[firev1]

Hi, not exactly vintage but is the NAD AV716 counted? Mine is 18 yo and counting and with exception of some plug oxidising and dust (which I took trouble to remove properly) it is working flawlessly with the accompanying tower(or is it floorstanding?) speakers. Very natural and definitely on the warm side. Would like to try it with some of the Hifiman orthos or the Beyer DT880 600 ohms sometime.

 

[Meewoo]

Aha, NAD, lots of people love it and many people hate it due to quality control.
 
I am a NAD lover, I had NAD 7240pe, 3130, 7020, 310, T743, T761, 2200, and still own 3140, 916, 7400, 2600 and 1300. The 916 is driving my center and 2 surround speakers. And I frequently pull out 3140 to listen. I wouldn't say NAD "very neutral", NAD definitely warmer than vintage Marantz (not to say modern Marantz). Hey but I like the sound since most of them (especially 3140) has very tight bass. If you pair them with warm or dark cans like Sennheiser, the sound is muddy and not enjoyable. 
 
The modern NAD HT receivers use opamp for headphone port, so it's not good as a headphone amp. Hope your AV716 doesn't have the opamp! Enjoy!
 

 

[Meewoo]

Quote:

while the 1250 is very nice looking i still find 450 be more then reasonable to be honest. if i was dishing more money i would seriously consider hitting over yamaha or adcom territory instead. might not look as pretty but much better performing power amps. i could get a serviced yamaha mx-1000 for the price of what the 1250 goes for nowadays or even get Adcom GFA-555 for around that price.

Hey, Rex, the price is decided by supply and demand, not by the quality!!  Look the diamond price, it's legal panzi scheme by monopoly . I don't think normal people will use it once in normal life. But it was labelled "forever" by monopoly, so people have to buy them for love. And I think SX-1250 is far better than diamond!!
 
Even though I am not a big fan of Pionny, I still think sx-1250 is well worth $450 or more. And rarity also adds value to it.
 
Some models got hypered, some got ignored. I just won a Yamaha R-9 on ePay for starting bid price $99, I am the only bidder. If I haven't read your input in this thread and have a R-8 to listen, I won't bid on the R-9. If I didn't bid, the seller would have it re-listed again.
 
I had Adcom GFA-545 ii, but I didn't like the forward sound of adcom. I am listening Yammy M-70 now, and my M-60 will be back from tech very soon, but I picked this power amp up. It sounds sweet (MOSFET) and fantastic. I'll let you guess the brand and model.

 
 

 

[cifani090]

Quote:

while the 1250 is very nice looking i still find 450 be more then reasonable to be honest. if i was dishing more money i would seriously consider hitting over yamaha or adcom territory instead. might not look as pretty but much better performing power amps. i could get a serviced yamaha mx-1000 for the price of what the 1250 goes for nowadays or even get Adcom GFA-555 for around that price.

 
Well it is thee diamond units that go for more

 
Quote:

Hey, Rex, the price is decided by supply and demand, not by the quality!!  Look the diamond price, it's legal panzi scheme by monopoly . I don't think normal people will use it once in normal life. But it was labelled "forever" by monopoly, so people have to buy them for love. And I think SX-1250 is far better than diamond!!
 
Even though I am not a big fan of Pionny, I still think sx-1250 is well worth $450 or more. And rarity also adds value to it.
 
Some models got hypered, some got ignored. I just won a Yamaha R-9 on ePay for starting bid price $99, I am the only bidder. If I haven't read your input in this thread and have a R-8 to listen, I won't bid on the R-9. If I didn't bid, the seller would have it re-listed again.
 
I had Adcom GFA-545 ii, but I didn't like the forward sound of adcom. I am listening Yammy M-70 now, and my M-60 will be back from tech very soon, but I picked this power amp up. It sounds sweet (MOSFET) and fantastic. I'll let you guess the brand and model.

x2, nice deal but im not sure if i would call it a "deal." Im too lazy to research the unit, but i get worried if im the only bidder especially if i dont truly know its resale value. You can but a unit for $99, but can you sell it to a potential buyer for $99?
 

