[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

I can't remember what I was agreeing with. However, I do seem to remember that it was a small technicality, not any meat and potatoes type argument.

Uh huh. Maybe analogika would like to write an email to this website:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/speaker.htm

"In any sound system, ultimate quality depends on the speakers. The best recording, encoded on the most advanced storage device and played by a top-of-the-line deck and amplifier, will sound awful if the system is hooked up to poor speakers."

[centerchannel68]

Alright, here's the deal. I removed what was left of the foam surround last night, and I found some refoam kits for these drivers for $30 or so. However, the problem is when I push on one of the speakers, I hear a slight scraping noise, meaning the cone isn't centered. To fix this, I'd have to remove the dustcap, shim the cone, then apply the foam, then reinstall hte dustcap. OORRRRR, I could get new speakers. The weird 6.4 ohms, is (I THINK) the DC impedence, and I have found quite a few 8" drivers with exactly 6.4 ohm dc impedances, so replacing them would be a snap. I can get BRAND NEW drivers that outperform the originals for about $40-80. So.... what to do, what to do.

[G4ME]

Is there a place where you press on the cone and the driver moves in and out with out rubbing? or it doesn't matter where you push it will still scrape? if its the later, sounds like you'd need need to redo the VC, might have corroded or something, in that case go with new drivers.

Going with standard 8 ohm load drivers won't hurt the amp either, it just means you won't be able to draw as much current, thus will open up many many more drivers to you.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by centerchannel68 

Uh huh. Maybe analogika would like to write an email to this website:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/speaker.htm

"In any sound system, ultimate quality depends on the speakers. The best recording, encoded on the most advanced storage device and played by a top-of-the-line deck and amplifier, will sound awful if the system is hooked up to poor speakers."

I find no problem with analogika's statement either though. Essentially, you're both correct (him slightly more so than you) but talking past each other - on completely different levels.

Speakers are an important part of the audio chain. Source is an important part of the audio chain. But neither is as important as the bra size of the girl on the couch with you.

[Railroader]

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

[Oneota]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Honestly since you own some B&W equipment [you're] pretty gullible yourself dude.

Wtf is wrong with B&W gear? They sound friggin' amazing!

[strictlyplaid]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

I find no problem with analogika's statement either though. Essentially, you're both correct (him slightly more so than you) but talking past each other - on completely different levels.

Speakers are an important part of the audio chain. Source is an important part of the audio chain. But neither is as important as the bra size of the girl on the couch with you.

Yeah, that whole argument has been a bit weird for me. It seems a little like arguing over whether the steering wheel or the brakes is more important to driving a car...

[centerchannel68]

Basically, if you're a good audiophile like Analogika, you want to spend all your money on the turntable and the tonarm and fancy cables, and have mediocre speakers. For the average joe that just likes good sound, its' the other way around. Get good speakers and decent power, and most stuff will sound good*. *: good meaning accurate representation of the signal being fed into it, you'd be able to tell the diff between cd, mp3, and vinyl.

[analogika]

I don't necessarily appreciate being misrepresented, but I'll leave it at that.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by centerchannel68 

Basically, if you're a good audiophile like Analogika, you want to spend all your money on the turntable and the tonarm and fancy cables, and have mediocre speakers. For the average joe that just likes good sound, its' the other way around. Get good speakers and decent power, and most stuff will sound good*. *: good meaning accurate representation of the signal being fed into it, you'd be able to tell the diff between cd, mp3, and vinyl.

Basically, if you're a good audiophile you get all good stuff and don't have to worry about any component of your audio system being mediocre.

[G4ME]

Its alright bub, we all know where this conversation goes.

You get any money out of that dirt bag who screwed your friend over with the recording studio, or do you still have all his gear in your storage unit?

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by G4ME 

Is there a place where you press on the cone and the driver moves in and out with out rubbing? or it doesn't matter where you push it will still scrape? if its the later, sounds like you'd need need to redo the VC, might have corroded or something, in that case go with new drivers.

Going with standard 8 ohm load drivers won't hurt the amp either, it just means you won't be able to draw as much current, thus will open up many many more drivers to you.

I'm not sure. Sometimes, if I push on it just right, it doesn't scrape anything...but it's SOOOOO precise, sometimes if I try to push it in the exact same way, it scrapes, but maybe I'm just off a little. How much tolerance is there from scraping? If I hooked it up and played it and there was no scraping, then technically all I'd need were the surrounds right? I mean play it at REALLY REALLY low volumes.... with the speaker laying on it's back. That'd be a way to test it, correct? Right now it has no surround whatsoever.

