The Retro / Classic HiFi Enthusiasts Club

[MajorFubar]

I know there is a small but resilient group of us on here who are enthusiasts of older HiFi equipment, even are still using older HiFi equipment, even though manufacturers of new equipment would probably wish we didn’t. There have been a few individual threads about older equipment and obsolete formats, so I thought ‘why not pull it all together in one place?’

So if you own, use, or otherwise have something enthusiastic to say about older HiFi (let’s have 1999 as a sensible cut-off), this thread is for you. You and your 80s and 90s CD players. You and your cassette decks, open reel recorders, DCCs, MDs and Elcasets (anyone got one of those??). You and your Garrard 401s, EMTs and GL75 turntables. You and your BBC LS3/5A, DC15 and Celestion SL6 speakers. You and your classic valve amps and big Japanese over-engineered integrateds built like proverbial outside WCs with illuminated VU meters and fluorescent bar-scales. Or even you and your 3020-series NADs and minimalistic early Quad and Mission-Cyrus shoeboxes. Not to forget you and your multitude of classic FM tuners.

Though of course it doesn’t have to be ‘cult kit’. This thread is about capturing discussions about any kit made last century which can be remotely deemed to be HiFi-related. So that’s a pretty wide net.

Tell us about the kit you have, the kit you had, the kit you wish you owned, or wish you still owned. Tell us your thrills and your traumas, your unexpected successes and your doomed-from-the-start failures.

The only thing I specifically bring your attention to is one certain key word in the title of this thread: "enthusiasts". If you really have nothing enthusiastic to post because you think obsolete HiFi sucks, I’d prefer you just moved on, because this is not the thread for you.

 

[Fred_Barker]

​Greetings one and all,

My first Hifi 1960's was an Eagle Electronics Amp and FM tuner (after I blew up my Philco Record player). Budget was tight with £2.17.6d per week wage, so speakers were home made from components from Radio Spares type shop. Amp sounded terrible due to close proximity of 30kw radio transmitter. Garrard SP25 turntable I think...

My first album purchased with WH Smith gift tokens was With The Beatles (played it, well,the AAC version, only a few days ago - still makes the neck on the back of my hairs stand up!).

Later added a Phillips 7" reel-to-reel tape recorder.

The 1970's upgrade was Pioneer AMP (yes with VU meters), FM tuner, Cassette player, Trio turntable, Jamo speakers AND home made TV tuner to get better sound from the TV.
Never sounded all that great, as busy main road right outside front door!, so probably listened to more music on the way to work on the bus on Sony Walkman using 'That's' tapes (most other tapes got stuck a lot)..

More nonsense if anyone is interested!!

 

[adamrobertshaw]

I still have my Sony MDS-JB920. Gathering dust in my back bedroom these days; along with the Technics AK600 amp it played through.

It's a full size box mini-disc player. Not portable.

The sound was so much better than my CD player when I got it back in 1998. I enjoyed the sound, the small form factor, the ability to record and edit accurately.

It would have been down to the DAC. This was also a MD recorder so it had digital inputs. By-passing the CD DAC actually upgraded the CD sound. But MD playback just sounded so good.

It made the rest of my kit look poorly made.

Every interaction with the unit felt just right.

A pity the format died away. I blame SACD and MP3 ... neither of which I can give a toss about.

 

[matthewpiano]

I use a Rotel RCD965BX CD player from the 90s daily in my main system and it is superb. Very difficult to replace without spending big money and without very very careful auditioning.

I also run a 2nd set-up which is all vintage:

Pioneer PL12D II turntable (1970s)

Philips CD840 CD player (early 1990s)

Sansui AU-4400 amplifier (1970s)

KEF C30 speakers (1980s)

Some people would be amazed at how impressive and musically immersive this system sounds.

 

[andyjm]

Not much has really changed in analogue amplifier design in the last 20 or 30 years. The construction will be different, surface mount components these days instead of through-the-hole, but the basics will be the same. No reason why a NAD 3020 of yesteryear shouldn't be able to hold its head up in the company of modern analogue amps.

