Anyone into Vintage Audio HiFi?

[RocketFoot]

I know we're all into vintage automobiles, but who else is into vintage audio? I picked my first receiver up last July and I have been hooked ever since! Just something about those old electronics that brings back the yesteryears!

If you aren't into audio but have some vintage equipment or even CDs, cassettes or vinyl laying around, post it up here or let me know! I may be interested in purchasing it!

Here is my current rack!

 

[Stanglover]

I still have a Hitachi set, turn table, receiver with double cassette tape/record decks and the amp, but just sitting on a shelf in my office. I bought this back in 1978, still have the receipt. My speakers are long gone and most of my records, but I do still have a few good ones. I do have boxes of cassette tapes, mostly recorded from records or the radio. None of this gets any use these days unfortunately.
Maybe I spend too much time on the Forum!!!!

EDIT: Confession time; The set I have was NOT the earlier 1978 set. I forgot the EX took that and 90% of my records. The Hitachi set was bought in 1984. See new post.

 

[detritusmaximus]

While I don't have have a truly 'vintage' set up, I do have a JVC component system that has been reliable and loud for 32 years. Although, the speakers are 200w wood cabinet Pioneers that date back to late 70s-early 80s.
Boxes of cassettes, cds, and a small vinyl collection.
I did pickup a turntable to convert vinyl to digital, but have yet to hook it up.
I really need to figure that out as some of the vinyl is sort of rare and not likely to be available any other way....not the kind of music most people listen too.

I must say, though, nothing really beats an old wood cabinet, vacuum tube stereo for sound.

 

[Sheriff41]

Looks like a wall of audio components from my apartment back in the '80s!

 

[c9zx]

I still use my JBL 4311 Studio monitors and Technics SL-1300 turntable. The Pioneer SX-1010 receiver died decades ago and was replaced with Dennon components. I do miss the Shure V-15 type III cartridge. I don't use it as much as I used to but, every so often I do crank it up. Chuck

 

[Sheriff41]

I need to get a turntable I can listent to my old albums on. I played most them only once, recorded them to cassette tape, and stored the albums away. I do miss hearing the hiss and pop now though back in the day we did everything we could to minimize it!

 

[MAD IRISHMAN]

30 years ago I purchased this Technics Audio System with cabinet from a store called Swallen's. Swallen's is long gone but my equipment is still in tip-top shape! It allows me to play my vinyl LP records, my cassette tapes, and my CDs. I had always wanted one of these but the race car parts buys seem to regularly negate the idea. But then I got awarded the "Salesman of the Year" at my place of employment. The award included a hefty sum of gift certificates from Swallen's. So I finally had the funds to buy this equipment. It's a nice reminder of my award oh so long ago.

 

[MAD IRISHMAN]

I need to get a turntable I can listent to my old albums on. I played most them only once, recorded them to cassette tape, and stored the albums away. I do miss hearing the hiss and pop now though back in the day we did everything we could to minimize it!

You can still purchase them new I believe.

 

[detritusmaximus]

I need to get a turntable I can listent to my old albums on. I played most them only once, recorded them to cassette tape, and stored the albums away. I do miss hearing the hiss and pop now though back in the day we did everything we could to minimize it!

The sound of hiss and pop was the car I played my cassettes in!

 

[detritusmaximus]

You can still purchase them new I believe.

Sooo much of that stuff is on Craigslist now. Good quality for low bucks. Except for the collectable items.

 

[tpj71mach]

I have always loved Yamaha equipment. I still have my solid wood base, gold plated terminals, direct drive turn table that I bought used from the manager of my stereo shop, back in the early eighties. I have seen people list my model turn table on ebay for 4-5 thousand, but I will never sell it so that doesn't really matter to me. I did upgrade the receiver to a newer Yamaha amplifier and tuner in the early nineties to gain a remote control, but kept the original wood cased Yamaha receiver. My wife from time to time likes to complain to her friends about my 200 albums taking up space (actually, there are over 450 but don't tell her) but I have been collecting albums since I got my first album (Beatles White Album) as a 9th birthday gift from my cool older cousin. Back in the late nineties, I sold a set of KLH electro-static loud speakers to a guy that offered way more than I thought they were worth. I wish I never sold them, they were incredible for separation and imagery. It's not just cars that we wish in hindsight that we never sold, LOL.

 

[clevelandcoupe]

My dad was a stereo nut back in the 70's & 80's. He had a McIntosh amp and tuner with JBL 88 speakers which were replace by Bose direct reflect hanging speakers around 1980. He had the McIntosh equipment until he replaced it in the early 90's. I remember going up to Binghamton, NY to the factory to get parts for the Mac...
He probably gave them away eventually.

