What are some of the most over-the-top, obnoxious looking components from the 80s?

Does anyone have a picture of the Lirpa Labs equipment? Never seen one before, but based on the 1980's Audio magazine info, I bet they look just as outrageous as their features and specs.
 
The Crown DL-2, a control freak's dream

CROWN%20DL%202%20DISTINCTION%20SERIES%20CONTROLLER%20.jpg


10 inputs, separate or ganged volume controls, separate bass, mid-range and treble tone controls for each channel with three position center frequency control on each, variable loudness compensation, three tape monitor loops with any way dubbing, two external processor loops each switchable to before or after tape outputs, half a dozen stereo imaging controls including variable stereo blend and variable external source blend. A wireless remote allowed controlling basic functions from your armchair. If that was not enough, there was a computer interface!

Overkill? You betcha! Would I have loved to have had one? You gotta ask?
 
The Crown DL-2, a control freak's dream

CROWN%20DL%202%20DISTINCTION%20SERIES%20CONTROLLER%20.jpg


10 inputs, separate or ganged volume controls, separate bass, mid-range and treble tone controls for each channel with three position center frequency control on each, variable loudness compensation, three tape monitor loops with any way dubbing, two external processor loops each switchable to before or after tape outputs, half a dozen stereo imaging controls including variable stereo blend and variable external source blend. A wireless remote allowed controlling basic functions from your armchair. If that was not enough, there was a computer interface!

Overkill? You betcha! Would I have loved to have had one? You gotta ask?

Just, WOW! What computer would you have interfaced with back then? I still have occasional nightmares from memories of class assignments with a TI-99/4A, and IBM-360 Assembler.

Y'all, these are awesome! .. a hoot to see and remember
Tommy
 
Just, WOW! What computer would you have interfaced with back then? I still have occasional nightmares from memories of class assignments with a TI-99/4A, and IBM-360 Assembler.

Y'all, these are awesome! .. a hoot to see and remember
Tommy
 

Just, WOW! What computer would you have interfaced with back then? I still have occasional nightmares from memories of class assignments with a TI-99/4A, and IBM-360 Assembler.

Y'all, these are awesome! .. a hoot to see and remember
Tommy

The instruction manual for the Crown DL2 is here

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/356619/Crown-Dl2.html

Pages 33-37 describe how to interface with it and program it - in 8080 Assembly language! It might still work today.

I did so much 360/370 Assembler in my career I sometimes dreamed in it. :confused:
 
The instruction manual for the Crown DL2 is here

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/356619/Crown-Dl2.html

Pages 33-37 describe how to interface with it and program it - in 8080 Assembly language! It might still work today.

I did so much 360/370 Assembler in my career I sometimes dreamed in it. :confused:

Thank you kindly for the reply ; however, just no, no, NO.
I was so dad gummed sick of programming in the mid 80s, that I left it completely, enlisted in the US Nav. That motivated me mightily to finish out my mechanical engineering degree!

Thanks again.... shudderingly.... Tommy

PS. edited to add... OK, I looked... may need sleeping aids tonight!
 
When I say over-the-top or onbnoxious I'm talking about things like the Kenwood Galaxy Commander,
KenwoodKR10000-1.jpg


the Sansui Z9000,
ad96ccdec7d77b0cd377476b7f61cf1e.jpg


the Kenwood RA-80 and Akai EA-A7
maxresdefault.jpg


and the AIWA AD-F770
maxresdefault.jpg


components of any type that, while they look awesome in their own special way, all have more than their fair share of bright, colorful VFDs and other various different displays, whether they be a VU meter or something completely unecessary and abstract like a reverb level indicator, unecessary gimmicks, buttons, features, labels and anything else that comes to mind!

This thread is way overdue if for no other reason than to remind me of what I should be looking for.

/loved this era
 
I have one of these, and the models above and below.

This is an autoreverse fully programmable (by direct track selection) up to 30 tracks in any order from either side.

Glass crystal heads on ceramic stoppers, optical autoreverse, digital level control, dolby B/C etc. Introscan, blank skip you name it.

Circa 1985ish.

View attachment 1264395

I actually like the looks of the Akai decks.

