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Classic High-End Gear

The gear I can only dream about is the MacIntosh stuff. Big old and new powerful tube gear. I'd love to have just one to show the technology and quality of the designs. Unfortunately MacIntosh is well outside my budget. For all the receivers I have my speaker choices also mark me as an audio philistine. My speakers are NOT the expensive KEF's or others. My best speakers are POLK audio towers and sub woofers. I have some beat up old Fisher Speakers I keep becuase I love their sound. "YES I am a ghetto fabulous werewolf!" I'm NOT ashamed of what I am. I have some Pioneer Speakers and a few Sony's. I have enough money yo buy $2,000 but I'm sorry I am so much a Plebeian that I can't hear the quality of the best speakers as such I buy speakers in the $400 range. IF I buy expensive speakers it will be for my Pioneer SX-1980 since I've already dumped $8,000 in its purchase, repair and upkeep. I figure in for a penny ... In for a pound! The Pioneer SX1250, SX-1280 and the SX-1980 are all money pits almost on par with owning a boat if you can't do your own electronics repair and I can't. I'm just enraptured by the vintage look of the Pioneer's, Onkyo's, Hitachi's, Sansui's and more. I love my vintage 70's monster receiver collection it thrills me every day I wake up to play with it all in retirement.

It's the joy playing with all this stuff brings along with all the memories of my past these receivers evoke that make the money invested in this hobby worth it. I remember clearly when I was a young student with NO MONEY and plenty bills pressing my face against the stereo store window as I saw the posh folk buying expensive Pioneer SX-1250's, 1280's, 1980's and other top tier receivers I felt I might never be able to afford. Fast Forward 50 years and I have enough money to indulge my dream of owning 70's era monster receivers. Yeah I'd love a MacIntosh and a nice tuner with huge meters and stuff but I doubt that is in the cards for me. I am content even happy with what I have been able to collect.
 
THEWEREWOLF said:
The gear I can only dream about is the MacIntosh stuff. Big old and new powerful tube gear. I'd love to have just one to show the technology and quality of the designs. Unfortunately MacIntosh is well outside my budget. For all the receivers I have my speaker choices also mark me as an audio philistine. My speakers are NOT the expensive KEF's or others. My best speakers are POLK audio towers and sub woofers. I have some beat up old Fisher Speakers I keep becuase I love their sound. "YES I am a ghetto fabulous werewolf!" I'm NOT ashamed of what I am. I have some Pioneer Speakers and a few Sony's. I have enough money yo buy $2,000 but I'm sorry I am so much a Plebeian that I can't hear the quality of the best speakers as such I buy speakers in the $400 range. IF I buy expensive speakers it will be for my Pioneer SX-1980 since I've already dumped $8,000 in its purchase, repair and upkeep. I figure in for a penny ... In for a pound! The Pioneer SX1250, SX-1280 and the SX-1980 are all money pits almost on par with owning a boat if you can't do your own electronics repair and I can't. I'm just enraptured by the vintage look of the Pioneer's, Onkyo's, Hitachi's, Sansui's and more. I love my vintage 70's monster receiver collection it thrills me every day I wake up to play with it all in retirement.

It's the joy playing with all this stuff brings along with all the memories of my past these receivers evoke that make the money invested in this hobby worth it. I remember clearly when I was a young student with NO MONEY and plenty bills pressing my face against the stereo store window as I saw the posh folk buying expensive Pioneer SX-1250's, 1280's, 1980's and other top tier receivers I felt I might never be able to afford. Fast Forward 50 years and I have enough money to indulge my dream of owning 70's era monster receivers. Yeah I'd love a MacIntosh and a nice tuner with huge meters and stuff but I doubt that is in the cards for me. I am content even happy with what I have been able to collect.
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If you have enough money to afford those monster receivers you dont need to have a 200w mcintosh tube amp .A simple mc275 wth say a mr71 tuner and a preamp aint too out of range but then i dont know your budget .What you really need to do is upgrade your speakers as well .Your post is loaded with so many variables its hard to figure out what you want to do.Speakers will play a major role in the sound from any amp .You could hook up your 1980 to your sonys but you said you like them so that is that.I could also hook up a transistor radio to a altec604b speaker will i like the sound i dont know.
One last thing the size of your room comes into play and how loud you like your musc.A good pair of efficient speakers coupled to a even a 25watt tube amp cand get you 95db/1watt
 
