Hifi golden era

[MajorFubar]

Waltham...Now there's a name I'd forgotten.

Probably for the best...  ;-)

Made great digital clock radios though. Used the same one at the side of my bed for nearly 40 years until I retired it in 2015 for something with an iOS dock. Which broke last week, at not even two years old.

 

[lindsayt]

Insider9, if you can buy a fully working amplifier that cost over a million yen new and weighs over 20kgs for £500 or less then buy it without hesitation.

I like this site for info on retail prices when new and weight: http://www.audio-heritage.jp/

Doesn't matter that it's in Japanese.

This site is also a good read for 1970's to 1980's amps: http://www.thevintageknob.org/

There's this site which says that the golden age for solid state amplifers was 1967 to 1972.

http://select45rpm.com/pages/hifi/deciding-top-amps.html

It's a very valid point of view and is backed up by a lot of experience and well-reasoned arguments.

 

[Pedro2]

holds some nostalia for me. In particular, I remember owning a Thorens TD160 with SME arm and Sure cartridge. The amp was a JVC followed by the legendary NAD 3020. Speakers were a pair of RAM 200s, I think but not too sure about the model.

Most of this kit came via a mate who dropped out of uni and went to work at the first Superfi store in Nottingham. I also remember visiting the shop and hearing a pair of IMF transmission line monsters which sounded amazing on some tracks and equally awful with others.

Neil (forgotten his surname) had a flat in Nottingham. He owned a pair of Rogers speakers which sounded very uncoloured and honest (unlike the IMFs or the RAMs). Seem to remember him going to work for Celestion before I lost touch. They were great times and music played a BIG part in my life as well as that of my friends. Recall spending hours sitting in small student rooms listening to great music from various hi-fi kit (usually speakers that were far too big for the space). Music included Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Neil Young, Bob Marley and Joni Mitchell but there was lots more, many of it obscure (and now forgotten).

Magical times and the Hi Fi sounded great. Mind you, I was young, the future appeared bright and my ears worked properly!

 

[tonky]

holds some nostalia for me. In particular, I remember owning a Thorens TD160 with SME arm and Sure cartridge. The amp was a JVC followed by the legendary NAD 3020. Speakers were a pair of RAM 200s, I think but not too sure about the model.

Most of this kit came via a mate who dropped out of uni and went to work at the first Superfi store in Nottingham. I also remember visiting the shop and hearing a pair of IMF transmission line monsters which sounded amazing on some tracks and equally awful with others.

Neil (forgotten his surname) had a flat in Nottingham. He owned a pair of Rogers speakers which sounded very uncoloured and honest (unlike the IMFs or the RAMs). Seem to remember him going to work for Celestion before I lost touch. They were great times and music played a BIG part in my life as well as that of my friends. Recall spending hours sitting in small student rooms listening to great music from various hi-fi kit (usually speakers that were far too big for the space). Music included Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Neil Young, Bob Marley and Joni Mitchell but there was lots more, many of it obscure (and now forgotten).

Magical times and the Hi Fi sounded great. Mind you, I was young, the future appeared bright and my ears worked properly!

Me too - student days in Leicester! The music was everything - Don't bogart that joint my friend - pass it over to me - roll another one - etc

Good times

Tonky - reminisce mode (PS - your current kit must sound great too!)

 

[insider9]

Insider9, if you can buy a fully working amplifier that cost over a million yen new and weighs over 20kgs for £500 or less then buy it without hesitation.

I like this site for info on retail prices when new and weight: http://www.audio-heritage.jp/

Doesn't matter that it's in Japanese.

This site is also a good read for 1970's to 1980's amps: http://www.thevintageknob.org/

There's this site which says that the golden age for solid state amplifers was 1967 to 1972.

http://select45rpm.com/pages/hifi/deciding-top-amps.html

It's a very valid point of view and is backed up by a lot of experience and well-reasoned arguments.

