JadeRose
8 years ago
is just so f*cking good. I've gotten into refurbishing old receivers, amps and speakers and Man...those of us old enough to remember the 70's remember how good this stuff sounded. I just rebuilt an old MCS receiver from around 1979 and sweet Jesus does it sound sweet. Some new caps, resistors and a touch up on some solder joints. Plus a REALLY good cleaning. Running it through some Realistic Nova 6's from somewhere around 1977 and my garage is now ROCKING with some Billy Thorpe "Children of the Sun" and Uriah Heep "Stealin". You youngsters raised on digital, throw that $hit in the trash and get a real stereo.

BTW...MCS is JCPenney. I know, but all the major retailers had in house brands back then made by other vendors. I'm pretty sure mine is Technics. Japanese made and built like a tank. This thing was around 300 bucks in 1979. The speakers are excellent as was most of the Realistic/Radio Shack stuff back then.

Vinyl is spun on a Yamaha Direct Drive TT circa 1978. Cleaned up and sounds like a million bucks.

Got any vintage gear? Let's hear about it.....
frankj1
8 years ago
KLH Model 20
purchased in Cambridge (where else?) in 1970.
Currently needs a "tune up" but when working right...well that powerful hiss when the stylus hits the vinyl just gives me goosebumps.
jjanecka
8 years ago
I've got a few Japanese made guitar pedals from the 80's and early 90's. There were some really great soundsystems made back then.

I have a buddy that's heavily invested in 80's-90's stereo equipment and band gear. Some of those keyboards from that era still sound amazing.

Other than that, I just put some 5.5" Focal speakers in my truck for mid/highs. Those inverted aluminum dome tweeters freaking scream and the polyglass cones are incredible for midbase. Just wish I had a bit better of a head unit; all the major brands are made so cheaply these days. Even Alpine finally succumbed to lower quality headsets.
JadeRose
8 years ago

KLH Model 20
purchased in Cambridge (where else?) in 1970.
Currently needs a "tune up" but when working right...well that powerful hiss when the stylus hits the vinyl just gives me goosebumps.

frankj1 wrote:




Are you talking the speakers or the integrated system? Either one....very nice
jjanecka
8 years ago
Also I Have a modern record player that outputs both digital and analogue. I don't care what anyone says analogue is great when that's the original recording material.
MACS
8 years ago
My "Vintage" stuff is from 1989 in the Philippines. Bought Pioneer components from the exchange. They're paired with Bose 601's.

Certainly not audiophile quality, but it rocks the house.
Gene363
8 years ago
Yes, I still have an old Hafler amp and preamp that drives a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls.

I bought the Cronwall unfinished then stained and finished them. The Hafler equipment was a kit but I bought it assembled.
frankj1
8 years ago

Are you talking the speakers or the integrated system? Either one....very nice

JadeRose wrote:


the original three piece system
turntable with integrated fm tuner and the speakers.

also have several Technics pieces hooked up downstairs in the playroom but only run the radio and newer cd player to speakers on the patio. Has a nice turntable but I never use it. Total system is probably way better than my KLH, but I don't know what specific components I have...inherited from FIL who was a regional VP with Panasonic decades ago.
Whistlebritches
8 years ago
Had a Sony setup I bought in the Navy Exchange in Yokusaka in the mid 80's.I hated the speakers and picked up some Bose 601's in Pearl Harbor Exchange shortly thereafter.Anyway bout 10 years ago some dude showed up at our yard sale and got the whole shooting match for $300.I've regretted it ever since.
Mr. Jones
8 years ago
#1 jaderose

GREAT POST!!!

EVERTIME I SEE A GREAT OLD PIECE OF STEREO EQUIPMENT AT GOODWILL OR SAL VAL...

I BUY IT!!

BOSE SPEAKERS 2 FOR $7.00
NAKAMICHI MASSIVE ( 40 LBS) AMP $12.97
SANSUI AMP HEAVIER THAN NAKAMICHI $8.97
LAFEYETTE SPEAKERS AMD AMPS $$ vary usually under $10.00, PIONEER AMPS, Cambridge sound works speakers $4.99 each....old turntables (8 of them), old stylis's new in the box @ auction ( 8 of them $5.00 in a box lot)...
On and on...
7 double cassette decks, 4 DVD DUAL DECK COPIERS,
BOOM BOXES - MOSTLY ALL SONY $5.99-$9.99...
Palama
8 years ago

Had a Sony setup I bought in the Navy Exchange in Yokusaka in the mid 80's.I hated the speakers and picked up some Bose 601's in Pearl Harbor Exchange shortly thereafter.Anyway bout 10 years ago some dude showed up at our yard sale and got the whole shooting match for $300.I've regretted it ever since.

Whistlebritches wrote:



For the most part, Japanese speakers sucked. Lacked bass, lacked midrange, lacked highs. Thank goodness for my JBLs!

I started my hi-fi journey with a 100 watt Pioneer integrated amp, Teac 450 cassette deck and a Dual 1229Q with a Shure V15 Type III. Graduated to a Nakamichi 700 and Dual 701. When I started to work for Sony, switched out the amp to a TA-555es and the cassette to a TC-K555es. Tried the linear-tracking turntable but it was clunky (...the B&O was soooo much smoother and elegant...). CD player was a CDP-650esd - man, they don’t make CD players like that anymore! Wish I still had that amp and CD player but sadly, they died and parts weren’t available so bought lesser replacements. Now everything is in storage and won’t be coming home for 2 years or so. I sure miss cranking up “Live at Fillmore East”.... 😣
JadeRose
8 years ago

Yes, I still have an old Hafler amp and preamp that drives a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls.

