What's the worst audio stuff you've ever seen?

[cubdog]

Eico, poorly built, heath kit and Dynacos,. Early Mcintosh 20w and 50 w didn't impress me either. Some of Scott and Fisher stuff wasn't pretty either. If you ever get a chance to see the difference between a MC275 MK-1 and a MKIV, V, or VI you'll be in for a great surprise. Hammond Organs, with Leslies and Martin Guitar amps didn't show me any style either. Early Marantz was cool but the 10B tuner was a nightmare of stuff stacked on more stuff. No wonder it put Saul out of business. Early Japanese stuff was very scary to look at. The early SS stuff Fisher and HH Scott built was a learning process for them. The early Revox G36 was clever, and admired the construction. Leak and Quad electronics could be outstanding to crude. I have some RCA & GE radio consoles desk type with power magnet structures from the 20's and 30's with cloth insulation on wires that scares me to death. I understand the original Scott radios and consoles with Chrome plated chassis were beautiful. I have never seen one in person, only photos. Early Ampexs like the 400 series were a rube Goldberg affair, too.

This is the most surprising post in this thread. Although without some idea of which models are being addressed it's hard to draw any meaningful conclusions. Still I don't think I've ever heard Hammond/Leslies mentioned as the worst of their type. :scratch2:

cubdog

 

[BobbyBluz]

I have a complete Shure Vocalmaster PA in storage. The anti-feedback circuits on the head work very well. Those were standard gear for 60's bands.

 

[Gazdatronik]

We use our vocal masters at work whenever we have plant meetings, the original head burned up 20 years ago. It was replaced with a peavey xr500 p.a. amp, but it sure doesn't have any feedback cancelling.

On the upside, its good to see that the company holds on to their stuff till the bitter end.

 

[Treyfus84]

Kraco .............................. that damn cheap 8- track Kraco I bought for my car . aarrrgghhhhhhh

Ha Ha..I had one too, bought it from TG&Y also had the Kraco 40 watt power booster mounted under the dash...the engine noise through the speakers was horid!

 

[Billy Dio]

:uzi: Anything from Radio Shack, MCS.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Radio Shack made some great home stereos like the Foster built STA 2000, STA 2100, etc. Even their mid 80's offerings (which I own so I can actually comment here), are still decent stereos and make for great den or theater room systems, especially with some mods to brighten up the mids, and they do NOT need a secondary amp to drive subs and make 15" or 18" boom to life.

As far as MCS goes, you again clearly show you have never owned one. The NEC built units are about as nice as you are going to get for vintage SS if you like NEC sound, and they are actually rebadged NEC counterparts, so you better claim how inferior NEC is now. From board layout, shielding, to even how tidy everything is, these units are top-notch. These lasted up until around 83'-84' when NEC was still making the revamped 3275, 3285, etc. with LCD displays.

The entry level MCS, which I think start around 74'-75' with the 3207 and stop at 3230, lack standard features introduced in the 3233 (like mid pots, high/low filters, active loudness, dual phono boards, etc.) and I can't account for their sound (talking pre 1980 Arvin-made units). They had smaller power supplies and were under-built from what I can tell.

I own an Arvin-made 3233 and 3245, and I think the 3253 is NEC, but those are considered mid-tier in both options available and sound quality. The 3245 shares a similar layout to the NEC 3253, and both are superior builds physically.

I'd put my recapped (electrolytic and metalized polypropylene) 3233 up against ANY period Marantz 2235, 2238, etc. in both sound quality, stereo separation, and power output. It's an excellent stereo/amp when in top working order and responds to upgraded components VERY well. They look just as nice as any of the other period gear though the TOTL LED graphs are little too much for my taste in the NEC 3125, but it's 120 wpc and excellent sound more than makes up for it.

If you are referring to Technics or Panasonic "MCS" stuff, it's not in the same category as far as the amps go. Turn tables I think were OK.

But by all means, dog units you know nothing about so the rest of us don't have do get into bidding wars.

 

[Billy Dio]

Everybody knows that opinions are like assholes - we all have one, and they are all going to be slightly different. So threads like this are pretty much useless.

That some posters paint with such a broad brush tells me everything I need to know about them, unfortunately.

As for throwing MCS under the bus, please go right ahead. The prices of their better pieces are going through the roof as SMART members discover just how good they are, and maybe this thread will bring prices down.

Also, if anyone comes across this thread, and has a question regarding a specific model of MCS gear, please fell free to send me a PM asking about it. I have experience with many, many of their pieces, and can help clue you in on what's good, and what's not so good. HINT: some of their pieces are true gems, and now sell for more than you'd ever guess.

Curtis Mathes in the 80s also sold some killer audio gear. Like MCS, it's model specific, so just ask.

I've owned POS gear from many highly respectable brands. Most all brands had hits and misses - it's not always fair to generalize.

Just my opinion.

:ntwrthy:THANK YOU ROB!!! You know I too am an MCS fan, and it was good to see another defend it, and thanks for clarifying how some units are better than other as I wholeheartedly agree but didn't want to knock the entry level units w/o hearing them. I know you weren't overly impressed by the 3233 you had, but I think it wasn't at 100% as their sound can falter quickly if a bad cap or part in tone or amp board are too far off spec (especially tone board as it can wreak havoc with SQ). Wish you were close as I'd love to demo my 3233 after it's fresh overhaul it just had. To me the 3233 is one of the "gems" if you polish it. Added Vishay's to the amp board and it's in another league now. Will eventually tackle the tone board film caps as I think it can get even cleaner. If anyone PM's you about this one, you can send them my way as I'm most versed with it and have most of the cap specs written down too, including the nf ratings of the film caps, plus have a parts unit on hand with most everything there. Getting ready to tackle the 3245 soon as that's sounding weak.

Anyways,I plug the hell out of these to give people on budgets options for great sounding stereos w/o having to get into a mega expensive bidding war the Pioneer, Marantz, Sansui, etc. are demanding. And people just starting out, it's a sweeter pill dropping $100-150 rather than 4-7 times that :thmbsp:

 

[Gazdatronik]

My Garage "system." The specs speak for themselves. ONLY reason it is out there is because the tuner picks up every station extremely well. I don't think Ive ever seen distortion that high in a specification that wasn't a guitar amp.