Much the same is true of speakers, while the material used in construction may have changed, the basic design of a moving coil loudspeaker is as old as the hills.

The real difference is in the digital area where processing power is now effectively free and widely used. DSP, streaming, remote control, front panel display, even the most humble hifi devices are now running software behind the scenes. Many modern hifi products have at least a microcontroller or two hidden away inside.

 

[matt49]

I have one of these. Gives great pleasure.

 

[chebby]

I have one of these. Gives great pleasure.

I had one for many years. It was about 6 years old when I bought it as a teenager in 1981 ...

http://www.whathifi.com/comment/661673#comment-661673

It was a superb bit of kit.

 

[plastic penguin]

I know there is a small but resilient group of us on here who are enthusiasts of older HiFi equipment, even are still using older HiFi equipment, even though manufacturers of new equipment would probably wish we didn’t. There have been a few individual threads about older equipment and obsolete formats, so I thought ‘why not pull it all together in one place?’

So if you own, use, or otherwise have something enthusiastic to say about older HiFi (let’s have 1999 as a sensible cut-off), this thread is for you. You and your 80s and 90s CD players. You and your cassette decks, open reel recorders, DCCs, MDs and Elcasets (anyone got one of those??). You and your Garrard 401s, EMTs and GL75 turntables. You and your BBC LS3/5A, DC15 and Celestion SL6 speakers. You and your classic valve amps and big Japanese over-engineered integrateds built like proverbial outside WCs with illuminated VU meters and fluorescent bar-scales. Or even you and your 3020-series NADs and minimalistic early Quad and Mission-Cyrus shoeboxes. Not to forget you and your multitude of classic FM tuners.

Though of course it doesn’t have to be ‘cult kit’. This thread is about capturing discussions about any kit made last century which can be remotely deemed to be HiFi-related. So that’s a pretty wide net.

Tell us about the kit you have, the kit you had, the kit you wish you owned, or wish you still owned. Tell us your thrills and your traumas, your unexpected successes and your doomed-from-the-start failures.

The only thing I specifically bring your attention to is one certain key word in the title of this thread: "enthusiasts". If you really have nothing enthusiastic to post because you think obsolete HiFi sucks, I’d prefer you just moved on, because this is not the thread for you.

Ooooh Maj, you've hit a raw nerve here.

I absolutely loved my Pioneer amp SA-706, which was made between 1976 - 1980 (I think). I purchased mine, as a 'shop soiled' item, in 79 (and kept in until 1997) and although not sure where the soiled bit came in. It was a minter. SQ was sublime and those VU wattage meters....

I would love to have the courage to buy another retro system (Pioneer of course) but I think Mrs. P would go bananas.

Like Matthew I had a Rotel RCD 975, which was made between 1995 and 1999. Superb.

Can't mention retro without mentioning my old Wharfedale E20 speakers, which are still in the attic. And of course, my old Marantz ML2060 tuner -- that, again is still in the loft.

 

[CnoEvil]

First system: Audiotronic ACD 770D + Teleton GA 203 + Homemade Standmount speakers (RS components)

Second system: Trio KD 1033 + Sony TCK-4A + TAF-4A + TA-T4A (Tuner) + Keesonic Kubs then Mission 770s

Third System: Rega Planar 3 + A&R A60 + Celestion SL6

Fourth System: Linn LP12 (Ittok/Asak) + Naim 42/110/Snaps/ + Monitor Audio R852MD

Fifth System: Linn Karik/Numerik + Kairn/LK100 + MA 852

Still own A60, SL6 and MA 852.

I have recently traded in the Linn Amp/CDP, as it was used so little. (I preferred the "old" Linn sound to the current generation of Amps).

I have had great pleasure from all of it, with a special fondness for the Fourth system....I would take the 852s over any equivalent MA speaker made in the last 15 years.

