Poll: Do you like when vintage receivers have LED lamps swapped in?
- Thread starter thurber
- Start date
reydelaplaya
Super Member
‘Cheers’, indeed! Thank you for the linked posts! I’ve got a weekend project now! Will post results.
reydelaplaya
Super Member
Ok, I must update my statement from earlier because I finally retried the LED swap following John’s instructions linked in the Yamaha subforum.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/in...ht-on-yamaha-receivers-and-amplifiers.825896/
See for yourselves.
Original Yamaha Incandescent and prior to John’s suggested treatment:
And, After - switching back to the same warm white H/O LEDs that I had unsatisfactorily tried earlier, but also after treating the yellowed plastic:
Don’t let the sensitivity of the iPhone’s camera fool you with those exaggerated shadows in the meters. In person, they’re fairly even across the faces, and that great light turquoise, too - even including the dial pointer.
Even if you all don’t have a Yamaha, check out his how-to thread. Like he mentioned before, the fix would probably easily carry over to other brands as well.
Thanks again, John! These look awesome!
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Another example of when done right, LED simply are a superior light source. Getting the right color temperature is critical. I love the warm white ones.
Huh?
The older mercury filled twist bulbs were a nightmare. Slow to come on and rather dim, but LEDs are nothing like them.....they are cool and cost nearly nothing to run. My place is filled with them and I have zero trouble with cell phones or FM reception.
bobva
Active Member
Well when I got rid of those pieces of shit. No more dropped calls. I went from 2 fm stations that I can tolerate and sounding like crap to more than I need and all come in GREAT.
Now to what you call mercury are you referring to those cheep ass lights that look like swines tails?
DaveVoorhis
Addicted Member
I have all LED lighting, and no problems with FM or cell/mobile/wireless interference, but I bought good quality, brand-name (e.g., Philips) bulbs. I've heard of some cheap "bargain" LED bulbs having a high defect rate, and one of the failure modes is RF noise.
Likewise I have transitioned from incandescent to CFL to LED. The bulb technology had no effect on FM or mobile reception.
welcomdmat
Super Member
Mine has a combination that I feel turned out well. The tuning meter has the original style bulb while the rest of the display is lit by LEDs.
I worked with KAB to try ane make my PS-1200 match, but the green glow it has works well in combo with my Technics 1200mk2.
I look forward to the darker evenings of winter when the stereo glow is at its strongest.
I generally like to stay close to original intent.
I am not dogmatic about the preference.
I simply rely on the fact that the original designers of my gear were better at designing than I am.
I have replaced dial glass lights and indicator lamps in several receivers with warm-white LEDs and been happy with the results.
But there is little in the world that looks more out of place to my 1970s-conditioned tastes than a Pioneer SX-x50 receiver with Playskool-colored (purple, lime green, red, blue, etc.) LEDs behind the dial.
Ahhhhhh. Look at all those subtle shades of silver, yellow, brown, and white. It all just fits together with the tabletop and the background. Beautiful.
OK. I may be able to learn to live with this. But there are no blue/green tones anywhere else in the shot.
These are probably cool white LEDs. To be fair, the eye may see this differently from the photo, which was shot with the wrong white balance setting.
With the right camera settings the dial in this would be bluer still.
Even though it's a 1250(?)... Ick.
Just my opinion.
I am not dogmatic about the preference.
I simply rely on the fact that the original designers of my gear were better at designing than I am.
I have replaced dial glass lights and indicator lamps in several receivers with warm-white LEDs and been happy with the results.
But there is little in the world that looks more out of place to my 1970s-conditioned tastes than a Pioneer SX-x50 receiver with Playskool-colored (purple, lime green, red, blue, etc.) LEDs behind the dial.
Ahhhhhh. Look at all those subtle shades of silver, yellow, brown, and white. It all just fits together with the tabletop and the background. Beautiful.
OK. I may be able to learn to live with this. But there are no blue/green tones anywhere else in the shot.
These are probably cool white LEDs. To be fair, the eye may see this differently from the photo, which was shot with the wrong white balance setting.
With the right camera settings the dial in this would be bluer still.
Even though it's a 1250(?)... Ick.
Just my opinion.
Rog Beltmann
Member
I really like the soft incandescent glow. As my pilot lamps burn out I replace them with 8 volt lamps instead of 6.3volt. The LED lamps are way too bright for my tastes. The power switch lamp on my HK 430 was a real bitch to replace and I never want to do it again so I use the higher voltage lamps. Almost no difference in light output.
Yes - even though I have a good stash of new bulbs it would be nice to have LED's instead. This (Magnavox Stereo 1000) just went back into rotation and there are at least three dead bulbs - TREBLE, BASS, and at least one of the switches on the left. I'll change the bulbs - it's not rocket science. But putting in LED's would be groovier IMHO.
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