Vintage Record Players, Receivers, Speakers, Equalizers - Anything worth picking up?

aethertech

Active Member
Stopped by a vintage and antiques store near my college; had some interestingly old audio stuff. "Guaranteed working..." I'm familiar with most of the brands by name (Except for 7, 8, 13, 15, 16, 17, and 18) - but not any specific equipment listed.

'$?' is for price not listed (or not visible in my camera pictures.)

1. [Receiver] Sony STR-VX1 - $85
2. [Receiver] Sony HST-230A - $?
3. [Player] Pioneer PL-S40 - $150
4. [Receiver] Pioneer SX-3400 - $145
5. [Receiver] Technics SA-EX110 - $?
6. [CD-Player] Technics SL-PD9 - $?
7. [Speakers] Acustic Dynamics - $?
8. [Speakers] Sound Desgin - Dynamic Sound - $?
9. [Speakers]Technics - $?
10. [Speakers] Zenith Speakers (2500) - $45
11. [Speakers] Fisher ST-992W - $50
12. [Speakers] Infinity SM-65 - $85
13. [Receiver] Scott 325R - $?
14. [Receiver] Yamaha R-500 - $?
15. [Receiver] NAD AV713 - $?
16. [EQ]AudiSource EQ Eight/Series 2 - $?
17. [EQ] Realistic - $?
18. [Receiver] Quadraflex Reference 650FET R - $?
19. [Player]Marantz Record Player that I didn't get a picture of because I'm an idiot, apparently.
20. Mitsubishi X-10 Interplay System - Not currently for sale, but my dad wants to replace his and I'm wondering what a fair value for a working X-10 would be?

Album: (Sorry for poor quality of images, was on my way to class when I discovered the shop.)
https://imgur.com/a/9WCbE

Thanks,
 
Are you buying for your own use, or hoping to resell? If you're planning on reselling, price is obviously more critical. If you're planning on using it yourself, what might you need? (In other words, that depends on what you already have.)

SoundDesign: steer clear -- invariably cheap-o, bottom of the barrel. That applies for the most part to Zenith, but some old Zenith tube stuff might be an exception.

The NAD and Yamaha receivers might be worth looking at, again depending on price. For that matter, so would the Pioneer and Sony ones.

The Technics MASH CD players can sound good, and are sometimes cheap -- that's a possibility if you need a CD player and it's reasonably priced. I've got one that sounds good and has worked perfectly for years and years.

You might ask if you can hear the speakers -- I might give the Infinity and Technics speakers a listen.

That Mitsubishi turntable/cassette combination unit with the upright turntable is pretty odd!
 
Are you buying for your own use, or hoping to resell? If you're planning on reselling, price is obviously more critical. If you're planning on using it yourself, what might you need? (In other words, that depends on what you already have.)

SoundDesign: steer clear -- invariably cheap-o, bottom of the barrel. That applies for the most part to Zenith, but some old Zenith tube stuff might be an exception.

The NAD and Yamaha receivers might be worth looking at, again depending on price. For that matter, so would the Pioneer and Sony ones.

The Technics MASH CD players can sound good, and are sometimes cheap -- that's a possibility if you need a CD player and it's reasonably priced. I've got one that sounds good and has worked perfectly for years and years.

You might ask if you can hear the speakers -- I might give the Infinity and Technics speakers a listen.

That Mitsubishi turntable/cassette combination unit with the upright turntable is pretty odd!

Own use. I kind of want to set up a system in my school apartment. Won't be re-selling anything unless its a really, really good deal for me. I'll see if the vendor can set up the Technics and Infinity speakers for a demo; at least they look nice.

My dad has had the Mitsubishi X-10 for so long that its' never seemed strange to me. But I'll see if I can go in next week and sample the Infinity and Technics.
 
Own use. I kind of want to set up a system in my school apartment. Won't be re-selling anything unless its a really, really good deal for me. I'll see if the vendor can set up the Technics and Infinity speakers for a demo; at least they look nice.

My dad has had the Mitsubishi X-10 for so long that its' never seemed strange to me. But I'll see if I can go in next week and sample the Infinity and Technics.

