My Vintage Stereo!

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So far, so good! I'm currently building a vintage hi-fi system (late 70s) and I'd like to know if any of you have some advise as for what to get for a turntable (not an LP12!) I currently have:

JVC A-X5 amplifier 1979 (cost me £70.)
Wharfedale E50 speakers (cost me £22.)
Arcam CD73T (sorry, not vintage, but vintage CD players are rubbish!) (cost me £450.)

I'll upload some photos soon!

 

[matthewpiano]

I guess the turntable is sorted out with the purchase of JVC! I also run a vintage system, currently built around a Sansui amp. Looking out for some new vintage bits over the coming weeks so I'll let you know what I end up with. Interesting article in Hi-Fi World this month about secondhand Dual t/t with vintage Yamaha amp and original Wharfedale Diamonds...

 

[Anonymous]

matthewpiano:I guess the turntable is sorted out with the purchase of JVC! I also run a vintage system, currently built around a Sansui amp. Looking out for some new vintage bits over the coming weeks so I'll let you know what I end up with. Interesting article in Hi-Fi World this month about secondhand Dual t/t with vintage Yamaha amp and original Wharfedale Diamonds...

Sure is sorted! Oh, have you checked out the AU-999 on ebay? Bet you'll love it! I saw the Hi-Fi World article - picking up those minty speakers at a rubbish tip - what a find!

 

[matthewpiano]

I saw the AU-999 and, yes, I do want one. However I think that one is a bit over priced. Will keep looking out for one at a more reasonable price though.

 

[Anonymous]

matthewpiano:I saw the AU-999 and, yes, I do want one. However I think that one is a bit over priced. Will keep looking out for one at a more reasonable price though.

It is a bit pricey! Another two amps you should consider are the Pioneer SA-9800 (or SA-9900 or SA-9500) or the JVC A-X9...both are absolutly lovely amps and they look fantastic!

The Pioneer SA-9800

The Pioneer SA-9900

 

[Anonymous]

Is it me or are these .....absolutely beautiful.

Admittedly there's a degree of nostalgia, but the Sa9800 is gorgeous. IU now relise I dislike 1 *** systems. Cheers Hughes

 

[Anonymous]

andyb190:
Is it me or are these .....absolutely beautiful.

Admittedly there's a degree of nostalgia, but the Sa9800 is gorgeous. IU now relise I dislike 1 *** systems. Cheers Hughes

Anytime mate! They are indeed beautiful; if, that is, amplifiers can be beautiful! See what I mean about the wood covering on the first Pioneer? That's what I want for my Arcam!

If you want proof that vintage systems with less buttons can be beautiful, look no futher than this:

 

[Anonymous]

I counted 17 buttons and 4 knobs... wow. That's few enough.

 

[Anonymous]

andyb190:I counted 17 buttons and 4 knobs... wow. That's few enough.

Sorry, I should have explained: There's a flap at the bottom which goes up to stop you being able to view all the button at the bottom...and if you want proof of proper build quality, this is it!

I have one, but my dad took it to work one day and stuffed it in a drawer somewhere about a year ago in a factory in London!!! I must ask to bring it back!

 

[the record spot]

Haven't you got something a little less, well, minimalist...?!

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, need serious knobage....if you know what I mean

 

[Anonymous]

andyb190:Yep, need serious knobage....if you know what I mean

My Marantz 4400?

Plenty of knobage on that! And that very 70s quadrophonic scope!

 

[Anonymous]

Re turntables, Ive a nice sansui SR222MkII in the loft Ive been meaning to get it out and have play but i think the cartridge is knacked. mmmmm

 

[jetjohnson]

....Old turntables eh? ..a subject close to my old heart! ...I've noted a few Sansui's around on ebay and from what I remember they were a fine turntable....but I guess depending on what you wish to pay I'd always go for a Rega Planar 2 (or a 3 at a push if funds allow)

If you don't play much vinyl and want the cheapest "listenable" TT howzabout looking out for a Pioneer P12D? a great sound for a silly price!

