shedshrine
Active Member
I kind of just posted much of this in the introduction forum a couple days ago, Being the newbie hadn't yet seen that there is in fact a forum specifically for the purpose, so here we go..
A little background: I am a recovering home recording junkie
who is now going back to being predominantly a music fan. Hence more stereo toys have been accumulating. Sold all my records and my first Tascam 388 when I went to teach English in Japan in 1991, and am now getting them all back and then some since 2012.
I have always been enamored of the shiny metal twinkly lighted music emanating boxes in people's livingrooms since I was a kid. I've been squirreling away pieces as I find them over the past maybe 15 years (coinciding with home ownership..). It's squirelling away, not hoarding because I actually use them. Right Mrs. shedshrine?
The 3 Systems of the mancave, the "shed shrine"
(aka the guest room):
"Shedshrine" was what I called my sheetrock, insulation and packing tape room-within-a-room recording structure I built in my tiny apartment while living in Japan. Now it refers to my music room/guest room. All three systems use the same set of speakers, a pair of Klipsch Forte 1's. There are three sets of cables, I just unplug whatever setup I'm currently using and plug in the next. Speaker cables are nothing fancy, Magnolia audio store house cable. All are terminated with banana plug pairs. You may notice the speakers are upside down. I inverted them so the horns were more ear-level aligned. Got this pair off craigslist *full story at bottom of this post. Zebra wood finish, and fully outfitted with all the available Bob Crites mods. They sound great with these viintage receivers. Very live, open sound. Interconnects are all Blue Jean cables.
___________________________________________________
SYSTEM 1
A McIntosh MAC 1500 receiver and a Denon DP 62L direct drive turntable. Cartridge is a Ruby F9E.
The 1500 was McIntosh's first receiver, manufacture date sticker says 1966. Solid state preamp, tube tuner and power amp. It was missing some of the heavy milled aluminum knobs, but found some NOS ones online thankfully for a reasonable price. The headphones out also gets the tube treatment.
The Denon is from 1982. The original owner stored it well and it has been without issue thus far, though I should get it recapped soon before I ruin it. There's an unubtanium chip in there that needs to be protected. It's got a similar micro controlled tonearm to the Sony below. The rosewood veneered base is in great shape, but it does have some deep scratches (melt marks?) that wont' buff out on the lid, looking for one of the nice aftermarket ones available online at some point.
________________________________________________________
SYSTEM 2
An HH Scott 222b integrated tube amplifier with a Thorens TD 125 belt driven table. The Scott only has 13 watts but sounds very good driving the Klipsch. The Thorens is running a Dynavector 10x4 high output MC cartridge. I got a good deal on the Thorens due to a cracked cover and decals/water damage on the wood base. It cleaned up nicely, got a new lid off ebay. Those after market lids are very nice! The arm is a Shure SME 3009, a very popular mod to these in the 1970's (and beyond).
__________________________________________________________
SYSTEM 3
These receivers were what my friends dads' had in their living rooms when I was a kid, and I loved the nice walnut case some had.
This Marantz 2270 came home with me about 5 years ago after a visit to a vintage audio dealer in Sacramento. It came with a 90 day warranty. Within six months the main speaker outputs blew and the off/on button had stuck in the on position. At that point I started using a power strip to turn it off and on, and using the 2nd set of speaker outs until they too blew.
Kinda disgusted, I stored it under the bed for a few years, Finally got it fixed last month. Two weeks later the phono preamps for phono 1 went out, switched to phono 2, fuzzy left channel quickly ensued Ah, vintage audio.
Turntable is a 1979 Sony PS-X75 with an Ortofon Blue cartridge. Great sound though some of the touch controls are janky. Usually the arm pulls up at the end of the side but doesn't return. If I hit the power button off and on at that point it completes its journey back to its post.
Sure it's got a lot of bells and whistles that can go wrong, and the back end of the micro controlled tonearm resembles a walker from StarWars, but this large, heavy and very well built turntable is a beautiful piece and fun to work with.
It has been recapped, but the soft touch controls would need to be replaced to get it fully up to snuff.
A cool feature for this Sony deck is that the controls are still accessible with the lid down.
