Where to go from here?

That70'sShow

Active Member
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Prior to dating a former female DJ a few years ago I had never listened to anything on vinyl other than a Beatles and Dobie Gray 45 on a kids portable turntable when I was a kid. Listening as an adult now I enjoyed it a lot and found it to be a different music experience. So a few years ago I started buying things here or there scouring craigslist, garage sales, and barter town. Until recently I thought speakers were speakers and you could hook them up to whatever you wanted.

My main system over the past year after dedicating a spare bedroom as a listening space has been a Realistic Lab 420 turntable, Technics SU-7700, and ESS AMT monitors. They've sounded good together, but lyrics up front are a little fatiguing to me. I had bought a Marantz 140 and 3200 pre in great looking condition from a member, but hadn't tried it. I hooked it up a year ago and thought a channel was bad because it was quieter on one side, but I was using cables that were hooked up to another system I had bought where one channel sounded quieter and so it turns out I had a bad cable.

So I hooked up the Marantz system to compare to the SU-7700. The music sounded good, but lyrics were more in the background than on the SU-7700. Then I read about 4 ohm speakers. The Marantz is rated for 8 ohm minimum so now I quit using that. So now I'm changing back to the SU-7700.

So if you were me and had the following gear which would you use as the centerpiece to try and match the rest of the system around to be my main system or what else should I consider. Should I ditch the idea of using the 4 ohm ESS AMT speakers that sound really good to get 8 ohm of something comparable or.....? I'm not sure where to go from here. Keep in mind I'm a noob and I really only care about vinyl so tuner has no importance to me nor do separates vs receiver as long as it sounds good.

So here's what I have:
Amp and Pre
Technics SU-7700
Marantz 140 amp and 3200 pre
Dynaco ST-120
Luxman C1000
Sansui 7070
Sansui 2000x
Speakers
ESS AMT Monitors
Polk Model 10
Realistic Optimus T-120
Realistic Mach One
Turntables
BIC 980
Realistic Lab 420
Dual 522
AR18s
 
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Looks you have a good collection of gear to experiment with. The fatigue you're experiencing may result due to the bedroom. Not sure how yours is laid out, but most are small, boxy and have a ton of reflection. You might try treating the room at first reflection points.
What model are the ESS AMT monitors?
 
The Polks are hard to beat, and might go a long way toward warming up your sound and dealing with the fatigue factor
 
Looks you have a good collection of gear to experiment with. The fatigue you're experiencing may result due to the bedroom. Not sure how yours is laid out, but most are small, boxy and have a ton of reflection. You might try treating the room at first reflection points.
What model are the ESS AMT monitors?

That's why I hooked up the Marantz and it was fine, but I read the 4ohm thread and the 140 says 8ohm minimum.
That is the model ESS AMT MONITOR
 
That's why I hooked up the Marantz and it was fine, but I read the 4ohm thread and the 140 says 8ohm minimum.
That is the model ESS AMT MONITOR
Ok, I was thinking monitors in the generic form not as part of the actual model name and they look impressive. The Marantz is a good looking amp, but seems lacking in the specs department. May sound excellent with less demanding speakers though.
Personally, the ESS AMT Monitors would be the centerpiece to workout remaining gear to match.
 
Thanks for the input. I didn't know there were a bunch of different models in the ESS AMT MONITOR series until I looked it up. I just read what it said on the back. I tried the 7070, but it certainly has a phono issue so once I see what that is i'll see what the sound of that is and work from there I think. I bought the Marantz because I liked the meters, but ultimately the sound is what matters most. I am still a sucker for a silver face though.
 
I would go Sansui. I just sold a G3000 that I loved and I still use a tu666,au555a combo. Nice gear. I would try them personally with the Mach ones. My thoughts don't really matter though,it's all up to you
 
So this is what I would do:

Agenda - get more power to better compliment the ESS speakers.
1. Pick one of the preamps to keep with consideration to the phono stage quality and what direction you might go with a new amp. Without delving too far into the details of the various pieces you list, I would probably be going with the Luxman. But remember, you can also get a separate phone preamp.
2. Sell all the other amps/receivers/preamps except one of them to keep as a 2nd system piece.
3. Purchase a good vintage amp to mate with the saved preamp. Don't be afraid to go big, maybe even 200/ch. Do you research her on what amps to look for.
4. Spend the $25 to become a subscriber here so you can get into Bartertown.

This is all with the assumption that you are working with those outstanding ESS speakers for the main system. Also keep the Polks to mate with the other receiver/pre/amp set you saved as a 2nd system (which you could also sell off if you find you are not using it.)

Like I said above, figure out the best preamp for you first.
 
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