[Skylab]

I guess the 890 is a black-dial SX-880. In that case, the $500 they are asking for it seems a bit steep. They do provide a detailed list of what was done to it, and they did do quite a bit of work, but not a complete recap.

SX-880's seem to run $200-250 in good condition these days, although you can get them cheaper.

Just food for thought.

 

[WiR3D]

Quote:

I guess the 890 is a black-dial SX-880. In that case, the $500 they are asking for it seems a bit steep. They do provide a detailed list of what was done to it, and they did do quite a bit of work, but not a complete recap.
SX-880's seem to run $200-250 in good condition these days, although you can get them cheaper.
Just food for thought.

Thank you for that.  
I'm out till I do more digging of my own. Gonna lurk for more pretty pictures ha.

 

[MohawkUS]

Well this is a bit awkward. My neighbor right across the street lost his water last week(we use wells here) and we helped them out. Apparently my dad and him were talking and it came out that I've been messing with vintage receivers and such. He has 2 old Pioneers sitting around that haven't seen use in years. One was practically new and the other had been struck by lightning and died a few weeks later. When I got a chance to talk to him he didn't know the model of either so I was assuming it would be something like my dad's SX-6 as in 80s gear. We didn't really get to into it, him being without water and my dad having some experience with well maintenance(family business, but my dad was never really involved)

Turns out I'm now the new owner of a Pioneer SX-780, which is awkward because I ordered a new receiver(Sherwood S-7800) a few days ago. Man these things really do start taking over your house. You say you'll only have one but they're already starting to stack up. I'll find out tomorrow if it's the unused backup amp or the dead one, but It doesn't sound like the one that was struck by lightning took too much damage. It's most likely just a blown fuse. He said it made popping noises for a bit and now it won't turn on at all.

Assuming I've got the working one I'll do some comparisons when the new Sherwood shows up, A US amp, a Japanese amp, and a US amp made in Japan. Or if you want to go by years, late 60s, early 70s, and mid 70s. Almost makes me wish I had some speakers to try em out with. Won't be a fair comparison with my old Sherwood failing, and the uncertain condition of the Pioneer but I'll mostly be comparing them for the fun of it, no clue what I'll be doing with the Pioneer at this stage.

 

[dogwan]

Jumping back a couple pages....not sure who to quote re: using electrostatics w/ energizers, but I'll weigh in.
 
I'm running a recently acquired pair of Koss ESP/9's with the E9 energizer. Coming off my re-capped Hitachi IA-1000 they sound very good.
 
Still have some modding to do the cans, but have already cleaned out the old foam and restored the driver boards in the cups.

 

[calipilot227]

Listening to my Sennheiser HD580s out of the Pioneer SA-6500's headphone jack...wow. 

 It really blows my Little Dot MKIII out of the water. I'm seriously considering selling it.
 
The sad thing is the Little Dot set me back $260. The Pioneer integrated cost me $35. 

 I wish I'd known about vintage receivers earlier, haha

 

[wualta]

There's no substitute for cubic inches, whether it's torque for car engines or "headroom" power for headphones, even if on paper it looks like sheer overkill. Somehow it comes in handy.

 

[Skylab]

There's no substitute for cubic inches, whether it's torque for car engines or "headroom" power for headphones, even if on paper it looks like sheer overkill. Somehow it comes in handy.

Truer words were never spoken.

 

[xLeira]

Hey, Ive stumbled upon these Marantz MR215 which I found in my father's closet. Are these good? Im still on a learning mode and I still dont have enough knowledge to understand the specs. Im currently using this as my headphone amp and it is pretty good, it powered my headphones up nicely. Someone from my country wants to trade these to a Pioneer VSX D510-S.
 
Here is the specs for the vintage Marantz MR215:
http://www.vintage-audio.com.ua/en/cat/334/1597.html?begin=11
 
The Pioneer VSX D510-S:
http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/5369766/Pioneer+VSX+D510+Audio
 
I just want to hear your opinions on these, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. 

 

[WiR3D]

Crap I'm falling in love with vintage gear.... the only problem being I'm pretty much spending $200 on shipping If I do buy anything from the US, and then I need a transformer

 

[MrQ]

Quote:

Crap I'm falling in love with vintage gear.... the only problem being I'm pretty much spending $200 on shipping If I do buy anything from the US, and then I need a transformer

 
Depends. My SX-1980 runs straight from a switchable socket. I would recommend buying 1000va step down transformers. Just because you can run two amps at the same time from the same transformer. SA runs at 220/230 I believe?

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Crap I'm falling in love with vintage gear.... 

Not ignoring the frustration of the shipping obstacle and the mains-voltage obstacle, but this phrase suggested to my diseased mind the lyrics to a [failed] Broadway musical about audiophile addiction. "Craaaaaaap!.... I'm faaaal-ling in love with vinnnn-tage geeeeeear.. Oh nooooo....Not a-gaaaaainnnnn.."
 
Sorry. As you were.

 

[Skylab]

Also, if you look around, you will see vintage gear being sold in the US that has line voltage switching capabilities and will run at all common voltages.  Example:  http://www.classicaudio.com/forsale/pio/SX9930.html

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Crap I'm falling in love with vintage gear.... the only problem being I'm pretty much spending $200 on shipping If I do buy anything from the US, and then I need a transformer

 
We live in the wrong hemisphere for audio, but I would have thought that the UK would be a better source for South Africans ? Not sure about Europe - anyone ?
 
(I get a little warm under the collar when someone bitches that there are no 'hi-fi stores' in their corner of Pennsylvania, having personally endured over 7 hours on a plane to check out audio in Singapore. Dont even get me started on how blindingly fast delivery is for CONUS customers over the rest of us .....)

 

[nick n]

Quote:

Hey, Ive stumbled upon these Marantz MR215 which I found in my father's closet. Are these good? Im still on a learning mode and I still dont have enough knowledge to understand the specs. Im currently using this as my headphone amp and it is pretty good, it powered my headphones up nicely. Someone from my country wants to trade these to a Pioneer VSX D510-S.
 
Here is the specs for the vintage Marantz MR215:
http://www.vintage-audio.com.ua/en/cat/334/1597.html?begin=11
 
The Pioneer VSX D510-S:
http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/5369766/Pioneer+VSX+D510+Audio
 
I just want to hear your opinions on these, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. 

if it were me I'd keep the Marantz, if not simply for the classiness of it. Where will you ever find another Marantz like that again? The other thing looks like a K-mart VCR and has no tactile dials, looks like plastic, too many options and little digital junk. The internal components are important too. Good luck fixing that one.   But that's just my opinion. Maybe it's good. It does have more power, but the sound and will it last as long as the Marantz ( it sure won't retain it's value the same ) who knows.

 

[xLeira]

Quote:

if it were me I'd keep the Marantz, if not simply for the classiness of it. Where will you ever find another Marantz like that again? The other thing looks like a K-mart VCR and has no tactile dials, looks like plastic, too many options and little digital junk. The internal components are important too. Good luck fixing that one.   But that's just my opinion. Maybe it's good. It does have more power, but the sound and will it last as long as the Marantz ( it sure won't retain it's value the same ) who knows.

 
Yeah I think I'll keep the Marantz. I don't really have problems with it and is actually performing surprisingly good. I guess I just needed someone to punch my face and tell me to keep the vintage Marantz. I thank you for that.