[WarriorAnt]

Quote:

The discussion of cinderblocks, bricks, and other dense objects serving as speaker stands brings to mind mention by one audio engineer that his preference was to use marble or granite slabs as ADDITIONAL speaker bases for large monitor speakers like the Dunlavys I own now.  Since the dense objects absorb standing waves, the use of stone (including sand and ball bearings) as base material makes sense, even though the Duns have at least two inches thick oak slabs as the speaker base already.  As I have some spare granite lying around, I could probably test that theory out pretty easily but it would cost me almost as much as a new pair of headphones to have a mason cut out and contour the slabs properly.  Besides, there's no need to give myself a hernia lifting the Duns just to put some heavier than thou granite underneath....the Duns are awesome as is....I have been driving them with the Marantz 2275 as a preamp thru an Adcom GFA-555 Mk II and folks visiting have noticed the improvement with the Marantz in the mix. 
 
(Once after a couple of hours, the Marantz went into a hissy fit and had a piercing grating sound coming out....which was quickly remedied by turning the power off and then back on...strange, I daresay.  Anybody got an idea why this could have occurred?)
 

I know a few guys who use granite.  
 
 

 

[Rawrbington]

i know this isn't the proper place but this is one of the threads that has a lot of knowledge running around in it.
 
has anyone heard or know much about the mission mx1 or mx2 speakers?
 
im thinking about getting a pair and have found them new at a good price(175 shipped).
 
they will be part of my computer/bedroom rig.
 
any input would be much appreciated

 

[cifani090]

Quote:

i know this isn't the proper place but this is one of the threads that has a lot of knowledge running around in it.
 
has anyone heard or know much about the mission mx1 or mx2 speakers?
 
im thinking about getting a pair and have found them new at a good price(175 shipped).
 
they will be part of my computer/bedroom rig.
 
any input would be much appreciated

Id probably post your question in the Vintage Speaker thread.
 

 

[roadcykler]

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but my Sansui 350a has developed a very noticeable hiss in the right channel. I first tried a different speaker wire routing with no difference. It is there and doesn't change regardless of volume, source, balance, etc. After the receiver has been off for a while it's barely noticeable when I first turn it on but gradually gets louder. It's also heard via the headphones. I'm thinking that a capacitor on that side is going/has gone bad but could it be something like a transistor that degrades as it warms up? If this should be in a different forum would someone who can please move it there? Thanks. 

 

[Chris J]

usually means a bad transistor
time for a visit to your local repair shop!

 

[mythless]

Quote:

i know this isn't the proper place but this is one of the threads that has a lot of knowledge running around in it.
 
has anyone heard or know much about the mission mx1 or mx2 speakers?
 
im thinking about getting a pair and have found them new at a good price(175 shipped).
 
they will be part of my computer/bedroom rig.
 
any input would be much appreciated

I have never heard a Mission that I didn't like.  Don't know much about their new stuff, but I like their old stuff.  Had quite of few pairs that fell through my hands and into new hands.  They are well designed speakers for what they are and Mission knew how to sell them.
 

 

[Wharfrat]

 

Marantz definitely softens the forward of Adcom.
 
I think your Marantz has potential tran-sister or resister failure. I have Pionny SA-9100 which hiss louder and louder following the time. I sent to a local AKer to have it fixed, but I am still waiting it back.

Thanks for the insight...the aberration occurred after the Marantz had been on for at least 5 hours, playing at 10' o clock on the vol pot....so it could easily be a heat related transistor or resistor issue....
 
Still have been trying to find out whats really wrong with my 1961 Scott 222-B.  As the saga goes, it turns out all the tubes work, but bass and treble for both channels does not and the output is very weak.  Was told to take it to "Floyd in Ballard", who is supposed to be a former employee at the Scott factory (must be a truly ancient dude) to be repaired...the real nice gent at Northwest Audio didn't even charge me for the diagnostics.  I fear the worst given the list of ailments found.  Hopefully nothing unobtanium to be dealt with.
 
Whilst there, a guy came in with a Marantz 2275 in a nice wooden case with a dead phono section...so I guess I will take it there to be looked at.  
 