I bought my first real deck a couple years after these were gone. Agree on the look, they were excellent.
 
When I found one of those Kenwood KR-1000s at a thrift fifteen years ago, I could only play early Duran Duran, The Go Go's, Naked Eyes, ABC, and other music from 1981-1984 through it.

This era was when I was at peak enthusiasm and minimum knowledge. Everything was cool!

I'll add to the playlist, Def Leppard, Nina Hagen, The Motels, B-52s, Rush, Simple Minds, Clash, & New Order.
 
Like Ramzilla I picked up a working JVC JR-S600, got mine for 22.50 USD. Works fine, is missing EQ knobs, and the loudness push push no longer holds. Otherwise, nearly scratch free, and oversized silly stupid and looks amazing at a lot of angles. A plus is this powers 4 speakers at 8 ohm each set amazingly. I believe the literature at 110-120 watts per channel, without hesitation. Find one, pick it up if cheap. Its been playing and filling the house with music for 2 weeks without tiring of it. 1.5 on the slider is all that it takes, and sounds great down to nearly zero on volume. Some have written it takes some serious speakers to get the most out of this unit, and I believe it.

NOTE: I'm looking to buy the knobs, and the loundess switch to restore this completely. I'll do the LED replacements with online sources of those. Some are burnt out, the tuner side, and 1/2 (right) the signal side, as well as a few on the push/push names.


DSC00058.JPG

DSC00062.JPG
 

Attachments

  • DSC00061.JPG
    DSC00061.JPG
    125 KB · Views: 17
  • DSC00064.JPG
    DSC00064.JPG
    114.7 KB · Views: 16
The Crown DL-2, a control freak's dream

CROWN%20DL%202%20DISTINCTION%20SERIES%20CONTROLLER%20.jpg


10 inputs, separate or ganged volume controls, separate bass, mid-range and treble tone controls for each channel with three position center frequency control on each, variable loudness compensation, three tape monitor loops with any way dubbing, two external processor loops each switchable to before or after tape outputs, half a dozen stereo imaging controls including variable stereo blend and variable external source blend. A wireless remote allowed controlling basic functions from your armchair. If that was not enough, there was a computer interface!

Overkill? You betcha! Would I have loved to have had one? You gotta ask?
If that was on a bench next to some test equipment you would never know it was an integrated amplifier.
 
Had it not been for AK, would have left my $5 Aiwa AD-F770 sitting on the shelf at GW thinking it was just another piece of 80's BPC! Thanks AK!
 
What baffles my mind about that design is why they missed the opportunity to add one more slider. With all that left over room on the bottom right, why the heck did they choose an "old fashioned" rotary knob for the balance control? It's the only knob on the entire faceplate. A slider would have made much more sense with the rest of the design. Every thing else is either a slider or a rectangular push button.

Heh... Great minds... my favorite vintage AVR, the JVC RX-505V. No knobs--dead smooth--and available in an alluring gun-metal grey color.

$_3.JPG


This era was when I was at peak enthusiasm and minimum knowledge. Everything was cool!

wave.gif
 
Like Ramzilla I picked up a working JVC JR-S600, got mine for 22.50 USD. Works fine, is missing EQ knobs, and the loudness push push no longer holds. Otherwise, nearly scratch free, and oversized silly stupid and looks amazing at a lot of angles. A plus is this powers 4 speakers at 8 ohm each set amazingly. I believe the literature at 110-120 watts per channel, without hesitation. Find one, pick it up if cheap. Its been playing and filling the house with music for 2 weeks without tiring of it. 1.5 on the slider is all that it takes, and sounds great down to nearly zero on volume. Some have written it takes some serious speakers to get the most out of this unit, and I believe it.

NOTE: I'm looking to buy the knobs, and the loundess switch to restore this completely. I'll do the LED replacements with online sources of those. Some are burnt out, the tuner side, and 1/2 (right) the signal side, as well as a few on the push/push names.


View attachment 1283238

View attachment 1283240

That's got me drooling. Having a tech friend going thru mine and fixing bulbs and the like. Can't wait to get
it back. That picture doesn't do it justice as far as size is concerned. Those JVCs are huge.
 
Back
Top Bottom