# Who here is in to Vintage Stereo's



## guitarman2

I picked up a 70's Hitachi turntable off a fellow forumite a couple weeks ago and it sparked an obsession to build a high end 70's style stereo system. I've been buying vinyl like crazy and tonight after work I'm on my way up to London to pick up a pair of Sansui SP-100 speakers (Early 70's) and a Pioneer SX-828 receiver (early 70's). 
I'm planning on building another one around a Sansui G9090 or 7000 (Depending on what kind of deal I can find) and some big ass old style tower speakers. I may have found a cool little hobby. Its actually amazing the sound quality you can get from these very well made vintage pieces. Who needs surround sound?
I've got a Thoren TD 190 in my sites to, possibly. Can't decide if I want that or a Rega P2.


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## GuitarsCanada

Where are you finding all the wax?


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## guitarman2

GuitarsCanada said:


> Where are you finding all the wax?


Sunrise records I'm getting some of my new vinyl from. I'm recollecting all the queen LP's from Queen 1 to Jazz on new, mostly 180gram vinyl. I've been getting alot of my used stuff (in excellent condition) from a place in Woodstock (can't remember the name) I played a charity benefit for Tori Stafford at the Woodstock fairgrounds and my daughter won a $25 coupon to this place. Its open 7 days a week until 9pm so after I was done playing I went to check it out. Spent the coupon and an extra $25. Then theres this place across the road from my office here in downtown Hamilton called Cheapies. Its got an excellent stock of new and used vinyl. It will probably be my new favourite out of the three. Its true to its name. I bought an ID card last week for Sunrise that allows me the lower prices on everything. Then yesterday I discovered cheapies and most of the regular prices on their new vinyl beat sunrises ID card prices by about 2 or 3 bucks.


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## bobb

Kinda makes me feel lucky for never bothering to upgrade. I still have the old Hitachi system w/turntable. All that was missing was a cassette deck. The old one died a few years ago but I found a good Kenwood double deck recently at the Sally Ann for $12. I have the whole system hooked up to a switch box complete with in and out to the computer. Nice to be able to commit the old live tapes to the computer. 

Still have all the vinyl from the old days.


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## fraser

i have a marantz sr 2000, just like this one-








its like brand new, found it in the trash. works great.
i need better speakers, but i listen to my cds on it, and the radio.
also ive got rca outs on my pc's soundcard, so i play tunes on it from there as well.
it sounds really good.
theres a warmth and presence i dont hear with modern stereos, or my pc speakers.
nice, nice, and free.


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## shoretyus

I have a Sx- 828 I got from the dump last year that I use as a monitor amp for my recording gear. I picked up a lower model a couple of weeks ago there too. I have speaker coming out my wazoo all from the same store.... Wife bought some nice Whardale speaker for $2.


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## Rugburn

A good friend has some fantastic equipment from the late 60's and 70's. When he spins vinyl, everybody listens. It sounds_* that *_good. I'm going back to vinyl when the funds permit.

Shawn.


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## guitarman2

Rugburn said:


> A good friend has some fantastic equipment from the late 60's and 70's. When he spins vinyl, everybody listens. It sounds_* that *_good. I'm going back to vinyl when the funds permit.
> 
> Shawn.



Well I am sitting here listening to Deep Purple Machine Head. A new 180gram that I picked up from Sunrise the other day. The Pioneer SX 828 and these Sansui 
SP 100's just sound amazing. So much presence and warmth. The Sansui speakers are called book shelf speakers but must have been in book shelves for giants.


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## mhammer

I have one of these, which uses germanium transistors throughout:








and one of these:








one of these:








one of these:








and a couple of other things of similar ilk.
There's a pair of Smaller Advent speakers and AR-3a speakers downstairs that need new foam surrounds on the woofers, and a couple of Dual turntables.
Sadly, none of this is set up. We actually haven't had a functioning stereo or music listening system set up for some 8 years. Most of the record jackets are moldy from a flood in the basement 7 years ago, although the discs are still OK. Happily, the hundreds of 45s, 78s and 8-tracks are in decent shape, although I expect there to be a lot of bleedthrough on the 8-tracks from just sitting around unused all these years.

LUUUUUVVVV the old stereo. Gimme a wood cabinet over one of those goofy molded plastic things any day.


