So do I, and I think smart looks plays a greater role than is generally assumed with regards to current vintage revival.
So do I, and I think smart looks plays a greater role than is generally assumed with regards to current vintage revival.
PioneerFreq
Active Member
made in china
Active Member
I've been refurbing some of the classic SX receivers lately, and their idea of cost savings back then was having 3 different voltage 100uF electrolytics on one PCB, like a 10v, 16v, 25v...I'm like, "really??" But they didn't cheap out on the aluminum faceplates and knobs!
Heck no, even the "little" SX-650 has them fluted knobs and heavy cast toggles you'd only find on very high-end audio nowadays.
THEWEREWOLF
Well-Known Member
Mostly analog only but I few that are on the cusp of change from analog to digital. Namely the Sansui G-9700 and the Onkyo TX-8500 MKII. Everything else is totally analog Pioneer, Hitachi and Marantz. I love em all. Nothing even close to 90's era stuff. I threw that all away! Things from the 90's and 2000's were fit for the dust bin rather than being in my collection.
Dr Morbius
Well-Known Member
Mostly analog like I have a few HH Scott amps and an Empire 398 turntable, all from the early 60’s - but for convenience I sometimes use my BlueSound Vault 2 controlled by my IPad. Best of both worlds.
VintageDutch
Active Member
I prefer FM Radio or Phono, on A 70ties Pioneer (have several), or my 2 HK730, or Technics Quadrophonic, or my Sony 6650 or my Sony Quadrophonic, or my Old Kenwoods...
Working on my Marantz Preamp Cloon with Tubes...
For convenience I use my HT PC with my Cambridge Audio DAC to play local stored files aswel as TIDAL and Spotify streams and watch TV(Formule 1 and Music docu's)
Working on my Marantz Preamp Cloon with Tubes...
For convenience I use my HT PC with my Cambridge Audio DAC to play local stored files aswel as TIDAL and Spotify streams and watch TV(Formule 1 and Music docu's)
I think that for any forum site these days more inclusivity is necessary for them to survive. I have been a member of a few forums for around 20 years. In the last year or so I have seen two of them put on the chopping block. In the past these sites had a huge amount of traffic. I have been a member of DP Review since 2005 and thought they were in good shape from a viability aspect. A little over a month ago they announced that the site was shutting down. They extended the closing date of the forums until the site is properly archived but any day now the entire site will be closed to new posts and will not provide any new content.
Also, I own modern audio gear and vintage back to the early 80s so it doesn't bother me if modern gear is a topic of discussion here. As every year passes, the timeline of what is considered vintage expands so what is modern today will be vintage tomorrow. Additionally, much of what is posted here has nothing to do with audio at all which I don't mind either. I bet if this site were to only have posts regarding vintage gear (say pre 1990) it probably wouldn't have enough traffic to keep the lights on.
Where is your dust bin located? I would like to run through it and see what is there.
THEWEREWOLF
Well-Known Member
Just talked to my technical people today.
Cost of totally refurbishing 2 of my prize Pioneer Receivers. This is LABOR costs ONLY! I supplied all the caps and transistors. It was worth every penny too. NOT complaining just sharing. Buying all the filter caps, other capacitors, diodes, resistors and such cost over $400.00.for both receivers. So all total $3,600 for everything. Last receiver I have to refurbish is my Hitachi SR-2004. After that I have 2 turntables and 2 \ 100 and 2 300 CD disk players to have new belts installed. After that I'm done.
All together I've spent over $25,000 building the vintage audio collection of my dreams. Nine complete vintage stereo rigs complete with CD players, reel to reel \ cassette tape decks, equalizers, surround sound processor expanders, turntables and more.
Pioneer SX-1050 = 1,610
Pioneer SX-1080 = 1,570
--------------------------------------
TOTAL 3,180
======================
I live in a building that has a rejects table. You put all your working rejects on the table and someone who wants them takes them. A sort of community dust bin. I put lots of nice stuff out over the years. I put three Denon's out once and the receptionist left their post to get them from the rejects table. Lost their job for leaving their post. The camera's showed it all. They couldn't lie. I spoke to him after and he said for three Denon's losing the job was worth it. I put some speakers down there too. Gone in less than 5 minutes. Most expensive Receiver I ever gave away for free was a Pioneer D7000, 130 watts per channel I think.
