Classic High-End Gear

Luxman L-550

"First of a very successful line of integrated amplifiers which would receive many awards and sell very well worldwide.
Designed and produced before the Alpine"takeover / collaboration" and just before the DAD revolution, the L-550 did receive a "State of the Art" award in 1982 besides being selected as "Best Product" by Stereo Sound."
l-550.JPG
 
I wasn't too impressed with myself yesterday--I missed out on a C-J phono stage. It only lasted a couple of hours before it was sold...
Don't be hard on yourself. I feel your pain. It took me three years to get the phono cartridge I lusted after. I practically slept on eBay's front porch.
You still have a kick-butt system that by all rights should be in the Museum of Modern Art.
 
Luxman L-550

"First of a very successful line of integrated amplifiers which would receive many awards and sell very well worldwide.
Designed and produced before the Alpine"takeover / collaboration" and just before the DAD revolution, the L-550 did receive a "State of the Art" award in 1982 besides being selected as "Best Product" by Stereo Sound."
l-550.JPG
This is the first I've heard of this model. Clean, uncluttered design. If it performs as good as it looks (and by all accounts it does) it was and still is a winner. Thanks for posting a nice pic.
 
There was three models in this line, the L-510/L-530/and L-550, all were sold in Europe and Canada, for some reason they decided to not sell these models in the US. :dunno: I have the L-530, it oozes quality.
l-530.JPG
Good grief - WHY was the US market excluded? I'm afraid to ask. What a wacky world.
 
Nakamichi CR-7

224029-nakamichi_cr7_cassette_deck.jpg
Very nice! The bulk of my system is rack mounted and black except for my vintage Nakamichi LX-3, which is silver. It's not mounted in the rack but rests on top of the other components. It has always stuck out like a sore thumb due to its color but to this day it sounds as sweet as ever.
 
Had a pair of Bozak Concert Grands P-310 from a church in oak built to spec cabinets for $250. Just amazing but too big for my office. Pushed with Scott LK-72 amp. Also, Luxman, Rotel, Hafler, Yamaha, and some other stuff just for fun. Truly amazing speakers but my wife wouldn't let me leave them in the living room. Sold them. These did not have the crossover mods (Tobin?)

So, what do I use now for speakers? A pair of speakers in homemade cabinets that housed a pair of EV-12trx speakers. Replaced with Bozak 199C woofers coupled to a pair of Altec Lansing 806A/811B horns sitting on top by a EV Sentry 1A crossovers. Ideal? Probably not. Cheap...yes. Sound good? You bet. I can go down to our local high end retailer and listen to their $14,000 orange colored French speakers that they hype in a perfect audio room (well, they say it is) and my speakers are more alive, more clear, more balanced, imaging is better, and soundfield is more open and free breathing than their high dollar set up. I don't use a subwoofer and am merely pushing them with a Rotel RB-2000 base amp controlled by a Yamaha C-80. Sources are DAC computer using Spotify and anything else available, Akai r to r, and a simple AR turntable (with a new belt). Total investment? Outside of the computer and DAC, about $750.
 
Lowly but not to me OHM Walsh 2xos
Polk SDA 2 Bs
Sansui 881
Sansui G9700
Dual 1229
Kenwood 9600
Klipsch corners. Sweet sweet sound
I started out as a child.
Not done yet:confused:;)
 
My first audio purchase was a used Fisher 500B receiver, found on the consignment shelf at Shore Drugs in Shorewood, WI (a suburb of Milwaukee). Shore Drug was a pharmacy that had an audio department. I paid $60 for it in 1965 or so.

My father was a childhood friend of William Hecht; they grew up on the same block on the east side of Milwaukee.

Mr. Hecht went on to a distinguished career in audio, receiving patents, including a patent for the first soft dome tweeter. He had a company, United Speaker Systems, first in New Jersey, later in Jacksonville, FL, that manufactured speaker systems for Fisher (many of the early Fisher XP-series systems came from Mr. Hecht's company).