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by Gossamer 

Basically, if you're a good audiophile you get all good stuff and don't have to worry about any component of your audio system being mediocre.

Depends on what you consider good. Good meaning = good sounding, using reason and electrical theory to help get awesome sound? Or good meaning buying the fanciest stuff and things that border on voodoo in an effort to improve sound? I'm talking moster cables lined with teflon, granite shelving for your CD player, ceramic insulators that hold your speaker wire 3" off hte ground, etc.

[G4ME]

Originally Posted by centerchannel68 

if I push on it just right

straight or with an angle?

The chances of those spiders staying completely uniform after that long is pretty low, especially if the surround hasn't been doing anything for a good 10 years. Even with a new surround its sounds like the spider has lost all its compliance, thus changing the characteristics of the driver as a whole.

Just weigh your options:

30 bucks to replace the surround, to keep them original, but i'd give it 50/50 chance of its not scraping with what i am guessing is a bad spider.

40 bucks for something you know will work for another 10-15 years.

[centerchannel68]

If I push on it straight, but it seems REALLY hard to do consistently. If you had a speaker with a good spider, how hard would it be to press without scraping?

[analogika]

Originally Posted by G4ME 

Its alright bub, we all know where this conversation goes.

You get any money out of that dirt bag who screwed your friend over with the recording studio, or do you still have all his gear in your storage unit?

The jerk hasn't responded to calls or anything.

Unfortunately, the legal aspect looks like I can't just keep some of the interesting stuff to cover cost, but out it must go by the end of the month.

[G4ME]

Originally Posted by centerchannel68 

If I push on it straight, but it seems REALLY hard to do consistently. If you had a speaker with a good spider, how hard would it be to press without scraping?

all depends on the compliance of the spider. But it does work with the surround to keep things inline so its hard to judge just by the spider.

Personally, i would say buy buy and look into some 8 ohms that will fit the application

[centerchannel68]

Yeah, the drivers have 6.4 ohms stamped on the back of them.... but I'm wondering if this is an 8ohm driver, with 6.4 ohms of DC resistance.... I've been seeing that a lot.

[G4ME]

get your DMM out,

you won't even notice the difference between the two.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

On that note, today I picked myself up a Beosystem 5000, including the CD50. Beautiful cosmetic condition, the Beocord tape player probably has the belt snapped (which isn't a hard repair) and doesn't work, while the Beogram 5005 record player has no cartridge and it doesn't seem to turn with the platter on (looks like it's simply a problem with the platter being tightened down too much as it runs fine when taken off, which hopefully will be a simple fix...made bargaining on price easier though!).

The cartridge is the real bi†ch – they're only available handmade and are decently pricey as Cash found out, with the cheapest running at $150 US. But hey, it's a solid little system and looks gorgeously vintage. I spent $200 on it, which was slightly more than I wanted to, but is still a good price for a CD player, amp, tape player and turntable of decent quality, and which actually look really nice when set up! Hopefully I can find some speakers for decently cheap and I think it'll be a fairly classy set-up for a university pad!

greg

[Mastrap]

That's sweet - and $200 is a great price for that system. I am in the market for a vintage stereo myself - we've just bought a summer house close to Lake Huron and it needs a decent sound system of course.

I saw a 70s Toshiba receiver earlier on for $95.00 in a second hand stereo store on Queen West. I think I'll be picking that up next Saturday.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Yeah, sorry, I probably stole it from under your nose (it was in down/midtown Toronto). I especially like the Master Control Panel idea...it's sorta like a big honkin' remote. It would be great to just stuff down my pants and then pull it up when someone wanted to change tracks.

greg

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by Mastrap 

I saw a 70s Toshiba receiver earlier on for $95.00 in a second hand stereo store on Queen West. I think I'll be picking that up next Saturday.

If you want to get ripped off, that sounds like a decent price. For $100 it better be a really high end model. Check the specs. My buddy scored a 45 watt per channel kenwood integrated amp WITH huge 4 way kenwood speakers for $100. Just because it's old and silver doesn't mean it's worth a lot of money. I'd check craigslist instead, if I were you. Just go into the electronics section and type vintage.

