
  • boston1450
    boston1450 Posts: 7,438
    l43n49bxo4cp.jpg
    ..
    ..
    ..
    Randy/Maine
  • Glen B
    Glen B Posts: 269
    I recently got this minty Technics SU-A6 preamp, with MC phono.

    SUA61.jpg~original

    SUA62.jpg~original

    SUA63.jpg~original
    Main System: Denon DP-59L | Audio-Technica AT33EV | Marantz SA-11S2 | Classe DR-10 | Classe CA-300 | Classe RC-1 | PSB Stratus Gold i's | DIY Balanced AC Power Conditioner | Acoustic Zen and NeoTech cables | Oyaide and Furutech power connectors | Dedicated 20A isolated ground line.

    Home Theater: Toshiba D-VR5SU | Laptop #1 |Outlaw Audio OAW3 wireless audio system | Marantz SR-19 | Phase Linear 400 Series 2, modified | AudioSource 10.1 EQ (for subs) | Axiom M3 v3’s | Axiom VP150 | Optimus PRO-X55AVs | Dayton 12” powered subs (x2) | Belkin PureAV PF-60 line conditioner.

    Party System: Laptop #2 | Audioquest Dragonfly USB DAC | Technics SU-A6 | Acurus A-250 | Radio Shack 15-band EQ | Pioneer SR-9 reverb | Cerwin Vega DX9's | Dayton 100° x 60° horns with titanium HF/MF compression drivers.
  • boston1450
    boston1450 Posts: 7,438
    lpivt7pts8t3.jpg
    ..
    ..
    ..
    Randy/Maine
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    I took advantage of a rainy morning today to -- finally -- "restore" the other knob inserts on my dump-find EICO ST-40 integrated amplifier (pp 7591A, as was its big brother the ST-70). Years ago, I had found some brown textured paper at a Michael's craft store that was a pretty darned good match for the missing inserts.

    I feel much better now.

    15468965421_db80b78dd4_b.jpgDSC_0198 by mhardy6647, on Flickr
    15285518097_425a71d194_b.jpgDSC_0200 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

    ST-70 on the left, ST-40 on the right

    oh and I spent an hour or so listening to it via a pair of Dynaco A-35XL speakers.
  • boston1450
    boston1450 Posts: 7,438
    edited October 2014
    Looks very nice Mark. We use to have a shed at our local transfer station & a year ago they locked it up. I use ta enjoy going to get rid of trash/recycles. Use ta get some goodies too
    ..
    ..
    ..
    Randy/Maine
  • jcaut
    jcaut Posts: 1,849
    I recently acquired and restored a couple of significant-to-me, Realistic receivers.


    I would have been about 11 years old in 1981, and my dream receiver was the STA-2080. But I didn't get one, couldn't afford one, etc.. It took a few years but by 1984-'85 I had saved up enough to buy the "new for '84" STA-860. I ended up selling my original a few years ago, but almost instantly regretted it. Found one recently for $59 that I couldn't pass up. A few weeks later I acquired a working-but-overheating STA-2080. I worked it over and here it is along with the 860. I tend to like to keep the original look when it comes to dial lighting on these old receivers, but many of them- including this STA-2080- desperately needed cooler-running lamps, as the heat was taking a toll on the plastics. I tried and tried, but I just couldn't get the warm-white LED's to look right. I finally threw that approach out the window and went for a cooler look with blue tinted meter lighting. I think it looks nice. (The 860 lighting is all LED, too, but maintains the original look.) p0e80sdv4j7p.jpgftxzfnjkqzns.jpg
    2u9in2k960lj.jpg
  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited October 2014
    Those old Realistics are nice! I have a couple myself. An STA-2200 (first RS unit with Mosfet power transistor construction).

    And, one of my favorite looking pieces below, the STA-95, but the 2080 is more powerful, bigger, and has POWER METERS! And those new lights are "sure" pretty!

    Will put all my RS stuff together in a room eventually. Probably the STA-95 (or 2200) some Nova 8s, LAB 395 TT, SCT 33 cassette deck, and a CD 2300. Pretty much a nostalgia system but I was a lot older than 11 in '81! Reminds me of everything I never had in college/and graduate school!

    nm8b2tqmjt4b.jpg


    cnh

    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    Very nice Jason.
  • pumpkinman
    pumpkinman Posts: 9,497
    ocdwc9yn8352.jpg


    This was given to me recently as an "I don't want it anymore" Well it now has a happy home.
    Proton D1200 power amp from1988.
    Sorry it 's not a better pic.

    P-man
    lmivdewpnb28.jpg


    Because I am The Pumpkinking


    A Kind Word Is An Easy Gift To Give
  • Tbone289
    Tbone289 Posts: 661
    ftxzfnjkqzns.jpg

    She's a beauty! B)

    2.1: PC>Schiit Gungnir MB>Schiit Freya Noval>NAD C-270>Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1, HSU STF-2 5.1: HDMI Bitstream>Denon AVR-1910>polkaudio RTE55, CS350-LS, RT3, HSU STF-2, Visio M55-F0
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    edited October 2014
    ^^ That R/S receiver (RS-2080) is, I believe, the model with the MOSFET outputs; I can't ever remember hearing one... but they're said to sound quite good.

    017.jpg