Thanks very much! Was aware of the first link and spent there quite a bit there recently but not the other two. A milion yen? I think I've seen them up to and including 200,000 or was I looking at the more affordable ones

I'm hoping for some bargains in fairness at about £10 per kg My diy active project is on hold so might as well play about with amps. Once I get minidsp back from repairs I will go back to diy actives so this will effectively be relegated to second system. Unless I can buy 4 vintage amps to run 4 way actives :biggrin:

 

[paulkebab]

was a giant-killer in the mid 70's, I had the previous 5000 model which sounded pretty good with some Goodmans speakers I had. They couldn't make the 5050 fast enough and instead of building on it they introduced the criminally poor stacking systems - game over.

Most of my friends at the time had the equally poor Fidelity UA4 or something similar, the '4' denoting a huge 4W output. In fairness I think it was RMS

 

[tonky]

Sanyo music centre - an excellent show jumping horse ridden by Harvey Smith 10W rms per channel I think

tonky

 

[insider9]

Anything to add, Vladimir?

 

[Vladimir]

Anything to add, Vladimir?

I don't know what all of you are waiting for and not buying awesome vintage kit from ebay.co.uk/ebay.de as second system or mix with new. It's super fun, lots of old magazines, reviews and threads to read. You spin some music, pour yourself a glass and timetravel through 70 yearsof hifi history. Occasionally you buy something lust worthy for the price of a new Marantz PM-6006 and feel joy with a new toy. Even fixing the duds can be fun. A pocket multimeter andd can of Servisol does wonders.

This little gem (Technics SU-7700) cost me 70 quid, one of the best sounding integrateds I had, yet meager 50Wpc.

 

[Vladimir]

Ok, so amplification wise would you say best period would be 80's?

It's highly debatable, but I was a big fan of Harman/kardon receivers in the '70s, with Acoustic Research AR3a or LST speakers. Then Linn, Naim and Dalhquist seemed amazing (anyone remember John Jeffries in Eastbourne?). But the 80's when we first heard Audio Research valve preamp with Krell class A power amps into Sonus Faber speakers, that was my life changing audition!

Many say AR LST was the best sounding speaker of that era/decade.

I had my AR-11s powered by a high current HK-6900 (pics). Brilliant combo.

 

[insider9]

Anything to add, Vladimir?

I don't know what all of you are waiting for and not buying awesome vintage kit from ebay.co.uk/ebay.de as second system or mix with new. It's super fun, lots of old magazines, reviews and threads to read. You spin some music, pour yourself a glass and timetravel through 70 yearsof hifi history. Occasionally you buy something lust worthy for the price of a new Marantz PM-6006 and feel joy with a new toy. Even fixing the duds can be fun. A pocket multimeter andd can of Servisol does wonders. 

This little gem (Technics SU-7700) cost me 70 quid, one of the best sounding integrateds I had, yet meager 50Wpc.

http://i.imgur.com/PPn0yD4.png

Thanks Vladimir, I've been hunting that one down for a while now. I remember you posting some great links awhile back. It's usually nowhere near the £70 you paid, though.

 

[Vladimir]

Anything to add, Vladimir?

I don't know what all of you are waiting for and not buying awesome vintage kit from ebay.co.uk/ebay.de as second system or mix with new. It's super fun, lots of old magazines, reviews and threads to read. You spin some music, pour yourself a glass and timetravel through 70 years of hifi history. Occasionally you buy something lust worthy for the price of a new Marantz PM-6006 and feel joy with a new toy. Even fixing the duds can be fun. A pocket multimeter andd can of Servisol does wonders.

This little gem (Technics SU-7700) cost me 70 quid, one of the best sounding integrateds I had, yet meager 50Wpc.

Thanks Vladimir, I've been hunting that one down for a while now. I remember you posting some great links awhile back. It's usually nowhere near the £70 you paid, though.

Although the Technics SU-8600 has no VU meters, it is a looker in both Japanese and European version. Sound signature same as 7700 but with better PSU. Everything inside is Panasonic parts, this is no japanese corporation mix mongrel. These Matsushitas are thoroughbred solid state teritory. Petrol engines with carburetors at their best, before fuel saving chips and nonsense. Same PSU I have in the 7700 goes in a 7x120W receiver today. Efficient... and sad.