 

[Kukuk]

Quote:

Anyone know if the Marantz SM 500 DC is any good? My friend has one he might part with, but I don't really know much about it.

Anyone? It comes with a separate pre-amp, the model number for that is (Marantz) 3250.

 

[RexAeterna]

Hey, Rex, the price is decided by supply and demand, not by the quality!!  Look the diamond price, it's legal panzi scheme by monopoly . I don't think normal people will use it once in normal life. But it was labelled "forever" by monopoly, so people have to buy them for love. And I think SX-1250 is far better than diamond!!

Even though I am not a big fan of Pionny, I still think sx-1250 is well worth $450 or more. And rarity also adds value to it.

Some models got hypered, some got ignored. I just won a Yamaha R-9 on ePay for starting bid price $99, I am the only bidder. If I haven't read your input in this thread and have a R-8 to listen, I won't bid on the R-9. If I didn't bid, the seller would have it re-listed again.

I had Adcom GFA-545 ii, but I didn't like the forward sound of adcom. I am listening Yammy M-70 now, and my M-60 will be back from tech very soon, but I picked this power amp up. It sounds sweet (MOSFET) and fantastic. I'll let you guess the brand and model.


 

so you gotten the R-9? i was actually gonna get that for a back up cause i liked mine so much but decided to upgrade to a better audio interface instead. if you liked the M-70,you should like the R-9. i had a very good tech work on mine and told me the power amp section is very similar to the M-80 power amp from yamaha. the R-9 did sell over 900 bucks when it hit retail in 1985 so not much people bothered buying one. i really love mine. only upgrade i see from it is if i decided to spoil myself and buy a mx-1000 and cx-1000 set lol. the R-9 is only receiver too, to have a true class A power amp section,but be careful. it will get hot. going in class A increases rail voltages and insane amounts of current but out from self experience, Class A will run cool as ice if driving 2ohm nominal speaker loads no problem.

depending on your source,headphone/speaker sensitivity, and how loud you like to listen to music you will be finding yourself using the -20db muting switch a lot, even straight from the front panel headphone out. the variable loudness is very useful but i keep it flat at all times and keep the tone controls/pre-amp section shut off. i gotten my R-9 from the sansui Au-d7 i traded to a local. some people might of found that dumb but i thought i got better end of the deal cause the yamaha totally destroyed the sansui in power and better sound i personally felt.

you are right though. it's supply and demand that counts. the 1250 is a fine receiver and i know of pioneers reputation even to this day. they did pretty good in the HT section of things too with their big Elite receivers at the time. hope you enjoy the R-9. make sure it's brought up to spec as well by having the bias and dc offset set at factory specs. it sound it's best when set at factory specs and will run cooler as well in standard class A/B operation.

 

[Meewoo]

Quote:

x2, nice deal but im not sure if i would call it a "deal." Im too lazy to research the unit, but i get worried if im the only bidder especially if i dont truly know its resale value. You can but a unit for $99, but can you sell it to a potential buyer for $99?
 

It's a deal for me. This unit is really that good. Even I haven't get it yet, I have R-8 at home without class A model, and it sounds beautiful. I must confess it sounds better than my CA-2010, I should have my Ca-2010 recapped in the future. Rex will (already did) say good words for this machine soon.

 
 


Quote:

so you gotten the R-9? i was actually gonna get that for a back up cause i liked mine so much but decided to upgrade to a better audio interface instead. if you liked the M-70,you should like the R-9. i had a very good tech work on mine and told me the power amp section is very similar to the M-80 power amp from yamaha. the R-9 did sell over 900 bucks when it hit retail in 1985 so not much people bothered buying one. i really love mine. only upgrade i see from it is if i decided to spoil myself and buy a mx-1000 and cx-1000 set lol. the R-9 is only receiver too, to have a true class A power amp section,but be careful. it will get hot. going in class A increases rail voltages and insane amounts of current but out from self experience, Class A will run cool as ice if driving 2ohm nominal speaker loads no problem.
depending on your source,headphone/speaker sensitivity, and how loud you like to listen to music you will be finding yourself using the -20db muting switch a lot, even straight from the front panel headphone out. the variable loudness is very useful but i keep it flat at all times and keep the tone controls/pre-amp section shut off. i gotten my R-9 from the sansui Au-d7 i traded to a local. some people might of found that dumb but i thought i got better end of the deal cause the yamaha totally destroyed the sansui in power and better sound i personally felt.
you are right though. it's supply and demand that counts. the 1250 is a fine receiver and i know of pioneers reputation even to this day. they did pretty good in the HT section of things too with their big Elite receivers at the time. hope you enjoy the R-9. make sure it's brought up to spec as well by having the bias and dc offset set at factory specs. it sound it's best when set at factory specs and will run cooler as well in standard class A/B operation.

