Vintage Equipment

Splunders said:
Wow, ok, so lots in flux. Gotta nail it down before those school bills arrive! Are your kids into the stereo at all? I have two young ones and they like music a lot, but too young to just sit and listen. I have big hopes they pick up their dad's two hobbies when they're older (listening to music and brewing beer)
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They both love music, but they rarely consume it in here with me. My youngest will come in here for a night, tell me how amazing it sounds, but then not want to come back in for months.

When I was their age, I was listening to music with a walkman or in my crappy car stereo. My father sat and listened to music through a stereo and had a big vinyl collection. But I didn't really sit with him and listen either.

Fast forward to age 40 and all of a sudden I wanted to have a room like my Dad did. I remembered how great it sounded (to me) back in the day. I remembered him going through the rituals of playing vinyl, and walking by the room and seeing him reading the album sleeves, etc..and wanting to replicate that whole vibe and experience. I'm fortunate that my Dad is still around, and though we live pretty far away, my favorite times in this room are when he is here listening with me.

So hopefully at least one of my kids will someday feel the same way and get into the big stereo thing. Until that happens, I figure it's good that they both listen to all kinds of music and are always branching out their musical interests.

Brewing beer is not something I have tried! I have tasted a couple of friends home brews and they likely sucked at it so it turned me off to the whole thing. lol
 
JohnnyCashFan said:
1967 McIntosh Mac 1700 Hybrid Receiver fully refurbished now (main caps and some other things) sounding just absolutely splendid. 2 Phono Preamps, Mono switch, EQ, Loudness, Headphone Amp, and killer Tube Tuner.

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It literally has two separate phono pre-amps? or just two phono inputs (which I've seen before and always assumed were fed through the same pre-amp)? I'm trying to think about why two separate pre-amps would be beneficial, and I suppose if you could choose MM or MC for each, that would be a reason!
 
Slimwhit33 said:
They both love music, but they rarely consume it in here with me. My youngest will come in here for a night, tell me how amazing it sounds, but then not want to come back in for months.

When I was their age, I was listening to music with a walkman or in my crappy car stereo. My father sat and listened to music through a stereo and had a big vinyl collection. But I didn't really sit with him and listen either.

Fast forward to age 40 and all of a sudden I wanted to have a room like my Dad did. I remembered how great it sounded (to me) back in the day. I remembered him going through the rituals of playing vinyl, and walking by the room and seeing him reading the album sleeves, etc..and wanting to replicate that whole vibe and experience. I'm fortunate that my Dad is still around, and though we live pretty far away, my favorite times in this room are when he is here listening with me.

So hopefully at least one of my kids will someday feel the same way and get into the big stereo thing. Until that happens, I figure it's good that they both listen to all kinds of music and are always branching out their musical interests.

Brewing beer is not something I have tried! I have tasted a couple of friends home brews and they likely sucked at it so it turned me off to the whole thing. lol
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Sounds like your kids are actually following in your footsteps, and hopefully they continue to do so and have you over to their place to listen to music with you someday too. It's beautiful you and your dad can do that together still, as well.

You're right, the important thing is they appreciate all kinds of music, whether its via a Walkman or that killer system of yours. My son's favorite song for the past year, and he's 4 years old btw, is Elliott Smith's "Everything Means Nothing To Me". He doesn't understand the lyrical content, but is drawn to the beauty of how it sounds. Every now and then he'll sidle next to me on the couch and ask to hear it, and as it plays his face lights up. I love it so much.

As far as the beer goes, homebrew beer is rarely ever better than commercial, but like flipping sides on a record, I enjoy the process as much as the result. Honestly, your better off saving your money on the homebrew gear and just buying more records. Or textbooks for the kids.
 
Slimwhit33 said:
What a beautiful receiver! Recent find or been in the family for awhile?
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Thanks, It is a nice piece that does not break the bank like some vintage Mc. I picked this up last summer from a older gentlemen who was using Klipsch Belle's. It sounded devine and had never been serviced in 50 years. I got the Mc bug from my old man. It has the signature smooth Mc sound and most the features I need (later models added multiple speaker A/B outputs which would be nice). Ironically known for it's great tube tuner mostly. I also have a beaten up MA230 that will get refurbished this year sometime.

