[.Sup]

Nice work! Thats a cool looking set up Sup

Thanks man!

 

[buson160man]

 Well you can add me to the long list of monster receiver owners. I just bought a concept 16.5 receiver that has been recapped. I went down to the local stereo emporium and auditioned it this afternoon. My initial impression was mixed but after the unit warmed up sufficiently a lot of my reservations were banished. The concept is a 67 pound beast with a dual mono power supply . The power on tap is 165 watts rms for 8 ohm speakers. I am buying it to power my audeze lcd2 v2 phones. Once the concept warmed up the audezes sounded just marvelous. There is way more power that is available on tap. I could not comfortably listen past the 9  o clock position on the volume control with the lcd2 v2s. The receiver really makes them sing like no headphone amp I have heard them on. The only other dedicated headphone amp I have heard that came close is perhaps the dark star. I imagine some of the other monster receivers can compete with the concept but these babies are getting more and more rare theses days. Especially ones that you can actually listen to in the flesh before you buy them. and not just a whim of chance off the internet. There of course are even more powerful ones out there but a lot of them are becoming astronomically priced these days. But at least I can afford this little piece of heaven. I will try to make some more comments about its sound when I get some extensive listening in which I definitely will be doing.

 

[buson160man]

  Haven't posted any pics lately, so here's some of the latest unit I just finished working on.
 
Bought this on eBay as a parts/repair unit, really only for the wood case since I already had a 1060.  Turned out to be a champagne faced engraved model with a bad right channel.  So I sold my other 1060 and decided to repair and keep this one instead.
 
With kind help from a knowledgeable AK'er, I repaired the bad channel, did a full recap, and enjoying it now.  Some pics:
 

 

man those old Marantz integrated really look pretty don't they

 

[buson160man]

  Haven't posted any pics lately, so here's some of the latest unit I just finished working on.
 
Bought this on eBay as a parts/repair unit, really only for the wood case since I already had a 1060.  Turned out to be a champagne faced engraved model with a bad right channel.  So I sold my other 1060 and decided to repair and keep this one instead.
 
With kind help from a knowledgeable AK'er, I repaired the bad channel, did a full recap, and enjoying it now.  Some pics:
 

 

man those old Marantz integrated amps really look pretty

 

[captouch]

man those old Marantz integrated really look pretty don't they

Yeah, they really are. I've largely transitioned to tubes lately, and this one was sitting around waiting to be repaired and recapped. Once I got it up and running and all put together in the case, I really like it a lot, both sonically and aesthetically. Probably will use this in the warmer months and rotate the tubes in when it's cooler. Not that we get huge extremes in the Bay Area, but a good excuse to keep them all!

 

[SpeakerBox]

   Well you can add me to the long list of monster receiver owners. I just bought a concept 16.5 receiver that has been recapped. 

 
Nice score.  This receiver is on my short list too.  I believe the now, Parasound founder, designed these and still collects them for himself.

 

[Rossliew]

Haven't heard that model but it does have a 20db mute which is always good for hp use. It also depends on what hp's you are going to be using. In general hp's that require lots of power will sound good with good vintage amps. Planars, AKG flagships for e.g. Highly sensitive can's such as Sennheiser's flagships can display hiss.  

But as a general rule with these older amps. If it sounds good with speakers and is a highly regarded amp - it will sound good through the hp out, because you are using the same power source apart from resistors. 

As far as the price of that Yammy is...  hmmm maybe a little high? I would expect a full recap etc. 

Was thinking of using it with the XC. Being a pair of sensitive cans, i can expect hiss..hmm, not too good a pairing i would think. I recalled horrible hissing when i used the HD650 with a Pioneer SX-1280 previously. Not nice.

 

[Skylab]

 Well you can add me to the long list of monster receiver owners. I just bought a concept 16.5 receiver that has been recapped.

Congrats man! Now...WE NEED PICS!!!!

 

[buson160man]

   
Nice score.  This receiver is on my short list too.  I believe the now, Parasound founder, designed these and still collects them for himself.

