Vintage Audio Gear - AV Home Theatre | GTAMotorcycle.com

Vintage Audio Gear - AV Home Theatre

J_F

J_F

Guest
I think there's some old stereo heads on the forum?

thinking about getting back into some old stereo gear
back in the day I had a nice Pioneer Integrated Receiver
sold it in a moving sale - auction, think I got 10 bucks for it
kicking myself as they're quite valuable now
same with the TT, speakers and vinyl, all gone

anyway, I'm not into loud anymore
have been using a Samsung dock - really nice piece, but it's not the same
my travelling days are winding down and I'd like a decent sounding stereo set
not interested in surround sound
just a decent mid level amp and speakers to play some .flac and high bit rate .mp3

anyone have any suggestions on this stuf?
thinking about this Marantz rec and speakers
any opinions?

Facebook Marketplace: Marantz 1515 reciever and marantz speakers - Speakers & Subwoofers - Whitby, Ontario
 
Last edited:
Still use this.Probably wouldn't if i could figure out how to transfer my cd's to my phone.
EaFoGx7.jpg
 
Why vintage? Sound or price? Sound is very subjective so if you told us some speakers that you liked, we might be able to provide opinions on other options that might work.

For me, I doubt I like those marantz speakers. I like effortless highs so it is very rare that I like a speaker that doesn't have either soft dome or ribbon tweeters. That's not to say they are bad, just not my thing.

The second point of concern (which is less likely to apply to people owning vintage gear) is I like the amp to be rated higher than the speakers. Driving an amp to the edge makes for ugly things that the speakers have to deal with. Having tons of reserve power gives you a cleaner signal with less distortion/harmonics and it is easy to hear if the speakers are getting more than they can handle. Now, the older gear seems to be much happier pushing well above it's rating so that may not matter with the linked equipment.
 
yeah I do have a concern with old speakers
usually they need drivers
not really concerned about speakers
they're easy to find

I'm attracted to the vintage receivers for their simplicity
and I suppose I'm nostalgic for older gear

but really what I want is just a stereo integrated amp of decent quality
doesn't have to be high powered as the room is only 150 sq/ft

issue seems to be getting something that is just stereo - don't want surround sound
does anyone make mid quality, low powered stereo gear?
a low powered surround amp is going to be junk with extra junk I don't need

open to suggestions
 
Not all surround amps sound like poo. Harman kardon from the early 2000s back made some reasonable stuff (avr75 vintage). Not audiophile level but better than much of the brown and silver vintage gear. It can probably be had for similar price as that was pre-hdmi and nobody wants it for home theatre anymore.
 
J_F said:
but really what I want is just a stereo integrated amp of decent quality
doesn't have to be high powered as the room is only 150 sq/ft

issue seems to be getting something that is just stereo - don't want surround sound
does anyone make mid quality, low powered stereo gear?
Click to expand...

NAD makes decent gear and it won't break the bank.

NAD C316BEE V2
 
  • Like
Reactions: J_F
Have a look at audio engine powered speakers. I have a set finished in bamboo and they make a nice neat set up as the amp is integrated and they have a very well reviewed sound. I have mine playing from a turntable wired in through banana plugs but I also have a Bluetooth adapter for wireless playback too from an iPad/phone or similar. Not exactly retro but they do look nice and sound really good.

Some people like Sonos gear too but again, not exactly retro but the sound is not too bad.

Edit: I just looked at their site, they have some nice gear with everything built in now with nice wood cabinets.
 
Last edited:
Im using an Hitachi (yeah they made audio) set in the basement running through 3A french speakers, all about 40yrs old and still plugging away reasonably well.
The upstairs set is 20yr old Denon amp powering Energy (toronto made) speakers. these speakers are tired.