I bought the Cronwall unfinished then stained and finished them. The Hafler equipment was a kit but I bought it assembled.

Gene363 wrote:





Hey Gene...I'll give you ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS for them Cornwalls. Hell, I'll even come to South Carolina to get them!

😮
JadeRose
8 years ago
Sounds like we got some nice stuff. Keep it going...let's hear some more.



BTW...Mr. Jones is right. Al LOT of great stuff can be had at thrift shops and such. As the Vietnam Veterans get older and, unfortunately, begin dying, a lot of that great stuff brought back from the war is becoming available. People are selling "Dad's Old Stereo" for a fraction of what it's worth or just donating. If I'm buying thrift, I will dicker it down to nothing. If I'm buying from an individual, I try to let them know the true value both before and after repair and refreshment. Almost 100% of the time, they don't care. They just want it gone. At least my conscience is clean and I didn't rip off a grieving widow, son, or daughter.
tamapatom
8 years ago
Still have my JBL speakers and stereo from the 70s. I even have a quad receiver and Akai reel to reel. Double cassette recorder and 8 track deck. Plus an old console unit with tunes that need to warm up.

And expert on all this once told me you need to play music on the technology of the time it was recorded. For example 78 rpm records from the 40s and 50s should be played on electric 78 player while stuff from 20s sounds better from a hand crank old style player. 60s and 70s solid state equipment rocks. Not sure if digital sounds better on digital though.
DrafterX
8 years ago
I've got some old Bose speakers...one of the them has a bad woofer.. top smaller speakers are mounted upright facing different directions.. not sure what model number they are but I should prolly fix them... 🤔
Buckwheat
8 years ago
I still have and use a Yamaha A-2000 (wood trim and all) into a pair of B&W DM603 S3 loudspeakers. My brother purchased the amp for me when he was stationed in Germany back in the early 80's at the exchange.

I also have a mid 70's silver face Fender Twin Reverb with factory JBL speakers. Heavy as a tank so I seldom take it out of the house. 🌫

Gene363
8 years ago

Hey Gene...I'll give you ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS for them Cornwalls. Hell, I'll even come to South Carolina to get them!

😮

JadeRose wrote:



I'll think about it, but in the mean time you're welcome to come audition them. Although they are located in South Carolina, they were purchased in Houston Texas and you can see Georgia while listening to them.

Honestly, listening to music pisses off my tinnitus so I really cannot enjoy them anymore. They are efficient, with 20 clear watts of input they can cause sterility. 😱 I would need to consult my two sons before selling them and I might want a couple more dollars.
jjanecka
8 years ago
****, y'all boys really hit a soft spot in my heart. I love home/car audio. Just thinking over all the crap I've went through in my car/trucks.

Back around 2000 I was rocking a Ford Taurus with a sweet Pioneer head unit and two 90's era Rockford Fosgate 15's on a RF 500rms amp. That thing bumped. My cousin told me years later, "yeah I loved being in the front seat but I hated sitting in the back." Still wish I had those things.

I then inherited my sisters pickup when she got married and moved overseas with my brother in law. I bought a banged up rockford 12" from my cousin for $40 and he jimmy-rigged an enclosure that barely fit behind the bench seat. My brother in law already had setup a 250watt kenwood and a kenwood receiver in there.

Around 2004 I hit a lucky break and got a Boston Acoustic generator on clearance at Tweeter. They kept saying it was priced incorrectly and I kept saying "I don't care, it's priced as marked, the store gave its word that it would back it's prices not use deceptive tactics." After haggling with them long enough I got the price I wanted, $80 marked down from $350. Custom enclosure and everything. I had an Alpine double din headunit that came from the previous owner and a cheap BOSS 500rms amp. Went on down the road for about two years and the head went out just around that time I went to a chinese buffet and someone ripped out the head. With the money I got from insurance and some of my own, I got a nice single din Alpine for $350, the unit with the glidetouch system. It had a 7 band equalizer and really awesome distance tweeking settings. Was at a Berryhill in 2006 celebrating my birthday when some **** in a white car came and jacked it along with my 15" and the amp. I left $20 on the center console and the thief was too stupid to steal that. Really and truthfully, that was kind of a turning point. I didn't mess with car audio until this past month.

It was seven long years of crappy factory installed headunits.
Cathcam13
8 years ago
I used to have a 1970’s turn table and system, my dad gave me, until the ex wife stole it in the divorce. It was a strange off brand I had never heard of, but sounded awesome.
Mr. Jones
8 years ago
# 19 ^^^^ was it a "DUAL" UNIT ??

#18 JJANECKA...
you gotta start locking your car...dude...

I Can remember being all contorted back through the entire seventies installing and removing new cassette decks in about 5 different cars....
For as hard as they are to install....it takes balls to steal one in a parking lot...they just don't come out easily...too many harnesses and wires with redundant clips that you need to reinstall in another car...if I saw some guy "installing" a cassette deck in a parking lot then I'd know he's really stealing it...a parking lot is the last place on earth to do that...you always needed a garage full of tools to do it and a few uhaul moving pad blankets and boat flotation seats as padding as not to twist your back outta wack...
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