[Skylab]

Ha ha, Larry, nice try

And Moodyrn, I still love the Fisher too. Different sound, but wonderful in it's own way. I always knew asking it to drive the B&Ws was pushing it. That's not really the kind of speaker for it. I need to get some Klipsch or other high-eff speakers to use with the Fisher. But it has that very magical vintage tube sound, very different from modern tube amps, and I wouldn't want to be without it.

The SX1250, though, is very impressive in its doing so many things well. Great tuner. Very good phono stage. Outstanding with what in the B&W N805's are some pretty decent but not easy to drive speakers. And will drive any headphone on earth. That's a lot of audio lovin' for the $600 I paid.

Scottie, don't think I haven't eyed that SX-1980...Daddy WANT. But no way I will get one of those shipped to me. Now, if one comes around locally...well...

 

[Zida]

So I've been waiting on picking up this one gents Pioneer SA-8500 for a while now, but just today I saw a Pioneer A-77x get posted FS in, apparently, pretty much perfect condition for $300. Unless any of you have any experience to point me otherwise I intend to buy that guy up ASAP.

 

[scottiebabie]

havnt heard the A-77X or A-88X for that matter but its not quite the vintage (its made in later 80s i think) so beloved by the crew in this thread. however the specs seem mind blowing sporting 3 trafos (1@L/R/pre) & 7 (yaaa count em again!) psu. specs also read its the 1st of the elite line so me thinks u got nothing much to lose bud.
 
only fly in the ointment besides ensuring premium working condition is the price seems atad high but WTH - so what if u need to blow it out & lose $100 or so. i doubt it but who knows. however me thinks its gonna be a keeper & make Zida a very happy camper. get it & get back on how it performs with the HE6.
 
im betting its gonna be batting close to 1000. be as Nike & Just Do IT! heh!

 

[Zida]

I just hope it's built to sound great and not just read off as an impressive spec list. Another concern might be that by the time this amp rolled around headphones were more efficient and it might have more resistance on the headphone out. I guess I have to just try it and see.

It's more than I wanted to spend but how can you say no to an amp like that.

 

[mythless]

lol Skylab has gotten the vintage bug badly.  Picked up my first Marantz, 2230B, sounds pretty good, a bit more intimate than some of my other amplifiers (Rotel, Sansui, Hitachi, Pioneer, Technics) but, I may prefer my HK and Luxman over it.  And, it's by far the most expensive low wattage receiver I ever bought, looks pretty cool though.  Cost me more than my newly acquired Pioneer SA-9100!  But, I do admit after getting a set of Yamaha HP-2, those old amps/receivers do a lot better job in driving certain headphones than regular headphone amps.

 

[scottiebabie]

@Zida i PM'd u on a link for a local SA7500/TU500 combo that u can audition & make an offer it strikes your fancy. i have the same amp & think its one sweet potato. def will drive your HE6 with aplomb but like all things, whether it will float your boat is another issue. regardless its time to get your feet wet & go for it. any opinions garnered here are just that - opinions. the only opinion that counts is yours & yours alone. goodluck & give us the lowdown on what u thunk.
 
Skylabs downward (or isit upwards??) spiral into vintage lunacy is something else indeed! sorry Rob but its almost comical when i think how fast u went from zero to hero in the span of a month! ROTFL!!! mite well be a record 1st for anyone using or even contemplating a pioneer MONSTA SX1980 for headphones! my hero indeed!
 

 

[ardgedee]

Hmm...
 
Say I had to choose between a Scott 222C and a Fisher X-202-B. Both are integrated amps from 1961, heavy on the tubes. The Scott is around 20 wpc / 8 ohm, the Fisher around 30 wpc / 8 ohm. Both are stock, working order, clean, rust-free and cosmetically intact (all the original knobs are present, all the screened-on labels are readable, etc.), both bearing equal amounts of age and wear. But I have to choose without listening to either first. Disregard cost as a factor for the time being.
 
I'd be using one to drive a desktop stereo -- mostly headphones, including a pair of HE-6 -- and sometimes a pair of bookshelf speakers standing on the desk -- so power quantity is nice but far from necessary. Source will be nearly exclusively digital audio, and sometimes an FM tuner.
 
Which should I go with?
 
This is a mostly but not entirely hypothetical question at the moment.

 

[Skylab]

Skylabs downward (or isit upwards??) spiral into vintage lunacy is something else indeed! sorry Rob but its almost comical when i think how fast u went from zero to hero in the span of a month! ROTFL!!! mite well be a record 1st for anyone using or even contemplating a pioneer MONSTA SX1980 for headphones! my hero indeed!
 

Yeah, I can get like that sometimes. When I get into something, I get INTO it. The funny thing is I rarely get out of it I'm still big into vinyl, and tubes, and headphones, and...well every audio obsession I've every had

Today was an almost entirely headphone free day though. Was spinning records on the Denon and blasting the N805's with the SX1250. And it was a GREAT day. Spinning Steely Dan's Aja as I type this. Very, very nice. The Pioneer's phono stage lacks the transparency of my Eddie Current tubed one, but heck, that was $1,200 just for the phono stage! The Pioneer is very enjoyable with vinyl to be sure. And man it has CONTROL of the baby Beemers.

