My 1960 Original and Only Hi Fi System

[Tomcomm]

Replies to my thread

I tried to answer all questions and thank all complements; I hope I didn’t miss anyone.

dnewma04: “ Old school………..cool in it’s own way” Thanks, I agree completely.

Ryuuoh : “Very nice and tidy install”. You should see the insides with the top off.

Spalls: “Looks really cool and really heavy.” That it is. Takes two strong men to move the component installed cabinet.

genojayhawk : “….I live in the valley too”. Lets get together and do vintage Hi Fi.

Marantz7t15 : “Is that a phase linear I see nestled in there? “ It sure is. It’s my main power amp for the heavy stuff. I want to save the Dynakit’s tubes since they are original 1960!

burnsyaz : “I have a Dynaco ST-70……….” I modified my Dynakit 70 for 90w into 8ohms before I got the freebie Phase Linear.

vba1: “ ….room is like a time machine. Also, like the picture on the wall “ It’s a violent storm scene that goes well with the crash and bang of most of the classicals I play.

markus : “….JBL setup must sound sweet”. It sure does, IMHO

DanO55: “ I have …Flamencos with the matching console in the family room…” I have the same spect’d Valencia with a custom Altec console in our living room. We have the same stuff, amazing!

mhardy6647 : “Not getting’ an early 60’s vibe from that Phase Linear amp.” Not to worry. I can instantly switch to the Dynakit 70/90 if I want to go all glass retro. With 150w woofers, why would I run the 90w modified Dynakit when I got 200w available from the Phase Linear?

Rybeam: “….nor the BPC in the cabinet”. What’s a BPC??

pete1729; “……like the story too. Do you have a record player?” Totally true. About the best decision I ever made. No, I don’t have a record player’

slow_jazz: “….Got your money’s worth.” I got the best stuff the first time out, IMHO.

Karlo: “…….90’s 3 head…..hardly BPC”. 60’s Sony has two heads, Again what does BPC mean??

Gdillingham: ……..lovely room to spend the evenings in. “ On rare occasions. Although the bedroom set cabinets do make for relaxation.

teac4010: “………no better sound than …..horns.” I agree completely.

PioneerGuy75: “Agreed!!!.” That makes three of us, at least,

Nolan: “………..Damb, that is a nice set”. Thanks.

ssmith3046: “just beautiful.” Thanks.

 

[Tomcomm]

1960 Hi Fi Equipment list

This is a list of all audio components integrated into my present early
1960's based Hi Fi system. As of Dec 11, 09 everything is
operational except the Sony tape deck and DBX NX40. Work
is progressing on these items, but may be difficult.

Bass drivers, 15in 150w-- JBL 2215

Mid-horns, 800hz 30w-- Altec 811B/806

Tweeters, 4in horn 30w-- JBL 2405

3 way X-over. 8khz mid, 7khz high-- My design

Preamp, all triode, dc heaters-- Grommes 208

Tube power amp, mod 90w-- Dynakit 70

Solid state power amp, 400w-- Phase Linear 400

Reel to reel transport, 2 head-- Sony 262D

Tube tape amp, mod LM381 amps -- Webster SS700A

DBX tape noise reducer-- NX40

FM tuner kit mod multiplex-- ELCO

CD player-- Denon DCD1500

DAT recorder-- Panasonic SV3500

 

[karlo]

bpc= black plastic crap , an insult attempt to blackfaced stereo components.

General Snobbery .

my... nakamichi 480,480,480, bx-1,bx3 . yamaha r-8, r-9 , nad ,proton , kenwood basic, and about a dozen other components are also black .

i listen to sound .... others listen to color.
just

 

[joelll]

To be fair, there are plenty of very good black-faced audio components, including those with plastic faceplates.

However, there was certainly a trend, starting right at the end of the 1970s, of lightweight, poorly made components with black plastic faces made by the big brands (Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony, Yamaha). Digital displays were the new rage, and solid chassis-based designs with decent performance available even in more-affordable end of the product lines disappeared.

 

[Dynacophil]

bpc= black plastic crap , an insult attempt to blackfaced stereo components.

General Snobbery .

my... nakamichi 480,480,480, bx-1,bx3 . yamaha r-8, r-9 , nad ,proton , kenwood basic, and about a dozen other components are also black .

i listen to sound .... others listen to color.
just

BPC tells it, it's the black PLASTIC crap that is meant, NOT black faceplates generally.

 

[HiFiCanada]

Can you post a picture of the crossover,at different angles and a schematic, if it is not to difficult to get at, would be very interesting.

