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Vintage gear in home theatre?

E

elseed

New Member
So I was musing on the potential redundancy of my separate stereo/home theatre setups. What are the possibilities to integrate vintage audio into a modern home theatre surround setting? Does cobbling of this kind work? :scratch2:

Let's say I wanted to supplant a basic Onkyo HTIB-type 7.1 system with a newer surround processor/pre but incorporate vintage Marantz/ADS stereo as fronts. I draw upon my collection of '70s Marantz integrateds (1200B, 1120, 4140 quad, 1060, 1030) to drive center/surround speakers. Idea is a single TV/sound system combining the convenience of signal switching and (gasp!) remote combined with retro audio gear.

Something like this:
- Outlaw Audio 990 or similar surround processor/pre handling all sources. 7.1 line outs to...
- Fronts - Marantz 1200B driving ADS L810
- Surrounds - Marantz 4140 driving ??? Current little Onkyos? Advents or others?
- Center - Marantz 1120 in mono driving ??? Current Onkyo? Skip it?
- Sub - Current sub (nothing special, upgraded from Onkyo)

The amp aspect seems... plausible? They'd only be used as power amps, perhaps not to current high falutin' HT standards.

The speaker part seems... problematic. My current mix of modestly upgraded HT speakers no doubt are voiced very differently from the ADS L810s. I've got a mess of vintage acoustic suspension speakers out in the garage -- misc. Advents, Genesis, CSW, etc., mebbe closer to the ADS'. But not sleek and WAF-friendly. And a center matching the fronts seems critical for non-distracting dialogue.

What say ye? Anyone traveled this road? Please commence to pointing and laughing at the new guy now.
 
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the idea of using vintage audio gear in an HT rig is very do-able. as long as you voice the front speakers closely you can get away with voicing the sides/rear less closely. i am running double advents l/c/r and double minimus-7s for the sides and rear channels. sounds great! the only issues i would have about running seperate amps is the room they would take up / low WAF. that's why i am using a modern HT receiver. all the bells and whistles in a small package, remote, etc. For music i share the front l/r speakers with my dynaco tube rig, all housed in a 1919 Edison upright record player cabinet. very high WAF, btw. ;)
 
A number of people on the forums are doing it.

However, some, I believe, only route the HT sources through the HT receiver/processor and put their basic 2-ch sources through the vintage unit driving the front channels. They claim analog stuff sounds better that way because it doesn't go through the ADC and DAC in the HT processor/receiver.
 
Thanks for replies.

SpruceMoose said:
i am running double advents l/c/r and double minimus-7s for the sides and rear channels. ... running seperate amps is the room they would take up / low WAF
Click to expand...
Now wait a second - you're running *counts on fingers* a buncha double advents and double minimus-7s but amps are the WAF concern? And here I was worried about speaker redundancy! I did build a really nice entertainment cabinet for housing everything - wish I'd made the component shelf a bit taller though.

For music i share the front l/r speakers with my dynaco tube rig
Click to expand...
How do you handle speaker switching? I tried a Niles speaker selector, but it dulled all inputs.

whoaru99 said:
However, some, I believe, only route the HT sources through the HT receiver/processor and put their basic 2-ch sources through the vintage unit...analog sounds better...
Click to expand...
I am splitting sources like this currently, but was hoping to use the vintage amp's power section only for HT - connections again, pre/main jumpers either in or out.

JimJ[VT said:
]I'd go DIY for the speakers...assured of getting them all to match, more or less :)
Click to expand...
Hmmm.... Home much does sheet of walnut ply go for these days? I've got those drivers... :scratch2:
 
You're idea of using your existing integrated units as purely amps when combined with a processor is nothing new. It's been done.Amplification is amplification.

The front 3 channels contains most of the important sound in a theater/mulichannel setup. The sound signature from different sounding amps and speaker combination will be evident,there's no denying that. If you can match those front 3 then you'll be in for a treat.Front panning will really sound off if the the front 3 aren't closely matched.

I can speak from experience. Mismatching the front is really annoying. Front to rear mismatching can be the same,but not as much as the front. Honest advice is to try matching the speakers all the way around, but if you can't, the front 3 is the minimum to shoot for.If not, then it's just a patchwork system and you'll not be satisfied. Then there's the sub....
 
elseed: yeah, that sounds funny to me too. but, the minimus-7s are spaced along the side and rear walls up at the ceiling, and painted to match the wall color as well, so they tend to not be noticed at all. as for the double advents, they are in enclosures i built several years ago: 4 feet tall, 18" wide, tapered front-to-back. thats the l/r pair. the center is set up as two bass bins, just big enough to nest under the corners of the rptv, and the tweeters are in small boxes on top of the tv. quite minimalist, actually. as for the electronics, i am desparately trying to keep it down to one small flexi-rack. 5 shelves: b&o tt on top, blue ray, cable, replay-tv, HT receiver on the bottom shelf. the analog rig in the edison cabinet is on the wall opposite the rest of the electronics, so as not to crowd the room too much. so far so good!
 