 

[Anonymous]

jetjohnson:....Old turntables eh? ..a subject close to my old heart! ...I've noted a few Sansui's around on ebay and from what I remember they were a fine turntable....but I guess depending on what you wish to pay I'd always go for a Rega Planar 2 (or a 3 at a push if funds allow)

If you don't play much vinyl and want the cheapest "listenable" TT howzabout looking out for a Pioneer P12D? a great sound for a silly price!

Rega Planar? Who would want one of those when you can have a direct drive, fully automatic, quartz-locked, strobe monitored, 4 channel, wooden jap beast for half the price?

 

[the record spot]

garethwd:Re turntables, Ive a nice sansui SR222MkII in the loft Ive been meaning to get it out and have play but i think the cartridge is knacked. mmmmm

DON'T chuck it - a very good deck if it's still in good working order. Change the cartridge (AT-110E if you're on a tight budget, but plenty of options upwards pricewise), sit back and enjoy. Lovely little deck and a good hifi staple once upon a time. Quality doesn't keel over overnight, so give it a spin and see what you get!

 

[Anonymous]

It is in working order! i may get it out and have a fiddle now youve said that,So it was a well regarded deck eh? comparable to a cheapie project stuff if i stuffed a new cartdrige in???

 

[Anonymous]

It works hurra! now i need to clean it up get a better cartdridge new stylus and get my vinyl from the loft! record spot my missis is gonna love you ;-)

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, nice deck! Love the tone-arm aswell!

 

[Anonymous]

Nice amp, the JVC also. I love the shiny sliver finishes of the old amps. Occasionally ive seen some vintage Marantz on ebay here .

 

[Anonymous]

SammyMac:Nice amp, the JVC also. I love the shiny sliver finishes of the old amps. Occasionally ive seen some vintage Marantz on ebay here .

How I wished I lived in the US! I mean, ebay in the US is just full of every sort of Marantz gear you could want!

The JVC is an awsome amp and I'm in process of upgrading mine: I've got myself new transistors, a new power transformer, new paper in oil capacitors (they are huge!) and some £2 resistors (that's stupidly expensive when I need 40 of them and they usually cost about 5p!) for the headphone socket and the pre-amp stage. I've got to get it back on Hi-Fi World's test racks and make it clock 200watts int 8ohms and then atleast 350 in 4ohms! By the end of it (before xmas), I want 1000watts into 2ohms!

 

[the record spot]

garethwd:

It works hurra! now i need to clean it up get a better cartdridge new stylus and get my vinyl from the loft! record spot my missis is gonna love you ;-)

LOL - happy to help out. Can't recall the original RRP, but it was in line with the Rotel RP850 of the day and maybe a step down from the AR-EB101, so something around the £150 mark sounds right. Not sure what would partner it well (don't know the sonic nature of the deck alas) but would've thought Ortofon 2M Red, Goldring 1002-GX, Denon DL103 or similar would be a good set to look at. The Denon has many fans out there and is long well regarded.

(Apologies to Mrs Garethwd too incidentally...!)

EDIT: Just as an afterthought, £60 will get you the Cambridge 640P phono stage. That might be worth plugging into your amp - meant to have a very nice performance for the money and one that'll stand an upgrade or two as well. It'll eat your current amp's phono handling for breakfast I'd imagine.

 

[Anonymous]

My friend asked me to buy him a tt at the flea and I bought him that model's predecessor for 120 bucks! It's sort of the ancestor to modern regas and pro-jects according to some of the sansui fanboys on the net.

Here's my favourite child of the '80s (excepting myself ofcourse):

It's the only element of my old eighties and nineties hardcore system to stay with me long enough that I have pics. All the others were lost in the great computer fire of '04.

 

[JoelSim]

The Pioneer P12D fits all your criteria. Sound qual, wood, 70s, highly regarded at the time etc

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