McIntosh MAC1700 Stereo Receiver Manual | HiFi Engine

www.hifiengine.com www.hifiengine.com

Russ I said:
It literally has two separate phono pre-amps? or just two phono inputs (which I've seen before and always assumed were fed through the same pre-amp)? I'm trying to think about why two separate pre-amps would be beneficial, and I suppose if you could choose MM or MC for each, that would be a reason!
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Not sure really tbh, there both 47K and MM but one was not working correctly before restoration.

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Slimwhit33 said:
They both love music, but they rarely consume it in here with me. My youngest will come in here for a night, tell me how amazing it sounds, but then not want to come back in for months.

When I was their age, I was listening to music with a walkman or in my crappy car stereo. My father sat and listened to music through a stereo and had a big vinyl collection. But I didn't really sit with him and listen either.

Fast forward to age 40 and all of a sudden I wanted to have a room like my Dad did. I remembered how great it sounded (to me) back in the day. I remembered him going through the rituals of playing vinyl, and walking by the room and seeing him reading the album sleeves, etc..and wanting to replicate that whole vibe and experience. I'm fortunate that my Dad is still around, and though we live pretty far away, my favorite times in this room are when he is here listening with me.

So hopefully at least one of my kids will someday feel the same way and get into the big stereo thing. Until that happens, I figure it's good that they both listen to all kinds of music and are always branching out their musical interests.

Brewing beer is not something I have tried! I have tasted a couple of friends home brews and they likely sucked at it so it turned me off to the whole thing. lol
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It'll be a miracle if any of my kids get into the actual gear of all of this, but, I am proud of the fact that my musical obsession not only rubbed off, but they've all grown to appreciate all kinds of music, so I'll take that as a win ;)
 
e.s. said:
Basement listening:
Turntable: Sansui SR-838
Cartridge: Grado ME+
Amplifier: Sansui AU-999
Tuner: Sansui TU-999
(Not pictured: Sansui SP-3200A speakers)

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Glad to see a fellow Sansui nut on here... If the shipping gods are on my side, I'll have a white whale from 1974 arriving at my doorstep Wednesday.
 
e.s. said:
Look forward to seeing it once you've got it set up. I fell in love with the look and sound of Sansui gear around the same time I got back into listening to vinyl. Started out with a Technics turntable, a 2000x receiver, and a beat up pair of SP-2500s and slowly built up from there. Right now, I have three other pairs of speakers I'm not using, but I'm hoping to put a system together for my office over the next year.
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Yeah, the 5000A was the first piece of my system that’s lasted through speaker and turntable changes up until now. Of all the “mid tier” manufacturers, Sansui seemed to have figured out the balance between sound + design best. At least to my ears and eyes.

I’ve bought Pioneer, Marantz, Kenwood and Technics, they’ve all since found new homes with friends. Aside from stepping up to McIntosh or Luxman separates, the last receiver on my list is the HK 730 as they really nailed the design and I’m curious about the dual mono sound.
 
Well, it's been a fun few days hanging with my new pal, a 100% up-to-spec 1974 Sansui Eight Deluxe.

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Ever since I found my second-owner 5000A and learned about the wonders of Sansui, I knew an Eight or Eight Deluxe would eventually find it's way into my system. After 3 patient years, I stumbled across a posting on CL in Portland from a guy who had his Deluxe fully restored by QRXrestore (which I also had planned to ship it out to if I found a stock version), and the shipping gods were on our side.

It's been a great week of relistening to favorites new and old, capped off during a spin of Nujabes' Modal Soul where my wife turned to me and stated, "I totally hear the difference, I'm really glad you bought this." That alone was well worth the price of admission. I'll spare you the audiophile jargon and just share that to my ears, the 8D has made things more musical and rich than I've ever heard from my system.

For those curious, speakers are ADS L710's and a Sony PS2250 turntable is hanging out of the frame to the right. 🍻
 
HiFi Guy said:
Nice! And I love ADS speakers. I used to sell them back in the day.
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These really do it all well (similar to my Dynaco A25s). The 810s I found to be a bit boomy on the bass-front, and the 710s felt like they tightened it up properly so they found a permanent home.

I ventured down the ADS rabbit hole when our kitten started climbing the original grilles on my A25s. Magically, within a week of her paw finding the speakers, I found a set of 710s with the perforated metal grilles an hour away.
 
OnTheRoad said:
These really do it all well (similar to my Dynaco A25s). The 810s I found to be a bit boomy on the bass-front, and the 710s felt like they tightened it up properly so they found a permanent home.