 

[MeanandGreen]

I still use a Sony CDP-XB930 CD player from the back end of the 90's in my system. It still gets regular use as I still buy CD's alongside the occasional download.

I hope the Sony lasts forever, it's such a beautiful machine and so well built. It's fully loaded with Sony's 'fixed pickup mechanism' anyone remember that? A wonderful display with CD text (more discs seem to be including this these days), switchable digital filter, optical & coaxial outputs, CD-R & CD-RW compatibility, a jog dial, obviously remote control and a full host of playback modes and edit options.

It's such a detailed sounding player and super smooth and slick in operation. No other player could tempt me away from this.

I also have a Pioneer PDR-509 CD Recorder, though this doesn't see much use these days, it's still part of my system.

 

[Waxy]

...of my first set up purchased from 2 second-hand shops in 1986:

Sanyo DCA 1500x quadrophonic amp (£10)

Akai CS-M01 cassette desk (£20)

Some ridiculously heavy Goodmans (Magnum?) 2-way speakers with solid wood boxes, cloth grilles and adjustable tweeters. I had to enlist the help of a friend to help me carry them home. I recall they weighed about 2st each. (£25)

i was a very happy teenager. All those Saturdays working in the butchers were worth it.

 

[MajorFubar]

Whoa I've been away a while and what a fantastic thread this is turning out to be.

Matt that tuner looks amazing.

 

[lindsayt]

My Studer, photographed at Scalford 2013:

 

[ID.]

Not an owner of any classic kit, but looking forward to reading the contributions in this thread.

It may tempt me to try to pick up an cheap vintage Sansui, Luxman or Accuphase to run my PMCs. I think they'd like an old overengineered amp with plenty of power and battleship build quality.

 

[Al ears]

Up until I moved to sunny Wales (some 19 years ago) most of my kit was what could be considered 'retro' and some of it even 'classic'. However, prior to the big move, I decided that most of it had to go.

The only two items that made the journey where my speakers (Heybrook HB3 original version) and my trusty Pro Walkman (WM-D6C). The speakers I had to let go quite a few years ago as, although they were great, the move to a modern property meant they could no longer be used to their full potential. The trusty Walkman lives on however, it's only ever been serviced once in it's life and is still employed for interview recordings and indeed playing back some of my ever waning cassette collection. The quality of recordings obtainable from this device never ceases to amaze me (it's a good job I have a good stockpile of very good quality blank tapes still). Reviews at the time, and since, have put sound and build quality of this Walkman on a par with the higher end Nakamichi's of the day and I can certainly vouch for this as I have owned a couple of Nak's in the past.

I think I might just hang on to it for a few more years ......

 

[plastic penguin]

The first ever "hi-fi" amp I owned was a real obscure piece of rubbish I bought from a local electrical shop. It was a receiver called a Minerva. Turntable was butchered from a naff cheapo record player (can't recall the name), but made my own wooden plinth/base for it to sit in. Because it had an old ceramic cart, when I fitted a Shure magnetic, which I blagged from a friend, it had to be held in with plasticine. The car speakers were held inside a boxes I made myself and they were hooked to the wall. Thought it was great at the time. That was circa 1977.

First proper set as follows (1978/79):

JVC receiver RS-5L which looked Solavox PR25 MKII speakers, which were comparable with Wharfedale Denton IMO.

 

[Infiniteloop]

Not much has really changed in analogue amplifier design in the last 20 or 30 years. The construction will be different, surface mount components these days instead of through-the-hole, but the basics will be the same. No reason why a NAD 3020 of yesteryear shouldn't be able to hold its head up in the company of modern analogue amps.

Much the same is true of speakers, while the material used in construction may have changed, the basic design of a moving coil loudspeaker is as old as the hills.

The real difference is in the digital area where processing power is now effectively free and widely used. DSP, streaming, remote control, front panel display, even the most humble hifi devices are now running software behind the scenes. Many modern hifi products have at least a microcontroller or two hidden away inside.

