Old stereo equipment, still sounds great

[lyle]

I have an old stereo rig in my basement, it's a basic 2-channel setup. The receiver is a Harman/Kardon HK795i, the CD player is a Denon can't-remember-the-model but it has a ONE CD capacity, and my speakers are Polk RTA11's. I think I bought most of this stuff in the late 80's. I probably haven't used it for more than 3 hours the past 10 years.

Somehow yesterday Jupiter aligned with Mars and there was no family home except for me. For the whole day. And with all my work and chores done.

I turned it on and put on some Pink Floyd, and then some Seger, and finally some Planets by Holst all at fairly high volume. I am not by any means a critical audiophile, but I know what good sounding music sounds like, and this really sounded good. I just hope it's not another 10 more years before I put 3 more hours on it.

 

[JHZR2]

Great stuff.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Nice! I've got a similar setup in the garage and I always crank it up when I tinker in there. Acoustics aren't the greatest though due to too many bare walls.

 

[AVB]

I have started collecting older home audio equipment, mostly USA made speakers. So far I have a pair of Cerwin Vega AT12's, a pair of AT8's, a pair of RE8's, a pair of HED6's, and a pair of Advent Legends. I have a old Marantz receiver that needs cleaning it gets scratchy at times. I also have a collection of USA made car subwoofers.

 

[Rob_Roy]

I have a 30+ year old Marantz receiver and some mix 'n match speakers in my shop that still work very well. A $30 MP3 player plugged into the input jacks was a cheap way to have nearly endless tunes in the shop.

 

[SLCraig]

I like older stuff too. I don't have anything super old but my stuff is 90's, Mission 765i tower speakers, Harman Kardon amp, sounds great.

I've always used analog when all possible for interconnects too, I find it sounds better for music. (like using an optical cable from a DVD or CD player for music) I prefer the regular stereo RCA's in that scenario for 2 channel.

 

[dparm]

RTA11 is indeed a vintage Polk. It's from their golden years. Very desirable on the secondary market.

 

[TallPaul]

I have a 65 watt per channel Yamaha component system that I bought new in 1979. With the then New Advent speakers it really sounded great. I am sure it still does, but would need the dust cleaned out of it. I should probably sell it though as I never use it. Has separate amp, tuner, dual cassette deck, and turntable.

I was running an old (probably 1980s or older) 100 watt Radio Shack amp that I picked up for $2 at a garage sale. It was hooked up to run a mp3 player in my F150 through the stock radio's 4x7 speakers. Man did that thing ever kick out some great sound and way louder than I should listen if I want to have any hearing when I am old. It sounded better to me than the Kenwood in the Mountaineer.

 

[AVB]

I guess it is the Advent Legacy II's that I have. I had to refoam them and replace a tweeter. I still have to rebuild the crossover from the one with the blown tweeter.

I forgot all about the pair of KLH 3 ways I have. I am not sure of the model, they are 12" 3 ways that came from Sam's Club. I wanted the 15"s but my parents wouldn't go for that mainly because they were cherry and the entertainment center was oak.

 

[tenderloin]

Have a HK Citation 16 amp w/17S. Still sound great.

 

[AVB]

My grand parents have a old console I need to talk them out of, if they still have it. I haven't seen it in a while. I think it was a Magnavox. I just need some where to put it.

 

[sleddriver]

Great stuff. I like old-fi very much. I still own the first Pioneer SX737 receiver I bought when I was 18. It still works. I've refoamed several old loudspeakers as well to renew them. I'm currently repairing a HK Citation 7 surround-sound/pre-amp. Needs new caps and a power transformer.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: TallPaul
stock radio's 4x7 speakers.
5x7 or 4x6, not 4x7

 

[AVB]

I have my better speakers all hooked up to a newer Marantz 5.1 receiver. I hardly ever listen to music on that system, because I am disappointed with the sound. 5.1 receivers suck compared to 2 channels for my taste in music. It is great for movies it plays nice and clean, but it is too flat it lacks the warmth of a 2 channel.

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
stock radio's 4x7 speakers.
5x7 or 4x6, not 4x7


Thanks, I didn't know, but they were not all that big for the sound they put out.

 

[ddrumman2004]

I still have a Marantz 240 power amp as well as a Marantz 3200 pre-amp. I also have a Kenwood tuner and a Dual 1019 turntable.

But I have retired the Marantz equipment in favor of a HK receiver that has 120 watts per channel. The dual was retired in favor of a Realistic linear tracking turntable and I still use my Realistic CD deck that plays one CD at a time.

My speakers are Sansui SP 5000 with 7 speakers....vintage I guess but do sound great!

 

[HerrStig]

Parts Express.com is a great source of drivers and recone kits to fix old speakers. They even have a selection of "holllow state" devices, although there better sources of tubes for old audio and communications gear. Old gear often stops here on the way to the "transfer" station. Got some Marantz, a BIG Technics, a Carver, and a classic B & O. Everyday stuff is all Proton. It's not difficult to re-driver a good quality speaker system. I think my favorite is the old Technics, it has a great low noise analog tuner and plenty of output power. I have it hooked to a couple of AR 3s. The whole system is too big for my living room so the Proton gear stays there. I even snagged a tuner and amp with Radio Shack lables which were actually made by Kenwood. Nice for backround music and NO soldered in lamps.

 

[Volvohead]

If anyone is really interested in getting into vintage era audio equipment, let me know. I've been doing it for many decades.

We've got restored tubed Fisher gear (late '50s to mid '60s) all over the house, early Marantz SS stuff (early '70s) in the garage, first gen Fisher SS gear (late '60s) at the office, and a 55 year old Grundig table radio in the bedroom. A heavy Thorens/SME rig rides in the main system. All of it fully restored, all of it plays every day, and all of it sounds great. I've repaired and restored more audio equipment over the years than I can remember at this point.

Tubes (vintage era, of course, not new production) sound best, but a lot of better SS equipment before 1975 is also excellent sounding. All of it thrashes what passes for mass market audio of today. Most kiddies' idea of high fidelity these days is what comes out of an "iDevice".

Bear in mind that lower powered units usually sound better (when correctly paired to the appropriate load) than the later "power wars" gear, and anything older than 30-35 years will require at least a partial recap to operate as designed. And that the fabulous tuners of the 50's-70's are mainly wasted nowadays as FM broadcast quality has gotten so bad (no need for a 10b or REL these days).

The beauty and tragedy of this equipment is it can still be acquired cheaply, and that folks really don't know what they have when they haul grandpa's "old stereo" to the curb.

 

[UncleS2]

I remember being very impressed by the Pioneer receivers- with blue lights, no less!- from the early-mid 1970s way back when. A few years ago I bought a Pioneer SX-737 via Ebay- seller lived ~30 miles away, was able to pick up in person & avoid high $hipping! Paid about $50 for it, I think- when I got there he had other stuff & for an extra $15 got some cheap cables, a nice Kenwood multi-CD player w/remote & a RS equalizer. Rated 35-40 Watts/channel & will blow away any of the modern claimed 100 watt units I've ever heard. Sadly, things changed soon after & plans for a retro stereo setup fell through. Still no place to set it up.

I'd love to have it gone through, new caps installed & all controls cleaned & "de-scratchified"- though when I hooked it up through borrowed speakers to ck everything several years ago it sounded Very Good Indeed, with only the faintest of "scratching" audible when turning a few controls. Has all the knobs, original antenna, blue lights all worked & only a few scuffs & scratches.

Here's a link to a spec page I found on the internet: http://www.classicaudio.com/value/pio/SX737.html

 

[Schmoe]

I'm looking for a Pioneer SA-9800.