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Lafayette? Score?

OK, I'll play.

I'm also a long-time fan of Lafayette Radio. Bought lots of stuff from them mail-order, starting in the late '50s. My first real speakers were homebrews with full-range drivers which cost a whopping $7.95 each!

All through college I had lots of their stuff, including my first decent reel-to-reel. At some point they opened a store in my home town (Baltimore), which made things easier. At some point I even made a trek to their main place in Syosset, New York (out on Lawn Giland).

I still have most of my Lafayette catalogs from '64 up until their demise; I wish I had all the others I used to covet, such as Allied Radio, Olson Electronics, and the best ever catalog of Stuff You Didn't Know You Needed, McGee Radio in Kansas City.

Their demise was a sad day; east-coasters my age might remember what used to be "radio row" on Cortlandt Street in lower NYC - selling a lot of the same stuff that ended up in the Lafayette catalog.
 
Back in the late 70's I had an LR-2020, then upgraded to the LR-9090. The 9090 was a powerhouse of an amp.
Fast forward almost 34 years and I got the lafayette bug again. I first bought an LR-9090, it was defective so I returned it. I then found a TOL LR-120DB and bought it. It had a couple bugs, scratchy balance control (deoxed it) and a sticky on/off switch. I ended up using a switchable extension cord to power the unit up. Works fine and saves wear and tear on the on/off switch.
The 120DB is also a powerhouse and has no problem driving my 4 Ohm speakers.
Needless to say, I'm a Lafayette fan too.
Good luck with your 5555 and 9090 units!
 
goodolpg said:
Back in the late 70's I had an LR-2020, then upgraded to the LR-9090. The 9090 was a powerhouse of an amp.
Fast forward almost 34 years and I got the lafayette bug again. I first bought an LR-9090, it was defective so I returned it. I then found a TOL LR-120DB and bought it. It had a couple bugs, scratchy balance control (deoxed it) and a sticky on/off switch. I ended up using a switchable extension cord to power the unit up. Works fine and saves wear and tear on the on/off switch.
The 120DB is also a powerhouse and has no problem driving my 4 Ohm speakers.
Needless to say, I'm a Lafayette fan too.
Good luck with your 5555 and 9090 units!
Click to expand...
Glad to hear there are other Laf fans out there. Not surprising I suppose given their presence on the East coast during that timeframe. I was sad to learn when they went under too. A lot of my early stereo gear was from Laf. I remember getting a new 7" mono RTR deck sometime around the late 60s. I was a junior in HS at the time. I enjoyed endless hours of recording and playing with it. I would tape hours of the night-time broadcast of WABC that I could receive out of NYC. The Cousin Brucie show was my favorite.

I'd like to find a 120DB unit someday, just to have one.
 
I have a LR-5555 and thinks it's about the most handsome unit around. Sounds great!

The only thing I don't like is the integrated on-off / speaker selector knob.
 
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The integrated on/off switch is a known weak spot. I don't know if there are replacement switches available.
I REALLY wanted the second LR-9090 I bought, mostly because it was the receiver I had "back in the day". But that didn't work out and I'm happy with the LR120DB.
The 9090 had a large amount of headroom, actual output was quite a bit more than the 90 wpc it was rated at. I don't know if the 120DB has as much extra "Oooomph".
Since going back on the Lafayette train I've also purchased the user/service manual, and bought a 1979 Lafayette catalog which features all 3 receivers I've owned.
 
I have my father's Stereo 250A that is literally the first true "HiFi Stereo" I ever listened to, I was 3 or 4 years old when he bought it new. I remember going to the local Lafayette store with him many times. To me, walking through that store was better than going to any other store (including the candy store) with the possible exception of the Heathkit store 2 doors down...:D

Many speaker projects, AM and FM tuners, and many, many long forgotten electronics came from that Lafayette store, not to mention my first Morse code key. It was a sad day when they closed.
 