 

[detritusmaximus]

Billy Thorpe's Children of the Sun on good 70s headphones....

 

[Mister 4x4]

Wow. I thought I was the only one keeping the old stuff around - OK, so mine's maybe not as old as some.

I bought my monster system back in 1989 from the Air Force BX/PX in Izmir, Turkey. It consists of:

• Pioneer VSX-7500 main amp w/Dolby Pro-Logic
• Pioneer PD-T505 two-tray CD player
• Kenwood KX-W8060 dual cassette deck
• JVC SEA-70 12-band graphic EQ
• Yamaha M-35 4-channel amp
• Infinity SM-150 speakers
• Infinity SM-82 speakers
• Pioneer S-X7 surround speakers

When I returned from overseas, I built a non-powered subwoofer with a pair of Kicker Comp 10s and ran it off the Yamaha amp in 2-channel 'bridged' mode along with an Optimus center channel speaker for Dolby Pro-Logic 6.2 surround before all that home theater craze really took hold.

A buddy of mine retired from the Air Force, moved back east, and basically gave me his very similar set-up (minus speakers), so I have a 'spare' of each of the main components.

A few years ago I bought a high-end Onkyo 7.1 Home Theater system, thinking it would be more awesome than my old monster system (because, "Onkyo") and modernize my HT stuff (with HDMI, BT, USB, Wi-Fi, etc.), and I have to say that I'm less than impressed. The volume on my Pioneer VSX-7500 goes to '30,' and it'll shake the concrete floor ear-splitting loud on '13.' The Onkyo goes to 100, and it's just a bit louder than 'normal' at '70.' The opening of Top Gun on my old system would make you feel the after-burners in your chest, whereas the same through the Onkyo is just a bit above 'Meh,' and the powered sub used to clip like a big dog. I said 'used to,' because after about the 30th time of turning the system on, it popped, made the house smell like burnt tuna fish, and just buzzes now - I haven't even messed with it, but it obviously smoked a capacitor on the amp's controller board.

The vintage love doesn't stop there. I still have a 1995-ish JVC AM/FM/Cassette deck in my Jeep CJ7, along with a GLC 400W 4-channel amp, Optimus 6-channel crossover, Optimus 100W 2-channel amp, 2 Kicker Comp 10s in a custom box, 2 Jensen 4" 2-way speakers in the dash, and the original Sparkomatic 9000 Series speakers that came with the Jeep. All of those things might sound like a collection of vintage crap, but the system cranks, sounds awesome, and I can't seem to kill it off. I just recently bought a new JVC AM/FM/BT/USB head unit to replace it (so I don't have to have a bunch of cassettes with me when driving it), but it will definitely have a place of honor among the other vintage electronic goodness I'm never getting rid of (despite my wife's best efforts).

 

[RocketFoot]

Yes! I think the older units are better too! I have an older Yamaha AVR in my home theater and it slams! I tried to modernize with a newer Denon AVR and it was nice but not nearly as powerful as the Yamaha even though the output was supposed to be rated higher! Well, it's now in the living room system and the Yamaha is back in the theater where it belongs! I have a 5.2 Klipsch setup with two 12" subs in the theater and man is it awesome! Better than going to the movies by far! Now if I could just find any good new movies to watch, LOL!

My Mach 1 has an old Jensen cassette deck in it! I don't think I have ever turned it on though! I love listening to the V8 sing its song instead!

 

[73CobraJet]

Dude! That receiver looks exactly like the one I have that unfortunately the speaker outputs quit and no here know how to fix it. Ugh! The quality was awesome.

 

[70cobrascj]

Billy Thorpe's Children of the Sun on good 70s headphones....

Joel Byrd and the field hippies, You can never come down.

 

[detritusmaximus]

Joel Byrd and the field hippies, You can never come down.

Not familiar.....have to look ot up.

 

[Paul M]

I know we're all into vintage automobiles, but who else is into vintage audio? I picked my first receiver up last July and I have been hooked ever since! Just something about those old electronics that brings back the yesteryears!

If you aren't into audio but have some vintage equipment or even CDs, cassettes or vinyl laying around, post it up here or let me know! I may be interested in purchasing it!

Here is my current rack!
View attachment 75014
View attachment 75015

 

[Paul M]

Here's my house unit. It's @ 30 years old. I keep intending to set the turntable back up, however, will probably put it in the building. What you need to add to your set up is a surround system. I have Bose to accompany these 100lb. Cerwin Vegas on the other side of the room. My shop system is 15" pa speakers ran by an old Yamaha amp w/ Sansui and Yamaha components.