[T-Willi]

I literally died laughing. Definitely putting this in my sig

 
Quote:

 
 it was a beaut to see, a beast to haul....and gave me herniated visions of audiogasms ahead.
 
 

 
 

 

[rprokop63]

Quote:

 
I envy you rprokop64. I used to own a pair of walnut finished Cornwall II back in the late 80s, early 90s and loved them. I think they are the most balanced sound out of the Heritage series. If I had the space to place a vintage system those would be my speakers of choice with either a Marantz like yours or a Pioneer like Skylab.
 

I do love the vintage Cornwalls but there is no hiding the fact they are really big speakers. ( Fun to move too.) I got them for a good price and replaced the caps in the crossovers for a few more bucks. You mention space. My home office is where I keep my Marantz 2226, cd player and DAC and my Cary Audio Sli 80 tube rig ( not vintage but tubes with point to point build). I've also got the Cornwalls and a pair of nice Focal 807 bookshelf speakers on top of them. Add in the desk and computers, a bass, a couple guitars and the cd collection and I'm now out of space. Believe it or not this all fits neatly in a 11x12 room. When I'm running the Cornwalls it's like the room is a giant headphone. The thing is they sound amazing in this little room and it seems like with all this stuff in here they shouldn't have a right to sound that good. From my listening chair it soundless like the band is in the room and if you close your eyes you get that great sound stage where you can't tell where the speakers are but you sense the instruments or voices in locations where the speakers are not. I'm loving the vintage stuff and the newer stuff and am very thankful that on most days I have one or the other running while I work.
In a way I'm glad I'm tight on space so this thread doesn't send me out hunting for more vintage gear every time someone posts a new photo!
 
 

 

[log0]

Hey rprokop63
I see you are in South Florida like me. Do you know anyone who does a good job restoring these receivers?
 

 

[WarriorAnt]

Sort of a vintage question here.  I figure I'll need an oscilloscope when I start refurbishing vintage receivers but I'm not that familiar with using one yet.  I found a local ad for a Vintage Heathkit 10-105 oscilloscope. $30.   Would this scope have what it takes to do the measurements I need to take while refurbishing?  (plus its vintage!)

 

[log0]

I received my Pioneer SX-1250 today. What a monster. I had no idea how large this thing would be. I thought the Luxman R1120 was big!
 
I was pleased with the physical condition of the receiver, although I am upset with the eBay seller for not telling me the part of the power cable that plugs into the wall is not original. He also did not disclose the receiver sounded scratchy. The left and right channels seem to go from time to time with my brief time with it. Overall I'm a little upset, mainly at the power cord not being original and the seller for his non-full disclosure. I'm going to try and fix the scratchiness with the DeOxit treatment that I gave the Luxman and potentially put it back on the market, we'll see how it does. Unfortunately this thing is too big for me to use as a headphone amp at this time. Living in a small apartment with this thing just doesn't make sense. Oh, and it certainly did not pass the WAF test. She was vehemently upset at this purchase.
 
The Luxman R1120 on the other hand is doing wonderful. Dynamic and smooth music from the speaker tap and headphones. Couldn't be more pleased with it.

 

[BmWr75]

I would not be too upset about the power cord having been replaced.  This is a required fix for many 30+ year old components.

 

[palmfish]

Here is my vintage stuff.
 
Pioneer integrated amp and tuner I got in 1981...
 

 
 
And my Carver Receiver I bought in 1985 (along with the Denon cassette deck)...
 

 
I'm just getting into headphones so I don't have much to add there yet. I recently purchased a pair of Sennheiser HD598's, but I'm not happy with the way they sound with the Carver (bass is overemphasized and bloated).
 
Have any of you vintage gear owners found that new headphones are tough to match with older gear?

 

[ardgedee]

Headphones are as easy to match with amplifiers as speakers are...

 

[rprokop63]

Quote:

Hey rprokop63
I see you are in South Florida like me. Do you know anyone who does a good job restoring these receivers?
 

log0,
There is a guy up in the WPB/Jupiter area that does some work on vintage stuff. I've spoken with him and he seems very honest and does work on vintage gear. You can always contact him and ask if it's an item he works on. He was upfront with me when I spoke with him and he has done work for another person I know as well. He was highly recommended by the small stereo shop I've bought some items from. I'm not sure of forum etiquette on putting the info here so I'll follow up with a PM just in case it's against the rules.
 

 

[palmfish]

Quote:

Headphones are as easy to match with amplifiers as speakers are...

I somewhat agree, but the basic relationship between speaker and amp hasn't changed too much over the past the 3 decades. That isn't the case with headphones.
 
My suspicion is that, 30 years ago, "audiophile headphones" were all pretty much designed to be used with home system amplifiers - amplifiers with big power supplies and large dynamic power reserves. Nobody dreamed back then of using AKG's or Sennheisers with a Sony Walkman.
 
But with the proliferation of portable devices today, I wonder if "audiophile headphones" are now being designed with a consideration towards lower powered devices? And if this is the case, are the specifications such that some new headphones may not perform at their best with vintage amps. Doesn't the number of "audiophile" headphones (Grado, Beyer, Sennheiser, Shure, Denon, etc.) with <50 ohm impedance ratings and cables that terminate in a miniplug bear this out?

 

[T-Willi]

I'm starting to get a hang of this stuff but after the 2nd paragraph you lost me haha

 

[scompton]

Quote:

I'm starting to get a hang of this stuff but after the 2nd paragraph you lost me haha

Vintage audiophile phones were usually had an impedance in the 300 - 600 ohm range and 1/4 inch plugs.  They wouldn't play well with Walkmans. 
 
Although, the Walkman didn't come out until the late 70s and I don't remember seeing them everywhere until the early 80s.  When most of the receivers and integrateds talked about in this thread came out, there really wasn't much in the way of portable audio except transistor radios. 
 
Edit:  I just looked up the history of portable audio.  I didn't realize the first transistor radio came out in 54.

 

[palmfish]

Quote:

Vintage audiophile phones were usually had an impedance in the 300 - 600 ohm range and 1/4 inch plugs.  They wouldn't play well with Walkmans. 
 
Although, the Walkman didn't come out until the late 70s and I don't remember seeing them everywhere until the early 80s.  When most of the receivers and integrateds talked about in this thread came out, there really wasn't much in the way of portable audio except transistor radios. 
 
Edit:  I just looked up the history of portable audio.  I didn't realize the first transistor radio came out in 54.

That's what I wanted to know. My Sennheisers are 50 ohm and I'm thinking about exchanging them for some higher impedance headphones.

 

[WarriorAnt]

 
Quote:

Vintage audiophile phones were usually had an impedance in the 300 - 600 ohm range and 1/4 inch plugs.  They wouldn't play well with Walkmans. 
 
Although, the Walkman didn't come out until the late 70s and I don't remember seeing them everywhere until the early 80s.  When most of the receivers and integrateds talked about in this thread came out, there really wasn't much in the way of portable audio except transistor radios. 
 
Edit:  I just looked up the history of portable audio.  I didn't realize the first transistor radio came out in 54.

I was born just a few years after the transistor age but before the space age. Before man put any object into space. Man I feel ancient and I'm only 54.  When I was a kid in the 60's I remember a time before FM radio.  I had a portable hand transistor radio as a kid and it was my most cherished possession.  Rotary volume and tuning dials on the side with a small speaker. It came with those little plastic ear pieces that was supposed to be some sort of ear bud that was simply ridiculous to use, and the 9 Volt battery was expensive and didn't last that long.  The Beatles sounded great on it. 
 
 

 

[livewire]

Word.