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## guitarman2

I can't read whats on that amp. Is that a Luxman? The guy I bought the pioneer and sansui speakers from tonight had a nice setup. Sansui quadraphonic amp a thoren turntable a rega p3 turntable reel to reel. His Quadraphonic LP collection was very impressive. He also had some quadraphonic recordings on reel to reel. I am getting really addicted to this stuff. Brings back great child hood memories. 
I was in my music room here listening to Pink Floyd dark side of the moon, volume way up and my wife comes in and tells me to turn it down. It was only 35 years ago my mother told me the same thing for the same album.


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## mhammer

Yep, it's a Luxman. Got another one too. Well-made, though after more than 30 years of service, the switches can be temperamental..


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## brimc76

I have a late 70's Yamaha CA-2010 Stereo Amp, Yamaha CT-1010 Tuner and a Thorens TD-160 with Linn Sondek arm still in use - well the Thorens isn't getting much use but the amp and tuner is.


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## Guest

pioneer amp (wood casing), old sony turn table and a teac cassette hooked up to 
the computer. upstairs is all sony. studio is marantz, fisher turn table. Oh..real speakers.


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## aC2rs

Although my systems have evolved over the years, I still have a few pieces from the 70s and early 80s in use.

There seem to be a number of places who rebuild "vintage" amps and receivers, so there must be a lot of interest in keeping old gear going.


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## mrmatt1972

Be careful that this doesn't morph into a tube stereo obsession. I had a prof who had about $15000 into his setup. Saly, he was going deaf and could no longer enjoy it to it's fullest.

I have a Sansui amp (AU-117) that sounds great. People laugh at my component system, but I don't care.


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## mhammer

I've told this story before, but it bears repeating.

Around 1977 or 78, I was at the home of a guy in the Westdale part of Hamilton. It was either to buy some Dynaco stuff from him or sell it to him, I forget which. In any event, the guy was a dyed in the wool audiophile. How much of an audiophle? Well, he had drilled two large holes in his living room so that 18" diameter concrete tubes could be inserted through the floor into the basement, so that he could have "proper" enclosures for his 18" woofers.

While chatting, the guy motions to all the equipnment in the room and says "One of these days all this stuff will be obsolete. You'll buy your music in digital form, on a chip, and listen to it through headphones or wired directly into your brain." My reaction was "Yeah...right". Well, after 30 years, a lot of what he said came true.

Still, I *like* speakers in wooden cabinets.


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## six-string

over the years, i've owned literally hundreds of different stereo components.
all the brand names from Akai,Sansui, Sony, Teac, Yamaha, NAD, Aiwa, Nakamichi,Dual, Technics,Thorens, Bang & Olefson,MacIntosh, JBL, HarmonKardon, Bose,Advent, Tannoy,Nagra,and on and on and on. i count myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to hear and experience so much wonderful technology.
the problem nowadays, as i see it, is that (besides the fact i'm half deaf) the SOURCE material that most of us are putting through our sound system is complete crap. the big problem with CDS, musicDVDs, MP3, MP4 et al is that they are manufactured using compressed, altered and messed up material onto shoddy plastic discs or harddrives through cruddy speaker outputs that are so far removed from the original musical source its pathetic.
of course it does not help that record companies are "REMASTERING" whatever they can get their hands on to screw up the original recordings even worse.
one example is the absolutely horrible remaster that Universal has done of the classic 70's Rolling Stones records. take my advice and seek out the Toshiba/Virgin reissues instead. the difference is night and day. 
and don't buy all that stuff about how vinyl is inherently better. there is a lot of crap vinyl out there too.


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## Diablo

I have a few old wood console type stereos. Are they worth anything?
One of them is from the 1950's, tube powered even....lol. And looks totally mint.

A couple others are just taking up space at the cottage. Probably best for a project or parts.


