[REB]

just made an offer on a sansui tu719, almost totl (the tu919 was ahead of it). Great looking tuner with very good fm capabilities. Let's see whether I get it!

 

[Skylab]

Good luck, REB! 
 
I wish I could sample a bunch of these vintage receivers, just to gain some first hand knowledge about the differences in their sound.  This Marantz drives the 600 ohm Beyer T1's so well, it's really quite surprising to me.  Honestly, it makes it kind of hard to justify some of the stand-alone headphone amps I have heard. 
 
There is a very interesting phenomenon, in that there are better headphones now than ever, but I have found the "built in" headphone outs of some of the modern gear I have (CD players and preamps) to be well below my dedicated headphone amps in terms of performance.  And yet, of the three vintage 70's SS amp/receivers I have tried lately, all three of them sounded no worse than very good in driving modern, sometimes tricky headphones.
 
Although having said that, it was the astonishing headphone performance of the Leben tube integrated that got me thinking about trying vintage integrateds and receivers in the first place...

 

[REB]

But you can

!
 
You're right, it is a strange phenomena. Headphone sales have skyrocketed over the past decade or so, but the quality of headphone outs has decreased significantly. It does make you wonder whether all the dedicated amps are necessary... (he swallows, remembering he just bought a yarland p100)
 
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Good luck, REB! 
 
I wish I could sample a bunch of these vintage receivers, just to gain some first hand knowledge about the differences in their sound.

 

[mythless]

Quote:

Good luck, REB! 
 
I wish I could sample a bunch of these vintage receivers, just to gain some first hand knowledge about the differences in their sound. 

Some are easy to come by.  Haha, there are still plenty of amp/receivers that haven't sky-rocketed in price just yet, besides Kenwood, Onkyo is another.  Aurex, optonica, hitachi, mitsubishi, NEC, Akai, philips and even technics tend to fly under the radar, of course you have to know what you're looking for.

 

[RexAeterna]

i never said anything towards vintage if that's what you mean with this analogy. vintage receivers and amps is all i own and love. especially vintage speakers. just was saying i'll never probably pay personally more then 400 bucks for a marantz receiver.feel there prices are more rediculous than lot of pioneers go for. they are very pretty to look  at and can be nice sounding but not my cup of tea.
 
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the "vintage" argument could be made for wooden boats.  People in fiberglass "chlorox bottles" see me on the lake in a 1952 wooden Chris Craft and wonder why I spend 100+ hours per year on maintenance.  Or, go to an antique boat show and a boat selling for $500 in the 1950s now sells for $35,000 and up perfectly restored.  Yet there is an argument for things vintage: (1) the love of things from the past (2) the look/warmth of the object (3) the harkening back to "when I was a kid" or (4) the stuff was just better made and sounded or performed better back then.
 
At least this is the way I see it 

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

i never said anything towards vintage if that's what you mean with this analogy. vintage receivers and amps is all i own and love. especially vintage speakers. just was saying i'll never probably pay personally more then 400 bucks for a marantz receiver.feel there prices are more rediculous than lot of pioneers go for. they are very pretty to look  at and can be nice sounding but not my cup of tea.

 

 
I've seen the better Pioneer vintage receivers going for about the same prices, though, if they are in the kind of condition my Marantz is in.  But if you prefer the sound of the Pioneer, that's of course another matter.  Which Pioneer receivers do you favor?  Maybe I will have to try one out if I can find a nice one, and have a little vintage receiver war.  I'm thinking of selling off some of my dedicated headphone amps to fund it...I have a lot of them, and the Marantz 2275 is already impressing me as easily being in the same league as some of them...
 
I should add: I make no bones about the fact that I like vintage hi-fi for the looks as much as the sound.
 

 

[moodyrn]

Skylab I know you have limited time with it, but from your impressions so far, which of your headphone amps would you put it on par with?

 

[Skylab]

I need to compare it directly, but when connected to my Van Alstine DAC as the source, it seems to me to be on par with the Meier Concerto in terms of overall sound quality, but with more power available that with the Meier.  I only did a very quick comparison so far, but the only reason I did one at all was I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy, and that the headphone out of the Marantz was really that good.  IMO, it is, with the T1.  It was less good with the Denon, where I felt the Denon was a little too muddy.  It must be an impedance mismatch, as the sound with the T1 is more on the clean/clear side than the warm side. 
 
But I really hesitate to say too much when I have just started listening.  Some people believe initial impressions are the most accurate, but I am not one of those people - I prefer to evaluate over several weeks before really deciding how I really feel about the sound if something, in detail, beyond just "it sounds very good" or "it sounds like crap".

 

[scottiebabie]

Quote:

just made an offer on a sansui tu719, almost totl (the tu919 was ahead of it). Great looking tuner with very good fm capabilities. Let's see whether I get it!

the TU-717 i had sounded sweet the short time i had it. eyes closed on a good jazz broadcast, i swear its sounded like a long bygone turntable i had. its that good! too bad i dont do radio. if i had to keep one, it'll be the TU-9900.

 

[scottiebabie]

Quote:

 
I've seen the better Pioneer vintage receivers going for about the same prices, though, if they are in the kind of condition my Marantz is in.  But if you prefer the sound of the Pioneer, that's of course another matter.  Which Pioneer receivers do you favor?  Maybe I will have to try one out if I can find a nice one, and have a little vintage receiver war.  I'm thinking of selling off some of my dedicated headphone amps to fund it...I have a lot of them, and the Marantz 2275 is already impressing me as easily being in the same league as some of them...
 
