All vintage AR, Phase Linear, Technics, Thorens, Lyra

[frankmarsi]

9-24-17
I've been enjoying the 'Golden-Era' stuff since 1967.
To this day I feel that I have compiled a vintage system that almost anyone would enjoy using as much as I do.

Included: is a Revox A77mk4 ten inch tape machine, a Marantz CD63SE & CD5001 CD players.
Two Technics SL-120mk1's turntables, Thorens TD125 turntable, and all tables are equiped with S.M.E. 3009 Non-Improved arms, all in near mint condition. An S.A.E. 1800 parametric equalizer, in addition all cables are StraightWire Symphony II.

Cartridges used are a Lyra Delos, a Lyra Kleos, a A.T. ART-9 and a Ortofon Cadenza Blue cartridge.
The two Phase Linear Series II PL-700 amplifiers were rebuilt by "Ed Blackwood" in 2009.
A Carver C-4000 pre-amp with a its superlative phono-section, all fed by approximately 7000 vinyl disks on tap thanks to a VPI 16.5 RCM, a Cleaner-Vinyl's Ultra Sonic record cleaner because most of my disks are purchase used but, usually in good to excellent condition when bought locally.

The Acoustic Research AR-LST speakers are used with aux. Micro-Static tweeters, speakers are wired with 12AWG OFC wire with gold plated spades, a Carver 1500 cassette deck, a Sansui TU-517 tuner with 'Beam-Box' antenna. And two Denon AU-320 SUT's for the moving coil cartridges.
Accessories: carbon-fiber record brushes, 'Vinyl-Passion' and Ozlow stylus cleaners, Zerodust anti-static gun, and a special thanks to a "In the Groove" sticky roller disk cleaner.

Foto is from 2014 and since I have added two large traps in the front wall corners to control corner reflections.
All mentioned components are connected and are ready to operate immediately. The system is complete and performing at maximum levels of quality though, I always am open to improvements.
Latest additions have been a vintage minty Technics SL-1100 with a mint Dynavector DV-505 tonearm, not shown in foto.

All components are in near mint condition, the sound is impeccably realistic and natural sounding while actually being 'huge-sounding' in its overall scale of presentation. One easily becomes immersed and part of the music when listening- I'd not have it any other way at this stage of my life.
When the volume is turned up, it doesn't get 'louder', it simply gets 'bigger' sounding and thus closer to the 'real' thing. Visiting guests have asked for repeated listening sessions, which I gladly always oblige.
My musical tastes vary from Improv rock, classic rock, classical music, and jazz.
FM

 

[TEA FOR ONE]

Very nice!

 

[frankmarsi]

Dear "TEA FOR ONE", thank you for your complement. It has taken many years of enthusiasm, effort, experimentation, reading, love and expense to put this all together. Pardon rough foto quality as it was taken with a friends cell-phone and it was the only way to include all items in one shot.
FM

 

[Johnny_Law]

Wow, that is a setup to be proud of, it must be just like being at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

 

[frankmarsi]

Johnny_Law, I'm not certain if you're being facetious or complementary?
In any event, I am truly grateful and proud of my listening system.
FM

 

[JParry335]

That's a fantastic collection! Do I see what appears to be a Fender amplifier head in there as well?

 

[Nightwisher]

Awesome!

 

[Johnny_Law]

Johnny_Law, I'm not certain if you're being facetious or complementary?
In any event, I am truly grateful and proud of my listening system.
FM

Absolutely complimentary! Your description of your setup reminded me of that advertisement. It must be fantastic to hear.

 

[frankmarsi]

JParry335, where do you see a Fender amp?
Funny though,because in the next room is an original Fender Bassman that I purchased in 1968 as I used to play bass late '60s to early '70s. Sold my P-bass but, still retain my Hofner violin bass. Left that world and became a fashion photographer in NYC.
FM

 

[JParry335]

JParry335, where do you see a Fender amp?
Funny though,because in the next room is an original Fender Bassman that I purchased in 1968 as I used to play bass late '60s to early '70s. Sold my P-bass but, still retain my Hofner violin bass. Left that world and became a fashion photographer in NYC.
FM

I saw it in the other room! Just kidding. I have '68 Bassman head. It's a drip edge. Is yours?
In about the center of your setup under what appears to be your power amp, kind of looks like a silver face fender. At first I thought maybe it was a Bandmaster. Looking at it again I can see it's not what I thought.
Great setup though. I haven't seen a Revox in many years.