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

On that note, today I picked myself up a Beosystem 5000, including the CD50. Beautiful cosmetic condition, the Beocord tape player probably has the belt snapped (which isn't a hard repair) and doesn't work, while the Beogram 5005 record player has no cartridge and it doesn't seem to turn with the platter on (looks like it's simply a problem with the platter being tightened down too much as it runs fine when taken off, which hopefully will be a simple fix...made bargaining on price easier though!).

The cartridge is the real bi†ch – they're only available handmade and are decently pricey as Cash found out, with the cheapest running at $150 US. But hey, it's a solid little system and looks gorgeously vintage. I spent $200 on it, which was slightly more than I wanted to, but is still a good price for a CD player, amp, tape player and turntable of decent quality, and which actually look really nice when set up! Hopefully I can find some speakers for decently cheap and I think it'll be a fairly classy set-up for a university pad!

greg

Nice dude, let me know how your repair goes. I haven't touched mine yet, due to school work. I'm probably going to get a used cartridge off ebay, one that 'just works', because this isn't my main system anyway. I'm especially interested in how your cassette repair goes. I think you may have overpaid a bit considering it didn't come with a cartridge/other things are wrong with it/no speakers but it's still a nice system. Check the back, I'm guessing it uses those proprietary B&O speaker connectors also, so you're either going to have to make some that 'work', or buy some real cables to hack into normal speakers. Personally I'd just try to get some beat up Beovox S55s or something, then just replace the woofer on mine. Heck, if I can't get my main beocenter 7700 working, my speakers just might be for sale. I'll let you know in about a month.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Yeah, this thing is in really good shape, though, which is why I was willing to overspend a little. This woman's father owned in and it wasn't played much (the turntable doesn't have so much as a mark on the lid); there's a fingermark and nick or two on some corners but otherwise everything's spotless. You're right though, it is dependent on being able to get the turntable working again like I think I can, but either way I could probably get my money back were I to sell the whole system so I didn't think it was much of a risk.

From my experience I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of the belt busting on the tape player, and some B&O people online seemed to think that's probably what happened and it got wrapped around the spindle. Either way, I'm not interested in the tape player at all so it didn't really matter to me performance-wise, but it's pretty easy to fix that if I can get a new belt. But yeah, B&O speakers would work best (especially the Beolab active speaker series, it would really be a expensive-but-sweet power boost for the amp!) but I'm in no hurry. If I stumble on some RL6000s or Beovox S75s then I'll be more than happy, though.

But I'm in no hurry, and I'd like to take some time and build a system I'd be really happy with. I'm hunting down some manuals now, so I'll start going through things and seeing exactly what needs to be done.

greg

[Mastrap]

nm.

[centerchannel68]

Let me know if you find a source for FREE manuals. I can't believe people want you to pay for them. Jerks. I upload any manual I have to people that need them.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by Mastrap 

nm.

Any particular reason you deleted this post? I didn't think it was tooooo outlandish.

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Any particular reason you deleted this post? I didn't think it was tooooo outlandish.

Because I realized I was arguing with Rob on the internet. And that's a waste of time.

[Y3a]

Older (mid-80's era) phono carts will have the surround that he cantalever passes thru that will probably be disintegrating by now...

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by Y3a 

Older (mid-80's era) phono carts will have the surround that he cantalever passes thru that will probably be disintegrating by now...

Hahahaha, comprehend much?

So to translate are you saying that the surround that the cantalever passes through on the cartridge might be disintegrated? Sorry, I know relatively little about the mechanics of these systems, which is why I wanted to grab some manuals and do some solid research. If you're saying those old cartridges probably aren't any good, I am aware of that (I've also heard that buying original unused B&O carts on ebay or what have you is probably not a good idea any more, since they're still so old that they've probably seized up). The company that makes B&O cartridges in New York does a pretty good job of it, and by all accounts theirs are probably better than the original models (although their web site makes me want to claw my eyes out!). $150 US is a bit steep for an old system like this, but if I can get everything working fine and looking snazzy I think it would be more than worth my money.

Performance-wise, I've been told that these tables are probably roughly equal in performance to the Rega Planar3, with the trade-off of getting slightly less bass but being less sensitive to external movement. Having seen some of the modifications people do for their Rega decks to get rid of this problem, I'm inclined to think that's a perfectly reasonable tradeoff for a student who probably won't have an amazing speaker system anyway (or obsess over wow and flutter!).

Let me know if there's any other problems you think I should check for!