 

[Tomcomm]

No BPC in this cabinet

Rybeam: Now that I found out BPC means "black plastic crap", I took another look at my cabinet. Seems you assumed that the little black box on top of the Phase Linear had a plastic case. Wrong! What you saw was the all steel case of the NX40 DBX noise reducer made in 1986. Of course you could claim that my Sennheiser head phones qualify as BPC, but isn't that stretching it a bit??

 

[HiFiCanada]

This must be very rare, I was around in the 1960's and I remember my uncle had one large speaker , of course I was only 9 years old then, it was probally a 12in mono system, but it sounded good. Most people back then had the Telefunkin radio's, for their sound system. Tomcomm, what were people's opinions back in the 1960's on your system? A system like yours back then was very very rare.

 

[richamor]

I'm not sure what's cooler, the system or that you've had it for so long. you'd be like my father-in-law. Since 1963, he's owned 2 cars and still drives the second!

 

[Ice_Cubit]

...

 

[Wilburchubs]

I can only imagine how great that sounds!!

 

[SleeperSupra]

Sweet!!!

 

[Tomcomm]

Three way crossover design

Hi HiFiCanada……….I lifted the cabinet top, no big deal, to expose the crossover board. Its huge, 14in X 14in of 1/2in particle board. Since I wanted all coils to be air cored, the four big ones are 6in diameter. All capacitors are Mylar non-polarized and big. Originally the crossover was two way, designed for the Altec Lancing 15in woofers and 800hz horn. Two wire wound pots controlled the horn levels, the woofer was running full level. This prevailed from 1960 to 1993 when I decided the horns were not going high enough, so I got JBL’s big 20w slotted horn tweeters. This required a three way crossover so I took the original 2 way and made it into a 3way. But then I wanted it to be switchable between the 2 and 3 so I could l kill the tweeter and demo the improvement in highs that resulted when limiting the mid horns high end and adding in the tweeter to take over well beyond 15khz. This required two more level pots for the tweeters. The crude schematic shows all this in detail. It produces a 12db per octave low pass roll off at 800hz for the woofer and a 12 db/oct high pass for the mid horn in the 2 way setup. The 3 way setup adds a 12db/oct low pass for the mid horn at 7khz and a 12 db/oct high pass for the high horns. Limiting the mid horns to 7khz and adding the high horns gave clean response to over 20khz. This made a great improvement in the sound impact of the system to my failing high frequency hearing response. I was now hearing tinkles and cassinets and clean cymbals that I didn’t hear with the 2 way. It’s big but it works. You could probably get air core inductors much smaller than mine but they will use much smaller dia wire, resulting in much higher resistance. Big systems shouldn’t waste power needlessly. Have fun…………..Tom

 

[Rybeam]

I never said BPC sounds bad. I own plenty of quality black faced units, both aluminum and plastic. I only said it in relation to the statement this was a "1960 original" system, which it clearly is not.

 

[HiFiCanada]

I noticed the coils wound that big, that will not damage the copper as much then it would in a tight winding. I know that is a concern, even today.

 

[orionkc]

Very nice system Tomcomm....I apologize for some of the members that stated that some of your equipment pictured wasn't truly all from 1960. I wish they would have read the second paragraph about you adding some more equipment in the 90's. :yes:

 

[Tube King]

Very cool!

 

[Tomcomm]

Return to Vintage HI FI System

I’m a member of VideoKarma, “Early Color TV Group”. Since Oct 10, 2010 I have been reactivating RCA ‘s second production color TV, the 1954 21 inch 21CT55 I purched in 1964. I’ve now taken the picture quality as far as I intend to take it. I have installed it in its permanent location in my electronics lab,on the work bench under the parts cabinet where it will remain as long as I remain. A couple of days ago, I returned to my AudioKarma early ‘60s hi fi system that has remained unpowered since March 13, 2010. Presently the pre-amp, power-amp, Denon CD player and the three-way speakers are up to their “Threshold of Pain” volume performance, as expected. Love those Horns and the Big-Thumper 15 inch “Woofers! So Far I’ve played: Rachmaninoff Sym # 3 & Symphonic Dances, Sibelius Sym #2 and Four Orchestral Suites of Ravel. Saying I was “blown-away” is a severe understatement! I finally got around to drawing a floor plan of my tiny listening room. Its all untreated dry wall including the 8 ft ceiling, but it does have a carpeted floor. Mounting the mid-range Altec horns in the wall-corners seems ideal to minimize reflections in a minimum size room. I welcome opinions regarding all violations of “Accepted Room Treatment Practice” this layout represents. Tom

 

[JoeESP9]

I want to know how a pair of E34s (Stereo 70) can produce 90WPC.

 

[dnewma04]

I think it's 90w vs 70w. 45wpc.