I am more or less just musing. I love my Pioneer monster receiver collection which took 13 years to build. I just recently got a Pioneer SX-1050. I now have all the Pioneer 70's era War of the Watts, Silver Face receivers I want. I am not getting the Pioneer SX-1080 because it's unobtainable output transistors make it more trouble than it is worth. I have all the other Pioneer Monster Club Receivers over 100 WPC.

I just think McIntosh tube amp \ tuner combinations would be an awesome representative of modern tube technology. I'd love to have folk compare McIntosh directly to my Monster Solid State Electronic receivers to see which they love. Maybe I should not be but I love my trash Sony, Polk and Pioneer speakers. It is just to true audiophiles even my best Polk speakers are trash. Funny thing I have some rancid BIG DAWG UGLY OLD Fisher speakers whose sound I adore. This tells me my ears ARE NOT sophisticated enough for $3,000 speakers. My buying expensive speakers is like buying a bottle of $10,000 wine to the village drunk.

Funny thing is yesterday morning 3\8\23 I nabbed a Sharp Optonica RP-3636 stone granite turntable for just $499.00 on Ebay. You see I am just an old kid from the ghetto made good. I'm not so high toned that I consider myself cultured. I'm smart regards computer technology. Truth is I don't know the first thing about music beyond knowing what "I" like when I hear it. I'm reasonably good at getting really killer good deals on Ebay. There is someone on Ebay selling the same Sharp Optonica RP-3636 stone granite turntable for $995.00 and I was smart enough not to buy at that super high price.

My grandmother said never buy from a man who wants to sell. Buy instead from a man who NEEDS to sell. That's where the deal is. All things considered, As an old man who lives well, today I am buying vintage audio equipment I lusted after like a childhood fiend with my face pressed against the expensive stereo store window.
:jump: Gladys Knight and the Pip's said it best when they sang Everybody Wants to Be Bougie Bougie. That became my life's anthem! LOL! So now you know!:jump:
 
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THEWEREWOLF said:
today I am buying vintage audio equipment I lusted after like a childhood fiend with my face pressed against the expensive stereo store window.
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And since the high end gear was kept in the soundroom away from the lusting eyes and drooling mouths of the youth visiting the store and frequently controlled by the salesforce, checking for c-notes handing out of the pockets of prospective customers, you have specific gear that gets you going and might be missing the good stuff. Nothing wrong with that, buy what you like. But there is more than just receivers out there and performance really improves as one goes up the ladder.
 
Naw I was poor but I was always well mannered and well dressed enough to walk into any store. My grandparents saw to that. I could not buy an awesome Pioneer receiver back in my day BUT I could swing a big fat $470 Sanyo JCX-2400K at 55 WPC. I had my cheap Sharp cassette recorder, an equally cheap but pretty Technics cassette deck and my Pioneer 8 Track player recorder. Eventually added a 6 disk CD player. My Yamaha graphic equalizer, My cheap as dirt SONICS Speakers that vibrated the particle board case if turned up too loud. Added another Pioneer 8 track one of my Marine buddies brought back from overseas. My first BIG receiver was a Kenwood Beast Receiver my Marine Corp brother sent home to me while he was stationed in Japan or somewhere in Asia. I thought it was his and I was just caring for it till he got out.

Nope he came home and I put the receiver in his bedroom. He sent me to the store to get him some Doritos, a Beer 6 pack and a Pepsi. My ex-Marine brother is more ghetto than me and he's a white guy. Anyways when I get back home I find the BIG Kenwood Receiver back in my room hooked up to a new VCR he brought home for me. He is not much for words so he just put his gigantic hand on my shoulder pointed at the set up system with the other hand and said LOUDLY YOURS! We sat up till the wee small hours watching Space: 1999, Lost In Space and Barbarella Queen of The Galaxy getting drunk on beer and Tortino's Pizza. They were the best of times!