 

 

[RexAeterna]

I have gotten a R-8 earlier, I thought R-9 would have the same tone as R-8. But I am totally wrong, the R-9 sounds a bit warmer than typical Yamaha equipments I had, and it has narrower sound stage due to the warm sound. When I listened to R-9 through headphones, I just can’t love it though I want to. The sound image is just not good for headphones. It seemed that I was listening to Tori Amos just before her mouth, her voice was drilling my head.  I never heard any amp sounds like that before. Most of them make you feel a little distance from singer’s mouth, a little before microphones. Yamaha R-8 has the largest distance. It seems that I am 3 feet away from singer. 
I was little disappointed by R-9, and really didn’t understand why Rex sang high praise for it. I then tried it with speakers, now I understood why Rex pushed it so hard. It really brings the band to your room, it makes you believe that the whole band is at your room and singer is standing between two speakers. It has really fantastic sound and image. IMHO, it’s a very good speaker amp, but not for headphones.

i like to mention mine is brought up to spec. it can be little too powerful with certain headphones is reason why i only use it with orthos and my 240DF's. i don't find mine warm sounding at all. speakers is where it's shine yes,but stereo image i never had one issue with it or it being warm sounding. i liked it lot over other amps myself and even over the silver faced models. it uses same power amp section as the M-80 so it should be very natural based on specs. very powerful amp and will bring out the deep sub-bass slam if your speakers(or subs) can handle it. have you tried resetting the DC offset and resetting the bias? resetting both of those should affect it lot on it's performance. i did have my yamaha output transistors,front panel section replaced as well with better ones from the tech. FWIW i also mention as source i use Echo Audiofire 2 with balanced rca to 1/4'' cables to it at +4db professional input gain meaning i'm feeding the preamp and front panel 4v instead of 2v you get from unbalanced sources. the yamaha's do like extra voltages fed into the inputs. i also like to mention my room is acoustically treated to sound dead if that matters too. my room being dead allows speakers to take full advantage over it's stereo imaging without effects of room own reflections..

overall though you might just have different taste and i respect that. if you don't want it anymore let me know cause i would love to have a back up R-9. i personally favorite it over most sansui's i heard as well.

 

[Meewoo]

Quote:

i like to mention mine is brought up to spec. it can be little too powerful with certain headphones is reason why i only use it with orthos and my 240DF's. i don't find mine warm sounding at all. speakers is where it's shine yes,but stereo image i never had one issue with it or it being warm sounding. i liked it lot over other amps myself and even over the silver faced models. it uses same power amp section as the M-80 so it should be very natural based on specs. very powerful amp and will bring out the deep sub-bass slam if your speakers(or subs) can handle it. have you tried resetting the DC offset and resetting the bias? resetting both of those should affect it lot on it's performance. i did have my yamaha output transistors,front panel section replaced as well with better ones from the tech. FWIW i also mention as source i use Echo Audiofire 2 with balanced rca to 1/4'' cables to it at +4db professional input gain meaning i'm feeding the preamp and front panel 4v instead of 2v you get from unbalanced sources. the yamaha's do like extra voltages fed into the inputs. i also like to mention my room is acoustically treated to sound dead if that matters too. my room being dead allows speakers to take full advantage over it's stereo imaging without effects of room own reflections..
overall though you might just have different taste and i respect that. if you don't want it anymore let me know cause i would love to have a back up R-9. i personally favorite it over most sansui's i heard as well.

Hey, Rex, I am not complaining R-9. I just couldn't bear the R-9 with headphones ( I tried with my AKG K240 sextett and K340, it's a little better on K340). R-9 drives speaker with outstanding results.
Actually, I checked DC offset and both channels are within 30mF, so I think it's fine. When I say r-9 is warm, it sounds like my CA-2010 in Class A. If I turn on the class A, R-9 sounds more defined, but barely change in tone (or I can't tell the difference, But there are obvious change on CA-2010). What does your R-9 sound in and out class A? Do you agree with my description about the sound stage of R-9? If not, I think I may have tech check the spec of my R-9. Until now, the only problems of R-9 are losing memory of station and a bad hinge for the door. I really like R-9 with speakers, the speakers sound robust, powerful and detailed. What to say, hi-fi.
 
P.S I didn't get the remote yet, seller forgot to put it in the box. But I will get it in the next few days.    
 