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## guitarman2

six-string said:


> over the years, i've owned literally hundreds of different stereo components.
> all the brand names from Akai,Sansui, Sony, Teac, Yamaha, NAD, Aiwa, Nakamichi,Dual, Technics,Thorens, Bang & Olefson,MacIntosh, JBL, HarmonKardon, Bose,Advent, Tannoy,Nagra,and on and on and on. i count myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to hear and experience so much wonderful technology.
> the problem nowadays, as i see it, is that (besides the fact i'm half deaf) the SOURCE material that most of us are putting through our sound system is complete crap. the big problem with CDS, musicDVDs, MP3, MP4 et al is that they are manufactured using compressed, altered and messed up material onto shoddy plastic discs or harddrives through cruddy speaker outputs that are so far removed from the original musical source its pathetic.
> of course it does not help that record companies are "REMASTERING" whatever they can get their hands on to screw up the original recordings even worse.
> one example is the absolutely horrible remaster that Universal has done of the classic 70's Rolling Stones records. take my advice and seek out the Toshiba/Virgin reissues instead. the difference is night and day.
> and don't buy all that stuff about how vinyl is inherently better. there is a lot of crap vinyl out there too.


Yeah I've been listening to vinyl now everynight for a couple of weeks. Not all would surpass CD but there are a couple of notables. I never liked Supertramp Crime of the century on CD. My favorite song on the album (hide in your shell) always seemed way too low in volume. When that song came on I'd have to turn the player up almost full just to hear it. Well I listened to it on an old used vinyl copy I picked up. Cost me 2 bucks. It just sounds amazing on vinyl. And I'm playing it on a so so turntable. I've got a line on a systemdek IIX with a glass platter that I'm going to look at on Wednesday night. Now that I've got the vinyl bug here, I've got to get a better turntable.
Also another album I picked up that sounds amazing is Dire straits "Brothers in Arms". I've never owned a copy of the CD so I don't know how it compares. I never really listened that much to Dire straits. Just saw this album in almost mint shape for $2 and grabbed it. Its actually becoming one of my favorite albums.


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## GuitarsCanada

According to a recent article, record sales (wax) have tripled since 2006 and are on the rise. Pull out those old turntables boy's and blow the dust of those albums

Denon USA | DP-500M


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## guitarman2

GuitarsCanada said:


> According to a recent article, record sales (wax) have tripled since 2006 and are on the rise. Pull out those old turntables boy's and blow the dust of those albums
> 
> Denon USA | DP-500M


Well I was using an old turntable but went out and blew $1,700 on a Rega P3 with external PS. Man does it sound amazing.


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## dodgechargerfan

I have a quadraphonic amp that I've been trying to resurrect for years. 

I thinks it's just fuses but the speaker connectors also need to be changed to something that I can use. The connectors on there are weird pronged plug type connections to which I can not find a mate.


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## allthumbs56

I still have my Marantz that I bought in the mid-seventies. She works great and looks fantastic (with the optional wooden case I bought her with).

Out in the garage is our first "boom-box" - a Pioneer. The darn thing has two separate inputs for phono and auxiliary as well as speaker outs. Don't see that on today's portables. I use the aux input for my mp3 player and hook up the speaker outs to my Realistic MC-1000s when I want "more".

Geez - everything I have is old ................ and better.


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## Chito

Krell, Mark Levinson, Naim, Audio Research, Musical Fidelity, Quad, Rogers, Mission, Linn Audio, Thorens, Roksan are few of the brand names I can remember when I used to hangout with a bunch of audiophiles way back in the mid-80s. The only remnant I have of that particular part of my life in the past is a Heybrook TT2 turntable with a Rega RB300 tonearm. Can't even use it now as the power supply is set to 220v.  I just got a Pro-Ject Debut III turntable which I hook up to my DAW. I didn't want to spend anymore than I have to except I ended up getting the Phono Box II USB Phono Preamp and Speed Box II Speed Controller for it. Not entirely happy with it, but it gets my vinyl played. The $1,700 gtman2 spent on his turntable is just about right to get a great sound out of your vinyl and also your vintage systems.


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## aC2rs

GuitarsCanada said:


> According to a recent article, record sales (wax) have tripled since 2006 and are on the rise. Pull out those old turntables boy's and blow the dust of those albums


I have been buying new vinyl but I would buy a _*lot more*_ if the prices were more reasonable. I go to the stores and can easily find several albums I would like to buy - but can't justify spending the $30 to $40 that they are asking for them.


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## guitarman2

aC2rs said:


> I have been buying new vinyl but I would buy a _*lot more*_ if the prices were more reasonable. I go to the stores and can easily find several albums I would like to buy - but can't justify spending the $30 to $40 that they are asking for them.


