Vintage electronics, now I've seen everything.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 You don't literally mean 'in the trash', do you? I hope people drop things like this off at a recycling center. Trashing it might even be illegal in many places. -ERD50

My bad. We recycle everything, and I've taken old PCs to the local recycling center. Didn't think/realize old stereo equipment should be recycled. So I just fished it out, thank goodness the trash was relatively clean...

[ejman]

For those that might be interested there is really a lot of activity around vintage stereo equipment and the old pharts (some new pharts too) that enjoy this sort of thing - trading, listening groups, lively discussion etc this website is a good place to start AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums - Powered by vBulletin

[check6]

I just tossed out my JBL 100's from the '70's. Still have my Dual 1229 turntable with a Shure cartridge and my Sony reel-to-reel tape deck.

[Sue J]

My son just sold this on ebay, It's a vintage Tascam 388 eight channel mixer and eight track 1/4" reel to reel tape recorder. It's about 80 lbs and quite large so he sold it with "Local Pick-up Only". The buyer drove 6 hours from Toronto, Canada to pick it up.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sue J My son just sold this on ebay, It's a vintage Tascam 388 eight channel mixer and eight track 1/4" reel to reel tape recorder. It's about 80 lbs and quite large so he sold it with "Local Pick-up Only". The buyer drove 6 hours from Toronto, Canada to pick it up.

It's beautiful (depends on the eye of the beholder)! For no good reason, I want one.


-ERD50

[Keim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 You don't literally mean 'in the trash', do you? I hope people drop things like this off at a recycling center. Trashing it might even be illegal in many places. -ERD50

REcycling it wouldn't be possible anywhere near where I live...

[Accidental Retiree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 I have a Pioneer SX720. Driving a pair of Infinity speakers. Total cost from Craigslist some years ago $150.-. Love it. Unfortunately Jazz in Pittsburgh has died, thus the tuner is useless. Do listen to jazz stations via interweb driving the system via aux input.

My husband just fired up his Pioneer SX 1010, also driving Infinity speakers.
He bought them in Germany back in the mid-70s on the Army base where he
was stationed.

They're out there next in the garage next to the microwave we bought back in the 1980s.

He wanted to work on everything a bit and is looking forward to bringing it all back into the house.

Somehow the iPod/Bose dock just doesn't sound the same....

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accidental Retiree My husband just fired up his Pioneer SX 1010, also driving Infinity speakers. He bought them in Germany back in the mid-70s on the Army base where he was stationed. They're out there next in the garage next to the microwave we bought back in the 1980s. He wanted to work on everything a bit and is looking forward to bringing it all back into the house. Somehow the iPod/Bose dock just doesn't sound the same....

Alas, I wish my ears could still hear a substantial difference.

Now back to Garage Band...

[Keim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accidental Retiree My husband just fired up his Pioneer SX 1010, also driving Infinity speakers. He bought them in Germany back in the mid-70s on the Army base where he was stationed. They're out there next in the garage next to the microwave we bought back in the 1980s. He wanted to work on everything a bit and is looking forward to bringing it all back into the house. Somehow the iPod/Bose dock just doesn't sound the same....

IPODs connected to a Bose dock can sound nice. But a listen to a decent mid-fi system will quickly show their deficiencies. Long live big stereos!

[MikeD]

I am suffering from the typical old age hearing loss combined with loud noise created tinnitus from guns and fireworks. I can't hear much any more in the higher frequencies. My wife has to tell me when the minute timer goes off in the kitchen! I have a nice-for-me stereo that was part of my new HDTV setup and love it. I can definately tell the difference from the old Sony CRT TV's built-in speakers.

I think most stereophiles delude themselves that the high end stuff is really all that better.

I have a friend who has now spent about $45K on a stereo system over the years. He wears hearing aids...

Mike D.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keim IPODs connected to a Bose dock can sound nice. But a listen to a decent mid-fi system will quickly show their deficiencies. Long live big stereos!

Amen!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD I think most stereophiles delude themselves that the high end stuff is really all that better. Mike D.

There is definitely a point of diminishing returns, and then you get into 'snake oil' and delusion pretty quickly.

But if you spend wisely, you can get far better sound than the typical mass-consumer stuff w/o going nuts with the $$$.

Listening to music over the tinny little speakers that some people have just hurts my ears and my heart (the music deserves better!). If someone is really tight for cash, a portable device with some reasonably decent headphones can get you into some very good sound for very little money.

Despite some minor tinnitus (I spent a couple weeks running around trying to find the running water or running refrigerator when it first started) , my ears are still in pretty good shape though.

-ERD50

[Keim]

Some do delude themselves. And, you can certainly spend ridiculous amounts of money for not much gain. However, I can tell you there is a big difference when components-even mid level and budget-are well paired together.

Listening to my stereo (which would be classified as mid-fi by audiophiles)I get imaging good enough to know where each member of the band stood on the stage. Most importantly, I get music that sounds full and pleasant. On a good recording its like it is being made with real instruments. That is what it's all about. And that's not me talking, those are comments made by friends and neighbors that aren't into stereos!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD I am suffering from the typical old age hearing loss combined with loud noise created tinnitus from guns and fireworks. I can't hear much any more in the higher frequencies. My wife has to tell me when the minute timer goes off in the kitchen! I have a nice-for-me stereo that was part of my new HDTV setup and love it. I can definately tell the difference from the old Sony CRT TV's built-in speakers. I think most stereophiles delude themselves that the high end stuff is really all that better. I have a friend who has now spent about $45K on a stereo system over the years. He wears hearing aids... Mike D.

