[jazzerdave]

Quote:

do you guys have any recommendations on what I should be looking for ? 

 
Marantz 22##, many Pioneers, some of the older Sony's, and Sansui 7###, 8###, or 9### (the higher numbers increased with the quality of the product).  I would personally recommend avoiding anything that looks remotely like the current production receivers (all black, plastic and thin sheet metal constructions, any digital readout, etc.).  It's not that they can't be very good (case in point: MattTCG's Denon), but rather that for many of the models, the build quality and sound is much more hit and miss (IMHO).  Over at my parents' house, my dad has 2 Marantz, 2 Pioneers, 3 Sansuis, and 1 Sony receiver.  They all sound pretty good (even the 2### Sansui).  They're also all from the 1970's.  I'll also add that he's got a wide selection of vintage preamps and integrated amps, most of which also have a headphone stage, so I wouldn't limit the search to just receivers (though the receivers are certainly more common).

 

[mikenike]

Quote:

Sansui and Yamaha are also favorites.

Generally, older receivers (70's) use resistor drops, with many newer receivers using dedicated circuits. As an example, I have a Yamaha 15wpc late 70's receiver that uses resistors and there's plenty of power from HP out to drive HD650 or even power hungry orthos like the HE-5LE. On the other hand, I had an early 2000's NAD (90wpc) that used a dedicated circuit that never gave me decent SQ from the HP jack. Service manuals will often show schematics to tell you what approach was used on the HP jack.
 

 
I've tried the HD650 with a late 90's Yamaha (not quite so old as many of the vintage mentioned here), but found that it drove the set quite well, compared to a newer Yamaha model. I'd just started new with the HD650 then, and I remember being amazed by how much bass the old receiver added, without even distorting (unlike artificially adding in Foobar or iTunes). Even on the Lyr, I could not get that much bass without going too high on the overall volume (granted, I don't have many tubes, but I'm guessing rolling wouldn't drastically increase low frequencies amplitude). Higher end was of course compromised. But it was sooooooooooo fun to listen. All this talk of vintage receivers got me planning to go to the pawn shops soon. =D
 
It's kinda cool how there's new life for old equipment that many would otherwise throw out. 

 

[Fearless1]

I own this reciever http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lafayette-LA-5555-Rebadged-Luxman-Setton-Stereo-MC-MM-Phono-Pre-Amp-Receiver-/110825169072?pt=Receivers_Tuners&hash=item19cdb1e0b0(mine is in much better shape), picked it up for 30 bucks at a swap meet.. This one looks a bit ragged, but it absolutely sounds fantastic with the HD650. More power then my Lyr and can be adjusted to emulate the "tube" sound with a bit of tweeking to the bass and midrange adjustments on it. I like the Headphone out on it better then my Marnatz 2385.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

 
I've tried the HD650 with a late 90's Yamaha (not quite so old as many of the vintage mentioned here), but found that it drove the set quite well, compared to a newer Yamaha model. I'd just started new with the HD650 then, and I remember being amazed by how much bass the old receiver added, without even distorting (unlike artificially adding in Foobar or iTunes). Even on the Lyr, I could not get that much bass without going too high on the overall volume (granted, I don't have many tubes, but I'm guessing rolling wouldn't drastically increase low frequencies amplitude). Higher end was of course compromised. But it was sooooooooooo fun to listen. All this talk of vintage receivers got me planning to go to the pawn shops soon. =D
 
It's kinda cool how there's new life for old equipment that many would otherwise throw out. 

 
I can say the say thing about the early 90's Denon that I have. The hd650 has never had this kind of bass before. Also, with the old receiver there seems to be more dynamics at lower listening levels. This works out well for me as I prefer to listen at soft to medium levels. I never have to "crank it to get enjoyable bass. It's always there now even at soft levels. 

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

 
I can say the say thing about the early 90's Denon that I have. The hd650 has never had this kind of bass before. Also, with the old receiver there seems to be more dynamics at lower listening levels. This works out well for me as I prefer to listen at soft to medium levels. I never have to "crank it to get enjoyable bass. It's always there now even at soft levels. 