Cost of totally refurbishing 2 of my prize Pioneer Receivers. This is LABOR costs ONLY! I supplied all the caps and transistors. It was worth every penny too. NOT complaining just sharing. Buying all the filter caps, other capacitors, diodes, resistors and such cost over $400.00.for both receivers. So all total $3,600 for everything. Last receiver I have to refurbish is my Hitachi SR-2004. After that I have 2 turntables and 2 \ 100 and 2 300 CD disk players to have new belts installed. After that I'm done.
All together I've spent over $25,000 building the vintage audio collection of my dreams. Nine complete vintage stereo rigs complete with CD players, reel to reel \ cassette tape decks, equalizers, surround sound processor expanders, turntables and more.
Pioneer SX-1050 = 1,610
Pioneer SX-1080 = 1,570
--------------------------------------
TOTAL 3,180
======================
I live in a building that has a rejects table. You put all your working rejects on the table and someone who wants them takes them. A sort of community dust bin. I put lots of nice stuff out over the years. I put three Denon's out once and the receptionist left their post to get them from the rejects table. Lost their job for leaving their post. The camera's showed it all. They couldn't lie. I spoke to him after and he said for three Denon's losing the job was worth it. I put some speakers down there too. Gone in less than 5 minutes. Most expensive Receiver I ever gave away for free was a Pioneer D7000, 130 watts per channel I think.
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RocketFoot
Everyone's a DJ until you give them a set of 1200s
I walk in both worlds! I love vintage equipment for 2 channel stereo but for home theater, I love me some state of the art HDMI, ARC, DTS and whatever other acronyms you can think of, LOL!
VintageDutch
Active Member
As predicted.... everybody has there own preference and reason toward sources, playback equipment and all that whats is in between.
I think my conclusion could be that there are ever so many roads leading to musical enjoyment....
And isn't that precely the name of the game? AudioKarma....
I think my conclusion could be that there are ever so many roads leading to musical enjoyment....
And isn't that precely the name of the game? AudioKarma....
Why yes it is!
On the same rail?
misterears
New Member
I'm 75 and began my career as a product development engineer at Heathkit in 1970 and am doing a similar thing for Beats/Apple now (mostly BT head/earphones and sometimes, but rarely, BT speakers). I worked at Koss for 7 years and at Bose for 20 years, too.
At home I have a pair of Ohm Walsh 4 (bought for $350pr off craigslist 5 years back), and also bought used: an Adcom GFA555, Audio Alchemy DLC (with remote) as a high level preamp and a 31 dual band analog equalizer for the Ohms.
I have a lot of other analog equipment but all are boxed up and never unpacked when I moved here (back to CA) 10 years ago (Marantz CD player, dual well Cassette deck, Pioneer AM/FM tuner, Technics turntable, etc.).
I really like analog but a bit like tubes and horns, vinyl is like a "long lost love" that I know about and respect but is mostly nostalgia now, for me.
Maybe if I had retired at 65, I would have slid back more heavily into analog (like looking up and marrying my high school or college sweetheart)...I just can't say. But "the gear" and component thinking from the past is a part of me, that won't ever leave me.
It's cool that analog and vinyl appear to be on a comeback now....like much of the 70s and 80s music as well.
Just thought I'd share.
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Both.
But prefer vintage for pure audio listening, mainly for the quality of the components.
I'm fully aware that you can get similar quality in modern components, but you're going to pay exponentially more to get the same level of quality built into the mid/late 70's equipment. Even then, you're still going to get waaaay more SMD components and plastic bits than I want to deal with.
Flat screen TV's and home theater? SMD and plastic is fine.
To sit down and enjoy music for the purpose of enjoying music? Gimme some old, heavy, 70's iron any day.
This is all, of course, not accounting for any repairs or servicing you might need to do to vintage equipment to get it back up to snuff...get old gear that needs too much work and you might be snugging up to the costs of modern "quality" gear in short order...
But prefer vintage for pure audio listening, mainly for the quality of the components.
I'm fully aware that you can get similar quality in modern components, but you're going to pay exponentially more to get the same level of quality built into the mid/late 70's equipment. Even then, you're still going to get waaaay more SMD components and plastic bits than I want to deal with.
Flat screen TV's and home theater? SMD and plastic is fine.
To sit down and enjoy music for the purpose of enjoying music? Gimme some old, heavy, 70's iron any day.
This is all, of course, not accounting for any repairs or servicing you might need to do to vintage equipment to get it back up to snuff...get old gear that needs too much work and you might be snugging up to the costs of modern "quality" gear in short order...
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