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First vintage system

outrun

outrun

Member
Hello all,

I am currently building my first vintage system out of various parts I managed to acquire locally. I am a complete newbie to all of this, since this is almost my birth year hardware although I do have nostalgia towards these from my child hood.

If anyone has any experience any of this equipment I'd be glad to hear what are your thoughts. I have no idea about the fidelity of any of these, I am tinkering with them and trying to determine which prefer but every two cents are appreciated.

Amps:
- Onkyo TX-844
- Yamaha A-420
- Pioneer SX-254R
- NAD 314

Tuners
- Sony ST-J300L
- Denon TU-215RD
- Pioneer F-656

MD:
- Sony MDS-JE520

Is anything here serviceable, which of these would make the best pairing? I am looking to add a multi-CD player (probably Pioneer or Sony, they seem the most easily available).

Currently running through Elac Debut b5.2 but I would like to add a proper vintage speakers, but that's one can of worms I don't have any knowledge of, recommendations welcome.

Quite a general topic and a lot to unpack, but all feedback very welcome, thank you :)
 
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I see a lot what many would call BPC which if your on a budget is fine. I think I'd head back further to the 70's for some of the earlier Pioneer, Yamaha, Onkyo or what I would go for Luxman. Tuners you need someone who knows them step in. Even back in the mid 70's I rarely listened to FM except in the car. Everyone has their favorite speakers. I like Dahlquist, Altec, Time Window and what I use now, Canton Karat 300's

It's fine to get some advice but none of that will be as a effective as googling the poop out the suggestions you receive. Even with all that you will evolve as you learn.
 
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sanford12 said:
It's fine to get some advice but none of that will be as a effective as googling the poop out the suggestions you receive. Even with all that you will evolve as you learn.
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Trust me I googled a lot before ending up asking here, the most useful advice were in fact from this forum, that's why I decided to create a dedicated thread here.

Could you explain the rationale behind BPC over here? if I wanted the best sound quality I'd get modern equipment off-the-shelf. Why do you insist that vintage equipment should sound like new? In my opinion that's just futile. I am after getting the vintage experience, with all its flaws. But I would like to learn more about the hardware I have, there is absolutely no information about these on the internet.
 
Try www.hifiengine.com. Most of what you listed can be found there with specs and often times owner's manuals. The Onkyo and the Pioneer are both receivers so you don't need a tuner if you chose those. As discussed above, most of what you posted is BPC which many here on AK don't consider vintage. However, there's nothing wrong with these pieces. They come from reputable manufacturers and should do what you need them to do. The only way to know which one you want is to test them.
 
dcgibby said:
Try www.hifiengine.com. Most of what you listed can be found there with specs and often times owner's manuals.
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They list only the specs, pretty much the first result off google, not very useful. And manuals are only for members and they don't accept new member sadly.

How is not 80s/90s vintage? Wasn't it the golden years of hifi, now days its just streaming and all that crap.

I know I need only one receiver, I bought several so I can compare and see what is good, and that's why I asked here if anyone has personal experiences with these.
 
sanford12 said:
Wow. I've never been sorrier to answer post. I think you need to read it again. You just joined today and acting pretty dang snotty in your 2nd post. I'd say good luck with your hunt but I wouldn't mean it. Never used the ignore function on someone's first day, your about to change that.
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I honestly asked why do you think vintage equipment should sound like modern ones. I also collect vintage computers from 80/90s, and I won't expect them to perform like something I could buy from Amazon.
 
outrun said:
Trust me I googled a lot before ending up asking here, the most useful advice were in fact from this forum, that's why I decided to create a dedicated thread here.

Could you explain the rationale behind BPC over here? if I wanted the best sound quality I'd get modern equipment off-the-shelf. Why do you insist that vintage equipment should sound like new? In my opinion that's just futile. I am after getting the vintage experience, with all its flaws. But I would like to learn more about the hardware I have, there is absolutely no information about these on the internet.
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Most likely because their not as popular as other vintage the real heyday of affordable good gear was the 70s-early 80s but there are exceptions some early 90s units were ok , enjoy what you have then sale trade give away and move up ! There is nice gear out there that’s not as well known that doesn’t have the name tax ! Realistic ,technics ,some mcs concept ,Niko just to name a few , and guess what that $1500 2270 marantz my not sound any better than the $400 realistic ! Enjoy the journey !
 
