Calling All "Vintage" Integrated/Receiver Owners
May 15, 2011 at 9:51 AM Post #1,157 of 19,145
 
Got the Teac A-3300SX 2T back from the shop yesterday.  Recording the album Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs to tape at 15 ips now.
 

 

 
May 15, 2011 at 10:12 AM Post #1,159 of 19,145
BmWr75, beautiful TEAC - and your whole rig looks sweet. I love my Teac reel deck!

Scottie - you are right, the HE-5LE has a bit of a hot treble. Much more so than the LCD-2, that's for sure. I think that's what some folks are hearing. I don't hear fizziness on my SX1980 or 1250 with either my headphones or with my B&W speakers. Actually I have been surprised how smooth the big Pioneers are. I expected some 70's solid state nasties when I started down this path, especially being mostly a tube guy, but really have not experienced that. Still, I would not pair a vintage receiver with a bright headphone, or one with a hot treble, probably.
 
May 15, 2011 at 10:36 AM Post #1,160 of 19,145


Quote:
Ah, the classic 3300 TEAC "deuce". Yours has the newfangled cueing lever. Ain't it great?


Best I can tell, all the lever does is allow you to hear the recording at very high speed during rewind and fast forward.  Guess that is useful if you are looking for a blank section in the tape.
 
May 15, 2011 at 10:55 AM Post #1,161 of 19,145
Yup, that's exactly what it's for. The pro machines the TEAC is a copy of had ways of partially defeating the tape lifters so you could, with practice, find a spot on the tape while shuttling back and forth at high speed. It was the one thing the 3300 lacked, so they came up with a simple way to tuck it in. Which is why we loved TEAC back in the day. A practiced thumb could substitute on the leverless 3300. 
 
But I meant to be asking if you thought the TEAC itself was great, not just the cue lever.
 
May 15, 2011 at 12:19 PM Post #1,163 of 19,145
I have been a lurker for the website and this forum for a long time. You guys just "itched" me for my first post. 
My daily use home headphone is AKG Q701 and my speaker is KEF Q90.
I want to say that vintage stuff is a totally sold to me.
 

Luxman R-1120a and Q701

Luxman 1120a & R-113

Au-517 & TU-717

Yamaha CR-1020
 
IMHO, r-1120a sounds best for me, silk-smooth with wide sound stage. CR-1020 & AU-517 sounds second. But I like Sui most when I listen to Rap, hip-hop and other bass heavy music. Sui just has the authority in bass. Luxman r-113 has some veil to me, mid-low seems spreading in all range. I totally agree you gurus' opinions about Sui and Pioneer (I have Pionner SX1050 & SA-6800), I just want to share my 2 cents about Luxman and Yammy.
 
IMHO, every vintage stuff will sound differently even they are the same model. I have one Sansui 5000a and one 5000x, the 5000x sounds a lot drier than 5000a. I think recapping will solve the problem since 5000x is in bad condition. If you buy vintage stuff, you'd better remember that your stuff may sounds totally different from people's here. 
 
Scottie, please add me to your Sansui x17 club, your opinion on Sui is priceless to me!! And thank you Skylab, you opinion about dedicated headphone amp and vintage stuff make me investing the Vintage stuff!! And thanks all members here  for sharing your thoughts!!!
 
 
May 15, 2011 at 4:20 PM Post #1,166 of 19,145
So I have been listening to the Sansui AU-717 for a few days now, exclusively with the LCD-2's.
My first impressions still stand, this amp is brighter than both the LF339 and the M-stage (w/class A mod).
On sibilant recordings the ssss's are pronounced to the point of being distracting. However with most of my rock, jaz and classical once my ears get accustomed to the sound I barely notice it.
The bass is tight and punchy and much better than the M-stage, but not as clean as the LF339. 
The volume pot has some nose in the right channel when attenuating, but dead silent otherwise.
The one thing I have noticed that bothers me and I wonder if there is a fix for, is that when Muting is "on" and the volume is above 80db there is a slight distortion at the very top of the mids. This is most pronounced when listening to guitar centric rock music, it is annoying to the point where I actually turn down the volume (god forbid). However, this goes away when mute is off, so it is not a major issue. I would like to be able to use the mute feature because it provides more control of the volume, however if i use a sources with volume control it is a non issue.
Question: is there a way to fix this?
Overall I am quite happy with this purchase and I am willing to spend some money getting it tuned up. How would I go about finding someone to tune this thing up? DC, Bias, perhaps new caps...etc. I live in LA so I would prefer someone local as to avoid shipping charges. 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
 
May 15, 2011 at 5:12 PM Post #1,167 of 19,145
I don't really have speakers for it yet but was looking to get some in the future. I wonder what kind would mate best with them. I was almost looking to see if Audioengine would send me some A2's, but only use two lefts channels. I bet they would sound incredible on this amp.
 
Quote:
The fisher x series are a gem. People over at audiokarma says it ,along with other tube integrate amps from that era, produces a sound that haven't been duplicated to this day(whether that's good or bad is in the eye of the beholder). I had to refinish the case on mine as well(fun little project). It mates better with some headphones better than others, but still sounds good on them all. But as a speaker amp is where it really shines, provided you have some efficient speakers. The 25wpc is conservatively rated. I've run them off floor standers with only 91db rating. I now run it off a pair of klipsch epics, and it's a match made in heaven. 200.00 was a very good score on that one. I've seen them go for more than that in non working condition. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.

 
May 15, 2011 at 5:57 PM Post #1,169 of 19,145
Quote:
I came across this on ebay. It doesn't have a headphone out, but maybe speaker taps could be used for some orthos? I like how clean the layout of the tubes and transformers is.
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-60s-FISHER-500-B-TUBE-STEREO-RECEIVER-TUNER-AMP-/250818835506?pt=Receivers_Tuners&hash=item3a65f7b432#ht_500wt_1156
 
 


You should be aware there's been discussion recently about using orthos with transformer-coupled tube amps like vintage Fishers - it may endanger the transformers.
 
Skylab got the ball rolling by repeating a warning from Musical Paradise - start there if you want to read the whole exchange. PhaedrusX explained the electronic principles behind the problem, and kwkarth has been providing advice and help. The simple solution -- to add a resistor in parallel with the headphone's pigtail -- will work but will also absorb most of the amp's output, which diminishes the point to using speaker terminals in the first place.
 
I was happy with the sound the X-202-B got out of my HE-6, but I am disinclined to shorten its useful life, so once again I am sizing up what's available in amplifiers and vintage receivers.
 
May 15, 2011 at 6:07 PM Post #1,170 of 19,145
I trading a pair of B&W DM610is and a Rotel 1062 for a  Sansui AU-999 a pair of Omega 5" Monitors. He also has a Onkyo TX 4500 MKII Receiver but it needs a bit of work, but it works and a Dual 1209 turntable. I really want the Sansui and Omega's but the two others are also pretty nice also
 

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