[mathjak107]

I recently sold my infinity baby irs system. Got it in thhe 1980's for the sale price of 4500.00 for the pair.

Had quad esl63's and a janis sub before them.

Man i rember my bedini amp and quicksilver mono amps.

[Tyro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD I have a friend who has now spent about $45K on a stereo system over the years. He wears hearing aids...

I hear you (pun intended). We have a relative who has a small fortune in stereo equipment (vintage McIntosh). She's been stone deaf in one ear since childhood. Go figger.

Tyro

[Nodak]

I guess I'm lucky, my hearing is still very good. I've noticed that vintage McIntosh stuff is very expensive. I purchased mine new in 1972 and have about $1800 in it. It was a ton of money at the time but after 40 years of use still worth it. The one addition I've made to my stereo is an internet tuner. There are thousands of very good stations from all over the world available.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 If you going through the time/trouble to convert them, why not just convert to a loss-less format? Loss-less (I use FLAC), only takes ~ 5x the space of a decent mp3, and with the price of hard drives these days, that's nothing. I suggest you keep a 'master' in loss-less, it is a snap to convert those masters to anything else if you want smaller files for a smaller capacity portable player. But if you try to convert a lossy file, every conversion will further degrade the quality. -ERD50

So I converted my LPs to MP3 a long time ago. I didn't have the space at the time for a lossless format.

I'm considering going through the exercise all over again. But not sure it is worth it. I'm happy enough with MP3 sound for these. It is more the principal of it that is bugging me. Wish hard drives were bigger 10 years ago.

[JoeWras]

Speaking of vintage, and LPs, etc.

I found what I would call TRUE albums at my dad's house. Never knew they existed or that mom and dad had them. They are actually like photo albums. Nice leather covered books, and inside are "pages" of discs. These are 78's.

I'm thinking they may be worth something, and I'm actually into some of the stuff (one is Glenn Miller). Looking into getting a 78 stylus to play them at 45, then electronically up-speed and equalize later.

Anyone familiar with these actual record albums? Something like this:

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras Speaking of vintage, and LPs, etc. I found what I would call TRUE albums at my dad's house. Never knew they existed or that mom and dad had them. They are actually like photo albums. Nice leather covered books, and inside are "pages" of discs. These are 78's. I'm thinking they may be worth something, and I'm actually into some of the stuff (one is Glenn Miller). Looking into getting a 78 stylus to play them at 45, then electronically up-speed and equalize later.

I've got some from when my MIL/FIL moved from their house. I went through the effort of recording some of the more unusual ones, some Swedish artists/songs. You are correct, you need a different cartridge/stylus for my turntable (these have larger grooves, a modern cartridge will drill down to the bottom and plow a new groove in it - don't do that!).

And since my turntable also had no 78 speed, I recorded it at 45 and adjusted in software. The cross-platform open-source program 'Audacity' has everything you need. Record with no EQ (or if you can't disable EQ, record, then run a reverse EQ before changing speed), then adjust the 'speed', then apply an EQ curve from their library.

From what I've gathered, there isn't much value to these. If they are rare, collectors are rare also. If they are popular, there are more than enough copies to satisfy the collectors. I'm about ready to pitch the batch of 'em, but should probably take a stab at selling/donating them. Ours are almost all in near mint condition.

-ERD50

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I've got some from when my MIL/FIL moved from their house. I went through the effort of recording some of the more unusual ones, some Swedish artists/songs. You are correct, you need a different cartridge/stylus for my turntable (these have larger grooves, a modern cartridge will drill down to the bottom and plow a new groove in it - don't do that!). And since my turntable also had no 78 speed, I recorded it at 45 and adjusted in software. The cross-platform open-source program 'Audacity' has everything you need. Record with no EQ (or if you can't disable EQ, record, then run a reverse EQ before changing speed), then adjust the 'speed', then apply an EQ curve from their library. From what I've gathered, there isn't much value to these. If they are rare, collectors are rare also. If they are popular, there are more than enough copies to satisfy the collectors. I'm about ready to pitch the batch of 'em, but should probably take a stab at selling/donating them. Ours are almost all in near mint condition. -ERD50

Thanks for the advice ERD. I just started learning about this process using Audacity. You confirm it.

Now, I *did* check the collection for a pristine Beatles "butcher cover" album, but found none. Only these 78s. Darn. Mom and dad were not into "long hair" music as they called it.

Aside from the 78s, mom and dad had LPs, mostly dance oriented. When I review them, I have a strong desire for a martini or old fashioned. My parents have a very cool and with it collection from the early 60s.

Dayyyy-ooohhh!

[ls99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accidental Retiree My husband just fired up his Pioneer SX 1010, also driving Infinity speakers. He bought them in Germany back in the mid-70s on the Army base where he was stationed. They're out there next in the garage next to the microwave we bought back in the 1980s. He wanted to work on everything a bit and is looking forward to bringing it all back into the house. Somehow the iPod/Bose dock just doesn't sound the same....

Yep. The magic is in the amplifier. Having sufficient power available for the rapid transitions in music makes all the difference. In your case 100 Watts RMS per channel. Even though at normal listening levels you might only be running about 5 to 10 Watts, the reserve capacity is magic. I love the infinity speakers too. No distortion at all.

As motorheads like to say, there is no substitute for raw power.