Yes I agree that its expensive. Unfortunately for my wallet, I'm the kind of guy that will spend it if thats what I want. I just got back from the mall with Neil youngs, "Harvest" and "After the Gold Rush", which cost me $36 and $30. But they sound amazing on my P3. Of course I also have a lot of fun searching out the flea markets and used bins in record stores for used deals and obscure albums that I can't get on CD or even rerelease on vinyl. I've found some great stuff still in great shape.


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## faracaster

I have a certain fascination with older audio gear. Which I would love to expand in the future but right now I have...

.... Two mid 70's Harmon Kardon 730's. I love this amp !!! Very clean and un-coloured tone.









I also have two sets of mid 70's Tangent TM3's. Lots of detail and a real big warm bottom for such a small cab. These were reference monitors in British studios back in the day.
. The drivers are: tweeter - KEF T27-SP1032 woofer - KEF B200-SP1014











I also have an old Heathkit tube amp an AA151 stereo amp. powered by 4 el-84s (14 watts a side). Don't have this hooked up at the moment.










I use a Sansui TU 777 tuner (circa 68-70) with a modern (Canadian) tube amp... a Passion PAK i11




















I have some newer amps and speakers too. It's a lot on fun to check this stuff out. And most of it is fairly inexpensive. I got one of my HK 730's and my Heathkit for $175 for both. Pawn shops and fast cash stores are prime places to find some of this stuff. then of course there are the audio shops that deal in used items.


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## gtrguy

GONE


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## smorgdonkey

I don't know how 'vintage' my system is compared to some of the photos in this thread but I have a 1980 Sony turntable, an old Yamaha Natural Sound Amplifier, a Technics cassette deck and a pioneer tuner. My speakers are the Paradigm Monitor series and were about $1200 back in the '80s. I got the whole system for a song as a guy was 'putting all of my music on my computer'. Anyway...the sound is phenomenal!!


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## guitarman2

smorgdonkey said:


> I don't know how 'vintage' my system is compared to some of the photos in this thread but I have a 1980 Sony turntable, an old Yamaha Natural Sound Amplifier, a Technics cassette deck and a pioneer tuner. My speakers are the Paradigm Monitor series and were about $1200 back in the '80s. I got the whole system for a song as a guy was 'putting all of my music on my computer'. Anyway...the sound is phenomenal!!


I would say your stuff definitely qualifies as vintage. 
My newest vintage score is a pair of Dynaco A25's for $100. Its amazing how good these speakers really are.


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## smorgdonkey

I also have a non-working Technics turntable. Anyone have advice on someone to repair/service it in Nova Scotia?


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## nutter

i have an old harman pm-665 integrated amp that sounds awesome and is a beast


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## RIFF WRATH

Hey Smorg........I have recently checked out 8 turntables (in stock and neglected).........the only problems that I encountered with them was a melted stretched or broken belt...............if you haven't done so, lift the rubber pad and see if you can see the belt where it loops over the little driving wheel.....and is the driving wheel spinning when you carefully move the arm towards the record platen..........and please don't be offended if you have already done as I suggested......anyone know where to get a varity of belts .......in the Kitchener area........thanks in advance...........cheers, Gerry


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## smorgdonkey

I'm sure that mine is direct drive but definitely thanks for the information!

I remember 'back in the day' my girlfriend got a stereo for her birthday (the times have changed haven't they? Nobody gets stereos now for anything!) and her father couldn't figure out why the turntable didn't work...I lifted the mat to reveal that the belt wasn't over the drive wheel...as many were shipped that way.


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## Jeff Flowerday

guitarman2 said:


> Well I was using an old turntable but went out and blew $1,700 on a Rega P3 with external PS. Man does it sound amazing.


Do yourself a favor and do this upgrade:

http://groovetracer.com/subplatter_groovetracer.htm

Well worth the $250 US for the reference version. I also did the acrylic platter, but that's a personal preference thing.


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## guitarman2

Jeff Flowerday said:


> Do yourself a favor and do this upgrade:
> 
> Subplatter_groovetracer
> 
> Well worth the $250 US for the reference version. I also did the acrylic platter, but that's a personal preference thing.


