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Classic Receiver & Vintage Speaker pairings

progger7

progger7

Active Member
its all about synergy. Not all vintage receivers sound great with otherwise great vintage speakers and its takes a good bit of trial and error to find that sweet combination.

What are the combos you've tried or heard that sound great together? Let's focus on the Marantz, Sansui and Yamaha receivers. Ok, to open up to the separates from same era as the Marantz 22XX, 23XX, Sansui 9090, and Yamaha CR series. When listing the combo it would be helpful to list the type of music it sounds best with as that is another variable.

This is what I can contribute:

Sansui 9090 with Infinity QB - Jazz, classical, acoustic music, some rock.
Marantz 2275 with Boston Acoustic A150 - jazz and rock
 
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Harman Kardon citation receiver with tannoy 12"HPD
I mostyly listen to jazz/rock/funk/whatever seems cool at the time.

Kenwood 700 set with EV interface D (not mine though)
 
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Well.... my Yam. CR1020 is currently playing it's natural sound on a pair of EPI 150s, and that works really well for me! Since all my amplification is Yamaha however, I have no idea what they'd sound like with different power.

My JBL L50s are a bit harsh when set flat on the Yamaha, perhaps they'd be better on a warmer receiver? I'll have to try that sometime. They're not going anywhere, so I'm sure I'll have that chance sometime.
 
There was a recent thread asking this same question, but I'll say again that I'm still in love with the sound of the Marantz 2245 coupled with AR2a speakers. Something about that great warm Marantz sound with the original alnico woofers and dome tweeters used in the 2a that just makes great music together.

Another great pairing is the Kenwood KR-4070 and Smaller Advent speakers. Those two are a great match, and so is the NAD 2070 set for 4 ohm operation and the Smaller Advents.

Heathkit's fantastic AR-15 receiver and Advent 5002 speakers really hit it off (as I am finding out now!). The bass authority and clarity is jaw dropping, and the mid/hi range is super clear without getting screechy (some amps make the treble a little harsh on certain notes, not the AR-15 though).

BTW - love the Man album cover avatar, Progger!
 
what type of music are you playing with those combos?

I find my Large Advents sound terrific with classical and some old jazz but don't cut it with progressive rock.
 
1) Sansui 8080DB + Klipsch Forte I, 2) Pioneer SX-838 + Klipsch kg2, 3) Sansui 771 + A/D/S L420, 4) Harman Kardon 430 Twin + Infinity Qe, 5) Harman Kardon hk680i + A/D/S L400, 6) Marantz 2215B + AR4X, 7) Pioneer SX-636 + Polk Monitor 5jr, 8) Kenwood KR-6030 + EV ZX1-90, 9) Technics SA-400 + Mission model 70 mk II, the list goes on...
 
progger7 said:
what type of music are you playing with those combos?

I find my Large Advents sound terrific with classical and some old jazz but don't cut it with progressive rock.
Click to expand...

Mostly Jazz and prog / independent stuff. A lot of early 70's prog music wasn't recorded as well as one might think, and certain pressings of the original vinyl may not sound so great. The mainstream prog stuff like Yes and King Crimson were kind of thin on the bass and a bit forward in the midrange, although that kind of thing may change from pressing to pressing.

Genesis after Trespass was well recorded, same with most ELP and Italy's PFM (who had some very well recorded music on Numero Uno and later on ELP's Manticore label), but again it may depend on the pressing.

The re-mastered CD's of these bands all sound very good to my ears. I think Robert Fripp went back and re-remastered the early Crimson recordings because he wasn't satisfied with the first remastering job that he did in the 80's (and the technology was lame at the time too).

The fried egg tweeter in the L.A. might get a tad bit harsh with some of these recordings, probably a good job for a soft dome tweet like the 5002 has.
 
I am currently listening to lots of 70's Genesis, Yes, RUSH, ELP, Pink Floyd and others through my Polk Monitor 7's and Grafyx SP10's via some vintage receivers (Onkyo TX-8500, Sony STR-V5, Poineer SX-939) and I am digging it!
 
Your title said Receivers but then you said seperates as well. I find my Mcintosh C28, Phase Linear 400 x 2, with a pair of Phase Linear III speakers with two of the bass commodes sounds very good to me.
 
I guess your avatar isn't a Man album cover after all, Progger. It reminded me of these ones by Man:

220px-Man_Slow_Motion.jpg
220px-Man_Man_album.jpg


Where have I seen your avatar pic before?? I could swear it's an album cover :scratch2:
 
MC275 amp paired with MX114 for driving KEF 104.2 speakers; mostly used for for classical music, but jazz vocals especially sound great.
 
Almost perfect pairings for me:

HK 430 and Dynaco A25s [exceptional] (Celestion DL-6s also good)
Pioneer SX-838 and EPI 100Vs
Marantz 2265 and Polk Monitor 10As (just the right amount of power and clean sound)
Yamaha CR-800 and ADS L520s [exceptional]
Pioneer SX-3900 and Large Advents (just the right amount of power and clean sound)
Vector Research VR5000 and HH Scott S-11s
JVC R-S33 and Polk Monitor 5As (surprising!)

cnh2
 
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I listened to my Yamaha CR-800 and ESS AMT3 Rock Monitors for a Looooooong time before upgrading, mostly classic rock. The AMT3's have outstanding highs, I added a pair of Pioneer HPM 100's later for added bottom end when I got a larger room. I still have all of the speakers in my theater setup. Had to refoam the ESS mid and bass drivers, but they still sound pretty sweet. I did have to upgrade the receiver to surround though.
 
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Marantz 2230 +ADS L500
Harmon Kardon 430 + Klipsch Forte 2
Marantz 2226B + ADS L420
Realistic STA 120B + ADS L620
These are my favorites at this moment.
 
For the office, Marantz 2285 and Spendor LS3/5A...sweet! Makes beautiful music in my office.
 
Well the epi 150s are gone to galaxie65, but live jazz was particularly grand on them.

Now playing cv d5 on the cr 1020, lots of bass!
 
Kenwood Super Eleven and KLH Model 32 for acoustic music and jazz. I was running a Sansui 881 in this rig and thought it sounded great, but the big Kenny took these speakers to a whole different level.
Pioneer SX-838 and Altec Santana II for classic rock.
Denon PMA-900V and Polk SDA 1B for everything.
 
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