Stereo system

Somehow I don't see your collection as based on need.

Agreed.

I don't need all this stereo stuff as I can just as easily use a streaming audio player and headphones or a pair of nice 2.1 speakers.

Mine is based on my love for vintage equipment plus the media I have that I would rather use even if only occasionally versus not using it at all and the equipment which I've picked up throughout several years.

I had intended all my sources to go on my main stereo with 20 channel mixer in my 12' X 12' building, but I had no actual space to put the sources where it would be practical without running long cables plus I wouldn't have had room to store all my media in my building either.

Nice thing about the Lafayette amp is it is a rather simple circuit, but it sounds very good and easily drives the speakers to ear splitting volume levels without so much as a bit of distortion or other problems. That I'm sure is partly helped by the fact that I have a 70Hz 24 db/octave two way crossover before the amp since I run a passive sub off a BASH 500S plate amp.

Cool stuff

Thanks.
 
Well I upgraded the system with a second bucket sub about a month ago which improved the bass quite nicely.

The week before last the church I go to totally redid their sound system so I got a pair of Electro Voice FR-200 speakers for free. Great working condition, but they painted the cabinets white in 2001.

That improved the sound quite a bit.

Listened to this song and was quite impressed with the bass from the two bucket subs. I heard every bass note and felt some I couldn't hear. Now is the bass flat to below 20Hz? No, but it is good enough for me


Listened to this one and the drums in the chorus sound great plus the sound is so clear you can hear her every breath.


Here's a couple photos.

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Yes they sound very good once I got used to them.

The KLH 22A speakers sounded good, but I am thinking I had the added tweeters set at too high of a level so those speakers were a bit bright sounding, although I had gotten used to it.

Plus I've never heard any speaker under 10' reproduce certain drum sounds in the lower midbass region properly except perhaps the pair of 5" 2 way automatic radio speakers i use at work.
 
Here's the stereo system I've been piecing back together over the last year.

Been using it as is for a few months while searching for the right table to hold it all.

Had wanted some TV trays for the speakers so I got two a few days ago.

Was thinking and decided to get TV trays for the rest of the stuff.

Got two today and may get the rest later this week or next week.

Here's some pictures.

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Equipment list

1. Bucket sub.
2. KLH 22A speakers with added Foster tweeter in Auvio cabinets.
3. BASH 500 watt plate amp.
4. Lafayette LA-375 with external power transformer and modded for direct input to amp section.
5. Custom built 70 Hz two way 24 dB/octave active crossover.
6. Sansui SR-2050C record player
7. RCA 45 Record changer modded for stereo magnetic cartridge and VCR video head motor drive.
8. McIntosh C-24 preamp.
9. AKAI Terecorder 1/2 track mono.
10. AKAI GX-255.
11. AKAI EIE PRO sound card.
12. Part 15 AM transmitter so I can send audio to my antique radios and communications receivers.

Not yet added

1. JVC 1250RUN2 8 track.
2. DBX 200 Program route selector which is needed for the three tape decks and sound card.

Soon to upgrade the BASH with this

https://www.parts-express.com/dayto...-subwoofer-plate-amplifier-with-dsp--300-8010

Given it has a built in two way crossover I will turn the crossover box into a buffer

1. For the record out of the McIntosh.
2. For the output of the McIntosh preamp.

Given both have higher output impedances and what they will feed have lower input impedances.

Another benefit of that plate amp is I don't have to set the speaker switch on the Lafayette to remote before turning the system off to keep the crossover from making a noise as its power supply reduces in voltage.

The speakers have a switch on the back to where I can turn the added tweeters off and have the speakers sound as they originally did. It opens the positive connection to the added tweeters and switches the positive connection of the original tweeter from the added choke to its crossover cap. Didn't feel like using the switch to just short the choke.

The backstory on the KLH-22A speakers is that a tree hit the trailer last January and one cabinet was smashed. Found the tweeter in good shape and found the woofer later in ok shape aside from the frame being slightly bent, but not bent enough to affect its operation.

Had the two Auvio cabinets just laying around from a project I had wanted to do, but never got around to. Fit the drivers perfectly. Used them a few months without the added tweeters then two weeks ago I saw one Foster tweeter I had and decided to try it with one speaker. Sounded good enough so I modded both speakers with the tweeters.

Speakers still retain their original sound only the upper treble above 13KHz sounds much better.

One benefit of the TV trays is that if I decide to rearrange the room or I move to another place the TV trays move much easier than a table.
OMG, that little RCA changer started me in this hobby many, many years ago!

Or one just like it. :D
 
The rca changer is indeed nice.

Making it work with a magnetic cartridge however wasn't easy as I had to use a different motor to eliminate induced hum.
 
Now this stereo is on the verge of beating out my main stereo consisting of three way actively amplified speakers and carver amps.

Personally I think it sounds better than the bigger one in some respects particularly the bass.
 
Definitely.

Only because the subs in my main stereo aren't exactly right.

Gonna add a 15" sub crossed over at 40Hz to that system which should solve the problem.
 
TubeRadio, how about some more info on that RCA 45 player and what exactly you did to it. Thats a cool piece.
 
The 45 player I modified for stereo with a shure sc-35c cartridge with jico stylus.

I used a VCR video head motor because the original motor introduced hum in the cartridge.

I installed a piece of silicone type transistor insulator between the platter and platter bearing to reduce rumble which required shaving some off the reject cam drive wheel so it would fit properly on the shaft.

The tonearm spring got replaced by a piece of bolt so that the tracking force is 5 grams at record 1 all the way to record 14.

I do need to do the mod where a bearing is added under the tone arm so there's less friction.

I added a switch to the rear of the cabinet to turn it off and on before realizing I could have used the original power switch. Power supply is 12Vdc.

The power jack and two rca jacks are mounted to the rear of the cabinet as well.

The platter drive wheel I initially used a restored original, but later on swapped to the one that someone makes which uses o-rings versus the rubber of the original.

Has enough torque to handle 14 records and reject without slowing down.

Speed is monitored by the frequency of the tach output of the motor where 748Hz is 45 RPMs.

Made an analog speed control circuit for it to keep the motor at the right speed which requires a tweak to the speed pot upon startup but after a minute or two will hold the proper speed. That uses the fact that the tach output varies in amplitude as the motor speed changes in addition to varying the frequency. The coarse speed control is on the board, but the fine control is on the rear of the cabinet where I can adjust it with a screwdriver.

The record player is near about as quiet as the typical rim drive ceramic phono is.

My only question is how the varying angle of the needle in the grooves as the records go from 1-14 will affect the records.
 
I got the sansui phono going at the proper speed using a variable frequency AC supply I built with a couple transformers an audio amp and an audio generator.

Been listening to records the last week and everything sounds great.

This small system sounds just about as good as my main system if not slightly better in some respects. Think the electro voice FR-200 speakers i recently added in place of the KLH really helped the sound.
 
You did a whole bunch to that 45 player, and I thought it was hard enough setting the reject wheel and tone arm in the right spot to even work right half the time on the Elvis one I worked on! But, I was using the original cartridge, tube amp, & speaker which I'm not sure would even sound different with a stack of records. The most I ever put on at a time was 2.
 
Yes I had to do a lot to reduced rumble and vibration, but when I switched to a magnetic cartridge I had to swap motors because of induced hum.
 
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