I ventured down the ADS rabbit hole when our kitten started climbing the original grilles on my A25s. Magically, within a week of her paw finding the speakers, I found a set of 710s with the perforated metal grilles an hour away.
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My brother had a pair of A25s. Loved them. I had a pair of Large Advents. I still miss them.
 
My name is Brian and I love vintage turntables. Picked up this Sony PS-2251 and am loving it so far.

The 2251 is Sony’s first Direct Drive table made to compete with the Technics SP10. This one was purchased new in 1973 and stayed with the same owner. It looks amazing (dustcover got some swirls in shipping so going to give that some attention) but more importantly works near perfectly. The only thing I can’t figure out is the tonearm lifter. It’s just too low and doesn’t seem to have a lot of up and down movement. I’ll likely spend a bit more time with it but I plan to replace the PUA-113 tonearm (a weak point on this table by most accounts) with an SME so am not overly concerned about having to manually cue for now.

It’s got what I assume is the original cartridge, an ADC 25 w/blue dot stylus. Have to admit I’ve never heard of this before and information is scarce. If anyone can assist with loading settings that would be great. Set VTF to 1.0 per info I found online.

The table also came with the original manual and service manual, so I set up the table like it was new. Cool set up process. Dropped a few drops of sewing machine oil in the spindle per the maintenance instructions.

Threw on a test album since I had no information on the condition of the stylus and fired her up. She holds dead perfect speed, all the speed adjustments work perfectly. The strobe dot window is SWEET!

Actually sounds really good. Dead silent operation. Shure V15 with a Jico stylus on the way so we’ll see how that sounds on this arm before the SME gets installed.

Couldn’t be happier. I just love these old tables. 486F515C-6069-4B7A-A47D-6B97E89439F0.jpeg68B2E247-0F11-40A9-A7AD-014EE47D097A.jpegFF2F58CD-7E4A-44BE-8C2D-56CF3826C378.jpeg
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@Slimwhit33 you're clearly someone with taste, so let's start a club.

Here's my Sony PS-2250, which I believe to be a close sibling to your 2251. It knocked out my Thorens TD-147 (another one someone would have to pry out of my dead hands), mainly due to convenience given our springy floors and its suspension system. This thing is dead quiet, also holds perfect speed, and always gets some love from the aesthetic crowd.

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Mine came stock with a Shure V15 type II. Couldn't tell if the stylus was good so I snagged a Jico SAS stylus that's been singing for the last few months.
 
OnTheRoad said:
@Slimwhit33 you're clearly someone with taste, so let's start a club.

Here's my Sony PS-2250, which I believe to be a close sibling to your 2251. It knocked out my Thorens TD-147 (another one someone would have to pry out of my dead hands), mainly due to convenience given our springy floors and its suspension system. This thing is dead quiet, also holds perfect speed, and always gets some love from the aesthetic crowd.

View attachment 100663

Mine came stock with a Shure V15 type II. Couldn't tell if the stylus was good so I snagged a Jico SAS stylus that's been singing for the last few months.
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Love the all wood look of the 2250! Drooling!! Glad to see someone else out here with an old Sony. I'm super impressed by the build quality of this table.. she's a beast.

Love the looks of both of our Sony Headshells too.. ordered new headshell wires for mine and those, as well as the V15 III w/VN35HE (non Jico) should all be here Friday. The Jico SAS is a few weeks out.. kinda glad that I can listen in steps to see how significant of a change the Jico SAS is to the original. What has your experience been with the Jico?

The arm looks different on yours as well, what arm is that?
 
OnTheRoad said:
which I believe to be a close sibling to your 2251
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My understanding is that the 2250 was sold without the arm, and the 2251 had the PUA-113 pre-installed. Not sure if that is the only difference between the two.
 
Slimwhit33 said:
Love the all wood look of the 2250! Drooling!! Glad to see someone else out here with an old Sony. I'm super impressed by the build quality of this table.. she's a beast.

Love the looks of both of our Sony Headshells too.. ordered new headshell wires for mine and those, as well as the V15 III w/VN35HE (non Jico) should all be here Friday. The Jico SAS is a few weeks out.. kinda glad that I can listen in steps to see how significant of a change the Jico SAS is to the original. What has your experience been with the Jico?

The arm looks different on yours as well, what arm is that?
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I'm told these came stock with the PU-114, no markings to say any otherwise.

I've got no experience with the standard Jico, but I read a bunch of reviews of the SAS on Audiokarma and decided to bite the bullet. The highs are clear, the lows are tight, beautiful soundstage overall with this stylus+cart.
 
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