It has a knob to adjust cartridge weight right out front. (Now this feature actually functions on my deck..of course I have to verify its accuracy with a digital scale, but anyway..) Nevertheless, it is very cool to be able to adjust the tracking force weight in small increments while a record is playing and hear the difference in sound.
_______
Using a Lounge Audio LCRMKIII MM Phono Preamp with the Marantz now. I really like the Marantz phono sound I was getting, but the Lounge sounds great in its own right. I'd say cleaner and more precise version of good sound.
____________________________________________________________
* SYSTEM 4
I have a couple more components that will be put into service someday. A Pioneer SA 9500II integrated amp that needs a small repair and a Dual 1229 idler drive turntable that needs a rebuild.
With the Pioneer, I tried pushing oversized cabling and maybe even banana plugs into the push=down/insert-the-cable speaker inputs in back of the amplifier and bent them all up. Taking it apart to see if I could bend them straight again I broke the fine strand wire connections to the amp interior. Doh. Could just use it as is as a preamp for the time being. (I've got one last piece, a Parasound power amp stored under a bed at the moment. )
*edit: also under the bed a Sansui 9090db receiver,
-the bedroom: a Marantz 2220 receiver with a pair of JBL (forgot the model but they are 3 ways built in L.A) and a Technics SL1700. ,
-the livingroom with a more modern box store Yamaha stereo receiver with a pair of JBL 4408 2 way monitors and a Technics SL1200 MKII.
and finally a couple more speaker sets: a pair of Klipsch CF4 ver.1 two way towers and a pair of early Vandersteens in the garage awaiting duty. With the vintage recievers I was just finding the Klipsch Forte's were the best fit.
Sure, I suppose I could sell off all of this and put it towards a really dependable amazing modern high end system. But I know that if I just run one system I'll get bored of it over time, What I love about this vintage collection most is that it's great to be able to run music through a different system configuration from time to time. It keeps things fresh and allows for favorite
recordings to sound interesting in new ways. At this point I've accumulated a bunch of old pieces to swap around and it keeps it all fun. The puttering around with how things are configured is a big part of the allure of this sport for me.
____________________________________________
DIGITAL
Atop that Pioneer integrated amp is a Border Patrol DAC. I just got it a few days ago after researching DAC's for awhile now, and these were getting rave reviews. It definitely sounds more present and full than the Nuforce I was using prior. I know some folks consider burn in a psuedo effect, but I know I have noted the sound opening up after a few hours with the Border Patrol. I like Steve Gutenberg (the audiophiliac) 's reviews and he gives this DAC his thumbs up so I thought it worth a listen. And it's got a tube. It's still here a few weeks in so I guess I'm keeping it.
________________________________
Klipsch story..
* So I was looking for a pair of old Klipsch speakers to go with my old Sansui receiver. I found a pair on Craiglist, and it had had some Bob Crites mods, which apparently is a popular thing. This particular pair was touted as having had all the mods. Crossovers, titanium diaphragms, re-coned woofers and passive radiators ..and the owner had also seen fit to re-veneer the things in zebrawood. The price was fair, I call and I'm in.
I google map the address, and wow. Big gates, long narrow tree covered cobblestone driveway that expands out in front of the house replete with six carefully covered sports cars. Soon I am to find it's the house of Ken Leonard who was a big deal in 1970's electronics among other things.
He was the founder AEA Electronics http://aeaaudio.com/legacy-page/ which has been restarted recently. His first board was used at Criteria Studios for Clapton's Derek & the Dominos Layla sessions and it took off from there..Fleetwood Mac Rumours etc..
He also happens to hold a patent for certifying the security of websites.
So anyway, his son makes the minute or so walk to the black gates to let my car in. Once parked I am invited inside and we make our way back past ornate furnishings, sculptures and statues to the "stereo room/pool table room/electronics projects room".
Next to a picture of Mr. Leonard adjusting a mixing desk (as Eric Clapton and member of the Allman Brothers look on) are the speakers. Currently the pool table is covered and full of electronics projects in progress, namely the refurbing of classic tube receivers and integrated amps which he and his father do for fun.