Originally Posted by Mastrap

Because I realized I was arguing with Rob on the internet. And that's a waste of time.

Heh heh heh...the way I see it, if you can afford a summer cabin on the Huron then you're probably not staying up at night worrying about whether you saved $38 on your vintage audio equipment. Have at 'er.

greg

[Mastrap]

I picked this up today, at a flea market in Whitby. $10.00. Works too, although the stylus is ruined of course. I wonder if it's replaceable, it's one of the old models that can be turned 180 degrees to play 78s. The speakers are detachable. If I weren't worried about ruining my albums I'd just clean it up and use it, the crackly sound kind of works with the ambience.

[G4ME]

nice score, you are building up quite a collection, i guess it helps when you have two houses to fill up.

[Y3a]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Let me know if there's any other problems you think I should check for!

greg

I remember that B&O did make an adaptor so you could mount a 'regular' cart instead of theirs.

It depended on whether you had a SP12(large round) or 4000 series(small squarish) cart like used in the 4002 tangent TT.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

So, I got the turntable working.

How? By loosening the 3 transport screws that were tightened down to keep the table from bouncing around while not in use. Turns beautifully. Score!

I still haven't found decent speakers for it...I had my hands on an okay pair of Energy XL-250s, but they were this wonky silver/light wood colour that just wouldn't've cut it with my steel/dark grey awesomeness going on. I have patience....

greg

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Well, I guess Cash isn't around anymore (again), but I've finally got everything but the Beocord (tape player) working. Tonight, I finally installed the Soundsmith SMMC4 cartridge I bought this summer and set up the record player as best I could. (Odd note: the person who owned this before me had a higher-end B&O MMC2 cartridge installed...that thing's $900 to buy new today! Sad luck for him that he broke the needle.) I've just put Radiohead's "There There" vinyl single on, and so far it's sounding fairly sweet!

I picked up a pair of Energy Pro Series 4.5 speakers this summer for a few hundred bucks...decently pricey, but from what I could determine worth it when compared to most speakers in that range. They're rated to 150 watts rms and definitely a little too overpowered for this little 55 watt amp...I tried to push it a couple times and got clipping at about 58% power, so I try to keep it down for the most part. They're admittedly slightly weak on the low end (especially without the sub option on this stereo amp), but they're very very tight and I've been playing less rock/hip-hop and a lot of jazz lately, so they've been fantastic. I'm debating whether to look into a pre-amp or not, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it with such a nice old system. After all, it's meant as a nice little bookshelf system, and it sounds pretty good in my room.

Hopefully I can get some working pics of it at some point. I'm having problems adjusting the platter right now...it's not that easy to do so, and seems to be a trial-and-error process, especially painful since not wanting to keep taking it out of the shelving system means I must work in tight quarters....

greg

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Well, I just managed to pick up a Sony STR-6800SD receiver that a guy here in Halifax didn't need any more. Straight outta 1978, absolutely gorgeous, and besides the odd fingernail scratch in perfect condition. It has a slight problem with the tuner having trouble locking on stations (since I don't listen to the radio, I didn't give a damn), and it has a slight bit of static noise when "clicking" the volume up, which doesn't seem to be a real problem either. Got it for $130 with an old Sony CDR-C305 5-disc beater CD player that he threw in, just because I didn't have one I could use with it.

These Sony amps didn't get much love compared to the legendary Yamaha CR amps of that generation, but they've been getting some recognition in the past few years for how good they actually were. The Energy Pro Series 4.5 speakers I had were definitely underutilized with the B&O system above; I just got the receiver working, and Miles Davis is absolutely killing it right now. Quite a warm sound, but it's incredibly smooth and sounds fantastic, and these speakers are finally singing like they couldn't with the small B&O!

Best yet, it's got a couple phono pre-amps, so by all accounts I've hopefully found the base for my audio setup of the future. It's been a good day.....

Mine is like this, except the wood isn't beat up:







greg

[Mastrap]

Sweet. Really sweet. That static you might be able to get rid off just by cleaning the contacts, you know.

I've been using my Beomaster 1900 with original speakers and a Dual turntable quite a bit recently. Loving the sound.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Yeah, the guy I bought it off is quite the tinkerer and collector of vintage stereos… dude had about 6 classic Yamaha receivers/amplifiers in his basement (I noticed CR-1000, 1010, 1020, 1040), and those things are just so beautiful it hurts!