GChief said:
And that is what you need to do, your ears are the final say.
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Definitely. Just fishing if there was any opinions over here. Well I wanted opinions and got that they all are crap, so I got what I asked for :D So, so far audiokarma forums experience I rate 5/5.
 
outrun said:
Definitely. Just fishing if there was any opinions over here. Well I wanted opinions and got that they all are crap, so I got what I asked for :D So, so far audiokarma forums experience I rate 5/5.
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I doubt you find many if any with any experience with what you have collected.

Just figure out which you like best and roll with that.
 
GChief said:
I doubt you find many if any with any experience with what you have collected.
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Not even the mighty google knew anything, except a list of specifications and maybe a service manual. Some odd mentions on these forums have been my best knowledge so far, a single post saying "'that's decent" and based on that I made the buying decision.

Makes me wonder how the hell they could have bought anything back then without the internet, there was no information available about this crap. But on the other hand they could have listened to them by themselves at the store, now everything is online.
 
outrun said:
Not even the mighty google knew anything, except a list of specifications and maybe a service manual. Some odd mentions on these forums have been my best knowledge so far, a single post saying "'that's decent" and based on that I made the buying decision.

Makes me wonder how the hell they could have bought anything back then without the internet, there was no information available about this crap. But on the other hand they could have listened to them by themselves at the store, now everything is online.
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Only thing I ever had from the 90s was a Pioneer Elite AVR, it was great 2ch and that was the main reason I chose it over others I tried in the shop.
 
outrun said:
... I am after getting the vintage experience, ...there is absolutely no information about these on the internet.
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Not even close to true, while AK is a great resource of info equal amounts can be had via an internet search while folks like to help there is a fine line between making an effort and having ones hand held an spoonfed information


outrun said:
How is not 80s/90s vintage? Wasn't it the golden years of hifi,
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No, Vintage for most folks around here is 50s/60's/70s, I'm not trying to be rude or a jerk but I highly doubt you'll get anyone to say 80s/90s were the golden years.

Mass production had taken off and the build quality suffered for a majority of manufactures not all of them though

outrun said:
...manuals are only for members and they don't accept new member sadly.
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I hear you about Hifiengine however now that you're a member here you can access manuals here

 
GChief said:
Only thing I ever had from the 90s was a Pioneer Elite AVR, it was great 2ch and that was the main reason I chose it over others I tried in the shop.
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I was a mere kid back then and with my weekly allowance that kind of equipment seemed so far away it could have been on Olympus Mons, but I did enjoy seeing them on the shelf, and now on my shelf finally!
 
Dswankey said:
Not even close to true, while AK is a great resource of info equal amounts can be had via an internet search while folks like to help there is a fine line between making an effort and having ones hand held an spoonfed information
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I am not asking to be spoonfed. I guarantee when you put these model numbers on google, you get a list of specs or some advert for them being on sale.

Dswankey said:
No, Vintage for most folks around here is 50s/60's/70s, I'm not trying to be rude or a jerk but I highly doubt you'll get anyone to say 80s/90s were the golden years.

Mass production had taken off and the build quality suffered for a majority of manufactures not all of them though
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You aren't a jerk, I like to hear opinions around here. Maybe that will encourage me to pick up that pre-80s amp when it comes across next time.

Dswankey said:
I hear you about Hifiengine however now that you're a member here you can access manuals here

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Thanks for the link, seems it will be useful.
 
outrun said:
I honestly asked why do you think vintage equipment should sound like modern ones. I also collect vintage computers from 80/90s, and I won't expect them to perform like something I could buy from Amazon.
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Properly working vintage gear should sound pretty much like modern gear. The exception being speakers.

Good sound is good sound. The age of the gear is not important. Any gear is either good or bad.

OTOH: Today's speakers are generally an improvement over a lot of what is now considered to be "vintage".

FWIW: I use tube monoblocs (modified) from the early 1970's, a hybrid preamp from the middle 1980's, a TT (modified) from the late 1980's, a pair of 2-year-old class D SS amplifiers driving dual DIY subwoofers, an SACD player from the early 2010's and a laptop from the 2020's streaming from local files and the internet while feeding a standalone USB DAC from the 2020's. My speakers are 4yo Magnepans.
 
I see a lot of the same thing on bicycle forums - an all-Campagnolo racing bike from the '70s is classic and all else is scrutinized. Same silver vs. black argument, same time-frame questions, and very similar snobbishness in both directions - comments about gas-pipe vs. plastic, etc. (Not accusing anyone in this thread, btw)

To the OP, now that you are aware of the revered time-period, hopefully you won't take future mentions of BPC personally, as most here would agree that there are many fine-sounding pieces of every vintage, and likely few or none here are actually looking down at your choices, despite what it may seem.
 
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