The speakers were demoed with a 7 watt Heathkit amp. They sounded good low, they sounded good cranked. sold.
The house..
A little background: I am a recovering home recording junkie
who is now going back to being predominantly a music fan. Hence more stereo toys have been accumulating. Sold all my records and my first Tascam 388 when I went to teach English in Japan in 1991, and am now getting them all back and then some since 2012.
I have always been enamored of the shiny metal twinkly lighted music emanating boxes in people's livingrooms since I was a kid. I've been squirreling away pieces as I find them over the past maybe 15 years (coinciding with home ownership..). It's squirelling away, not hoarding because I actually use them. Right Mrs. shedshrine?
The 3 Systems of the mancave, the "shed shrine"
(aka the guest room):
"Shedshrine" was what I called my sheetrock, insulation and packing tape room-within-a-room recording structure I built in my tiny apartment while living in Japan. Now it refers to my music room/guest room. All three systems use the same set of speakers, a pair of Klipsch Forte 1's. There are three sets of cables, I just unplug whatever setup I'm currently using and plug in the next. Speaker cables are nothing fancy, Magnolia audio store house cable. All are terminated with banana plug pairs. You may notice the speakers are upside down. I inverted them so the horns were more ear-level aligned. Got this pair off craigslist *full story at bottom of this post. Zebra wood finish, and fully outfitted with all the available Bob Crites mods. They sound great with these viintage receivers. Very live, open sound. Interconnects are all Blue Jean cables.
___________________________________________________
SYSTEM 1
A McIntosh MAC 1500 receiver and a Denon DP 62L direct drive turntable. Cartridge is a Ruby F9E.
The 1500 was McIntosh's first receiver, manufacture date sticker says 1966. Solid state preamp, tube tuner and power amp. It was missing some of the heavy milled aluminum knobs, but found some NOS ones online thankfully for a reasonable price. The headphones out also gets the tube treatment.
The Denon is from 1982. The original owner stored it well and it has been without issue thus far, though I should get it recapped soon before I ruin it. There's an unubtanium chip in there that needs to be protected. It's got a similar micro controlled tonearm to the Sony below. The rosewood veneered base is in great shape, but it does have some deep scratches (melt marks?) that wont' buff out on the lid, looking for one of the nice aftermarket ones available online at some point.
________________________________________________________
SYSTEM 2
An HH Scott 222b integrated tube amplifier with a Thorens TD 125 belt driven table. The Scott only has 13 watts but sounds very good driving the Klipsch. The Thorens is running a Dynavector 10x4 high output MC cartridge. I got a good deal on the Thorens due to a cracked cover and decals/water damage on the wood base. It cleaned up nicely, got a new lid off ebay. Those after market lids are very nice! The arm is a Shure SME 3009, a very popular mod to these in the 1970's (and beyond).
__________________________________________________________
SYSTEM 3
These receivers were what my friends dads' had in their living rooms when I was a kid, and I loved the nice walnut case some had.
This Marantz 2270 came home with me about 5 years ago after a visit to a vintage audio dealer in Sacramento. It came with a 90 day warranty. Within six months the main speaker outputs blew and the off/on button had stuck in the on position. At that point I started using a power strip to turn it off and on, and using the 2nd set of speaker outs until they too blew.
Kinda disgusted, I stored it under the bed for a few years, Finally got it fixed last month. Two weeks later the phono preamps for phono 1 went out, switched to phono 2, fuzzy left channel quickly ensued Ah, vintage audio.
Turntable is a 1979 Sony PS-X75 with an Ortofon Blue cartridge. Great sound though some of the touch controls are janky. Usually the arm pulls up at the end of the side but doesn't return. If I hit the power button off and on at that point it completes its journey back to its post.
Sure it's got a lot of bells and whistles that can go wrong, and the back end of the micro controlled tonearm resembles a walker from StarWars, but this large, heavy and very well built turntable is a beautiful piece and fun to work with.
It has been recapped, but the soft touch controls would need to be replaced to get it fully up to snuff.
A cool feature for this Sony deck is that the controls are still accessible with the lid down.