There is no point in fighting with a 6 foot 8 inch 344 pound Marine. They NEVER listen. My first monster receiver was the Kenwood KR-9600 he sent me. He has it now we are its only owners. It's been totally recapped and refurbished.

I had to beat him up to make him take it home with him. Yeah RIGHT he always lets me win our fights! But I did nag him till he took it home with him. He might be BIG but I am persistent and he hates pressure and I enjoy teasing him because I am small but older. LOL! Like I said the best of times. These vintage systems are full of great memories for us.
 
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Blue Shadow said:
And since the high end gear was kept in the soundroom away from the lusting eyes and drooling mouths of the youth visiting the store and frequently controlled by the salesforce, checking for c-notes handing out of the pockets of prospective customers, you have specific gear that gets you going and might be missing the good stuff. Nothing wrong with that, buy what you like. But there is more than just receivers out there and performance really improves as one goes up the ladder.
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Interestingly, one of the reasons I own McIntosh separates and Klipschorns is that, at 13/14/15 (when I clearly was just drooling and browsing), salespeople (including Paul Klipsch, himself) acknowledged and indulged and encouraged my interest. They let me sit and listen and drool and lust and look at all the lights and even turn the precision knobs. I remember how beautiful McIntosh equipment looked and how wonderful the McIntosh equipment “felt” to use, compared to less expensive kit. I also loved the smell of the electronics and the glow of the teal nomenclature and golden tubes.

When PWK gave me, a teenager, a Bullshit button, I felt like a member of a club. And the welcome I got in a couple of those stores made me a paying customer 15 years later. I’ve actually been treated less friendlier by Hi-End dealers as an adult.
 
I was treated well as a kid. However most of my adult vintage audio purchases are from Ebay. My repair people treat me like family. It is a small family owned business. They let me wander around the store. Look at all the new things they have in. They let me walk through the repair bays to see vintage audio repairs in progress. They give me coffee, tea water or whatever I want. They are what make vintage audio collecting fun for me.

I don't think I would have gotten as deep into this vintage receiver collecting had it not been for developing deal ties with my friends at the repair shop. My friends at the repair shop turned me on to the Pioneer SX-1980, the Marantz 2330B and my new granite top turn table. This vintage audio collecting hobby brings me immense joy. My big Marine Corp brother has a huge collection but his house is four times the size of my little place. He drives I don't due to my many disabilities!
 
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Bushikan said:
acknowledged and indulged and encouraged my interest.
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There are different kinds of dealers. Glad you got a nurturing dealer as your early intro to the better stuff. In the small store I worked in the sound room with the good stuff was generally open and one could wander in and look. Even use the gear if circumstances allowed as they do in the summer months when folks aren't looking at gear but out on the lake or some such thing. I have been to the dealers that like to see a financial statement before spending much time with you. If that works for them, fine. But I was the first to outsell the owner of the store, did it two months in a row with the late summer crowd bringing in their lawn mowing money and buying that one or two pieces to add to their system. We watched the store in the summer the manager and owner were in the back planning. I just saw more folks.
 
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My favorite audio dealer by far is Audio Classics, in Vestal, NY. They are also one of the absolute best and most honest and reliable businesses I’ve experienced anywhere. (I’m also among their first 30 or so customers—originally through mail order.) But if I hadn’t been treated well by earlier dealers, as a kid starting out in this hobby, I might have been intimidated even to walk into their very friendly and welcoming store.
 