The Groovetracer subplatter (reference) is on my list for the next mod. Probably be ordering in a couple of weeks. I'm going to stick with the glass platter that came with mine. I'm not sure how acrylic would be for Rega's. Rega doesn't use acrylic for any of their tables. The high end one uses ceramic. I wish I could demo an acrylic on my table though. Then at least I'd know if I liked it better than glass.


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## Jeff Flowerday

I went acrylic to lower the noise floor. The noises from the motor and other moving parts don't transfer through acrylic. Glass is good conductor on other hand.

I think Rega uses glass on the lower end models because of price point more than anything.

The other advantage of acrylic is the removal of the dust collecting and transfering felt mat.


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## gregsguitars

Oh yea, need it to spin my records on, Sansuai G 9000, technichs tape deck, Akai reel to reel, Trple 777 Kenwood speaers, Harmon Kardon HK670.


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## Spellcaster

I used to suffer from what my former employer (in a mid-fi store) called "audiophile assholitis". I owned a Bryston 1B preamp, Bryston 3B power amp, Rega turntable with Dynavector arm and Shure V-15 type-III cartridge, Nakamichi 700-TriTracer cassette and Accoustic Research speakers. I found it almost impossible to sell the Pioneers and Sansuis that he stocked, and eventually left the stereo industry disenchanted by nasty, harsh-sounding first generation CD players. I sold my system to a close friend about twelve years ago, and now find I'm content with a middle line Technics receiver, CD player, and Paradigm speakers. As we get older, our taste becomes less sophisticated. And I realize now that there was a point where the hardware became more important than the music.....


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## bolero

I have an Empire 698 turntable from the '70's, and a Fisher 400 tube amp that needs some work....one day i'll get it all hooked up but been too busy lately





















a recent review of the Empire:

Empire 698 - Vinyl bliss for <$500 - a review (pics, long) - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums


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## guitarman2

bolero said:


> I have an Empire 698 turntable from the '70's, and a Fisher 400 tube amp that needs some work....one day i'll get it all hooked up but been too busy lately
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> a recent review of the Empire:
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> Empire 698 - Vinyl bliss for <$500 - a review (pics, long) - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums


Would you like to sell that Empire TT?


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## guitarman2

Jeff Flowerday said:


> Do yourself a favor and do this upgrade:
> 
> Subplatter_groovetracer
> 
> Well worth the $250 US for the reference version. I also did the acrylic platter, but that's a personal preference thing.


Well I finally got around to ordering the Reference subplatter from Groovetracer. Should get it in about 6 to 10 days. At $300 Canadian shipped I hope I hear a difference.


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## bolero

guitarman2 said:


> Would you like to sell that Empire TT?


ah...well it's my only TT & I like it a lot...sounds great & I wanted something other than the standard thorens etc everyone seems to use

do you have a turntable?


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## guitarman2

*2 new Vintage Peices*

Well I picked up 2 new vintage peices to upgrade my 2 channel rig. A 1976 Pioneer SX-5580 (the black faced version of the SX-1050 that was only available in Europe) and a Pair of 1969 Klipsch Walnut Cornwalls with the vertical horns. So now I have more power than my little 10X12 room can handle. My wife thinks the speakers are ridiculously big. She says it makes my 32" LED look like a computer monitor. So what I get from that is she wants me to have a bigger TV in my man cave.


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## hollowbody

guitarman2 said:


> Well I picked up 2 new vintage peices to upgrade my 2 channel rig. A 1976 Pioneer SX-5580 (the black faced version of the SX-1050 that was only available in Europe) and a Pair of 1969 Klipsch Walnut Cornwalls with the vertical horns. So now I have more power than my little 10X12 room can handle. My wife thinks the speakers are ridiculously big. She says it makes my 32" LED look like a computer monitor. *So what I get from that is she wants me to have a bigger TV in my man cave.*


I agree. Time to go shopping!

I have to finally get my NAD C370 in for repairs. One channel started having issues a few years back and I never fixed it. I've been using a Sony receiver instead. I think I should leave the Sony and the Energy speakers together and go and get those Magnepan 1.6's that I've *always*​ wanted!