 

[RexAeterna]

soundstage is probably from the speakers positioning maybe. i use the Pioneer sp-fs51-lr towers as my main speakers and i get wonderful 360 degree imaging and soundstage with it. i don't issues with that part. imaging and soundstage has lot to do with the tweeter's dispersion pattern on and off axis. Domes usually consider to have the widest on axis dispersion due to size.

yea i thought i mentioned the thing about the stations not saving. that is common with those. i mentioned it even though me personally never worried bout it since i never really used the tuner much at all. i will admit the bass can be powerful with the sextetts(i own the LP model). if you own the MP or EP version it might sound bit warmer cause they have bit more bass accentuations. my K601 sounds nice and clean out of it. i'm getting my 240DF and Fostex T50p back from purrin i had them loaned out to. before i got it serviced i found my 240DF really clean sounding out of them and did enjoy pair of slightly modded Yamaha HP-1 with them. i haven't gotten chance test my modded fostex since my yamaha was getting serviced then.

also the amp has -20db muting switch. i would suggest making use of that with certain headphones. also leave the ''loudness'' knob in the ''flat'' position. the manual is online if you need it.

for class A. i notice mainly with my 240DF and speakers that it gotten bit cleaner sounding but not too much difference to be honest cause the distortion on the yamaha is so low it should be hard to tell for most people. i use class A mainly for preceptive speaker listening. i find the yamaha r-9 to be a natural amp to be honest personally cause it will bring out the speakers or headphones true colors and especially music. i like listening to acoustic guitar and lot of instrumental on it a lot.

 

[Meewoo]

Actually, I like the R-9 with speakers a lot. The image is very good, but the sound-stage is a little narrow than my other Yamahas. The image is like a macro mode in camera, it lost some sound-stage, but the expression is very impressive. 
 
I just don't like the R-9 with headphones. It puts my head at singer's mouth, I personally couldn't bear this kind of sound. Oh, I have two sextett, one is ep and other is mp.
 
Oh, my R-8 still can memory the station, but not R-9.  I got the remote seller shipped out, but they are not working with R-9. The seller just told me he got them from estate sale with R-9. I think I should ask for some refund. 

 

[subzer0]

Does anyone know anything about the Pioneer SX-5590?
 
http://vintageelectronics.betamaxcollectors.com/pioneerstereoreceivermodelsx-5590.html

 

[Skylab]

Just like that site says, it's the black-faced European version of the SX-1250. Other than switchable mains AC voltage and black, it's a SX-1250.

 

[MohawkUS]

Hey guys, I'm new to analogue audio so go easy on me.
I just recently got a Dual 1209 turntable that's in pretty much mint condition from a local audio shop that was closing up. Unfortunately the receiver my parents pulled out of the closet for me was dead(late 80s marantz, I figured it would be). It plays well enough that I was able to test the turntable though, the receiver is very staticy, has horrible channel imbalance that moves around as you adjust the volume, and the lights on it flicker. I figure its a lost cause and not worth fixing so I'm looking at getting something new.

I've been looking at some of the onkyo tx X500 MKI series receivers from the late 70s. I'm only going to be using the phono-stage really so I figured I'd get the tx1500 and call it a day, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't buying a hunk of junk first. Is this a good model? All I've gotten from google is that the MKIs are better than the MKIIs, and that they have a good bass, and energetic sound. Sounds like what I'm looking for if the quality is good.

The receivers I have in the house are the dying marantz 560(forgot the model, but its 87 I believe) and a Pioneer SX-6(83?) that last I checked was just starting to get staticy(I used it for a few months as a headphone amp when I still had my Grados, I felt that my old Asus Essence was better)

If I do eventually decide to hook up speakers for the room I won't need anything high powered, its a small 10x10' computer room where I keep my gear. My budget is around $100, and I put down a $25 bid on a Onyko tx1500 MKI that is in working order. I can get a tx2500 MKI for $70.

Is it worth going with a reciever over a phono-amp in this price range? I know I've already bid on something, but I just want to make sure I made a good choice. I pretty much spent a few hours last night looking through all the vintage receivers on ebay and looking up model numbers, so I couldn't have done too bad.. I hope.

 

[palmfish]

Quote:

Hey guys, I'm new to analogue audio so go easy on me.

I just recently got a Dual 1209 turntable that's in pretty much mint condition from a local audio shop that was closing up. Unfortunately the receiver my parents pulled out of the closet for me was dead(late 80s marantz, I figured it would be). It plays well enough that I was able to test the turntable though, the receiver is very staticy, has horrible channel imbalance that moves around as you adjust the volume, and the lights on it flicker. I figure its a lost cause and not worth fixing so I'm looking at getting something new.
 

DeoxIT