Anyways, he's tried basic cleaning (contacts), and it goes away a little but after a while it comes back, and it's been like that since he bought it 3-4 years ago. He hasn't done that, or used the receiver, in 6-8 months or so, and it still really isn't bad enough to bother me at all.

This is one review I found on teh intarweb:

Sony's STR-6800SD was second only to TOTL STR-7800SD in the mid-70s, and became a British audiophile darling. Not hard to see why, considering its pristine 80 watts-per-channel of Darlington audio power, superb dx-capable audiophile f.m. tuner, and two phono inputs for serious vinyl junkies. Adding to the 6800SD's flexibility is a toggle switch accessing two tape monitors, tape-to-tape copying, and an external adapter function which provides amp/pre-amp separation for those desiring auxiliary audio customization. There's also a Dolby F.M. switch, though Dolby F.M. is a distant memory nowadays. For distant reception, though, in some instances it will help clean up noisy signals slightly.

Borrowing from Stereo magazine's Fall 1977 review of sibling STR-4800SD: "in addition to the normal bass & treble controls, a three-function 'acoustic compensator' is incorporated that operates in conjunction with the volume control to tailor response. In 'low' position, the effect is similar to that of a loudness contour, but only the low end is boosted(a maximum of 8 1/2 dB @ 20hz with low volume settings, 8dB @ 50hz, 6db @ 100hz, and 3db @ 200hz). In the 'loudness' position, the effect is similar but a bit stronger(9 1/2 dB below 50hz, 8 1/4 dB @ 100hz, and 5 3/4 dB @ 200hz). In addition, there is a gentle high-end boost(1 1/4 dB @ 5khz, 3 1/2 dB @ 10khz, and 5 1/2 dB @ 20khz. In the 'presence' mode, a gentle 3dB boost is imparted to a broad band centered on 1khz. The contour is quite wide, with response @ 200hz and 5khz being accentuated by 1 3/4 dB". Three sets of speakers can be hooked up to the power amp, whose specs Stereo's reviewer found surprising. "Most manufacturers apparently spec their products close to the limit of performance of their better samples. Not so with Sony. The generous margins by which our sample exceeded its specs are indicative of a manufacturing philosophy that decrees that the vast majority of production units will 'at least' meet specs". In the 6800SD's case, that's 80 watts continuous from 20hz to 20khz at no more than 0.1% Total Harmonic Distortion, 0.1% InterModulation Distortion @ full output.

Stereo's conclusion of the 4800SD review also applies to the 6800SD as a "receiver to be reckoned with. It offers some unusual features-FM Dolby and the acoustic compensator; very good FM performance-especially as regards distortion, response, and noise; and a power capability notably superior to its specs. If you are browsing through the thicket of (vintage) receivers in search of one you can love, you owe it to yourself to audition this one".

[King Bob On The Cob]

Originally Posted by centerchannel68 

Hahhahaahahaha.

You're having fun.

Reported. (Just to double check the ban)

[ShortcutToMoncton]

?!?!?!?!

[olePigeon]

I want an amp with an oscilloscope. That's so geeky it's cool.

Edit: Something like this. Although this particular AMP is at almost $1000 with 4 days left and pumps 125 watts per channel.

[PB2K]

is bang and olufsen that great? i can't judge really. i have plenty of bose stuff that audiophiles despise

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

I want an amp with an oscilloscope. That's so geeky it's cool.

Edit: Something like this. Although this particular AMP is at almost $1000 with 4 days left and pumps 125 watts per channel.

That looks like a Marantz dude, those things are usually pricey as hell.

Originally Posted by PB2K 

is bang and olufsen that great? i can't judge really. i have plenty of bose stuff that audiophiles despise

Not really. It's actually sorta similar to Apple gear – specs and tech-wise, they certainly aren't the best, but they look really cool, they're pretty expensive, and they have cool innovations in integrating the components.

greg

[OreoCookie]

I recently sold my Marantz 4240 on ebay, somebody still paid over 100 € for it, even though one channel doesn't work reliably anymore!

[analogika]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Not really. It's actually sorta similar to Apple gear – specs and tech-wise, they certainly aren't the best, but they look really cool, they're pretty expensive, and they have cool innovations in integrating the components.

kind of, though the markets work completely differently, depending on your priorities.

With audio equipment, I'd always place top priority in sound quality. "Usability" isn't an issue for me as long as I can switch inputs, make loud, and make quiet - preferably remote-controlled.

