Audio Karma - Vintage Audio Discussion

Woot woot!

The new Radiohead just showed up on Amazon.ca for pre-order and price guarantee, so needless to say I ordered.

I also got an email from a local record store thet they received stock of TWS Peel Sessions (I'm guessing the RSD colored vinyl copy) so I phoned and am looking up a copy tomorrow.

Now I'm just waiting for the PJ releases to show up and hope they finally release TWS Get Behind Me Satan, to compete my collection.

I love visiting the record store. They know their music, friendly and even have hand stamped bags. You don't get that on Amazon.

I was expecting regular Black Vinyl, but looks like I got a RSD offering. Unless of course the full pressing in on Red & White too, but I don't see that happening.

It makes the $40 (cdn or course) price tag easier to swallow. But it is a double vinyl, so not out of line with other double releases on 180g.

I'd like to add my recent acquisitions in the last two months. Having just recently started collecting this past Friday I obtained my "Sonic grail" of a receiver. My first purchase was the Sony STR 7055 rated at 35wpc.

My second was "monster receiver" a Realistic 2100D rated at 125wpc.

Then on Friday the 13th I had the good fortune of purchasing a Marantz 2500. This is rated at 250wpc! I believe this effectively end my Hobby. Lol. I have no desire for the Pioneer 1980 as I saw it in person and didn't care for it's size. Nor do I like the aesthetics of the Sansui 33000.

Only 1649 Marantz 2500 were made. How many survive today is a big question thus their scarcity. Even less of the Marantz 2600. About 800 or so were manufactured.
In the pic below you can see the "baby Sony" on top of the Realistic. The Sony could in fact fit inside the chassis of the Realistic. A huge size disparity. However, it was the Sony which displaced the Realistic in terms of sound quality and now resides in the bedroom while the Realistic is in the garage.
The Sony displays a more softer, rounder and fatter sound thus lending itself to a more "3D" or immersive listening experience. My wife who doesn't normally care of these things even mentioned how nice the Sony sounded and once I got the Realistic back from the shop she waved the monster receiver cout the door. Lol.
I'll be honest I don't have high hopes that the Marantz will best the Sony. But we shall see.

Those are some great looking received. I love seeing them all lit up. They sure don't make them like that any more, that Marantz is huge. Sony made some very underrated receivers back in the day.

I sold off one of my vintage Sony's (a 7055 as well) a while back and my keeper Sony STR-V5, needs some maintenance.

One of these days I'll get it up and running 100%. I think you have inspired me to find a well respected, vintage audio dealer in town and get a quote on cleaning it.

Back around the turn of the century my old Yamaha amp was dying a slow death so started looking for a replacement. None of the amps i was looking at had phono-pre's which was a necessity but i knew i could build that.

Found Norm Thagard designed pre in a magazine in the library which in turned led me to AudioXpress magazine. Started buying that and one issue had build articles on a small tube amp using 6v6's for power tubes and 6sl7's for the phase inverter, figured why not i can build that. The library also had Audio reality by Bruce Rozenblit and that had the schematic for Transcendent Sounds Grounded Grid Preamp what have i got to lose, i can build that too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Thagard

The preamp was my first tube project, went crazy with the power supply, Bruce would not approve. Using NOS Sylvania 12au7's. Has functioned flawlessly for over a decade. Modded it a few of years ago (so have some interior pics) with a mono switch after loosing the hearing in one ear.

I built the other two circuits as well but that was before i had a digital camera so some day i need to open them up and take a few pictures.

This is another phono pre i made, battery powered, inexpensive and sounds fine.



Scratch built Transcendent GGP, kits are available for this











Have also built a Gain clone for my daughter as well as a preamp designed by Gary Gallo, a couple 'chip' builds. Have transistor amp build for my work space that's getting close to being done. Was published in AudioXpress in 2005, i've been throwing bits in a box since then, i think i have it all now.

Building/testing Gain Clone, only picture i have.



Gary Gallo Preamp





DIY shop amp pcb's (the small board's for a guitar pedal)





Have a Rega Planar 3 and my speakers i bought while in university. Tempest One's, made by ESS so they have Heil Air Motion Transformers. Re-foamed the woofers a few years back, kit was my first internet purchase, speakers still going strong.

dave

That is super cool Dave. I don't have near the skill or brains to do any of that, so I tip my hat to you.

You are a wizard in the kitchen and on the grill, and now we find out you are also a wizard around a soldering iron.

Bruce
Definitely get it up & running. Worth the investment. The sound isn't even comparable to today's receivers. I was skeptical but not anymore.

Dave,

Those are some mad skills and a hit tip to you indeed. Very clean work. Wonderful & THANK YOU for sharing.

Thanks [MENTION=36370]brucered[/MENTION] and [MENTION=46087]rxonmymind[/MENTION].

Bruce, just another way to burn myself.

It's an on going learning journey!

dave

This is awesome [MENTION=89559]davent[/MENTION]! I've built some summing mixers, compressors, pre's and eq's and this is some really nice work.

Thanks Don, sounds like you had some fun as well. Once i'm done with the little shop amp i'm should be good for HiFi gear, but i do have an old Fisher tube integrated amp that needs restoring. I've also come to the realization one can't build too many guitar amps.

dave

Well gents it's been one heck of a month. Just picked up a pair of Klipsch Belle's and let me tell you they are very nice speakers. Paired them with my 125wpc Realistic 2100D and seemed to be a match. As an added bonus they get LOUD. Man, music takes on a whole new dimension when turned up especially with horns.

Those make the neighbors windows rattle I bet.

Duckster said:

Those make the neighbors windows rattle I bet.

Click to expand...

They certainly do mine! I always shelved the idea that speakers could "shake the house". I have a large home and it filled every bit of that space. Then some. I only had the receiver on the 9 O'clock position!

Their keepers!

Wowsers!

Very nice.

Wow, just found this thread, and it already feels like home. My stuff is pretty modest: Vandersteen 2c speakers, B&K ST-140 amp, B&K Pro-5 preamp, NEC T-710 tuner, Denon CD player, Philips 312 Electronic turntable, Aura Symphonics interconnects, and Distech 312SC speaker cables (the last two were my nerdy acquisitions... a dealer friend who was way more into it than me convinced me that interconnects and cables were the "real thing" and sold me the stuff below dealer cost).

Still have a box of LPs in my closet... including some nice direct to discs like Earl Fatha Hines, Bill James, and Tower of Power.

Unfortunately, a few moves and a recent downsize and everything sits in boxes while a denon receiver, sony dvd, and Mirage AVS-500 sub/satellite system system gets used. Hope to someday pull them out and just listen for an hour. And perhaps live viariously through this thread...

btw, for anyone still interested in a very good turntable, a new company called U-Turn looks like its taken on the challenge with a very good, inexpensive deck. A dealer friend compares it favorably to the old Regas.

http://uturnaudio.com/turntables/

Well, not vintage. Unless you consider a JVC 5 disk CD changer and Yamaha NS-A100XT speakers vintage. Probably from the 90's

But I finally got myself an OK turntable and receiver.







Also got an old BSR equalizer. No idea what it does or how to hook it up. But everything sounds OK without it.

rxonmymind said:

Well gents it's been one heck of a month. Just picked up a pair of Klipsch Belle's and let me tell you they are very nice speakers. Paired them with my 125wpc Realistic 2100D and seemed to be a match. As an added bonus they get LOUD. Man, music takes on a whole new dimension when turned up especially with horns.

Click to expand...

Very, very nice! Do you have other vintage Klipsch models?