Speakers led to Receivers

[VintInfinity]

Last night I was passively checking craigslist and saw some JBL speakers listed for $19. Turned out to be a pair of small 5.25" bookshelves, Model J2050. Decent price so I called him... they have a big dent on the edge of one, but no big deal.

Went to get them today... I was going to get them for $10 plus a bottle of beer, but I thought he didn't actually want the beer.. he said $12 with no beer, so I gave him $15 and he can pick the brew he likes best...

It gets better though. My dad was with me and he spotted an old Zenith Trans-Oceanic tube radio at first sight of the black case, and they got to talking about those...

He had two from the 40's and one from the 50's. Then he mentioned he had a Marantz 2270... he offered it for $225... I don't like the styling on those too much, but my dad remembers repairing those in the 70's and likes them... but we went home with just the speakers. My dad decided he wanted it so he called him back and he got it for $190.

The thing is really clean... just a few scuffs here and there on a knob or two. The face is great, the top and sides and the back panel too. We opened it up, cleaned the pots and blew out the dust. The electronics on the underside looked brand new.

Then just for the hell of it after setting up the Marantz, I checked CL again... saw a Yamaha CR-1020 for $90... I figured it was surely gone, but it had been posted about 10 minutes before I saw it. Called the guy, decided to drive down there (about an hour away) before anyone else could get it... I offered $75, he said ok because I drove so far! He was a really nice guy!

It just needs some new bulbs, and a good cleaning of the switches and maybe a bit of oil on the wood. It sounds excellent, pulls in several stations with no antenna, and looks great while doing it.


Sorry that was so long winded, it was a whole day thing with several trips... I got a really nice receiver and some small speakers for $90 and my dad got a receiver with more power than the Pioneer SX-650 I had gotten him.

Those bargain speakers led to better things. :thmbsp:


Maybe I can post some pics sometime tomorrow evening...

edit: this would be worthless without pics, so here is one of the Yamaha and one JBL speaker to tide everyone over until I can take some better shots of the entire haul.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=88232&d=1208755513

Marantz 2270
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=88269&stc=1&d=1208808490

Yamaha CR-1020 nude shot
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=88270&stc=1&d=1208808490

[thefragger]

Love the receiver. Great find!

[Susurus]

I note yer 1020 seems not housebroken. That's what those newspapers are for?

Susurus

[Strangeband]

:lmao:I note yer 1020 seems not housebroken. That's what those newspapers are for?

Susurus

:lmao:It's too early to laugh this hard!

[specialidiot]

Great find, see the link in my sig for lamp and tuning info!

[gearhound]

Nice score!!

Steve

[JohnVF]

Your adventure is how my obsession began..one thing leading to another. I have bought so many things because they were offered to me during a Craigslist pick-up. I once left a guys place with his whole closet full of vintage speakers. ARs, Jensen, KLH...good times. That CR-1020 looks really nice. I have a 1040 but wish I'd held out of the '20, which I found soon after for cheaper. I think they're much nicer looking. One of the classiest of the '70s looks.

[VintInfinity]

I note yer 1020 seems not housebroken. That's what those newspapers are for?

Susurus

I was just cleaning it, the papers are to protect the wooden table. I didn't put them there... Today we cleaned the pots, blew out the dust, then cleaned the grime off the face and knobs/switches/etc...

I will get some pictures of the inside, and some of the Marantz my dad picked up. He has been busy adjusting the tuner and all sorts of other stuff...

[VintInfinity]

Terrible pictures, crappy camera and bad light. But here they are...

[gigidy5]

wow gorgeous

[VintInfinity]

wow gorgeous

Thanks, I have been cleaning it up since that photo too...

Does anyone know a good solution to improve the look of that black stain on the top right side? It is a bit rough and feels slightly indented along the line of the stain. I don't know what the black mark is; a water stain?

There are also a few scratches, as well as a chip or two on the corners. I may sand it and re-oil eventually if that is what it takes.


The styling of the Marantz has been growing on me. In the sunlight that vinyl covered metal looked really cheap, but not so bad inside when viewing from the front. It sounds much better than the first Marantz I listened to as well.

[Fedallah]

Replacing the vellum in front of the lamps on the Marantz will also make it look more like it did originally. It'll be more of a deep blue than the green color it is right now.

[VintInfinity]

Replacing the vellum in front of the lamps on the Marantz will also make it look more like it did originally. It'll be more of a deep blue than the green color it is right now.

I saw a thread about that awhile back... I mentioned it to him, but he didn't seem to care.

[StarMover]

Great score. I love the clean lines of the Yamaha.

[VintInfinity]

The CR-1020 is now my preamp on this PC2002M hooked to my Kappas. The whole system sounds much better now.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=78971&d=1203034727

Interestingly enough, the Yamaha CD player I got from a thrift sounds great with this combo, but not so much on my other system. The synergy is awesome, I am glad I got this.

I still prefer my MAC 1900 over the Yamaha with a set of stacked Advents.

Two different systems that are now dialed in pretty well. :thmbsp:

[m4rz]

damn...I love that amp! I have to start looking harder.