 

[scottiebabie]

i bet the 1250 sounds sweet on the baby B&Ws. have u tried it on the big nautilus yet? wouldnt surprize me if it drives it just as well too. puts a smile on my face seeing how u like spinning vinyl so much that i wish i can get into it as prices on vintage TT are soooo cheap! heck even decent micro seiki TTs arent too unreasonable either but i just cant do it. the hassle of cleaning, de-static'in, spinning, flipping & storages just too darn painful! LOL
 
btw Rob hope u arent gettin me wrong as im not teasing u or god forbid, riding u bout this vintage trip. dang if anything, im kinda amped as in a weird way, i feel like im trippin with u. its just that when i think about it, its pretty darn hilarous. its like u flip a switch & bada bing bada boom ya IN LIKE FLINT! & not just in but way off the deep end! it took me a year & tons of auditions & playin round to get to this stage but u took all that & compressed it into <1mth!! i just have a ear2ear grin everytime i think bout it!

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

i bet the 1250 sounds sweet on the baby B&Ws. have u tried it on the big nautilus yet? wouldnt surprize me if it drives it just as well too. puts a smile on my face seeing how u like spinning vinyl so much that i wish i can get into it as prices on vintage TT are soooo cheap! heck even decent micro seiki TTs arent too unreasonable either but i just cant do it. the hassle of cleaning, de-static'in, spinning, flipping & storages just too darn painful! LOL
 
btw Rob hope u arent gettin me wrong as im not teasing u or god forbid, riding u bout this vintage trip. dang if anything, im kinda amped as in a weird way, i feel like im trippin with u. its just that when i think about it, its pretty darn hilarous. its like u flip a switch & bada bing bada boom ya IN LIKE FLINT! & not just in but way off the deep end! it took me a year & tons of auditions & playin round to get to this stage but u took all that & compressed it into <1mth!! i just have a ear2ear grin everytime i think bout it!

No way man, love your comments, keep 'em coming!  All good. 
 
When I get into something, I tend to buy a bunch of stuff, listen to it all, and then sort it out later and sell what I don't like or want to keep.  I'm going to sell that vintage Sony I bought when I get around to it, for example.  Not that it isn't good, but I prefer the other 3 I got.
 
But you should take the plunge on a vintage TT!  A Micro Seiki would be a good choice.  I had one for a while, nice deck.  Ended up donating it to my kids' school so the music teacher could play records.  Scottie with your amps, the phono stages you have are just begging to be used!!!
 
I won't be trying the Pioneer with the N800's though - just not practical - would require WAAAAAAY too much rewiring.  And as good as the Pioneer is, I booted a pair of 200W monoblock Audio Research amps from driving the N800 for too little power!  It's 300 wpc absolute bare minimum for the N800.  The Sunfire at 650 wpc is just about right
 

 

[wualta]

Scottiebabie, I'm shocked-- if you don't have a 'table, a TT, you're really missin' out. Skylab's right. You know in your heart of hearts that he is. He got the Pioneer, so you know what you gotta do!

 

[scottiebabie]

yaaa i've given TTs massive thought esp when i spot a nice TT on the local CL. then i wake up from the daydream & remember the hassles of it all & who can forget the accompanyin snap crackle & pop. i just cant pull the trigger as im so used to my computer cum music station & gotton so lazy that moving my ass to grab a brewski from the fridge in the kitchen is too much work! - which reminds me...i need a bar fridge next to the music station

 
dont think i can ever see myself going back to the vinyl spinning days though it is better. despite reading bout how much more superior redbook playback (never mind SACD & higher), plain old vinyl sounds better. despite the nasty SNR, musics justs sounds better - organic, smooth natural with a "bloom" that i cant hear in any digi rig i've heard. 
 
but (aint buts a bitch?) i just cant get into the "old days" of all that work just to listen to 1 track on an album. no matter how mikey likes it. it'll just end up being a white elephant - talking of which, theres this Sansui AU-9900 i've eyeing for the longest......MIKEY WANTS!!! heh

 

[wualta]

I know your conscience will get the better of you someday. After all, aside from buying a signal generator, what easier way is there to test headphones using a step input than a good old scratchy LP?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Well, I failed to snag the refurbished Marantz 2275 that I originally wanted, but I have a stock 2240 on the way instead, for about 1/4 the cost.  Looking forward to trying it out soon!  I've been told that this particular unit sounds better than the Meier Concerto, by a reputable head-fi member...

 

[scottiebabie]

Quote:

Well, I failed to snag the refurbished Marantz 2275 that I originally wanted, but I have a stock 2240 on the way instead, for about 1/4 the cost.  Looking forward to trying it out soon!  I've been told that this particular unit sounds better than the Meier Concerto, by a reputable head-fi member...

NOOOOOO say it aint so! a cheap crappy 35yr old receiver sounding better than an expensive dedicated headamp??? whats the world coming to??!!! LMAO!!!
 
all kidding aside, welcome to the club Larry. looking forward to your gushing impressions of the marantz. who knows, pretty soon u'll be diving headlong into this lunacy we call vintage gear!
 
ps:FYI the race is on for the (most likely im sure) record setting bid for owning & using a 300w a side MONSTA receiver as a dedicated headamp - 1st time in the world (that i've heard of). so far me thinks Skylab has the lead with his 160watter SX1250 but u aint gonna let a measly little thing like that stop ya are u?? pssssssst marantz has a model 2600 300w@8ohms rms receiver so u can one up Robs SX1250 - go go team marantz! LOLOL!!!