It has a knob to adjust cartridge weight right out front. (Now this feature actually functions on my deck..of course I have to verify its accuracy with a digital scale, but anyway..) Nevertheless, it is very cool to be able to adjust the tracking force weight in small increments while a record is playing and hear the difference in sound.
_______
Using a Lounge Audio LCRMKIII MM Phono Preamp with the Marantz now. I really like the Marantz phono sound I was getting, but the Lounge sounds great in its own right. I'd say cleaner and more precise version of good sound.
____________________________________________________________
* SYSTEM 4
I have a couple more components that will be put into service someday. A Pioneer SA 9500II integrated amp that needs a small repair and a Dual 1229 idler drive turntable that needs a rebuild.
With the Pioneer, I tried pushing oversized cabling and maybe even banana plugs into the push=down/insert-the-cable speaker inputs in back of the amplifier and bent them all up. Taking it apart to see if I could bend them straight again I broke the fine strand wire connections to the amp interior. Doh. Could just use it as is as a preamp for the time being. (I've got one last piece, a Parasound power amp stored under a bed at the moment. )
*edit: also under the bed a Sansui 9090db receiver,
-the bedroom: a Marantz 2220 receiver with a pair of JBL (forgot the model but they are 3 ways built in L.A) and a Technics SL1700. ,
-the livingroom with a more modern box store Yamaha stereo receiver with a pair of JBL 4408 2 way monitors and a Technics SL1200 MKII.
and finally a couple more speaker sets: a pair of Klipsch CF4 ver.1 two way towers and a pair of early Vandersteens in the garage awaiting duty. With the vintage recievers I was just finding the Klipsch Forte's were the best fit.
Sure, I suppose I could sell off all of this and put it towards a really dependable amazing modern high end system. But I know that if I just run one system I'll get bored of it over time, What I love about this vintage collection most is that it's great to be able to run music through a different system configuration from time to time. It keeps things fresh and allows for favorite
recordings to sound interesting in new ways. At this point I've accumulated a bunch of old pieces to swap around and it keeps it all fun. The puttering around with how things are configured is a big part of the allure of this sport for me.
____________________________________________
DIGITAL
Atop that Pioneer integrated amp is a Border Patrol DAC. I just got it a few days ago after researching DAC's for awhile now, and these were getting rave reviews. It definitely sounds more present and full than the Nuforce I was using prior. I know some folks consider burn in a psuedo effect, but I know I have noted the sound opening up after a few hours with the Border Patrol. I like Steve Gutenberg (the audiophiliac) 's reviews and he gives this DAC his thumbs up so I thought it worth a listen. And it's got a tube. It's still here a few weeks in so I guess I'm keeping it.
________________________________
Klipsch story..
* So I was looking for a pair of old Klipsch speakers to go with my old Sansui receiver. I found a pair on Craiglist, and it had had some Bob Crites mods, which apparently is a popular thing. This particular pair was touted as having had all the mods. Crossovers, titanium diaphragms, re-coned woofers and passive radiators ..and the owner had also seen fit to re-veneer the things in zebrawood. The price was fair, I call and I'm in.
I google map the address, and wow. Big gates, long narrow tree covered cobblestone driveway that expands out in front of the house replete with six carefully covered sports cars. Soon I am to find it's the house of Ken Leonard who was a big deal in 1970's electronics among other things.
He was the founder AEA Electronics http://aeaaudio.com/legacy-page/ which has been restarted recently. His first board was used at Criteria Studios for Clapton's Derek & the Dominos Layla sessions and it took off from there..Fleetwood Mac Rumours etc..
He also happens to hold a patent for certifying the security of websites.
So anyway, his son makes the minute or so walk to the black gates to let my car in. Once parked I am invited inside and we make our way back past ornate furnishings, sculptures and statues to the "stereo room/pool table room/electronics projects room".
Next to a picture of Mr. Leonard adjusting a mixing desk (as Eric Clapton and member of the Allman Brothers look on) are the speakers. Currently the pool table is covered and full of electronics projects in progress, namely the refurbing of classic tube receivers and integrated amps which he and his father do for fun.
The speakers were demoed with a 7 watt Heathkit amp. They sounded good low, they sounded good cranked. sold.
The house..
Last edited:
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