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## Destropiate

Its not really vintage but tonight I'm going to pick up a pair of Paradigm Phantom V1's with an early nineties JVC 6 disc changer matching Digital Surround Reciever and an Akai Turntable. I have been listening to music on desktop computer speakers and Ipod docks for too long. The gigantic 80's Akai System I used to have was great and I have never even gotten close to the sound with any small speakers. I have the space so I figured why not got back to a big setup. I'm going to need a shovel to get the dust off the boxes my CD's and Vinyl are in though.


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## guitarman2

Destropiate said:


> Its not really vintage but tonight I'm going to pick up a pair of Paradigm Phantom V1's with an early nineties JVC 6 disc changer matching Digital Surround Reciever and an Akai Turntable. I have been listening to music on desktop computer speakers and Ipod docks for too long. The gigantic 80's Akai System I used to have was great and I have never even gotten close to the sound with any small speakers. I have the space so I figured why not got back to a big setup. I'm going to need a shovel to get the dust off the boxes my CD's and Vinyl are in though.


You're going to love it. I came back to vinyl a little over 2 years ago and thats about 80% of my music listening. Although with my new cornwalls I can't beleive how good my CD's are sounding. And all I've got is a cheap Pioneer DVD player. Time to go shopping for a better source for CD's.


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## smorgdonkey

guitarman2 said:


> You're going to love it. I came back to vinyl a little over 2 years ago and thats about 80% of my music listening.


I play vinyl for almost anyone who comes into my place. Many have never heard vinyl and most just have memories of hearing it. Lately, I have been letting people hear Rush's Time Stand Still at 80% volume so that they can hear the difference.


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## Destropiate

I hooked up the stereo last night and I gotta say that it's great to have a setup like this again. I stayed up til about 1:00 am just listening to music, which is something I haven't done in a long time. I feel kinda sorry for some of the kids out there now that don't know anything but the MP3's through Ipods and earbuds/docks they listen to music on. I was in the same boat for a bit there and feel like I was really missing out on the "experience" that listening to an album should be. Reclaiming my youthful enthusiasm for listening to music..........hells yeah!


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## guitarman2

A couple of additions to my 2 channel rig over Christmas holidays. Klipsch Cornwalls and a Rega Apollo CD player. I`ll soon be modding the Cornwalls with the Bob Crites crossovers and his CT125 horns. Supposed to make a great improvement.


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## lawntractornut

*Vintage Stereos A Renewed Interest!*

Hi Guys, Just read your post from 2 years ago, and found it very interesting. Just thought I would update you on Vintage Stereos, if you haven't already heard. The Vintage Stereo syndrome is picking up speed, and many people are now collecting stereos from the 1960s, and 1970s, because they were better built, and have a better sound then today's "Throw Away" crap! There are many websites were you can find info on these silver faced beauties, as well as buying them. I just finished rebuilding a Realistic STA-2080 receiver from 1980, along with the Realistic Mach One speakers, I also have 2 Realistic mixing boards, a Realistic Reverb unit and a Realistic LAB-400 turntable all from the 1970s. When I am done my little project, not only will I be able to listen to music with great sound I will also be able to plug my Guitar and Mic in and do some recording!


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## WCGill

guitarman2 said:


> A couple of additions to my 2 channel rig over Christmas holidays. Klipsch Cornwalls and a Rega Apollo CD player. I`ll soon be modding the Cornwalls with the Bob Crites crossovers and his CT125 horns. Supposed to make a great improvement.


Just found this thread also. Did you put the CT125 tweeters in your Cornwalls guitarman2? Like them? I had a set in my old La Scalas with the 4k crossovers and hated them, took them out. I still have them. They might be ok with stock crossover. Just wondering as I have a pair of Cornwalls too. The Cornwalls really like tube amplification.


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## J-75

Just discovered this thread...

In the 60's I was an amateur audiophile of sort, built amps, speaker enclosures & stuff, used to subscribe to "The Absolute Sound".
During the 70's & 80's, popular tastes in music and my audio preferences went their separate ways, and I guess I never came back.
I sold my tape, tuner, amp and Goodmans 18" cabs 30 years ago.
Eventually, my wife informed me that we had no way of playing recorded music, so I went out and bought a rack of Nikko stuff, just to suit the purpose.
I sold off about 80% of my vinyl about 15 years ago. A lot of it so old, it wasn't even in stereo.
I sold my Empire 698 just a few months ago because I never used it. I got tired with handling vinyl - mounting, track selection, etc.
I've grown old, and impatient - when I want to hear something, I want to hear it _now,_ and I want to compose my own playlist, rather than have to be a DJ, sitting beside my TT.

