Any audiophiles or vintage stereo collectors here?

[Rybour]

I Collect mostly vintage high end audio equipment. I have two Yamaha M2's Paired with Polk 1.2TL's with tweeter upgrades.

And this is my newest toy, Sansui G-22000

[dualcarb]

Wow...that's sweet. While I don't collect vintage audio equipment, I do enjoy my music. But living in Hong Kong, space is a luxury. And having two kids doesn't leave me much room to enjoy this love of mine like I used to during my younger days. So I sold off my players, amps and speakers so that I can save that little bit of space. I replaced all of that with a Yamaha YSP 4300 sound bar. I know I know, it is not a component system. But I saved space with this over a stereo amp, an AV amp and nine speakers and a sub. I used separate systems for my music and movies. No more CDs or blu Ray discs too. I listen to all my stuff via my Apple TV and the same goes for my movies. So I did save a ton of space.

My wife says, one day when the kids grow up, you can maybe start enjoying this again. Let's see...but I have already kinda gotten used to this set up. Priorities change and so does ones needs. I can live with this for now. But I am glad to see that there are others still keeping this passion alive. Enjoy and please continue sharing. Thanks for putting up with my lengthy post.

[TheVTCGuy]

Nice system. I am far from an audiophile, but I am pretty well supplied for my music listening with Bose equipment. QC 20 and 25 headphones and an acoustamass system for my living room. Listening to it right now as a matter of fact.

Just curious, how does the vintage receivers compare to today's equipment? Is there a noticeable difference in sound quality? I would think (but could be way wrong) that more modern electronics offer a better sound... But.... ?

[subtona]

Love the old Sansui gear.

Just flipping the switches and turning the knobs is enough to put a smile on my face.

Then there is the sound

[ref1655]

not a collector but recently re-capped/re-tubed my McIntosh C-20 & (2) Dynaco 70 amplifiers (running as mono-blocks). speakers are Tannoy Reds (12 inch co-axials).

prefer vinyl LPs over CDs & currently shopping around for a replacement manual turntable...considering a Linn. to save wear & tear on records, I usually tape them & am still using a three-head Nakamichi cassette deck for that purpose. phased out reel-to-reel decades ago but actually prefer them over cassette.

the only problem with running this older gear is that it's expensive to maintain. NOS tubes are getting harder to find & there are fewer technicians skilled in restoring & repairing vintage tube equipment. nevertheless, will always prefer analog tube over digital stereo because of its natural warmth.

[J!m]

I hadn't intended to be a vintage audiophile, but now that my gear is old I guess I am!

Lets see...

Rega Planar 3 with a Benz Micro silver and a few Michell tweaks
Aragon 47k phono preamp that I need to get re-capped and gone through
Perreaux SM6 preamp- the alien looking one.
Counterpoint SA220 amplifiers running as push-pull monoblocks
Thiel CS 2.2 speakers (in white oak)

Other sources include a Theta Data CD transport into an Aagon d2A converter.

Then there's the other stuff, I use when needed only:

Tascam 32 open reel deck; Tascam 122 Mk III cassette deck; Alesis ML-9600 mastering deck (from analogue to digital format); Tascam CD RW402 for making copies of CDs so the originals stay home and copies ride around in the car. One other Tascam cassette deck... 112R maybe (single head but balanced out)? I used it for a while before I got the 122 Mk III which is much nicer.

Am I forgetting anything?

[Abdullah71601]

I still have my first receiver, a 1979 Onkyo TX 4500 (w/ box and papers), but my Harman Kardin amp and B&O turntable are long gone.

I had the Onkyo refurbished about 5 years ago. It sounds better than the newer digital receivers. The older (1970's) Yamaha speakers sound way better than the new speakers too.

[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

I still have my first receiver, a 1979 Onkyo TX 4500 (w/ box and papers), but my Harman Kardin amp and B&O turntable are long gone.