Hi

I have at the moment

Dynaco PAS4 Pre
Surrounddecoder Quadral Logic 1
active DiY-Sub
Center* fired by Surrounddecoder
Rears Dynaco A40xl fired by ST-70
Fronts Scandyna A45x fired by ST-70

I am satisfied :)
I am thinking of making a center out of A-10s

Helge
 
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Hello (I'm kind of peeking around from the vintage forums)....

I've been dabbling in integrating my vintage stuff with HT. I used to run 5.1 with all Genesis Physics speakers, and it sounded fantastic. But my HT receiver wasn't anywhere near in the same ballpark as my vintage separates. So I ran two side by side systems, which worked but didn't even pass my own lax standards for stereo clutter. Then I came into some much better speakers, and because I didn't watch movies all that much, ditched the whole HT surround system.

Well, I just bought a really nice HT projector. So movies are back. Well, it turns out that my mains (either Dahlquist DQ30 or Sony SS-m7) image so well and (especially in the case of the Dahlquists) put out such a huge soundstage that I don't really miss the rear speakers at all. Certainly not enough to want to trip over them again. I'm now of the opinion that a 2ch HT rig with excellent full-range speakers trumps a 5.1 channel rig with mediocre speakers. I've never felt the need for 7.1, BTW, it always seemed like a marketing tool to get people to upgrade/buy more speakers/amps.

So now I have a 9' wide picture, and the sound coming from my vintage tube separates is just as big. And yes, I do hear things behind me, even without speakers there.
 
been using 'vintage' audio amps and speakers with my hi def projector/84" screen based 'ht' setup for last five years.
cabinet (in right side pic) contents-

top shelf (pic at right)-36 year old pioneer qa800a quad amp for '4.0 audio.

added last year-
middle shelf-onkyo hd-805 hd dvd player with a reon video processor (makes sd dvds look really good at 'large' sizes).
bottom shelf-samsung bdp 1400 blu ray player.
(audio from both-front left/right analog stereo outs and analog left/right rear surround outs fed into 4 channel aux. inputs #1 (Onkyo) and #2 (Samsung) on pio amp).
below samsung-(out of sight) m'price 4x2 hdmi switcher-used for video only.

2 30+ years old 'small' advents for front speakers (at sides of screen).
2 ~30 years old ads L420s for surrounds.


this system works very well. (so say my friends, neighbors, relatives) and me.
:music::banana:

oh, it's my primary music listening system as well.
 

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Several points to consider - sometimes vintage speakers that sound great listening to in 2ch don't physically perform well in HT high dynamic scenes. Some. One other - if you have the space, and the WAF can be managed, why not put as many of the speakers you love listening to, in the HT area, as you can? Can you imagine being surrounded by music coming from all those speakers you like? Don't discount that effect just because some believe it not to be "pure". It's your ears.

My system is vintage speakers, phono section and partially with the amps. My electronics however are current, as is the sub.
 
kurtgo said:
Several points to consider - sometimes vintage speakers that sound great listening to in 2ch don't physically perform well in HT high dynamic scenes. Some. One other - if you have the space, and the WAF can be managed, why not put as many of the speakers you love listening to, in the HT area, as you can? Can you imagine being surrounded by music coming from all those speakers you like? Don't discount that effect just because some believe it not to be "pure". It's your ears.

My system is vintage speakers, phono section and partially with the amps. My electronics however are current, as is the sub.
Click to expand...

When I switched from stand-mounted NHT Ones and Zeros to vintage Genesis speakers for HT, the big difference I noted was how much more dynamic it sounded. The NHT's were simply not that dynamic to begin with, and even worse in an HT setting. So sometimes, vintage can sound better than modern. This scenario may have been different, however, with more power going to the NHTs. There are so many variables.
 
If they sit un-bought for 2-3 months (during which I've already pre-allocated my audio budget to other purchases), I may get a second pair of NS-1000Ms, giving me four to use as front and rear L/Rs for an HT system, with each one powered by a single Marantz 300dc amp (four amps in total) fed off of the decoders in a Denon HT amp and/or one of my dedicated HT decoders (I have them for four different types of encoding, just for fun!). The only problem will be putting speakers that large and "ugly" as rear speakers. I'll have to raise them up higher than would be ideal, and angle them, probably using wall brackets, and WAF will be low!

The idea behind these is to use them both for HT purposes, and for quadraphonic sound playback. Really good quad sound requires the four channels to be essentially identical, even more than HT/movie sound. I'll use other speakers and amps for 2-channel hi-fi listening.
 
I just have 2 channel home theatre.

My 27 inch JVC D27D201, Marantz 2230 receiver and a pair of Energy 22 speakers. I live in a batchelor apartment so rather awkward for 5.1.

Funny, when pay tv 1st came on the air back in the 80's, we had it and our cable company simulcast the audio on FM.

At that time I thought let's try this, I took my old AR4XA speakers on either side of my RCA XL100 'portable' tv and was feeding the AR's with a Pioneer SX-82 tube receiver.

All I can say is WOW, the sound was AMAZING watching typical '80's movies on this set up. Detail and dynamics were amazing and the bottom end shook the floor.
 
