Old-School
Well-Known Member
Had a few minutes today so I thought I would post a few pics of my vintage 80's system. This, for the most part, is a duplicate of my first real system from the mid to late 1980's. Wait, is that a turntable spinning in these pics? Oh my, there must be some mistake?? The pics dont lie!!
From top to bottom..
1 : Technics SL-Q2 turntable with a Ortofon Concorde cart. My original Turntable was a BIC belt drive 960 with a Radio Shack Audio Technica cart.. but its in storage right now and not working.. so this one works fine. Its from the era, and in all honesty my favorite table from all I have used. Styx, Madame Blue, from Equinox LP playing.
2 : JVC AX-44 integrated amp. Got my first from Circuit City on the scratch and dent special. Sadly my original got zapped by lightning in 1989, but this fine example, from a popular auction site is exactly like my old one. It works and sounds just fine.
3 : Sanyo JT-440 tuner. Another scratch and dent special from Circuit City. Once again this is not my original, but an exact copy from you know where. Originally this was part of a Sanyo system (which I also have). My original tuner was one somebody had returned, and I got for a deal. My original was sold to a friend, and he used it for a while, until it was finally thrown away! Hardly a high end piece, but it works.
4 : BSR EQ-3000. My original came from a then popular mail order magazine. DAK I believe it was? My original was fried in the lightning strike. This one was like new in the box.. a suitable replacement. Oh how we loved those lights in the 80's!!!!
5 : Yamaha K-540 cassette deck. See my rant somewhere else on this piece. My original was a demo from a place called Stereo Sound. It was nothing but trouble. This one (and a backup) came from that site. Working and sounding nice as 1987!
6 : Emerson CD-175R. My original was an Emerson CD150, and came from Roses! A guy I went to school with traded it to me! My original did music on hold where I used to work until one day, many many years later it finally died. I do have a CD150 new in the box but is not currently working, due to a bad laser. These were made by Yamaha, which explains why they always sounded great.
7 : Kenwood AT-57 timer. I always wanted one of these but never had it back in the day. I found this in a pawn shop for $20. Works for me.
8 : JVC XL-Z555 super digifine CD Player. Drooled over one of these in a magazine review in the late 80's and couldnt afford it at the time. Wound up with another JVC CD player. A sad comparison to this mighty piece. This is a nice sounding unit. Wood side panels are in storage so it will fit in the rack, but I do have them. Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti playing.
9 : Bose 301 II speakers. Love em or hate em. In the proper location they are hard to top, especially for the money. Got mine at Circuit City as a store demo. Sold them and always regretted it. Here is likely the nicest ones you will ever see. Un-restored original and mint condition. Once again, sounding mighty fine.
10 : Fisher audio cabinet. Got it at a damaged freight auction. It is my original one from 1984. The particle board is flaking in areas, and some of the plastic holding the casters has deteriorated. I plan a full on restoration on this cabinet when I get time with some nice hard wood.
Not totally visible is an APC professional power strip, and a Parsec powered FM antenna. Interconnects and speaker cable is all Monster Cable. My actual system had monster cable original, and this one does too.
All of the stuff I had was purchased on sale, scratch and dent, store demo, or traded for. It took many years, and many thousands of dollars to realize that this stuff wasn't all that bad. My pursuit of audio went up to the moon and back. Sure my main system is light years ahead of this one, but every time I fire this one up it brings a smile to my face. Just like it did in 1987, it did today. Most of the stuff I have now came from a popular auction site over several years. I'm happy with it.
Play list for today :
Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti extended remaster on CD. Fully tracked on the JVC. Damn. Thats all I got to say about that.
Styx : Equinox LP
Van Halen : VHF LP
Elvis Costello : Armed Forces LP promotional use copy from air play!
Bad Company : Desolation Angles LP
Stray Cats : Built For Speed
From top to bottom..
1 : Technics SL-Q2 turntable with a Ortofon Concorde cart. My original Turntable was a BIC belt drive 960 with a Radio Shack Audio Technica cart.. but its in storage right now and not working.. so this one works fine. Its from the era, and in all honesty my favorite table from all I have used. Styx, Madame Blue, from Equinox LP playing.
2 : JVC AX-44 integrated amp. Got my first from Circuit City on the scratch and dent special. Sadly my original got zapped by lightning in 1989, but this fine example, from a popular auction site is exactly like my old one. It works and sounds just fine.
3 : Sanyo JT-440 tuner. Another scratch and dent special from Circuit City. Once again this is not my original, but an exact copy from you know where. Originally this was part of a Sanyo system (which I also have). My original tuner was one somebody had returned, and I got for a deal. My original was sold to a friend, and he used it for a while, until it was finally thrown away! Hardly a high end piece, but it works.
4 : BSR EQ-3000. My original came from a then popular mail order magazine. DAK I believe it was? My original was fried in the lightning strike. This one was like new in the box.. a suitable replacement. Oh how we loved those lights in the 80's!!!!
5 : Yamaha K-540 cassette deck. See my rant somewhere else on this piece. My original was a demo from a place called Stereo Sound. It was nothing but trouble. This one (and a backup) came from that site. Working and sounding nice as 1987!
6 : Emerson CD-175R. My original was an Emerson CD150, and came from Roses! A guy I went to school with traded it to me! My original did music on hold where I used to work until one day, many many years later it finally died. I do have a CD150 new in the box but is not currently working, due to a bad laser. These were made by Yamaha, which explains why they always sounded great.
7 : Kenwood AT-57 timer. I always wanted one of these but never had it back in the day. I found this in a pawn shop for $20. Works for me.
8 : JVC XL-Z555 super digifine CD Player. Drooled over one of these in a magazine review in the late 80's and couldnt afford it at the time. Wound up with another JVC CD player. A sad comparison to this mighty piece. This is a nice sounding unit. Wood side panels are in storage so it will fit in the rack, but I do have them. Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti playing.
9 : Bose 301 II speakers. Love em or hate em. In the proper location they are hard to top, especially for the money. Got mine at Circuit City as a store demo. Sold them and always regretted it. Here is likely the nicest ones you will ever see. Un-restored original and mint condition. Once again, sounding mighty fine.
10 : Fisher audio cabinet. Got it at a damaged freight auction. It is my original one from 1984. The particle board is flaking in areas, and some of the plastic holding the casters has deteriorated. I plan a full on restoration on this cabinet when I get time with some nice hard wood.
Not totally visible is an APC professional power strip, and a Parsec powered FM antenna. Interconnects and speaker cable is all Monster Cable. My actual system had monster cable original, and this one does too.
All of the stuff I had was purchased on sale, scratch and dent, store demo, or traded for. It took many years, and many thousands of dollars to realize that this stuff wasn't all that bad. My pursuit of audio went up to the moon and back. Sure my main system is light years ahead of this one, but every time I fire this one up it brings a smile to my face. Just like it did in 1987, it did today. Most of the stuff I have now came from a popular auction site over several years. I'm happy with it.
Play list for today :
Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti extended remaster on CD. Fully tracked on the JVC. Damn. Thats all I got to say about that.
Styx : Equinox LP
Van Halen : VHF LP
Elvis Costello : Armed Forces LP promotional use copy from air play!
Bad Company : Desolation Angles LP
Stray Cats : Built For Speed