I had the Onkyo refurbished about 5 years ago. It sounds better than the newer digital receivers. The older (1970's) Yamaha speakers sound way better than the new speakers too.

Really? I am not doubting you but I would think the modern electronic circuitry would enhance the sound(?). I still have a 1980 Onkyo receiver and my 1982 AR speakers, but they are in storage, replaced with modern Bose (six speaker plus SW surround sound). It sounds good to me, but I admittedly don't qualify as an audiophile.

Right now I am considering replacing my old Bose Companion 3 with the new surround sound Companion 5 in my home office.... Anybody got any suggestions on that? The Internet is full of claims that the sound difference is substantial...

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Really? I am not doubting you but I would think the modern electronic circuitry would enhance the sound(?). I still have a 1980 Onkyo receiver and my 1982 AR speakers, but they are in storage, replaced with modern Bose (six speaker plus SW surround sound). It sounds good to me, but I admittedly don't qualify as an audiophile.

Right now I am considering replacing my old Bose Companion 3 with the new surround sound Companion 5 in my home office.... Anybody got any suggestions on that? The Internet is full of claims that the sound difference is substantial...

The shop that refurbed my receiver told me digital makes it cheaper, not necessarily better.

Obviously, it depends on the grade of your system. My original Onkyo was replaced by the HK in the mid 80's. IIRC, the Onkyo was a transition technology that electronically cleaned up distortion. The HK was a more expensive design that was more distortion free without a clean up. The HK had a lovely pure sound.

The Onkyo does stereo (listening to music) very well. It doesn't do theater or other distributions that you get from a modern system. Which is OK for me. Other than sports, DIY, and cooking shows, my TV doesn't get much of a work out anyway.

[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

The shop that refurbed my receiver told me digital makes it cheaper, not necessarily better.

Obviously, it depends on the grade of your system. My original Onkyo was replaced by the HK in the mid 80's. IIRC, the Onkyo was a transition technology that electronically cleaned up distortion. The HK was a more expensive design that was more distortion free without a clean up. The HK had a lovely pure sound.

The Onkyo does stereo (listening to music) very well. It doesn't do theater or other distributions that you get from a modern system. Which is OK for me. Other than sports, DIY, and cooking shows, my TV doesn't get much of a work out anyway.

I'll have to pull that Onkyo out and get the model number. Honestly, the reason I went to to the Bose was for the surround sound capabilities, so don't have much use for the Onkyo, but you are right; in regular stereo it sounded great!

[colpol]

Not an audiophile but do appreciate good music on a good system

Below good enough for me

Audiolab c & p pre & power amp
Arcam cd192 CD player
Denon tu260 tuner
Mission 753 speakers
Linn basik turntable

[J!m]

Nothing wrong with what you have there!

[mapalfa]

All depends on what you want to hear. Modern kit can be very clinical - every little sound jumps out and you can't see (hear) the wood[wind] for the trees. Having said that I love the sound of valve amps, but could never be bothered with the hassle.

We've got a little JVC wall mounted system in the kitchen that's surprisingly good, but the living room TV is connected to a Kenwood AV processor/receiver that pushes nearly 150w per, and weighs over 20kg, through flat panels and a sub, plus a Sony BlueRay that adds CD. In my office I'm more old school with a Creek amp, TEAC CD and Celestion studio monitors. I made the mistake of selling all my vinyl back in the late 80's.

BTW, I'm loving the attention given to the Sub and the valve hi-fi on Bosch!

[gmh1013]

I too prefer the sound from older analog stereo units. Im using a Marantz 2330b, Dual turntable, JBL speakers, Nakamichi cassette deck. I have a old Sony trinitron in "my" bedroom.....my wife says im lost in the 70's and yep im looking for a 71 or 72 Mach 1 right now to start a Mustang collection.

[dysondiver]

while hi tech digi is great ,, and all the advantages it brings to music reproduction are handy ,,,

i still have analogue ears , so its old stuff for me ,

[Mick P]

Chaps

I have two hifi systems.

