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My System, 25 Years Ago (vintage system in vintage times)

House de Kris

House de Kris

Loud-n-Deep
I just stumbled across an old package of photos while cleaning up the other day. Found pictures of my stereo back when I was in college in 1980. Oddly, it doesn't really look all that much different than what I use now, just smaller.

Quick run-down on gear...

On the rack:
Dynaco ST-70 power amp, for mids & tweeters
dbx 118 dynamic range enhancer
dbx 100 sub harmonic synthesizer
Marantz 3200 preamp
ADS Model 10 acoustic dimension sythesizer
Audio Control C-101 equalizer
SAE 4000 crossover
Audio Technology 510M LED metering system
ESS M500 power amp, for woofers

On the sub:
Discwasher system
Audio Kaliedoscope video generator
Atari Video Music video generator
Pioneer CT-F2121 cassette deck
SWTPC Tiger B power amp, for subwoofer
FWGR for 330 miniture lite show

On the TV:
Setton TS-11 turntable w/Shure V15-IIIHE

Speakers:
RTR ESR-6 tweeters
DIY copy of E-V Eliminator folded horn
DIY conical horn mid
M&K BE-1V subwoofer
ADS L-10 full range surround (not shown)

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HA! I'm getting slow, took me a long time to get it. Actually, I got that sign back in '74 or so when I made those speaker cabinets.
 
Boy, they stack S--T pretty high where you came from!

Boy, that is impressive looking but what the heck is it all? I have good stack my self, but would only fill one of your rack's? List of what I have.

2 Mono Blocks
1 Preamp
1 EQ not used
1 CD Player
2 Tunner's and don't know why
1 Tape Deck
1 Speaker selector
1 Audio Mixer not hooked up yet and more than likely never will be
1 Sub Amp that is free standing from the Sub, might add a great idea

Only thing I thought I was missing was a DAC and a power enhancer but other than that I thought I had all the base's covered so to speak.

Next time my wife start's to blow me some stuff about all the gear I will wipe out your PIC and that will shut her up.

By the way, if you start to list what the gear is, all so say what it does. In other word's explain what it does and why you have it. Name brand and model number will not mean anything to me unless I happen to have it or know of it.

You may know what a Adcom GFA-555, Sansui AX-7, Yamaha K-700 is, or may not and not a clue what the heck it does. :scratch2:

I will added, I own the Sansui AX-7, know what it is but don't know what it does. :thmbsp: Just to lazy to hook it up! :banana: Reading the manuel make's you head hurt as well.

May you die with your ear's bleeding and a smile on your faces.

Cuda Ken
 
What are those tall zig-zag things in your current setup? I'd guess homebuilt electrostatic speakers, but given some of the other stuff you have had, could be something I've never heard of.
 
You were ahead of your time 25 yrs ago and still ahead of most of us. But I have a better tv. :banana:
25 yrs ago would have been when I bought my first audio gear, which was modest in comparisson. It consisted of a Bryston 2B, Hafler pre-amp, ESS speakers, Technics TT and Stax headphones. A considerable chunk of cash for me shortly after high school.
 
Wow. In 1981, I had a Technics SA-5170 receiver, a Hitachi belt drive tt with a low-end Stanton cartridge, a Sony cassette deck and a pair of Bose 301's. You musta had a better paper route! :)
 
Thanks for all the comments guys.

EchoWars- I built the speakers in Jr. High, and these definately weren't my first.

packrat- those zig-zag things are my tweeters. These are custom panels from a company called X-Static. They usually make full range ESLs, but I wanted some mods to make it just a tweeter.

Sansui Louie- didn't have a paper route in high school, worked at a hardware wherehouse as a "human forklift" and had plenty of dough because I was living at home. In fact, my parents were deep in debt to me for years. Note to parents, never borrow money from your kids, gives them too much power.

cudaken- is your question about the 1980 system, or the 2005 system?
 