PMARTEL said:
I just have 2 channel home theatre.

My 27 inch JVC D27D201, Marantz 2230 receiver and a pair of Energy 22 speakers. I live in a batchelor apartment so rather awkward for 5.1.

Funny, when pay tv 1st came on the air back in the 80's, we had it and our cable company simulcast the audio on FM.

At that time I thought let's try this, I took my old AR4XA speakers on either side of my RCA XL100 'portable' tv and was feeding the AR's with a Pioneer SX-82 tube receiver.

All I can say is WOW, the sound was AMAZING watching typical '80's movies on this set up. Detail and dynamics were amazing and the bottom end shook the floor.
Click to expand...
aye. i did pretty much the same thing starting in the '80s; '85 to be more exact. when the 'live aid' concert was telecast.
i only had a monkey wards 13" tv but it had aux audio outs so i hooked up the audio to my stereo (pioneer quad amp, 4 spkrs).
WOW!
'the who' never sounded better! (actually it was only a mono signal-it was the excitement of the moment).

setups like that were the beginnings of home theater for many of us.
 
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I have a 1989 LXI TV with two audio outputs. I plugged a pair of 100W Pioneer HPM 100s into it. The bottoms shake the walls and the highs are a thing of beauty. The cabinets on the speakers match the TV Cabinet, so I have good WAF. Works for me until I go HD.
 
JohnVF said:
When I switched from stand-mounted NHT Ones and Zeros to vintage Genesis speakers for HT, the big difference I noted was how much more dynamic it sounded. The NHT's were simply not that dynamic to begin with, and even worse in an HT setting. So sometimes, vintage can sound better than modern. This scenario may have been different, however, with more power going to the NHTs. There are so many variables.
Click to expand...

IMO, I'm guessing it's less of a vintage vs modern thing, and more of a which speaker has more cone area/displacement thing.
 
My Home Theatre - A mix of Old and New

I specifically configured my Home Theatre to be a mix of both "Vintage" ( manufactured prior to year 2000 ) and "Contemporary" (manufactured after year 2000 )

Here is a summary of my configuration:

Vintage:

  • [*]Turntable: Luxman PD-277 (1983)
    [*]Front Speakers: ads L400 (1990)
    [*]Rear Speakers: ads L300 (1992)
    [*]CD: Nakamichi MB-2 (1993)
    [*]S-VHS: Sony SVO 2000 (1994)
    [*]Center Speaker: Infinity CC-3 (1995)
    [*]Subwoofer: NHT SW1P (1996)

Contemporary:

  • [*]DVD: Panasonic RP-91 (2001)
    [*]AVR: Yamaha RX-V3000 (2002)
    [*]DVD-R: Panasonic DMR-E55 (2004)
    [*]Subwoofer Amplifier: Audio Source Amp Two (2004)
    [*]Cable Box/DVR: Scientific Atlanta (2005)
    [*]Remote Control: Universal MX-800 (2006)
    [*]HDTV: Pioneer PDP-5080HD (2007)
    [*]Cables: Blue Jeans Cable (Custom Length) and Belkin PureAV (standard length)

All of the components have black faceplates
 
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JohnVF said:
Hello (I'm kind of peeking around from the vintage forums)....

I've been dabbling in integrating my vintage stuff with HT. I used to run 5.1 with all Genesis Physics speakers, and it sounded fantastic. But my HT receiver wasn't anywhere near in the same ballpark as my vintage separates. So I ran two side by side systems, which worked but didn't even pass my own lax standards for stereo clutter. Then I came into some much better speakers, and because I didn't watch movies all that much, ditched the whole HT surround system.

Well, I just bought a really nice HT projector. So movies are back. Well, it turns out that my mains (either Dahlquist DQ30 or Sony SS-m7) image so well and (especially in the case of the Dahlquists) put out such a huge soundstage that I don't really miss the rear speakers at all. Certainly not enough to want to trip over them again. I'm now of the opinion that a 2ch HT rig with excellent full-range speakers trumps a 5.1 channel rig with mediocre speakers. I've never felt the need for 7.1, BTW, it always seemed like a marketing tool to get people to upgrade/buy more speakers/amps.

So now I have a 9' wide picture, and the sound coming from my vintage tube separates is just as big. And yes, I do hear things behind me, even without speakers there.
Click to expand...
Would you share with us what you bought for a projector and how you decided on that unit. I'm trying to get my head to stop spinng long enough to make decision on projector. The screen is 5' x 9' and the room is 23' long and dark as the inside of cow with the door closed.:scratch2:
 
My unfinished prototype HT started out with a Yamaha RX-V596. Couldn't get enough bass to my front speakers like my old Dynaco stuff did. :screwy: Couldn't get the Yamaha remote to control levels and other stuff. :scratch2:

So, ......... I picked up an old 4 channel Sansui QRX-4500 which pumps the bass like the Dynaco's. It has individual line level channel inputs which should like the Yamaha 5.1 line outs. Will I need a subwoofer? :scratch2:

The interesting thing about this old Sansui, it can create a surround sound from old LP's.:yippy:

HT construction continues. :sigh:

Regards.
 
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