 
Crack... 

 

[Ohnoitztotoro]

Wow a lot of talk about old vintage amp receivers. I've been looking at some of the equipment everyone has been mentioning but I'm afraid I'm incredibly new. The equipment looks very affordable especially compared to current desktop amps. Is there a particular way this equipment needs to be hooked up to drive your headphones without making anything explode? I heard somethings about speaker taps and I'm not very sure what needs to be done differently compared to your conventional desktop amp to run my headphones. If it is easy enough I think I'd rather save some good money to get these running. 

 

[jazzerdave]

Quote:

Wow a lot of talk about old vintage amp receivers. I've been looking at some of the equipment everyone has been mentioning but I'm afraid I'm incredibly new. The equipment looks very affordable especially compared to current desktop amps. Is there a particular way this equipment needs to be hooked up to drive your headphones without making anything explode? I heard somethings about speaker taps and I'm not very sure what needs to be done differently compared to your conventional desktop amp to run my headphones. If it is easy enough I think I'd rather save some good money to get these running.

 
Essentially, unless you're trying to drive the Hifiman HE-6, you should probably forget all about the speaker taps (expect to drive actual speakers).  Just use the headphone output that looks just like the one on your desktop amp.

 

[caracara08]

Quote:

Wow a lot of talk about old vintage amp receivers. I've been looking at some of the equipment everyone has been mentioning but I'm afraid I'm incredibly new. The equipment looks very affordable especially compared to current desktop amps. Is there a particular way this equipment needs to be hooked up to drive your headphones without making anything explode? I heard somethings about speaker taps and I'm not very sure what needs to be done differently compared to your conventional desktop amp to run my headphones. If it is easy enough I think I'd rather save some good money to get these running. 

unless you know how to clean using deoxit and service electronics, look for ones that have been serviced already. save you some headache.  These receivers are 30-50 years old and will have issues.

 

[Ohnoitztotoro]

Quote:

 
Essentially, unless you're trying to drive the Hifiman HE-6, you should probably forget all about the speaker taps (expect to drive actual speakers).  Just use the headphone output that looks just like the one on your desktop amp.

That is great to hear haha. I have an HD650 and HE-400 so I'm pretty sure everything should be alright then. Thanks a lot for the clarification. 
 
Quote:

unless you know how to clean using deoxit and service electronics, look for ones that have been serviced already. save you some headache.  These receivers are 30-50 years old and will have issues.

Yeah I know of some service shops relatively close by but naturally I'll be searching for ones that have already been serviced and have as few issues as possible. It is just good to know that these can work if it is properly serviced. It will definitely save me quite a bit of money off on amps such as the Lyr if I can find some good ones. 

 

[calipilot227]

DeOxit is easy. Recapping, not so much.

 

[Ohnoitztotoro]

This might be a silly question, but do all vintage receiver amps have a headphone outputs? I am assuming so but  just want to make sure. Some of the pictures I look at make it a bit hard to see and it isn't noted in the item description since I think these are more for home theaters. 

 

[mikenike]

Quote:

 
I can say the say thing about the early 90's Denon that I have. The hd650 has never had this kind of bass before. Also, with the old receiver there seems to be more dynamics at lower listening levels. This works out well for me as I prefer to listen at soft to medium levels. I never have to "crank it to get enjoyable bass. It's always there now even at soft levels. 

 
Agreed about the dynamics! Makes for some good late night listening without having to go crazy. I do regret giving the Yamaha receiver to a relative. =/
 
I see you're gonna be bringing the Denon to the ATL meet. Looking forward to hearing your setup. 

 (I'll be bringing the Lyr and Bifrost, as that's basically my setup.)
 
Quote:

 
Crack... 

 
I'm hoping the Crack shows up in ATL. I'm really curious how it pairs with the HD650 (after reading so much about this pairing).

 

[MattTCG]

+1...hoping for some Crack!! 

 

[preproman]

Quote:

+1...hoping for some Crack!! 

 
 
 

 

[RedBull]

I am wondering what headphone amp used back then for those vintage receivers, opamp? discreet?