What I'm waiting for, is the day they offer "60's analog audio" in a cheap, standard digital format, and dump CD and mp3 formats.


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## WCGill

J-75 said:


> What I'm waiting for, is the day they offer "60's analog audio" in a cheap, standard digital format, and dump CD and mp3 formats.


Playing wav files from a server is what you're after I'd say. Very current and getting more popular all the time.


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## guitarman2

WCGill said:


> Just found this thread also. Did you put the CT125 tweeters in your Cornwalls guitarman2? Like them? I had a set in my old La Scalas with the 4k crossovers and hated them, took them out. I still have them. They might be ok with stock crossover. Just wondering as I have a pair of Cornwalls too. The Cornwalls really like tube amplification.


Yes I put the CT-125's in my cornwalls with the Bob Crites cross overs which is basically spec'd stock. In my opinion they are an improvement. Smoother and more extended than stock. Although I've kept my stock tweeters and crossovers in storage.
I thought about getting a tube amp for my Cornwalls but I picked up a Pioneer SX5580 (Import version of the SX1050) and I think it sounds great with the Cornwalls.


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## dtsaudio

I just found this thread as well. It seems vintage gear is still alive and well, although it's good to see some of you guys are using modern gear as well.


> I had a prof who had about $15000 into his setup


That's a pretty pricey system for the day. I have a CD player worth that much in my shop right now. I think my turntable still sounds better.

Even my kids (13, and 17) are into vinyl. My son just picked up the new Black Sabbath in vinyl and he has about 20 albums already.



> Well I was using an old turntable but went out and blew $1,700 on a Rega P3 with external PS. Man does it sound amazing.


Enjoy. It should give you years of great service.

There is some really great vintage gear out there for sale, but there is also a thriving market for really good new hifi gear. Some of you guys are in areas where there are some excellent dealers. Go out and have a listen to what great sound an do.


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## J-75

bolero said:


> I have an Empire 698 turntable from the '70's, and a Fisher 400 tube amp that needs some work....one day i'll get it all hooked up but been too busy lately
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> a recent review of the Empire:
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> Empire 698 - Vinyl bliss for <$500 - a review (pics, long) - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums


I sold my mint Empire 698 last year for $600 (to fund a Fender Deluxe V bass) because I haven't played vinyl in a decade. I lucked into a Thorens afterward, and that has inspired me to get a pair of Klipsch Heresy II's. I have a rack of Nikko gear that I got new about 25 years ago.
Before that, I had a (tube) Eico ST-70 amp, Marantz tuner, Lenco TT, Sony 1/4 track 1/4 tape, and a pair of Goodmans speakers that I made, using 18" power-range woofers, Midax horns & piezo tweeters. The woofers were intended for electric bass amps, and were very inefficient at listening room levels. They would only get into their sonic comfort zone when they were pumped by about 30 watts (the suspension was very stiff). I sold the speakers to some Jamaicans who felt they were perfect to play Reggae records.

_Just discovered that this is a revived old thread which I contributed to a year ago, so if you think you're reading double, you are._


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## guitarman2

J-75 said:


> I sold my mint Empire 698 last year for $600 (to fund a Fender Deluxe V bass) because I haven't played vinyl in a decade. I lucked into a Thorens afterward, and that has inspired me to get a pair of Klipsch Heresy II's. I have a rack of Nikko gear that I got new about 25 years ago.
> Before that, I had a (tube) Eico ST-70 amp, Marantz tuner, Lenco TT, Sony 1/4 track 1/4 tape, and a pair of Goodmans speakers that I made, using 18" power-range woofers, Midax horns & piezo tweeters. The woofers were intended for electric bass amps, and were very inefficient at listening room levels. They would only get into their sonic comfort zone when they were pumped by about 30 watts (the suspension was very stiff). I sold the speakers to some Jamaicans who felt they were perfect to play Reggae records.
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> _Just discovered that this is a revived old thread which I contributed to a year ago, so if you think you're reading double, you are._


Crap. I would've been interested in your Empire.


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