I should add: I make no bones about the fact that I like vintage hi-fi for the looks as much as the sound.
 

nothing against Marantz plus they hold their value very well so i dont think u'd be losing any even in the short run but for the 600+ smackers u paid for the 2275, i woulda picked up Pioneer SX-1250. its a monsta of 125w rms proportions & dwarfs most receivers i've seen. i hear it sounds pretty good too. heh
 
ofcos a 'Sui G-22000 would be even better or holy grail of holy grails...da G-33000! last time the beast went thru fleabay, it fetch over $10k+ IIRC. nope i dont think i'd be an owner anytime soon but for those with trust funds, the G33000 pumps out 300w rms per channel! moar.....moar....MOAR....POWERRRRR! LOL

 

[RexAeterna]

i only heard the sx-950 and the sx-1250. both really great sounding units and damn are they pretty to look at in person. that's one thing i have to give pioneer and marantz credit for is that they make killer looking products with amazing sound. also i'm not surprise you enjoy the headphone out of the marantz more or the same. if you want more power or volume you can simply change the resistor's value or plug the headphones directly to back of the speaker outputs with some soldering and modification and you'll have the benefit from the  full force of the speaker's power amp section. not just perfect for othos and electrostats. i have tested out some low impedance dynamic drivers as well and they respond very well out any speaker taps i plug them into. just be a warning. keep volume level set to 0 everytime you turn the amp on to prevent accidental frying of the drivers lol cause these receivers and amps are, are just ''voltage'' sources so they can deliver very large amounts of voltages which will increase also current flow and can potentially damage any speaker or headphone's voice coils you plug into if you don't know what your doing
Quote:

 
I've seen the better Pioneer vintage receivers going for about the same prices, though, if they are in the kind of condition my Marantz is in.  But if you prefer the sound of the Pioneer, that's of course another matter.  Which Pioneer receivers do you favor?  Maybe I will have to try one out if I can find a nice one, and have a little vintage receiver war.  I'm thinking of selling off some of my dedicated headphone amps to fund it...I have a lot of them, and the Marantz 2275 is already impressing me as easily being in the same league as some of them...
 
I should add: I make no bones about the fact that I like vintage hi-fi for the looks as much as the sound.
 

 

[RexAeterna]

God... there is times i wish i won the lottery and became filty stinking rich....i can only dream i guess.
 
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 sansui G-33000! 

 

[vuntruong]

Quote:

Good luck, REB! 
 
I wish I could sample a bunch of these vintage receivers, just to gain some first hand knowledge about the differences in their sound.  This Marantz drives the 600 ohm Beyer T1's so well, it's really quite surprising to me.  Honestly, it makes it kind of hard to justify some of the stand-alone headphone amps I have heard. 
 
There is a very interesting phenomenon, in that there are better headphones now than ever, but I have found the "built in" headphone outs of some of the modern gear I have (CD players and preamps) to be well below my dedicated headphone amps in terms of performance.  And yet, of the three vintage 70's SS amp/receivers I have tried lately, all three of them sounded no worse than very good in driving modern, sometimes tricky headphones.
 
Although having said that, it was the astonishing headphone performance of the Leben tube integrated that got me thinking about trying vintage integrateds and receivers in the first place...

 
I think that is because most "good" vintage amp headphones jack actually tapped the Speakers outputs ( with a resistors to dampend sounds).  And they have really good power supply, usually over spec, hence the big heatsink.  
 

 

[scottiebabie]

and thats exactly why i've been on a buying tear lately cos every make & model has its own siggy - to my ears via headphones atleast. infact i've own a few Marantz, Sansuis, Technics, Harman Kardons, Akais and i've settled on the 'Sui AU-517 as the best "headamp" i've heard for my cans & tastes that is.
 
however im def not done as yet. besides a must-have real vintage tube amp, im also actively looking for a Yami of the rite model & vintage. psssst...tell u guys a secret...certain Yamis have a switch to turn em into true Class A mode of 10-20w!!! gotta have one of those!
Quote:

I need to compare it directly, but when connected to my Van Alstine DAC as the source, it seems to me to be on par with the Meier Concerto in terms of overall sound quality, but with more power available that with the Meier. 

 
 


Quote:

Good luck, REB! 
 
I wish I could sample a bunch of these vintage receivers, just to gain some first hand knowledge about the differences in their sound.  This Marantz drives the 600 ohm Beyer T1's so well, it's really quite surprising to me.  Honestly, it makes it kind of hard to justify some of the stand-alone headphone amps I have heard. 
 
 

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

and thats exactly why i've been on a buying tear lately cos every make & model has its own siggy - to my ears via headphones atleast. infact i've own a few Marantz, Sansuis, Technics, Harman Kardons, Akais and i've settled on the 'Sui AU-517 as the best "headamp" i've heard for my cans & tastes that is.
 
however im def not done as yet. besides a must-have real vintage tube amp, (snip)
 
 

 

Yeah, I figured that the various brands would have their own sound signature.  I'm going to be on the lookout for a nice Pioneer or Sansui - I like the look of several of those.
 
Give strong consideration to the Fisher X-100 when you are ready for a vintage tube amp - its a real winner.