 I had read that myself. I did some research on the internet about  this receiver this week. I was looking for a vintage receiver this week after reading about how good vintage receivers can sound with headphones. I was visiting a local stereo emporium in our area and was checking out what they had on hand on their used shelves. I did not see any really ambitious looking models on display. I talked with one of the salesman letting them know what I was looking for and he mentioned that they had a used concept 16.5 receiver they were checking out for possible purchase to sell in their store. I told the salesman that if they did purchase the unit to give me first dibs to purchase the unit. I left my telephone number and name with the salesman. A few days later I made a follow up call and gave them my name and number again. Well last Saturday they called me and mentioned they had indeed purchased the unit. They gave me the chance to hear it first. They mentioned that they were giving me first crack at purchasing it for 999 usd. I had checked the pricing out before when I did my internet research and that was the starting price at which a unit in good condition was going for. They said if they were to sell on the net they were with listing , boxing and shipping they would probably ask 1300 usd for the unit.
    Well I went to hear the unit yesterday bringing my audeze lcd2 v2 with to listen to it. The reason I was interested was because I was looking for a more capable amp to get the best out of the lcd2s. I was also considering the schiit mjolner which I heard for the first time at the axpona show in Chicago, It sounded pretty good with the lcd3 at the show. But I would have had to get the balanced cable from audeze to use it with the mjolner. Though at 80 usd that is not outrageous when you consider the aftermarket alternatives.
   But getting back to the concept. I went to listen to it yesterday. At first I was a bit disappointed the unit sounded  rather flat and two dimensional but after listening for a few cds things finally started sounding pretty decent. The salesman switched to speakers for a bit to demo what the unit could do driving speakers. Wow this unit really sounded very good with the kef speakers he had hooked up. With more play time the unit kept getting better and better sounding.
   I switched back to my audeze lcd2s and now the sound was much better the lcd2s played with an authority I have not heard from them.
The phones were also more dimensional as well. I liked what I heard and decided to purchase the unit.
   I am really curious about how the lcd2s will sound in my set up. with the concept 16.5 receiver.
  I have to say I was amazed at how good the receiver sounded with the kef speakers. The sound was very open and beyond the speakers outward boundaries. The sound also seemed to have excellent height as well. I was pleased to hear that the unit had been recapped by the owner so I can use it as is for now. I may investigate if there are any sensible capacitor upgrades that might give me even higher performance in the future.
   I am having the unit delivered Tuesday. The unit is quite bulky and I thought I would give my back a break and have the receiver delivered
 I will be making comments about the unit as I explore its capabilities in my set up.

 

[SpeakerBox]

As for electrolytic capacitors that improve the sound - Nichicon Gold Tunes, Elna Silmic II, and if you can find them (and afford them) Blackgate.  I used Blackgates throughout my restored Kenwood KT 7550 with incredible results.  Of course all small electrolytic caps should be replaced with film where ever possible.
 
I sympathize on the weight issue.  Every time I move my 1250 from the listening area to my bench for upgrades I almost break my back or pull some muscle somewhere, but it has been worth it. 

 

[Magick Man]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Accuphase-E-202-Integrated-Stereo-Amplifier-Serviced-Excellent-Condition-/201093248850?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item2ed2177752

Someone here buy that before I do, I don't need any more vintage IAs taking up space.

 

[LugBug1]

Was thinking of using it with the XC. Being a pair of sensitive cans, i can expect hiss..hmm, not too good a pairing i would think. I recalled horrible hissing when i used the HD650 with a Pioneer SX-1280 previously. Not nice.

I honestly don't think you will get hiss with any planars and a good working vintage amp. As they are not as sensitive as normal dynamics and aren't affected the same way by impedance curves. Audeze will be fine  

 

[Seamaster]

Everyone, I am new to the vintage stuffs. I just bought my first vintage gears, a pair of Sony TA2000F and TA3200F off daBay. The owner said he bought them in the 70s when they were new and kept them in "like new" condition. I think I overpaid them at $1001 USD for the pair. The pair showed up in the original boxes with all the manuals that included service manuals, original cables, etc. just like you just bought them from the store. Since they are my first adventure to vintage audio, I did not know what to expect, such as the speaker terminals do not take modern connectors so I have to order adapters for them. I could not hook them up to compare them to my Mac right now but I did a quick test with my headphones from the HP out. It is a typical old design, the HP out put at 110 Ohm even thougth amp's damping factor is at 170 (my Mac is 40). There are scratchy sound at extreme frequencies from HP out. I hope they sound clean from speakers. Here are some pictures:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
They look very clean for old gears. Can someone tell were they recapped or all original?

 

[PhoenixG]

Those ELNA caps are all original. I think you got a time warp piece. That is the cleanest sony I have ever seen, as if there were ZERO hours. Amazing! Once you clean everything out with deoxit, I think you will really enjoy it. I have similar vintage Sony units (4 or five at this point) and my absolute favorite is the STR-6120. It is every bit as good as my mcintosh gear, just slightly less power. The other ones are almost on the same level. Congrats, also, let's see that mac!
Get some deoxit and get in there.



P.S. I think yours is cleaner than mine

 

[analogsurviver]

  As for electrolytic capacitors that improve the sound - Nichicon Gold Tunes, Elna Silmic II, and if you can find them (and afford them) Blackgate.  I used Blackgates throughout my restored Kenwood KT 7550 with incredible results.  Of course all small electrolytic caps should be replaced with film where ever possible.
 
I sympathize on the weight issue.  Every time I move my 1250 from the listening area to my bench for upgrades I almost break my back or pull some muscle somewhere, but it has been worth it. 

I concur with most of the above - except Blackgate caps. I have heard horror stories regarding long term ( just a few years... <5 ) reliability of these caps - some of them went to eternal hounting grounds much sooner than expected ! 
 
"Any" modern freshly produced electrolytic capacitor from your around-the-corner electronic parts shop was an "upgrade" to those iffy Blackgates - at the price, they should last at least half as much as those originally fitted in the vintage gear. In general, the progress in electronics parts is quite real over say last 30 or so years in capacitors; now they are either/or/and smaller for given capacitance, pack much more capacitance in the same volume, can run at higher temperatures, are more reliable, offer less parasitic electrical characteristics - in short, offer better performance.