Bushikan said:
My favorite audio dealer by far is Audio Classics, in Vestal, NY. They are also one of the absolute best and most honest and reliable businesses I’ve experienced anywhere. (I’m also among their first 30 or so customers—originally through mail order.) But if I hadn’t been treated well by earlier dealers, as a kid starting out in this hobby, I might have been intimidated even to walk into their very friendly and welcoming store.
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My audio technicians are part of JustAudio a small store in Baltimore County, Maryland. They repair vintage audio and do a great job. They have a YouTube Channel and everything. Only thing they don't do is full recaps. There are some vintage audio that has not aged well so they don't work on "Everything" If you have a monster receiver with few exceptions they will work on it. They treat me like family but no matter who you are they treat all customers with care. I have been a customer with them for a long time. I've brought in a lot of repair work over the last ten years. They have refurbished more tape decks, receivers, equalizers and more that I can count across the years. Whenever I put up a comment on their YouTube channel they like it. Its little things like that what make me really love this JustAudio.The people are awesomely special to me and always will be.

The thing that makes Just Audio great is they know so much about the best speakers and vintage and new equipment. They also teach customers about the vintage and new audio equipment without making you feel dumb. The sales staff expose me to different types of quality audio and let me find my interest level. They always treat me with respect. For me that matters more than anything.
 
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Rock on, Mr. Werewolf! Excellent that you're doing what you like and listen to what you like on the gear that you like.
 
Blue Shadow said:
And since the high end gear was kept in the soundroom away from the lusting eyes and drooling mouths of the youth visiting the store and frequently controlled by the salesforce, checking for c-notes handing out of the pockets of prospective customers, you have specific gear that gets you going and might be missing the good stuff. Nothing wrong with that, buy what you like. But there is more than just receivers out there and performance really improves as one goes up the ladder.
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You are right but I am just an old gray ghetto fabulous werewolf made good. I have way more money as an old man than I dared dream of as the poor kid I once was. To me my monster receiver collection is "The Good Stuff!" I don't doubt for a moment that there is much better than the schlock electronics and audio gear I adore. I'm a vile common little philistine with money and I embrace who and what I am. I love my Dual 1229, Dual 721 and Dual 704 middle of the quality road turntables. My Pioneer CT-W910R cassette and RT 707 Reel to Reel tape decks aren't the best. As a young kid of working class parents from the ghetto the vintage audio receivers and audio gear I have now were and are the things I aspired to which guide my purchases now.

I know I am an uncouth unkempt barbaric swine. I consider these things my best features. I'm no audiophile. I'm a savage beast for whom music is a soothing past time and collecting vintage audio is my joy. I have cassette and reel to reel tape decks, CD library storage machines, Computerized Graphic Equalizers, surround sound expanders, turntables and more to connect to my 9 receivers. Here are the two systems I have in my main office.

Have you chaps seen the over $300 and above prices of these AKAI EA-A7 Computerized Graphic Equalizers shown in the pictures. I have 4 of them purchased when they were maybe $189.00 each.

system1.jpg system2.jpg
 
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system3.jpg system3.jpg system4.jpg system5.jpg
Sorry about the pictures not being particularly good or centered but cerebral palsy prevents my having really nice artsy pieces. For those who want to see my entire systems along with the receivers. From my wheelchair the pictures don't likely look that great. My big ugly ex-Marine brother is not here at the moment so I don't want to risk standing up to take the picture. He worries. I did turn everything on so you all could see it all of the components lit up. I use the light bulb lamp to see the controls. I could not roll back far enough to show the speakers but they are rubbish Fisher and Sony $250 Speakers but I love them because I am a uncultured philistine as is my brother. KEF speakers are wasted on us beasts! As you can see I collect weird stuff. My brother and I frequent yard sales. Also I have goofy friends that spoil me as much as my big crazy brother does.

This section of my collection is complete and fully functional. I have four units in the shop that should be back here and connected by late June. I have two Dual turntables coming in tomorrow. I'm down three receivers at the moment because they are away being recapped for $4,000!!!!!!!! In the shop are my Pioneer SX1080, my Pioneer SX1050 and my Hitachi SR2004. They should be back by late June early July!
 
When are you going to invest in some "real" gear"? You know, separates. They allow you to have more gear to show off and they sound better. :D

I noticed you haven't mentioned any speakers. I'm quite curious as to what you're using. They are, after all, the most important part of any system. :)
 
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