 

[frankmarsi]

Maybe you're seeing the two Phase Linear Series II amplifiers flanking the Carver C-4000 per-amp.
What's a 'drip-edge' never heard that expression before? I, then in 1968 purchased the first year that Fender went with a silver face for their amps, before that they were black.
The 'Bassman' head is only 50 watts RMS and barely puts out unless it's in a corner like in small clubs which I learned it was basically intended for.
In 1970 I installed two 15" speakers in place of the two twelves, I made the cut-outs larger but that puny amp couldn't put-out so I used to use a friends 'Dual Showman' head and even then it wasn't much of a increase
in volume.
However, it wasn't long after that that I moved into the photography world and put playing on a shelve. In a way of speaking that may be why I insist on using double LST's as they really have strong bass as I never stopped loving 'bass'.
Oh, and it's really not a 'collection' in the usual sense, it's a music religious belief as many components have been with me for years and each additional piece was chosen to work well with whatever it was going to be paired with.

Like I said earlier, I go way back with 'Hi-Fi' upwards of 45 years so I was pretty much familiar with everything I decided to include in the system. I was in my 20's in the 1970s when this equipment was new, I just couldn't afford much of it then. Although back then in 1972, I used AR-3a speakers, a Phase Linear 4000 pre-amp and PL-400 amp along with a Tannoy/Micro-Seiki TM55 turntable and Shure V15 Type III.
You could say each piece shown was cherry-picked as all items were selected for their ability and compatibility with what I already had for many years ago prior.
FM

 

[Rome]

Mighty fine pieces!

Rome

 

[JParry335]

The "Drip Edge" was a name given to the fender amps in '68 and '69 because of the silver trim they had around the grille cloth. If you look at this link there is a drip edge Princeton from '69 by pworm14. Very nice amp, but notice the silver trim. It was just a cosmetic thing for a couple of years.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/lets-see-all-them-amplifiers.504694/page-9

 

[mark warren]

Sweet Setup!

 

[guiller]

Nice!

 

[L-82]

Very nice setup, what do you wrap your records in?

 

[frankmarsi]

Thank you for the compliment but, I don't understand your question, "wrap my records in"?

 

[cube-tube]

I love that room and how you have your gear set up. It just looks right.

And what L-82 was referring to about your records being "wrapped", it looks like you have some kind of white bags or something covering them. I too am curious what that is.

 

[SPEC2man]

A very interesting combination of gear. I have often pondered the Phase Linear rabbit hole but it's getting harder and harder to find the PL-700 Series II in good shape at a price that does not approach scary. I see White Oak models selling for thousands. I finally gave up and stuck with my rebuilt Carver M500t amps. You have some serious cash tied up in cartridges as well. That's probably where I am headed next. These never any telling what cartridge is going to "do it" for a person. I have looked at the Delos and the price tag has kept me mostly reading about it. I have re-read your list 2-3 times. It's something to be proud of. Most of what you have is rare, if available at all. When I seriously got back into vinyl, back in 2002 I looked for the mythical Technics SL-120 and everything I found was trash. Very few good/mint examples left out there. SME 3009 arms alone are a treasure. I am currently looking for a pair of AR 9's local ... every once in a while I see a pair but most need love. I'm running out of patience in my old age. That being said, I am a soft dome guy and the Acoustic Research AR-LST must be a treasure. I'm holding out for the AR-9's or possibly the A/D/S 990's. It may never happen at this point.

You have what appears to be a nice sized room ... that really makes the system. Your system has really hit home for me, I wish I had the space and the means to put something like it together. Imagine what that would take now? Feel free to post more pics, for me to slobber over.


Thanks for sharing

 

[Dave_1962]

Nice set up!