I personally like the Euro black version best. ~$300 going price for one of these.

Lindsayt always talks about top of the line, kilos per yens etc. I love even this mid-fi stuff. Just sounds so good.

 

[lindsayt]

Select45rpm.com would argue that a middle of the range amplifier from the US or Japan from 1965 to 1972 sounds better than the million yen high powered amplifiers from the late 1970's onwards.

His argument is that it's down to less is more. The signal passing through fewer transistors etc.

Also down to the innocence of the manufacturers in that era. Before they got sucked into chasing specifications like max power output and ultra low THD.

It's an interesting line of argument and he may well be right. Then again he may be over-egging the argument because he sells recapped / tweaked vintage amps for a living. I suspect that there's a lot in what he says.

And as he puts it, matching amplifier to speaker is important. So that a million yen high powered amp would be well suited for typical modern slimline ported speakers as they benefit from higher damping factor. Whilst a 1960's Japanese amp would be well suited to classic Tannoy DC's and the big old yank speakers that I like as damping and power is less of an issue with 15" bass drivers.

It's one to put to the test with a series of bake-offs.

The main thing is buying at the right price. Either the million yen heavyweights or a well designed, pure, middle of the range amp. Either route has a very good chance of making you very happy with your purchase.

And the big battle ground in getting a World Class system is not with the amplification it's with the speakers (assuming OK recording and room in a digital system).

So yes Insider9, please go ahead and try whichever classic amp you fancy and please report back what you think of it.

 

[insider9]

Select45rpm.com would argue that a middle of the range amplifier from the US or Japan from 1965 to 1972 sounds better than the million yen high powered amplifiers from the late 1970's onwards.

His argument is that it's down to less is more. The signal passing through fewer transistors etc.

Also down to the innocence of the manufacturers in that era. Before they got sucked into chasing specifications like max power output and ultra low THD.

 

It's an interesting line of argument and he may well be right. Then again he may be over-egging the argument because he sells recapped / tweaked vintage amps for a living. I suspect that there's a lot in what he says.

And as he puts it, matching amplifier to speaker is important. So that a million yen high powered amp would be well suited for typical modern slimline ported speakers as they benefit from higher damping factor. Whilst a 1960's Japanese amp would be well suited to classic Tannoy DC's and the big old yank speakers that I like as damping and power is less of an issue with 15" bass drivers.

 

It's one to put to the test with a series of bake-offs.

 

The main thing is buying at the right price. Either the million yen heavyweights or a well designed, pure, middle of the range amp. Either route has a very good chance of making you very happy with your purchase.

 

And the big battle ground in getting a World Class system is not with the amplification it's with the speakers (assuming OK recording and room in a digital system).

 

So yes Insider9, please go ahead and try whichever classic amp you fancy and please report back what you think of it.

Yes, I will do. Thanks again for all advice.

I love a bargain so not that fussed of where I start as long as the price is right.

 

[Vladimir]

Interesting theory and makes sense to me, even though capacitor coupled topology of that time kinda bugs me (not so much sound wise as more an OCD thing).

 

[nopiano]

Ok, so amplification wise would you say best period would be 80's?

It's highly debatable, but I was a big fan of Harman/kardon receivers in the '70s, with Acoustic Research AR3a or LST speakers. Then Linn, Naim and Dalhquist seemed amazing (anyone remember John Jeffries in Eastbourne?). But the 80's when we first heard Audio Research valve preamp with Krell class A power amps into Sonus Faber speakers, that was my life changing audition!

Many say AR LST was the best sounding speaker of that era/decade.

I had my AR-11s powered by a high current HK-6900 (pics). Brilliant combo.

They look great, Vlad! Aside from the unique looks and superb sound of the LSTs, I also loved the hessian-type grille cloth AR used on all models. Amazes me nobody seems to do so currently, though I recently saw some computer desktop type Ruarks with some cloth fronts.