If you look at the speakers, ask them to remove the grills so you can look at the speaker drivers. Check to see if the surrounds are intact -- if they're foam, look for cracks or any other deterioration. Or maybe you already know all this . . . ;)
 
If you look at the speakers, ask them to remove the grills so you can look at the speaker drivers. Check to see if the surrounds are intact -- if they're foam, look for cracks or any other deterioration. Or maybe you already know all this . . . ;)

I am like Jon Snow, I know ... nothing. I know the speakers move in and out to make ear pleasing noises.
 
$145 for the Pioneer SX-3400 seems high for the bottom of the line receiver.
 
Got any $ idea on it? (I tried ebay, nothing for the 650.)

You won't find a lot of info for that model Quadraflex. Was kind of a house brand for Pacific Stereo back in the day. Their top of the line model and uses 2SK134/2SJ49 MOSFET output transistors. For some, that's kind of a thing...

This probably doesn't make a lot of sense.. That's okay. ;)
 
You won't find a lot of info for that model Quadraflex. Was kind of a house brand for Pacific Stereo back in the day. Their top of the line model and uses 2SK134/2SJ49 MOSFET output transistors. For some, that's kind of a thing...

This probably doesn't make a lot of sense.. That's okay. ;)

It doesn't. I know what a MOSFET is, but not what a 2SK134/2SJ49 is, or why "for some, thats kind of a thing"....?
 
Some enjoy the sound of a good MOSFET output section and the part numbers listed above are good MOSFETs. :thumbsup:
 
I am like Jon Snow, I know ... nothing. I know the speakers move in and out to make ear pleasing noises.

Ok, well, if you're starting from scratch, then a receiver and speakers and a source or two and you're all set. Are you going to connect a computer?
 
That NAD is decent. I've had one for a long time as the AV system at our cabin. The Technics EX are not too bad either as is the Yamaha.

The X-10 is very cool. Troublesome bits can be getting at the controls for cleaning and the bulbs that control arm movement are often burnt out. Replace them with LEDs and it will go for a long time.
 
Ok, well, if you're starting from scratch, then a receiver and speakers and a source or two and you're all set. Are you going to connect a computer?

Yes, it'll be connected to a Z97 PC Mate (ALC887) won't be as good as a USB DAC, or a half-decent PCIE sound card, but it'll be the best option for the moment. The source will be Pandora/93X/YouTube for the most part - and some movies. As long as I don't pump up the PC volume to much, background static won't be to bad (which is the whole reason I started getting into audio, was my experiences with this motherboard. First came the DACs, then came the DOMUS OMNIS (and other stuff...) Oh well, its what I got here at school, so it'll have to do.

That NAD is decent. I've had one for a long time as the AV system at our cabin. The Technics EX are not too bad either as is the Yamaha.

The X-10 is very cool. Troublesome bits can be getting at the controls for cleaning and the bulbs that control arm movement are often burnt out. Replace them with LEDs and it will go for a long time.
The issue my dad is having with the X-10 is the plastic aging poorly. Specially for the tape drives. Can't replace it at all. At least, not that I can figure out.



So thats a vote for the Quadraflex, and and a vote for the NAD. So far.

Any votes on speakers (Infinity vs. Technics?) Assuming both sets work.

One more question, either of the Equalizer's worth picking up? I've been in the mood to play with an EQ for a while now - just to see what it'll do. (again, assuming everything works for the moment.)
 
I would go for the infinity's, but I don't know what kind of power the Quadraflex puts out. Infinity's work best with good headroom (high instant current). Not a big fan of Technics speakers, but they would be more efficient. Go to a thrift if you want a CD player. They are cheap and plentiful and you shouldn't pay much for one. Try it out there with a cd and if it plays and you don't hear the head moving back and forth, you should be good to go. Not a fan of equalizers.
 
'The NAD is the most interesting one to me if the price is right. None of the speakers are worth the asking price ("Free" would be too much for some of them). If you are comfortable revealing your location, you fellow AKer's might be able to point you to some better equipment for the money.
 
Near Menomonie WI,

anyway: the Marantz is the 6200, dealer wants $475 ("Firm") for it. According to ebay, that is about 30-40% more than it is actually worth. So thats an instant nono.
 
None of that is worth wasting your time and money on. Just check Craigslist--I'm sure there are plenty of better deals.
 
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