B&O have their priorities on gadgetry - most of it completely grauitous IMO - and charges money on a design and lifestyle reputation. That said, buying B&O used is pretty cool, because the design markup no longer applies, and their sound quality isn't *bad*, at all (just not as good as it should be for the prices their stuff commands, new).

Bose, OTOH, has their priorities on charging as much as possible and covering for very mediocre components using psychoacoustic trickery - i.e. "faking it", if you will.

[Mastrap]

I would never buy B&O new, for exactly the reasons given by analogika, but I do love their 70's design. Affordable too, the Beomaster with the original speakers in mint condition cost me $100.00 The sound quality is acceptable to me, but then I an not an audiophile.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

BLAST FROM THE PAST!

Well, I'm visiting my parents and managed to pick up this baby a few days ago:











Beautiful and classic Yamaha CR-2020 model from 1977 in near-perfect condition. I'm elated with this score.

The seller had a pair of Telefunken TFK-4004 speakers (large bookshelf/mains style) with it that I didn't purchase, but they were going for a decent price so I was thinking about picking them up too. I can't find anything about them online though.

Analogika, would you happen to know anything about these German speakers? Looked to be a 10" woofer in them with a surprisingly large port. Specs on the back claimed from 30-2xxxx Hz, which is an impressive low-end. Since they are a German speakers the only things I can find online that might be useful aren't in English. The seller was redoing the surrounds on them when I was there and I couldn't really test them out that much (and not with my receiver).

Anyways, the other speakers he had were Boston Acoustics A200s, with the 10" woofers having been replaced (1" tweeters, 4.5" mids). Those speakers have a great rep but their design makes them somewhat awkward to position I find (they can go "almost flat" against the wall, but they need a lot of wall space in the first place - not a good fit for today's tiny condos). We tested them with the receiver against a pair of Yamaha NS-1000 monitors he had (yikes!). They were a LOT brighter than the Yammys (especially on the high end... I had to lower the treble a notch) and sounded very, very solid... but they're a little more expensive than the Telefunken speakers of course, and I'm slightly iffy on the whole "replaced woofers" bit.

Yah?

greg

[BadKosh]

I used to SELL audio in the mid to late 1970's and the Yamaha gear was always very good. The sound was kind of 'soft' however. I think either the amp design or FM filters to be the issue. Only Marantz' higher end receivers were better.

I went for 'foaming at the mouth' Audiophile stuff. I bought a DB Systems Pre-amp and Poweramp, A Fons CQ-30 turntable with SME arm and Grace F9e Super cart. I had a low end Yamaha Tuner, and an Aiwa RSM-700 Cassette deck. I played with DBX 224's and a 118, which I still use. The Speakers were KEF104aB reference monitors, and 3 years ago I got another pair. I also swapped the DB systems power Amp with a Crown PSA-2 modified with discrete components on the input to keep noise down. Don't use the cassette deck anymore.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by BadKosh 

I used to SELL audio in the mid to late 1970's and the Yamaha gear was always very good. The sound was kind of 'soft' however. I think either the amp design or FM filters to be the issue. Only Marantz' higher end receivers were better.

Yeah, I've heard the higher-end Yamaha stuff of the 70s described as the "low end of the high end." Once you start talking big, classic Marantz receivers from that time, you're into the serious-money territory (not to mention serious rarity).

From the systems I've listened to, getting a modern amplifier that would rival this old beast (105 rms watts per channel) in the quantity/sound quality department would end up costing well over a grand as far as I can see. Sure, you sacrifice some convenience with older amps - have to be a little more careful with them perhaps, and no remote of course - but I love the upside, not to mention the gorgeously classic look.

I went for 'foaming at the mouth' Audiophile stuff.

Haha, no kidding! I'm still in school for another year so I just don't have the money to blow on crazy setups, but I figure this should do as the heart of my stereo system for the future.

I'm still on the fence about the Boston Acoustics A200 vs. Telefunken TFK-4004 speakers. I don't know how I feel about the BAs sounding to "bright" compared to the Yamaha NS-1000 (which, really, is a far better speaker no doubt about it... but the guy conceeded that perhaps he should take a look at the caps considering how tame they sounded in comparison). Seemed to me they might end up being a little tiring to listen to after a while!

And their design is so odd.... "really wide and thin" was an interesting choice. Finding the wall space for them seems like it'd be a challenge....