Anybody into older, classic looking gear?

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Joined 2007
I bought a pair of these on EB*y a few years ago, for less than I paid for my Rotel 03 amplifier and build and sound quality is very very VERY good, the same goes for the old Yamaha C-80 pre-amp.
I just could not afford the same quality if I purchased new.
My local repair shop has a Marantz Gold "Signature" power amp for sale for $120- that I may just have to buy; and thats only because it looks so good, I haven't even heard it play.
http://www.thevintageknob.org/KENWOOD/L07M/L07M.html
Check out the spec's on these amps, and I intend to use these for the top-end, I'll probably relegate my bridged Rotel's ( 1070's) to driving the bass

Ted
 
Pioneer SA-8800 diagnosis question...

I recently purchased a SA-8800 Pioneer amplifier originally built in the late 70's. I love the sound that it is putting out. It beats any of my late model gear from Harman Kardon by a long shot (no suprise i guess). There are two apparent symptoms that I was hoping some of you might recognize and help point me in the right direction. The first is that when turning the amp on, when a signal first begins to play for about the first 15 seconds there is a popping/crackling sound that comes from the Left speaker, then it goes away. The second item, and maybe related is that on the output meter it seems like the signal is always 1-2 bars behind the right output meter in wattage output. Has anyone seen this issue before or have any idea what it could be? Thank you for any help.
csjavik
 
When I was younger and less electrically skilled, I bought a used Audio Research SP5 solid state pre and an SAE amp, don't remember which (2200 maybe?).

The pre started acting up and I didn't know how to fix it so I ebayed it as needing repair...stupid me. I should have held on to it. Probably just needed some new caps.

The SAE, well it was too damn big so it had to go in place of a B&K amp.

Now I want to find some nice older tube amps to play around with. :)
 
I just received this Yamaha from my neighbor last weekend. 1978 CR-620. Jumped on AK and downloaded the manuals and schematics. Adjusted the idle current to 8.1mV on each channel and let it go. Still cleaning it up, previous owner is a heavy smoker and it was in his garage for a few years too. Taking lots of Deoxit in the pots to get the scratchiness out, but it's making progress. My neighbor is digging out the Advent speakers that went with it, but I don't know which model they are yet. It also came with a Technics SL-1900 TT, but it has the stuck tone arm issue from the cheap silicone fluid they used. Haven't decided if I'll gut the platter and motor controls to use with a Rega 250 arm in a new plinth or not. Here's the Yamaha:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.





Planet10 has been a great help with recommendations to get this one working, but I haven't had time to start re-capping it or track down a new needle for the TT. Estimated to be a 1954 Maganavox mono console. Two 4" drivers mounted coaxial in front of two 12" drivers.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.





This old Sears Silvertone is being gutted since all the electronics were trashed (tubes and iron were salvaged). My Pro-Ject 1.2 fits inside nicely and I'm using a Millett Hybrid MAX as a preamp/headphone amp for it feeding Peter's Premium gainclones. Need to clean it up better and use the scratch cover oil on the finish... It will eventually house EnaBL'd Fonkens via Planet10, but for now it's just the stock drivers. No highs, no lows, but it's not a Bose! :D

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.



Best part was everything was free! Of course, by the time all are working to their full potential, I will have invested a few $$$, but they were "free".

;)
 
i just fixed a 1980 bose receiver this week. don't remember the model number off the top of my head. the client had dug it out of storage, and wanted it working again. mostly dirty switches and cold solder. it had a real nice wood cabinet. it had a 4 channel amp, and 2 of the channels had a 3 wire connection for servo subwoofers. the receiver was made for the 901 speakers, but that maple cabinet was really nice looking. most of the stuff i see these days is either sheet metal or plastic. this bose receiver was a beautiful piece of technology. it had a hidden front panel behind an aluminum door with a piece of maple attached to it, so that when it was closed, all that was showing that wasn't wood was the tuning dial, which was a dark blackout style. i'll see if i can find a pic.
 
i just love to fix them

i love to bring them back to life .......

one time i spend three days to rebuilt one wooden eagle amplifier that was almost canibalized .....

funny thing ...the output transistors i had to replace where found the same in MOSPEC .... the thing is that this company didnt even exist by the time the amp was originally constructed .

i even had to go back to my university to find an old xerox that they had in the basement and actually rip off some cables from inside cause they looked identical to the original existing inside the eagle ....

a very musical Quasi 2x11.5 w rms !!!!!!!!

really worth it ..... is still have it in my bedroom driving a couple of M audio monitors .....

perfect for bedroom music !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I might be a bit of a heretic to the spirit of this thread but anyway here's what I did - not exactly too respectful to the past but.....

- I rebuilt a Rogers Cadet III tube amplifier - changed the power amplifier section into a "Baby Huey" configuration. I didn't change the cosmetics of the Rogers so it still looked retro 1960/70
 

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I then wanted to change the pre-amp in this Rogers so I tried to build it into a BDT pre-amp but it just wouldn't fit the IT trafos & CCS boards needed - so (this is the heretical part) - I took the chassis out of the Rogers and put it in a larger case:

A Pioneer A400 integrated amplifier from which I had removed the innards - I know it's not a classic but I like the clean look of it from the 80's

Oops I'm out of here, I think I get a smell of burning wood & a faint smell of singing skin!
 

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some of the vintage equipment didn't have any wood on it, like the APT-1 and the APT/Holman preamp, NAD, Hafler, Carver, and others. i have an E.H. (not H.H.) Scott receiver from 1939 that my grandfather gave me, and i had to recap that one (including all of the paper caps which were shorting left and right.... after the third one went in a month i replaced all of them with mylars). the wood console cabinet for that one is in bad shape, and the speakers, after many moves and being in storage, need to be reconed. it has one of the earliest FM tuners in it made for the 41Mhz experimental FM band.

my favorite restoration projects are SS Hi-Fi gear from about 1960-1980. and i have picked up a few gems at thrift stores, such as a complete Dynaco system for $20 that still worked, a complete Sansui rack system for $30, which just needed belts in the cassette deck.
 
Classics..

Yes I've had all sorts of "classics"....& I wish I still had...
Starting with a marantz 2220B. Harmon Kardon 730, Realistic STA 2100? (120 WPC) lots more I can't recall right now, by far the best I had was the Marantz 2285B.....Alot of people use the incorrect case for this one...the right case was the WC-122...the three piece version.
I vividly recall seeing one in a Hi-Fi store in 77.....stunning looks, build quality & sound.
_________________________________________Rick........
 
70's "top-gear" designed and made in Sweden.

Sonab R4000-3. 2x70W FM-receiver, pre-out pwr-in via DIN.
uses all DIN connectors. Built like a tank.

PSU caps changed. We use it every day for radio listening at the lab.
The tuner part is designed by AGA.

Regards / Mattias
 

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