[log0]

Quote:

I am thinking of getting an HE-6 and maybe a marantz 2325 to power it, what do you guys think of the combo? or should I stick with maybe a 22XX marantz? 

Skylab mentions he prefers the Marantz 2275 with his HE-6. I've heard the 2270 with LCD-2s and thought it sounded great. I'm sure you'll get fine sound either way.
 

 

[sesshin]

Picked up the SX-1250 last night. Quick first impressions compared to the KR-9600 with the LCD-2s: The Pioneer is definitely brighter. Airier, which gives slightly more separation between instruments. The Kenwood seems to be a bit warmer and enveloping, especially in the mid-bass to bass region. Both are about the same level of detail.
 
I find I need to tone down the treble a bit on the Pioneer but truthfully I would rather have to tone some part of the sound down than artificially boost something that's lacking, so not much of a complaint really.

 

[Skylab]

I use the Pioneer's tone controls on some recording to take the treble down a notch.  The tone controls are exceptionally well implemented and you can take off just a little using either the 10 kHz or the 20 kHz control.

 

[Kabat]

I decided that my gear deserved a proper stand, so I whipped one up out of some Southern Cross Pine. All joinery done by hand with mallet and chisel -- a nice exercise that turned out looking decent enough to be seen by others in daylight. Oh, and it's sturdy!

 

 
I've got a pair of HD600s coming in to replace the 555s, can't wait to hear how they sound with my Sansui.

 

[Meewoo]

Quote:

I decided that my gear deserved a proper stand, so I whipped one up out of some Southern Cross Pine. All joinery done by hand with mallet and chisel -- a nice exercise that turned out looking decent enough to be seen by others in daylight. Oh, and it's sturdy!

 
I've got a pair of HD600s coming in to replace the 555s, can't wait to hear how they sound with my Sansui.

Nice wood work!! And I like your clean set up too!!
 
I just wonder that you may build a new stack soon when vintage bug bites you. You will want big Pionny, Sui...like many members here. Your current stack won't fit those big monsters. BTW, is your Sansui from 80's??
 
 

 

[Kabat]

Thanks! It's hard to tell in the picture but the stack is actually pretty big and will comfortably hold anything under 25 inches wide. I tried it with my friend's Kenwood KR-4070 (not as big as the really big dogs but bigger than what I own) and it held it no problem. Someday I'm going to get myself a proper setup with some really nice speakers and on that day I'll build myself an even bigger rack -- and in some nicer wood too, maybe red oak or mahogany.
 
The Sansui is an AU-2200 from about 1975. It's a little baby at 10wpc but it's got more than enough juice for headphones and a really nice tone!

 

[sesshin]

Here is a photo of the SX-1250 and the KR0-9600 together as I was comparing them. Source: Macbook Pro, Fidelia, 24/96 FLACs, Audio-gd DI & NFB-2

 
One thing nice about the SX-1250 is that the woodgrain is virtually the same shade as the LCD-2s, which are the same shade as my JBL L36s. I'm diggin it!

 

[Meewoo]

Quote:

Here is a photo of the SX-1250 and the KR0-9600 together as I was comparing them. Source: Macbook Pro, Fidelia, 24/96 FLACs, Audio-gd DI & NFB-2

 
One thing nice about the SX-1250 is that the woodgrain is virtually the same shade as the LCD-2s, which are the same shade as my JBL L36s. I'm diggin it!

Looks sharp!! Nice pictures!!

Please share your impression with us!

 

[Skylab]

Beautiful units, Sesshin!

 

[WarriorAnt]

This is my favorite thread. I find myself having to come back to it through the course of a day just to admire how beautiful the units are.

 

[log0]

Some great pictures in this thread. Love the look of the Kenwood. So, what did your comparison find?

 

[moodyrn]

Quote:

Picked up the SX-1250 last night. Quick first impressions compared to the KR-9600 with the LCD-2s: The Pioneer is definitely brighter. Airier, which gives slightly more separation between instruments. The Kenwood seems to be a bit warmer and enveloping, especially in the mid-bass to bass region. Both are about the same level of detail.
 
I find I need to tone down the treble a bit on the Pioneer but truthfully I would rather have to tone some part of the sound down than artificially boost something that's lacking, so not much of a complaint really.

Your impressions pretty much mirrors mine although I do have the sx1010 and not the sx1250. It funny that I also find that my pioneer and kenwood to have the same level of detail even though the pioneer is brighter. I wouldn't call it a bright receiver. I think it's really neutral, but the kenwood is warmer and a tad on the lush side. Technically they are on the same level. Just different flavors. I would call it neutral vs musical(though some would say neutral is musical).
 


