Calling All "Vintage" Integrated/Receiver Owners - Page 425

Having heard a few of the popular high-end favorites on head-fi, I don't feel bad at all about the not-quite-as-revered amps I have.

 

But in terms of non-portable gear, about the only dedicated headphone amp I still find a use for is the Violectric HPA-100, for driving IEMs when I'm at home. Sometimes I'll use it for full-sized cans but on the whole I prefer my receivers.

 

If the HK 670 had a -20 dB switch like some of the Pioneers and Sansui have, I'd probably not need the Violectric either, or else I'd consign it to my other office.

 

(Although, frankly, I'm mostly interested in using a 100 WPC amp to drive 108 dB efficient IEMs because the disproportionate scale really amuses me. As if it were possible to fit a Jaguar E Type engine into an MG Midget.)

I thnk it's quite possible that you could find that even very expensive headphone amps won't sound better with the Audeze than your vintage gear does. Audeze and HiFiMan planars are especially good matches with vintage amps and receivers as their purely resistive load isn't phased by the high ish output impedance of most vintage gear, and many vintage amps and receivers have more than enough power for medium to low sensitivity.

Skylab what is your favorite amp or amps in your collection with the LCD3? 

My favorite is the Leben CS300. The Red Wine Audio "Audeze Edition" and the Burson Soloist are also very good, but nether is really better than the SX-1980 is with the LCD-3. Of course my fully restored 1980 is more expensive than the Soloist...

heh yeah.  On top of that a fully restored SX 1980 is pretty rare.  Its not like you can just go order yourself one. 

 

Im making the rounds with my receivers and so far, not surprising to me, the 2245 is my favorite(its always been my fav of my receivers).  but only having compared it to the 2270 and 8080 thus far.  the kenwood requires serious set up adjustments to get it to fit in my listening area. 

 

really kicking myself for passing on a 2335B that was on barter town a few weeks back.  Think he was only asking like 400 or 450.  what a gem at that price

Just picked up this sweet sounding receiver today. The guy I bought it from had probably over 30 different amps and receivers with the majority of them being Sansui. He was lucky enough to be the son on a stereo store owner back in England and has acquired some very nice stuff over the years as well as bought a few from individuals. I was kind of in awe. Also had some very nice sounding Technics speakers that I haven't seen before but I forgot what model he said they were. I was also considering an AU 719 integrated but went with this instead. As a bonus, he's an electronics whiz who works in design and testing for Logitech and has all the stuff needed to test/repair stuff if it needs it. 

 

Very nice!!

Sweet!

Indeed that looks awesome! Congrats.

Great looking 8080DB.  I enjoy my 8080 (non DB).  Solid piece from the 70's and usually can be found for a bargain.  For some reason they fly under the radar much more so then the 9090(db).  Congrats.  Shouldn't have any problems drivning any heaphones (or speakers for that matter) with that gem.

 

Had a great Christmas Eve with my family.  Blizzard coming in tonight so wont get to travel to see them tomorrow.  We ate and exchanged gifts today instead.  Lots of Brubeck playing at my Sisters house.

 

My mom got me a Shure M97x cartridge for Christmas.  Not sure how she knew to get that cart.  And she got my brother-in-law the AT95E.  He opened his first and I was like How in the hell did she know to buy that cart?  Then i open mine and almost crapped my pants. 

I don't know who told her what to get us, but they were on point.  Somebody had to tell her.  A lady my moms age doesn't just get online and order the perfect carts, bang per buck and otherwise for each of our tables without some help.  Love her.

 

listening to mine now.  The National from my KR 9050.  Sounds great.  noticably better than the vintage M91ED i was using.

I go back and forth on the Kenny.  With some music and the right speakers or headphones it sounds phenomenal.  Other times it can sound a little dull and dry.  When its playing to its strengths its the best sounding amp I have (barring the WA2 with HD650s), and other times the Marantz 2245 beats it into the ground. 

 

At least it looks the part at all times though

Edited by Rawrbington - 12/24/12 at 6:54pm

Just added a new Hitachi Sr804 to my collection. I auditioned an Pioneer sx3700 and a Harman Kardon and I trusted my ears- not the Pioneer hype.

Since I'm new with vintage receiver, I'm glad with my start. However could you guys help me on the first issue I have: when I first plug my headphones in, at low volume, one channel is muted. I have to turn to a louder volume and back, then both channels works. Also when I listen to low volume or soft songs, sometimes one channel loose signal or mute. I have to turn louder and back to fix ( again).

I've done some reading, and seems like the fix is to dismantle the volume knob and Deoxit it. But since I'm living in Vietnam and I'm not sure I can buy it ( although I haven't try), Is there any alternative or a common terms that I can use to describe to store keepers what i'm looking for?

Enjoy Xmas day

 

 

 

 

 

Nice. I like the not so common stuff. I wanted to buy a TOTL Tandberg receiver but it was out of my price range. Quick question for the more knowledgeable. I am trying to attach a power amp to this receiver but don't want to blow stuff up. Here's a crude drawing of the connections. Do I connect across the unused jacks on 1 or disconnect the jumper and connect it between 1 & 2? Thanks.   

Power off, I'd then yank the jumpers (don't lose 'em!) and connect the L and R channels of the other power amp to the upper and lower (L and R) #2 pre outs of your receiver. Then try to find a manual that will tell you why the receiver has two sets of preamp outputs.