I haven't got it yet, just got tracking number earlier. I might have it on Monday or Saturday, I just don't know how USPS handle it. I am happy that you didn't join bidding with me, I wanted to solicit "no bidding" here but decided let the luck run it. This one has remote too, if you want, I can code a Comcast remote for you later. I checked your input both here and AK, you man really a prompter for this model! Hope I can join you in the future after I enjoy it!
 
 

 

[Meewoo]

Quote:

Anyone? It comes with a separate pre-amp, the model number for that is (Marantz) 3250.

I think members here should already chime in if he/she has experience with this model. It seems that not many people follow 80's Marantz since at that time Marantz was controlled by Philips and had no connection with American anymore. Google is your best friends now.
 

 

[Kukuk]

Quote:

I think members here should already chime in if he/she has experience with this model. It seems that not many people follow 80's Marantz since at that time Marantz was controlled by Philips and had no connection with American anymore. Google is your best friends now.
 

 
Google really don't have anything. Specs, but specs really don't mean anything.
 
I'm sure someone is bound to have used one at some point, and hoping someone can chime in a little info. Even something as vague as saying if Marantz amps from this period are worth using or not.

 

[ardgedee]

AudioKarma would be my first place to ask. It's populated not just by enthusiasts but guys who used to run stores and repair shops back in the day.

 

[Kukuk]

Quote:

AudioKarma would be my first place to ask. It's populated not just by enthusiasts but guys who used to run stores and repair shops back in the day.

Thanks, I'll have to check that out!

 

[Skylab]

That isn't considered a very good period for Marantz.  The opinion of that amp on AudioKarma was pretty low. I don't know about the preamp.

 

[Meewoo]

Quote:

That isn't considered a very good period for Marantz.  The opinion of that amp on AudioKarma was pretty low. I don't know about the preamp.

x2. Marantz in 80's is famous for CD players, not Amps.
 
 


Quote:

 
Google really don't have anything. Specs, but specs really don't mean anything.
 
I'm sure someone is bound to have used one at some point, and hoping someone can chime in a little info. Even something as vague as saying if Marantz amps from this period are worth using or not.

If you are in tight budget, why not buy a "famous" (well received) model. If you have spare money, you can try the Marantz.It maybe a sleeper.  Besides, it has very cool VU meter and golden finish. If you don't like them, you can use them as decoration.
 

 

[Kukuk]

Not really looking to buy, it's just my friend has that amp (Well, amp, pre-amp, and tuner), and he's wanting to trade for a mediocre HTIB setup I have. Unless there's something really bad about the Marantz setup, I'm thinking I'll do it.
 
EDIT: Man, I really want to get on that Audio Karma, but it's got a darn joining queue, so I gotta wait for my account to be approved before I can even search the site. I guess I'll just twiddle my thumbs until I get accepted.

 

[Rawrbington]

question for you vets.
is it possible for a rca interconnect to sound better than another rca interconnect?
 
i was using a little tiny small CHEAP (2$) interconnect to run from my woo to my yamaha.
i was using my better cables to run from DLIII to the woo.
 
my buddy gave me a monster interconnect.  not a ridiculously expensive cable, but its thickness is 6-7 times that of the cheap one i was using.
 
im sceptical that the rca interconnects can sound better (perhaps short of  gold).
 
but after replacing the interconnect with the monster i swear the sound has slightly more dynamics and is just smoother.
 
is this a placebo?  probably.
is there any chance at all that i could "hear" those two cables?