[Skylab]

Never heard of those, but given your current stable of speakers, can't see how you could find a vintage speaker that was much better

 

[MrQ]

Quote:

Hey guys,
I've been offered a set of Kevek ES-10's and I can hardly find anything on them. Does anyone know how they sound or have them? Can you compare what they sound like to what I have? Also, what range should I expect to pay for them? I'm running a SX-1980 with HPM 150's, Sansui SP-5500x, and JBL L100's.

 
Tell me, between the HPM 150's, Sansui SP-5500x, and JBL L100's, which are the best match with the SX1980? I have an SX-1980 with HPM100's, but those Sansui's look sweet

 

[PhoenixG]

I hate to say it, but the Sansui SP 5500x speakers probably edge out the HPM150's by the tiniest margin, but at 1/20th the cost - maybe that is just my wallet breaking the tie. The HPM's and the Sansui's both have incredible clarity all the way up and 15 inch woofers that allow fantastic resolution all the way down into the bass range. The HPM's have a slight advantage in the extreme high range due to a higher roll off frequency, i.e. better resolution with the timbre of sounds above, say, 15kHz. The main problem with Sansui speakers is the range of product they made. They obviously managed to produce some extreme quality pieces, but they also produced a lot of garbage sounding things with very similar item numbers (5-way 6x midrange anyone? sounds like being across the house when you're in the same room)
I hate to say it again, but the JBL l100's don't have nearly the same clarity/fidelity. They have a distinct signature, are still great and pleasant for most music, and the bass is seriously damn near as good, but they distort just slightly more. 

 

[Skylab]

I've changed the speakers in my vintage rig. The HPM-100's are gone, as much as I liked them, and they have been replaced by the MUCH better (but still vintage!) Pioneer DSS-9's

 

[Silent One]

Sweet Home Chicago! 

 

[calipilot227]

Skylab: Did you have that wood case custom-built for your RT707? Looks beautiful! 

 
 
(and on a side note, it feels as if the repair of my Teac A4070 is taking an eternity! 

)

 

[Skylab]

Thanks! Yes, I did have that case custom built. It's solid walnut!

That's a bummer about your TEAC but I bet it will be great when it's done

 

[funkthumb]

Quote:

I've changed the speakers in my vintage rig. The HPM-100's are gone, as much as I liked them, and they have been replaced by the MUCH better (but still vintage!) Pioneer DSS-9's

 
 
Drool,
           ,
            ,
             

 

[ValeTudoGuy]

God I love silver fascias in wooden boxes! It just oozes class.... I'm truly jealous... It's all in such good/clean condition too, this also reminds me that I have been meaning to get a reel to reel for years. I'm just going to have to take the plunge I reckon.

Any chance you could give a rundown of the equipment?

 

[Skylab]

Thanks, and sure! It's almost all Pioneer - the only exception is the EQ.

PL-570 Turntable
RT-707 Reel deck
Sansui SE-8X EQ
CT-F1000 Cassette deck

SX-1980 Receiver
SD-1100 Oscilloscope
SR-303 Reverberation Amplifier
RG-2 Dynamic Range Expander

The last three are not in the signal path, they are just for the light show

And then the aforementioned DSS-9 Speakers.

I can't recommend highly enough having a reel to reel deck. They are really, really fun, and tape can sound absolutely phenomenal.

 

[ValeTudoGuy]

That CT-F1000 reminds me quite a bit of the Phase Linear 7000 from Risky Business. I love the open mech, it has massive cool factor to me.

I love the fact that you have equipment there just for the visual factor! Lol
To my shame I have never heard Reel to Reel but I have been told by a few people that they can sound as you say phenomenal. I have seen some Akai units going for pocket change prices and I have a specialist R2R repair shop within 20 miles of my house, so I don't really have any excuse to at least try one out.

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

I can't recommend highly enough having a reel to reel deck. They are really, really fun, and tape can sound absolutely phenomenal.

 
I can't swim......... without $$$ strapped 

 to a Life-vest. But, I am looking to stick my BIG toe in the R2R pool 

and see what I think.

 

[Skylab]

I encourage both of you to do so!!! It's really great. And if you happen to like classical music, you can buy some of the greatest recordings ever made for very little money on 7.5 ips reel on eBay that will absolutely blow your socks off. Rock and Jazz tend to be a little pricier, but still sometimes some great stuff there for not terribly much money.

 

[Silent One]

There's some pre-recorded Jazz @ 7.5 ips? Hmmm, looks like I'll have to get in the pool! 

 

[Skylab]

Oh yeah. There is LOTS of pre-recorded jazz at 7.5 ips. We are talking here of original factory tapes from the late 50's through the early 70's. This was an awesome period for jazz IMHO, and there are some great titles. Some can be a bit pricey, especially the super popular ones. Expect to pay between $100-200 for something like Brubeck's Time Out or Davis's Kind of Blue.

On the other hand, I'm listening right now to a killer early 60's Stan Getz on Verve that I got for $13.