Quote:

I use the Pioneer's tone controls on some recording to take the treble down a notch.  The tone controls are exceptionally well implemented and you can take off just a little using either the 10 kHz or the 20 kHz control.

For that reason I much prefer the pioneer tone controls over the kenwood. The pioneer just gives you more control. With my he-6 I can dial in the low bass at 50hz without messing with the mids. On the kenwood if I dial in a little bass, the mids are slightly impacted since the kenwood don't give me the choice of what frequency to boost. It does have good tone controls, just not on par with the ones on the pioneer.

 

[Wharfrat]

Yowza!  Wish I had never knew a dude named Skylab!  It is his freaking fault!  Now I am arse over teakettle into vintage receivers....all on account of him commenting on the "AMAZING" headphone output from a Pioneer SX-1250...
 
But I got to thank him for saving me from being haunted by Jason Schiit's Lyr-monster! 
 
On account of having two hard to drive phones (HE-5 and Smeggy's Thunderpants), I was in dire need of alot more oomph to give notes more body and texture, which became clear after hearing how wonderful a pair of HE-6s sounded on a Lyr whilst at a local meet.  But I could not justify to my piggy bank handler the need to buy another dedicated headphone amplifier just to drive two measly cans when I already have two pretty decently powered amps (Opera Consonance Cyber-20 and a EF-5) for the rest of my headphone collection. 
 
But because I wanted to power two separate speaker pairs in tandem or separately (Dahlquist M909 and/or Dunlavy SC-IV) using a choice one of two CD outputs (transistor or tube, separately powered via dual-mono transformers) from my Cayin SCD-50, the Pioneer SX-1250 and higher units had enough wattage to power the Dunlavys under that setup scenario.  I was able to persuade the missus to dump enough pennies into my pocket to go on a hunt for a Pioneer SX-1250 because I could then sell the Adcom GFA-555 200 watt amp that had powered the Duns up to that time and call it a wash.  Technically speaking, the piggy would get the pennies back. A fat piggy is a happy piggy, a truth that bankers all over the world could agree.
 
On ebay, a pristine SX-1250 came up and with 2 mins to go I was the top bidder at $450...thot I had it in me pocketses (Gollum-ly speaking).  In that 2 minute span, the unit blinked out at $925...nary enough pennies, natch.  Now...I got mad (both psychologically and emotionally) and went on a Craigslist hunt...turns out a VG condition unit was available about 120 miles away....I ended up driving to the Oregon coast to pick it up for $480...and it was a beaut to see, a beast to haul....and gave me herniated visions of audiogasms ahead.
 
And did I embarass myself....yeah....first, the Duns needed more power to get to the same volume level as the Dahls so using a single volume control knob on the SX-1250 did not enable that to happen, which ruled out playing the two pairs together....(yeah yeah, I know how loud the Duns are, but I have a huge listening room and too many Dead shows).  But being the bird in the hand and not in the bush, the SX-1250 was ushered into duty to goose alive those orthodynamic bruthas.
 
And my heart sunk.  I fell in LOVE with the Pioneer's ability to drive the HE-5...and I had to now justify keeping it, which brought me additional agony from the banker.
 
Da&^%#@?>* you, Skylab!  Thanks for pointing me in such heavenly (and hellish) direction!   I have to agree that vintage receivers and integrateds truly deserve respect and attention from serious head-fiers...I know I am going to be looking into a few of the models being touted in this thread!
 
Now I got to figure what to sell....probably going to put up the HE-5 and TPs so I can get either a HE-6 or HE-500......
 
 
Listening now to 11-19-72/Hofheinz Pavillion, "Tomorrow is Forever"..... lovely, lovely....

 

[Skylab]

Hahaha yes, vintage audio can be mighty addicting, WharfRat. But it sure is fun! And considering the price of a lot of headphone amps these days, what you paid for the SX-1250, given all it does, is a bargain. If you have a turntable, buy yourself the new Blues For Allah LP re-issue and spin that throughout the 1250. It has a very nice phono section. And if you love near a good radio station, don't forget about the 1250's awesome tuner!

 

[rprokop63]

Thanks for the replies to both you and log0. I've run the same route looking for something to rack my stuff. I've got the day off so it may be a trip to Goodwill and see if I get lucky with something I can re-purpose as a rack.