We always had his speakers in the house. My dad had an XP-1 as part of his early mono hi-fi system. I had a pair of XP-5 speakers for my Fisher 500B. Whenever we needed speakers, we would call Mr. Hecht.

Eventually, Mr. Hecht's company came out with its own line -- Phase Technology or PhaseTech, which were pretty well regarded.

Mr. Hecht died a few years ago. I believe his son runs the company now. My Fisher 500B and all those speakers are long gone.

https://www.cepro.com/article/industry_audio_pioneer_bill_hecht_89_dies
 
I'll submit the Audio Note OTO Phono SE integrated amp but could apply to all their amps. The OTO has been selling continuously for 25 years and won the level matched blind audition in Hi-Fi Choice's shootout and recently won ampifier of the year here in Asia by Hi Fi Review. Not bad for a 25 year old design. Class A, single ended typically doesn't need to be replaced.

This is the more expensive OTO Phono SE Sig version - a sig version was demanded by enough customers that they built one. I had pretty close to this system in 2003 with the turntable, AN J speakers and regular OTO. I am not surprised he chose it as best sound of show against ten times more expensive systems. Not surprised at all.

 
In the interest of not naming my pet pieces or getting in to what might be "vintage" (disgusting fad word ) ..

Most planar speakers (esp Magnepans, haven't changed, r still in production,and r easy to restore) .. Vandersteen speakers .. flagship AR, Infinity, or JBL speakers
Naim electronics ..
Linn products
Nakamichi tape decks ..
Most (but not all) Small manufacturer separate amps and preamps ... depends on the designer..
Grado, Audioquest, .. most moving coil cartridges ...
Most 1960's tube amps .. (esp. EL34 output tubes)
AR and Thorens belt drive turntables ..

Part of a long list ..
 
This forum is for discussion of leading edge vintage gear, regardless of cost. So, I'd thought I'd start the whole thing off with a list of a few true classic pieces, to illustrate. Each of these units was widely praised as being ahead of its time, and the absolute best at that moment, and many of them were good enough that they're still highly desired and priced accordingly.

In the spirit of that intro ...

acoustic research ar9.jpg

Hope I didn't miss someone else's mention of these mighty AR9s.

Dave
 
Last edited:
She beauty for sure. It is hours well spent and good therapy when you can control the outcome. It's in my opinion a gift that we have the opportunity to handle the best from the golden years when it was an after thought as to profit unlike new that has the date that decides for you when you will have to buy a new one. Old school is the only school in this house for 2 channel and we can always make space for a quad if the need arises.
Cheers!
 
20180511_052601(0).jpg
New addition found it Seattle CL. Had to drive +ferry to Bremerton and it was sure worth it !
It cosmetics are 10
Innards are clean enough for a formal dinner gathering and exterior is flawless. I admired these in the mid 70s and had several friends whom went that and speaker lab builds most did the super 7s
It's funny as I have a set myself and will rotate them in and see how they match. It has a very rich full sound. I am a happy man. The house next door? Remains to be seen.....
 
Last edited:
That is so true a great deal of the iconic pieces were far out of reach and many times still are.
I still have managed to be in the right place at the right time to finally own many of those very same.
Its been quite bit of wait time but honestly I think I appreciate them more now than had I had them back then.
With the change from analog to digital I probably would have forsaken the really good in search of the new improved latest greatest gear that was promised.
I really never saw that happen and perhaps I missed something but there is something to being an active part of setting up and getting up out of your chair to turn a record or turn up the volume for that tune that is a bit special.
I have a remote for a surround setup. Its usually in the hands of my wife if she hapoens to be home.
I leave it off as TV is not of interest other than a bit of news.
I think I was born analog. I am ok with that.
Thanks for the notice! I am a staunch believer in good things come.
My Brother says I have the patience of Job.
I'm not so sure of that.
Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom