Vintage gear that makes you say "Wow"...

IMHO the AA-1640 has the wow factor too, sounds great, looks great. View attachment 1095458

I own one. Built by the guy who rebuilt and matched all of my 250's and 240's. I didn't really want to buy it but he kinda made me--he loved the ting and wanted it somewhere safe and sound. So, since I didn't have anything else to do with it, I built a set of 1" thick, oak veneered MDF cabinets with 2" think baffle boards and 12" 4 ohm JBL S class subwoofers and used to power the passive subs which are set by electronic xover for 20hz-150hz. Damn thing is amazing in the bass response. I let it sit for 8 years before I finally plugged it in. How big is it? You have to remove the transformer to ship it. I move it around with a dolly. When I put my imperial 9's back in, I think I will use it to power the 10" woofers which are said to be able to pop windows by the guy who designed them. Those speakers are why I had the 250's and 240's matched.
 
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Work of overdone chassis artistry....... sunk by a "non working" proprietary IChip :(
"Wow" is not the expletive I used when my "piece of" modern high end Marantz amplification could not be repaired because parts were not available. I was told to hunt a donor unit. I decided to bash it into pieces with a large hammer and go vintage. I have since learned some self control. BUT it felt sooooo good......:whip::whip:
 
Sorry, I missed the part about "modern" You sir did humanity a huge service. I Am certain there must be some voucher program where you win a quality component from the 70s
the stuff thats still going strong. :jump:
 
"Wow" is not the expletive I used when my "piece of" modern high end Marantz amplification could not be repaired because parts were not available. I was told to hunt a donor unit. I decided to bash it into pieces with a large hammer and go vintage. I have since learned some self control. BUT it felt sooooo good......:whip::whip:

Funny you should say that. The last time I had a piece in to a local hi end shop for a check up, the old tech said to me "just like new--and sadly, it'll still be running 30 years from now when all of that gear out there (including the Macs) are in the junk yard due to non available parts"
 
20180810_120120.jpg 20180810_120029.jpg 20180801_195707.jpg I finally truly opened up my new Marantz 1060 with Imperial 6s today. I was alone and I put the dogs in the bedroom so I would not blow them off of the couch. I put on Highway To Hell and let er rip. I got to about 2 o'clock on the volume and it was fun to watch the grill fabric bulge outward with the bass. I expected the system to sound good, but not as good as it sounded. The synergy between Marantz components is simply sublime. I am sure that this 1060 is more like 35 to 40 wpc. I have had a 55 watt Sony STR 5800. hooked to the Imperials and they behaved about the same.

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Call me "pedestrian" or "bourgeois" if you like, but Sansui and Pioneer stuff has always been pleasing to my eye, even in distressed states. Sansui gets the nod over pioneer for me though in the looks department, they just seem to have just the right balance of silver, black and wood for me.

Acoustic Research has pretty much always been the speaker of choice for me that seems to sound best for my listening. I do have others, but I always seem to come back to the AR4x's for some reason. Just my old ears I guess....

I mainly stick to vintage gear for just about everything, even though I don't doubt there's better vintage (and modern) stuff out there. It just seems to sound right to me. Sure, a remote would be nice as well as a few other modern conveniences, but there's something about having to actually get up off your seat to change something or select and change a vinyl record that just seems like you're more "involved" in the music reproduction than clicking "next disc" or "shuffle". I find we sit on our asses too much these days as a society anyways.....

Of course; it doesn't hurt that most vintage gear can still be found for fairly reasonable prices and is (for the most part) user fixable with a bit of research, learning and effort.

Just like manually having to physically move to change settings and media, repairing gear just makes me feel more involved in music reproduction. Not to mention the satisfaction of bringing and old soldier back to the line to fight the good fight once again.

I guess I've just reached a point where I'm tired of the "disposable society" mentality. Probably because I've pretty much reached the point in my own life where I'm at risk of also being "disposable"....LOL!

8080 DB on it's way back to usefulness:
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Sansui "solid state" 350 and Pioneer CT-F750:
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AR4X:
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Pioneer Monitor 10 and Sansui SS-35:
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I've also got some Akai, Onkyo, technics and other assorted stuff hanging around. But it's mostly project stuff and may (or may not) move on to someone else one day. I have a few modern Polk, Pioneer and other similar systems hagnign around, but mostly for tape players, CD players or surround systems.You know; the stuff you need to have around for certain media, but was never available "vintage".

But that Sansui stuff with it's silver, black, and wood balance combined with it's heavy construction and engraved lettering in the aluminum.....it just always seems to find a permanent (and treasured) home here....
 
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I only understand what I am able to see and therefore repair/replace. So while we do own some kind of "Home theatre " device it sees no airtime. I lived thru the golden "years" of stereo gear and know most of it rather well and own examples of most.
I still above any hold my Dynaco gear as the cream of the crop tubes and solid state both. The best was there the entire time and still we looked past for something that was better or as was once referred to as Smoke and mirrors or even better "snake oil" I appreciate all the gear from those times and I still will tell someone when asked whats the best... that its all the best depending on where when or what the current moment in time. It's only vintage if its older than you and in this house thats not the case.
Keep it going!it truly would be a sad day
If the music follows Miss American Pie.
Just picked this nice little sx-880
:rflmao: for 30 buck,s it was dirty and was treated as such. knobs went into solution of dawn and water as passing through to bench and face plate soon followed chassis got a good clean up also all lamps were good and tests show a healthy Reciever . life's good :)
 

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"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left "
 
With the purchase of a new Yamaha m4 I put away my omega speakers for my vintage LS35A, 15 ohm chartwell version...wow...forgot how spooky real They are...
 
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Wow! Fun thread!

Here are a couple pics of my baby. It has made me say WOW since the first time I saw it when I was 9! My step-mom is the original owner. Complete with remote, 2nd Pioneer reel (not pictured), orignal ad, manual, schematic, TAU-11 addendum, receipts, Pioneer warranty cards and 2/2 head with all original packaging and limited use for only 10 days then 4/4 head purchased and installed. I love this thing! lol20180907_180340.jpg 20180907_181248.jpg
 
Wow! Fun thread!

Here are a couple pics of my baby. It has made me say WOW since the first time I saw it when I was 9! My step-mom is the original owner. Complete with remote, 2nd Pioneer reel (not pictured), orignal ad, manual, schematic, TAU-11 addendum, receipts, Pioneer warranty cards and 2/2 head with all original packaging and limited use for only 10 days then 4/4 head purchased and installed. I love this thing! lolView attachment 1275686 View attachment 1275687
Jeeez that thing is huge! What does it weigh?
 
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