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I'm setting up my workbench for doing some vintage gear testing and decided I needed an isolation transformer. I ordered a Hammond 171A from Mouser and this brings me to my question. Is this transformer truly isolated. Should I disconnect the chassis ground on the secondary side or leave it...

My neighbor knows I'm into all kinds of audio equipment so he showed up at my house with this little beauty. He said one of his uncles had passed away and had left him this radio along with some other stuff. He had intended to attempt the restoration himself but decided it was too much for...

A few days ago I noticed the woofer had gone out in one of my KLH 5s. I thought it might be a problem with the right channel cables or the receiver so I swapped channels and it didn't work on the left channel cable either. Today I pulled the woofer to check to make sure it wasn't dead but got...

Now, when I say new to me, I've actually had this receiver for a few years. This thing appeared one day after my wife visited her friend who has a potter for a husband. I've known this guy for years and he's a pretty good friend of mine. To make a long story short, he had this receiver in his...

I've decided that it's time to restore my early (Late 1961) Wharfedale W70's. I've had them for a few years and I just know that they should sound better than they do and now I think I've figured out why that is. First, the caps: As you can see, they don't match and they are both out of...

I stopped by a place that sells vintage stuff (especially electronics) after I heard it was going out of business. After digging through a lot of picked over stuff I could really care less about, I saw a set of bookshelf speakers that I couldn't ID. The grills were throwing me off as they were...

I have a nicely restored 500A that has recently developed what can best described as a rumble in the low end. At first I thought it was my speakers going bad but I swapped them out and it is definitely coming from the receiver. God forbid hitting the loudness button because then it really...

Just picked up a pair of AR-5s in a trade knowing full well that they need a lot of work. The serial numbers are 18919 and 16704 but they both have the newer flat nosed woofers dated 1971. The veneer is in pretty rough shape with a gap at the bottom of one speaker. I'm going to try to pull it...

I've been wanting a Thorens for a while now and saw a fairly reasonably priced TD-160 on on the auction site. It has a new dust cover, the plinth is okay except for a little ding in the back corner, and the deck and platter are in decent shape. A little cleaning, lubing and tweeking and I...

I got this Technics 1510 with an AT 130E cartridge from my brother-in-law for free back around Christmas time. It came with about a hundred or so decent albums. The one drawback is that everything was filthy. It had been sitting in a Texas shed for some years accumulating dust. I brought it...

First off let me just say that I've been wanting a pair of AR's for some time. I found this pair of original AR 2's which are pre-zip code and appeared to be in pretty good shape. Cosmetically they are in great shape except for one frame which I will have to rebuild. I unpacked them and...

I finally got the restoration on my 500A finished and went to hook it up to my other components (AR XA with rca updgrade and Sony CDP-491). I had some modern monster cable interconnects from an old surround sound system and thought these will work. That's when I found out that some modern...

I went over to a local antique mall not too far from my house just to see what they had lying around. I passed a group of WW II era furniture without much of a thought and went on to check out the rest of the mall. On my way back by I glanced towards the furniture when I noticed this...

I'm thinking of using this Pickering XV-15 on my new project AR XA (more about that later). I have a couple of questions about the cartridge and stylus. First, is it a good match for the AR or should I just buy a new cartridge for it. Second, if I am going to use this cartridge I want to add...

Let's just say that I've always liked the look and sound of vintage Wharfedale speakers but never had the right type of amplifier to run a pair correctly. I'm in the process of restoring a Sansui 500A receiver and have been in the market of a set of speakers that would sound best with older...

A couple of days ago I saw a local CL listing for a tube caddy full of tubes. Having no idea what was in the case I went to check it out. The case was in one of those retro furniture stores that sells mid-century modern stuff. I get there and ask the clerk about the caddy. He says they want...

I tried this over in the turntable forum and didn't have any responses so I'm trying here. I have a Marantz 6200 that has developed a platter vibration that is so severe that the cartridge literally hops across the record. First thing I do is pull the platter off and what do I see, the brush...

Well, one of my turntables is on the fritz and now the other is giving me issues. I have a Marantz 6200 that has developed a platter vibration that is so severe that the cartridge literally hops across the record. First thing I do is pull the platter off and what do I see, the brush off my old...

I just picked up this Dual 1009 off the auction site to use with my new Sansui 500A receiver. I like the idea of matching a receiver with a turntable of the same vintage. There are a few problems however. Firstly, I'm getting a rumpling noise when a play an album. It's not...

Picked up a Sansui 500A a couple of weeks ago and this is my first venture into the world of tubes. Basically, I want to get some input on anything that may need replaced or upgraded. The seller said it was rebuilt in 2005 and that at least five of the tubes were replaced. He recently replaced...

Picked these up a couple of weeks ago to pair with my Avid 102s. Came with freshly rebuilt crossovers and the stands. I got a very fair deal on these.

I went to one of my favorite flea markets today to check out some vinyl from my favorite dealer. On the way across the space I see a pile of electronics. I go check it out and it's a pair of McIntosh accessories, a CR-7 and CR-8 which I guess are some sort of Infrared Remote Control System...

I've been lurking here for some time and recently joined and subscribed to AK. Before I started posting I thought I should introduce myself. I recently got the desire to get back into vintage audio equipment after a few years hiatus. I got rid of my old system including a Technics SU-V9...