The 2005 system. You did list what the 1980's gear was, but what does a Audio Technology 510M LED metering system do? I also saw the old system had a seprate amp for the tweeter's so one of the pice's of gear must be a cross over used in Bi-amping.

Still new to the game in many respet's. Bought well one time in 1984 and that is about it. I up grade but stuck with all ADCOM amp's, Pre amp's and support gear. My I had one Sansui CA-2000 Preamp that I bought out of a pawn shop, but never really listen to it.

Cuda Ken
 
OK, a short description of the 2005 system then for cudaken. Oh and, sorry for the delay, I only play on AK during work time.

I'll list the stuff for you in 'signal flow' fashion, meaning I'll start with sources and end up with speakers. I'll also include a brief description of what it does. Plus, I'll throw in a block diagram to simplify this.

PREAMP/SOURCE RACK (the one on the right)
Pioneer DV-440
DVD player
I use it to play DVDs and MP3 CDs
Microsoft XBox
Game machine
I use it to play video games
Turtle Beach AudioTron
Network audio device
I use this to play MP3 files from networked computers
CAL IconII
CD player
I use this to play CDs
Souncraftsmen Pro-Tuner 4
AM/FM tuner
I use this to listen to the radio
Theta Casablanca
A/V preamp
I use this to select sources, decode digital audio, and to adust the volume
TEAC V-570
cassette deck
I use this to, um, record and play cassette tapes
Hitatchi VT-400
Hi-Fi VHS VCR
Primary VCR for Hi-Fi audio recordings, and to record 'party' mixes
Mitsubishi HS-U746
Hi-Fi S-VHS VCR
Primary VCR for television use
dbx 200X
signal router
I use this to extend the source/tape switching of the Casablanca
Audio Control C-101
equaliser/analyzer
I only use this for the pretty bouncy lights now
dbx 100
subharmonic synthesizer
I use this (occationally) to synthesize extra deep bass

That pretty much is it for the sources. There are more parts of this system, but not really necessary for audio discussions at AK. Integrated in, via the dbx 200X, is a video mixing station, and a DJ mixing/recording station. Actually, the turntable is in the recording station.
 
Here is a continuation of the previous note. This time, for the power amp rack (the one on the left side).

POWER AMP RACK
(front stuff)
SAE 4000
crossover
I use this to split the signal between high frequencies and everything else
SAE 4000
crossover
I use this second one to split off the mid-band from everything else
Bryston 4B
power amp
I use this amp to drive the tweeters directly
Bryston 2B-LP
power amp
I use this amp to drive the midranges directly
Velodyne ULD
crossover/power amp
I use this to separate the woofer signal from the sub signal, and to drive the subwoofer
Bryston 4B
power amp
I use this to power the woofer directly
(rear stuff)
dbx 223
crossover
I use this to split the rear channel signals between high and low
Marantz PM500
integrated amp
I use this to power the rear full range speakers, I can also bypass a lot of stuff and make this the center of a smaller system consisting of only the rear speakers, useful for those more quiet times
Adcom GFA-545II
power amp
I use this to power the rear channel subwoofers
(effects stuff)
Sumo Delila
crossover
I use this to do low-pass filtering on the subharmonic synthesizer's output.
Cerwin-Vega A-1800
power amp
I use this to power the wave cannon directly
Heathkit AD-1701
LED meter
I use this to monitor the power (actually voltage) from the high frequency amp
Audio Technology 510
LED meter
I use this to monitor the power (actually voltage) from the midrange amp

SPEAKERS
(front)
X-Static tweeter
tweeter
These produce the highs in the front
DIY conical horn mids
midrange
These make the squawker sounds
DIY folded horn
woofer
Copy of E-V Eliminator folded horns for the lows
Velodyne ULD-15II
subwoofer
Main subwoofer of the system
(rear)
ADS L-10
speakers
These do a majority of the spectrum for the rear
DIY isobaric subs
subwoofers
These provide the low frequencies for the rears
(effects)
DIY Wave Cannon
subwoofer
Copy of Bose AWC, for whump and thump effects only
 
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