Lafayette Radio

I frequented the flagship Lafayette store in Syosset LI as a kid, lusting at all the hifi gear. They gave free basic electric/electronic/ham radio courses- still have the handouts from 1 of courses. Here are 2 of my souvenirs from Lafayette below. A great sounding portable FM/AM radio which still works & a short wave radio which I built in the 60s. btw, besides Lafayette catalogs, the ones to also have are Harvey Radio Co, Inc. of NYC catalogs. They carried higher end hifi/stereo gear than Lafayette (as well as all the basic parts, etc.)
 

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nitrous said:
I frequented the flagship Lafayette store in Syosset LI as a kid, lusting at all the hifi gear. They gave free basic electric/electronic/ham radio courses- still have the handouts from 1 of courses. Here are 2 of my souvenirs from Lafayette below. A great sounding portable FM/AM radio which still works & a short wave radio which I built in the 60s. btw, besides Lafayette catalogs, the ones to also have are Harvey Radio Co, Inc. of NYC catalogs. They carried higher end hifi/stereo gear than Lafayette (as well as all the basic parts, etc.)
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I wanted to go to the Syosset store too, but living in Williamsburg, VA as a teen it wasn't going to happen. That's a long drive for a father/son road trip! Anyway, I wish I had hung on to my early Laf gear, but I traded up before I went to college in 1970. Gave some to my younger brother too.

Here's a couple of pics of my very first integrated amp. The Lafayette, Stereo 25. This is not my unit from the 60s, but a few months back was able to find one on the auction site for cheap. Thot it would fun to have one that started it all for me. :D
 

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If Layfayette would have just gone the extra mile to install quality looking bulbs and displays, they probably would have a higher regard. Much like MCS, though MCS did have some decent looking equipment!
 
redjr said:
Let's see if we can extend the life of this thread a little bit longer....:D I have a soft spot in my heart for Lafayette gear. Growing up in the 60's when that's all I could afford at the time didn't help. It's like a first love - you never forget them! As a young teen I coveted the Lafayette catalog and would pour over it looking for something I could afford on lawn cutting money - which wasn't much back then! Once I was able to drive, every time I was in Newport News I made a point to visit their one-and-only store in the area. I was a kid in a candy shop!

I recently picked up a mint 5555 (55wpc) from a single owner that had passed away. He took such excellent care of it that it looks like it came right out of the box. I'm listening to it at the moment because my main rig (Sansui) is being fixed. I'm really surprised at the sensitivity and selectivity of the FM circuitry. Even with the cheap dipole antenna I have hanging on my basement wall I'm picking up every station in the greater Albany, NY area and then some.

I also got a LR-9090 (90wpc) from a guy earlier in the summer for $20. Had a local shop spruce it up a bit and adjust the offset and it works great. When they measured the output it was outputting 115wpc! My son is using it now for his primary system. Both of these receivers were made before the onset of plastic and can maintain their own along side comparable receivers of the day. They are heavy with solid metal super structures and wpc was measured in RMS!

I was never able to own one of their monster receivers back in the 60's, but now some 45 yrs later it's been a treat to find two on the cheap. I know the Lafayette brand is not high-end equipment, but they sound pretty good to me and bring back some nostalgic moments from my youth. A few pics are shown below.
Click to expand...
 
Hmmm as I was told when I was in management of Lafayette in the 70s( 1971-1976) Planet Research was partially owned by Lafayette (49% or so) and it decided to have Setton build the new receivers since they were also building the Luxman line. Planet Research may have done some work for Setton but I am not sure.
 
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Planet Research was not partially owned by Lafayette Radio Electronics. Setton never built anything for Lafayette. The only connection between the two was similar model designs in cosmetics and some circuitry.
 
r_brumett61 said:
Hmmm as I was told when I was in management of Lafayette in the 70s( 1971-1976) Planet Research was partially owned by Lafayette (49% or so) and it decided to have Setton build the new receivers since they were also building the Lucian line. Planet Research may have done some work for Setton but I am not sure.
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate on Lucian, not familiar with that name and Google didn't have much info.
That's one of the great things about this website is the knowledge and information that is shared here.

During the period where Setton/Lafayette shared commonalities there was a third brand as well that was obviously sourced from the same builder. A Canadian brand called Viking.
 
I hate when that happens.
Like reforming rather than refoaming.
I thought maybe there was a company or brand that myself and maybe others here were not aware of.
 
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