I'm going to build speakers for the new house, I have plans for a top horn speaker, three ways with a 10" woof. Its more of an architectural statement but it should be fun the put together.
 
thanks for the input folks

would need to hear those powered speakers, JC
for no specific reason I had the opinion they would disapoint
not that particular brand, just the idea of them

yeah NAD is a good reminder
minimalist design, not a vain thing about them
I had forgotten about the brand
and as I don't need/want a tuner that's an interesting option
 
J_F said:
thanks for the input folks

would need to hear those powered speakers, JC
for no specific reason I had the opinion they would disapoint
not that particular brand, just the idea of them

yeah NAD is a good reminder
minimalist design, not a vain thing about them
I had forgotten about the brand
and as I don't need/want a tuner that's an interesting option
Click to expand...

I thought the same, the original description made me think of PC speakers on steroids but they are anything but. They are just as good as my Paradigm system and I use them in a smaller room which is why I mentioned them. They look amazing too in the bamboo cabinet.
 
For decent NAD or Denon equipment have a look at pawn shops. They check out the equipment to ensure everything works, no guarantees but awfully cheap. When everybody decided home eguipment needed to be 5 or 7 channel to work with the home theater , tons of two chanel music systems get sold off.
 
For the vintage electronics (assuming solid state) you will typically run into two problems:
  • Dried up/leaking electrolytic caps--they will need to be replaced, not hard to do but if you can't try to avoid them. Give the system a good listen and check over. Look inside if you can for signs of leaking caps.
  • Noisy pots and switches, DexoIT usually solves this. Can be a good source of a bargain that needs an easy fix.
Also keep in mind that a lot of vintage gear draws a lot more power when just turned on than modern gear, they did not care about the cost of electricity back then. Not usually a problem but they will use more electricity if you leave them on all the time or use them a lot--some are worse than others. I have some HK stuff that I have modified/adjusted because they were drawing way to much at idle for my wallet...no loss of sound quality.

For vintage speakers, you need to decide if you are a west coast, east coast or british sound guy as that was a thing back then and go from there (or if you have room all the above). If they have not been abused the bass and mid drivers may need a refoam (they rot). The rubber/foam surrounds are available for many popular speakers and it is not hard to replace them, make sure the spiders and voice coils are not damaged first. The crossovers on older speakers (even higher end ones) will use electrolytic caps (this is what they had back then for higher values), same potential leaking problems. In this case I usually replace all the crossover caps with modern ones--same values (non-electrolytic), this will also slightly reduce distortion caused by the crossover (negative part of the cycle--electrolytics were/are not the best choice here). Here are some JBL L46 speakers (early 80s, west coast sound) that a member here gave me a while back. Restored and in regular rotation...


L46 1.jpgL46 Repair.jpgL46 2.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have a very nice Sansui AU101 that I haven't touched in about five years. I have zero interest in selling it, but probably should...
 
GreyGhost said:
Not all surround amps sound like poo. Harman kardon from the early 2000s back made some reasonable stuff (avr75 vintage). Not audiophile level but better than much of the brown and silver vintage gear. It can probably be had for similar price as that was pre-hdmi and nobody wants it for home theatre anymore.
Click to expand...
I have a Harman Kardon AVR75 and an AVR5. I bought them in the late 90's they still perform like new. I keep the AVR 75 in the garage with a couple of Polk Audio bookshelf speakers and a switch to some loudspeakers in my back yard.

I use the AVR 5 inside the house with Bose 901s in a 5.1 setup. It's brilliant for listening and couple of and for watching movies on the big screen. (the hair on the back of my neck still stands up when I crank it up for the flight scenes in Top Gun).

I'm not audiophile, when I purchase electronics I buy the best I can get with the $$$ I have in my pocket. This is what the store recommended for me.
 
does Polk Audio have 2 lines of quality?

they have a decent rep, not audiophile quality, but generally regarded as a step up from pedestrian
I bought a pair of bookshelf Polks, around $500 and expected them to be okay
they were bloody awful!

they were replacing a pair of Monitor Audio's that were magic little speakers
unfortunately I over-drove them to full meltdown blasting 2112 Overture
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom