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Classic High-End Gear

onwardjames said:
In keeping with the theme of this thread (or intended theme, lol) I nominate the only piece of gear I have worthy of this thread -

Aragon 18k II preamp.
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Nominate, Why? Just put it on the list. One vote and it is in. We are just here to have fun.
 
Here is another awesome one! a Mitsubishi DA-A10DC power amplifier with matching DA-M10 power meters
:naughty:
Mitsubishi-DA-M10-01.jpg
 
Alobar said:
Well at the risk of tooting my horn I will put my Kenwood 700 separates on the list. I still love their quality build and sound, even after 40 years of ownership I am completely void of desire for anything else.
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AK is really nothing but personal horn tooting when it comes to a selection of what is best and frequently falls to that same level with recommendation for a chunk of gear. We all love what we have and just know it is better than the other old crap out there. Not really true but how is a man going to admit that another chunk of gear that they don't own is better than their crap?
 
Blue Shadow said:
AK is really nothing but personal horn tooting when it comes to a selection of what is best and frequently falls to that same level with recommendation for a chunk of gear. We all love what we have and just know it is better than the other old crap out there. Not really true but how is a man going to admit that another chunk of gear that they don't own is better than their crap?
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For me it isn't about better or worse. I absolutely know that both are always true, always something better and worse with whatever you have. I do think that this amp deserves a place on this thread, being that it was kenwood's TOTL of the day. The reasons I am satisfied with what I have now has a bit to do with the nostalgia that comes with long term ownership of anything and that wins out over constantly striving for the absolute best gear there is (for me).
 
Alobar said:
The reasons I am satisfied with what I have now has a bit to do with the nostalgia that comes with long term ownership of anything and that wins out over constantly striving for the absolute best gear there is (for me).
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And that is what drives the Pio/Mar/Sui tax. Glad I prefer the Kenwood brand. Although those units have a tax associated with them the L-0 gear doesn't seem to be over the top, yet and it is great stuff, too.
 
Blue Shadow said:
And that is what drives the Pio/Mar/Sui tax. Glad I prefer the Kenwood brand. Although those units have a tax associated with them the L-0 gear doesn't seem to be over the top, yet and it is great stuff, too.
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Wasn't even sales tax when I bought these and I certainly wasn't thinking at the time I would still have them 40 years later. Still the Kenwood 700's weren't exactly cheap. I believe I paid $1500 for the set. I don't know what that amount in 1975 dollars would translate to today but it probably isn't a small amount. Maybe put me into a new McIntosh or something..
 
List on the C and M was 1400, based on the 97 orion. I would expect them to be sold much closer to list price than the typical warehouse 30% off of Kenwood MSRP for their receivers and such. Adjusted for inflation is a useless number for today's gear comparisons. They gear is completely different. The design and engineering are completely different. We don't use slide rules anymore for the calculations. But if you had invested that money you would have doubled your money a few times, lost it a few times and been somewhere depending on your investments. But the common rulle of thumb is you double your money every 7 years, you would have a hundred grand of today's money. Maybe folks were right invest early and often.
 
I never buy anything solid with investment in mind except maybe real estate. Usually I buy something, a car, speakers, or in this case an amp and run it until it is dead and sell it for a dollar. Still waiting on my 98 Ranger to stop, but the way it is going it may outlast me! This amp/preamp was something good enough to make it worthwhile to pour a little money in so had them gone through. They are like new again!
 
The Citation series from the first up to and including the Citation 19 were some of the best Sidney Harman designed and produced. These were made before Beatrice Foods bought H/K. At the time the Citation was comparable to McIntosh for those who could not afford a Mac.
 
My introduction to high end was when I purchased a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's , SAE Mark XXV power amp (300 RMS per channel), SAE Mark B preamp, to go with my AR XB turntable and Advent 201 cassette deck, and a Pioneer reel to reel.
 
I let a lot of really high quality gear go in favour of this combination of products from the 80s and 90s: Sony tts-8000 with SME iv and Audio Technica ART-; Technics SHX-1000 DAC and Nakamichi CA7 preamp and PA7 power amp:

20160220_092131_zpshntf0xyq.jpg


Playing into the Yamaha NS1000M.

 
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My first experience of the high end was at a hifi shop called 'The Music Room' at Bridge Street in Manchester, England. I had gone to demonstrate a system I should have bought: Michell Focus 1 turntable, Sugden A21A integrated amplifier and Infinity Reference 10 speakers. That would have been some starter system for an 18 year old working class lad from Moss Side Manchester!
The beguiling sounds seeping down the stairs led me to The Source turntable, feeding some Audio Research and Krell amplifiers, into Magneplanars. Bloody hell, my horizons changed that day!
 
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