The main one is NAC52 Pre amp /Supercap / NAP 300 Power amp/ NAT01 tuner / CDS3 CD player / Garrard 401 with Naim Aro arm and Garrard PSU80 / Dynavector 17D3 cartridge and LinnIsobarik speakers mounted on a Mana stand.

The second system is a classic 1980s Naim system 32.5 pre amp / Hicap / 250 power amp with NAT05 tuner and CDX CD player with Naim SBL speakers.

Regards

Mick

[Boothroyd]

Adcom and Magnapan here. Love the vintage stuff. Reminds me of my Pioneer/Dual/Electro-Voice system I built up with work money while in high school.

Walked into a restaurant this weekend that was using Macintosh amp, vintage Marantz pre-amp, Dual turntable and Sonus as the sound system. I think I spent more time looking at their system than the menu.

[Rybour]

Cool gear guys, great to hear that there are more of us out there. Love this older equipment
I feel it was made better!

[TheVTCGuy]

Great set ups! I hope I get to hear them someday

[J!m]

I found an older picture of my 'rig'...



Not shown is the other amplifier and speaker, plus the pile of other stuff I only drag out for "special" occasions...

[Almostlucid]

I would love a good vintage setup coupled with Macintosh. For now I have Marantz receiver with b&w speakers. My sub is SVS.

[daveathall]

Originally Posted by colpol

Not an audiophile but do appreciate good music on a good system

Below good enough for me

Audiolab c & p pre & power amp
Arcam cd192 CD player
Denon tu260 tuner
Mission 753 speakers
Linn basik turntable

Superb.

I had a Meridian CD Player
Audio Research Pre
Musical Fidelity Nu Vista 300 Power
Monitor Audio 20 SE Speakers.

All sadly long gone now, replaced with a sonos system that is nice but not in the same league sound wise.

[joeychitwood]

Not a collector, but I have a vintage system and a modern system, both primarily focusing on vinyl. Vintage system plays through Polk SDA-2A speakers.

My vintage McIntosh system





Technics turntable. Still a beauty. Use it in both systems on and off.





My modern system plays through Spendor S9e speakers.

[Boothroyd]

VERY nice, Joey!!!!!

[J!m]

I see that mastelink Joey! Two great systems! I've heard many great things about the Splendors. Never auditioned them myself however.

[dddrees]

All this brings back memories of Mainz Kastel Germany and when I was in the service. I always thought this was audiophile heaven. Before I went I thought Bose 901s where the epitome of what speakers where supposed to be. Well they weren't bad, but they had speakers there that cost in the $10,000 and buildings and buildings of audiophile equipment. Then the downsizing occurred and Mainz Kastel was no longer. It was almost enough to make you cry. No more Mainz Kastel audiophile heaven. I did however get my 901s as that's what I could afford at the time and that's what I had wanted ever since I can remember hearing about Bose 901s.

[sea-dweller]

Now, I use exclusively Yamaha audio components. I used NAD in the past and still have my old set-up.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by J!m

I see that mastelink Joey! Two great systems! I've heard many great things about the Splendors. Never auditioned them myself however.

I use the Masterlink to record my favorite vinyl LPs to digital. Produces high quality copies. I also have Spendor speakers in my media room. S5e, center channel and bookshelf speakers for the surround system. I love the smooth "BBC sound."

[J!m]

That's exactly what I use mine for. Mainly cassettes as I have a few bootlegs that are not available anywhere else. The big Tascam in the main rig works fine for vinyl and is tied in so I can use it as a second(and third) player as well as record to it, but the Alesis is far superior and has far more flexibility with format and adding "breaks" in between songs etc. the Tascam you have to pay attention and break the recording up as it happens because that burns direct to disc and the Alesis has the hard drive buffer before burning.

[ippon20]

McIntosh with Thorens running through a pair of McIntosh ML-1C