Have a look at a Devialet. - Totally new and innovative.

 

[ID.]

Not much has really changed in analogue amplifier design in the last 20 or 30 years. The construction will be different, surface mount components these days instead of through-the-hole, but the basics will be the same. No reason why a NAD 3020 of yesteryear shouldn't be able to hold its head up in the company of modern analogue amps.

Much the same is true of speakers, while the material used in construction may have changed, the basic design of a moving coil loudspeaker is as old as the hills.

The real difference is in the digital area where processing power is now effectively free and widely used. DSP, streaming, remote control, front panel display, even the most humble hifi devices are now running software behind the scenes. Many modern hifi products have at least a microcontroller or two hidden away inside.

Have a look at a Devialet. - Totally new and innovative.

I had assumed the important part there was analogue, and thus not referring to newer innovations with switching/class D amps (often referred to as digital amps) and hybrid designs (like the Devialet) that have been developed or come on in leaps and bounds in recent years.

 

[andyjm]

Not much has really changed in analogue amplifier design in the last 20 or 30 years. The construction will be different, surface mount components these days instead of through-the-hole, but the basics will be the same. No reason why a NAD 3020 of yesteryear shouldn't be able to hold its head up in the company of modern analogue amps.

Much the same is true of speakers, while the material used in construction may have changed, the basic design of a moving coil loudspeaker is as old as the hills.

The real difference is in the digital area where processing power is now effectively free and widely used. DSP, streaming, remote control, front panel display, even the most humble hifi devices are now running software behind the scenes. Many modern hifi products have at least a microcontroller or two hidden away inside.

Have a look at a Devialet. - Totally new and innovative.

I had assumed the important part there was analogue, and thus not referring to newer innovations with switching/class D amps (often referred to as digital amps) and hybrid designs (like the Devialet) that have been developed or come on in leaps and bounds in recent years.

Couldn't have put it better myself. I think that DAC-less DSP switching amplifiers are the way of the future for HiFi (there's already one in your phone), but my post above was referring to plain vanilla analogue amps.

 

[Shanka]

Apart from main system I am currently using

1) arcam cd 23, Denon drm 11, Exposure xxv and B&W cdm1nt's,

2) Sony xa20es, arcam alpha 9, cdm1nt's,

I also have Pioneer pl518x, NAD c370, Mission 720's, alpha 5, revolver with Linn basik lvx , B&W 603s3 and Dean Alto's which sometimes get swapped into the systems if I fancy a wee change, if I could get my act together I would sell most of the extras and a pair of cdm1nt but not the Mission's.

Varying ages but all working and getting used several times a week.

When i was getting first into hifi I used to go round the various stores testing/ playing with the cassette eject buttons, oh dear.............................

 

[MrReaper182]

Hi Major, the stereo amplifer I'm using is the Sony 808 ES from the early 90's and I love it. I picked up the 808 Es in mint condition from the seller for about 350 quid. I love the look of the 808 ES and I also love the sound. If my 808 ES ever breaks on me then I would try to find another one in mint or great condition. I also own a Revox B77 1/2 reel to reel player (big thanks to davedotco for his advice) which I brought not that long ago for about 430 quid. I have not had a chance to play with it yet as I just come back from a long hoiliday and I need to order some tapes.

 

[james_LR90]

...of my first set up purchased from 2 second-hand shops in 1986:

?

Sanyo DCA 1500x quadrophonic amp (£10)

Akai CS-M01 cassette desk (£20)

Some ridiculously heavy Goodmans (Magnum?) 2-way speakers with solid wood boxes, cloth grilles and adjustable tweeters. I had to enlist the help of a friend to help me carry them home. I recall they weighed about 2st each. (£25)

?

i was a very happy teenager. All those Saturdays working in the butchers were worth it.

?

?

 

I can vouch for the weight of the Goodmans Magnum as I have a pair of the Magnum K and the Magnum K2. The earlier K (mine are 1968) are better built than the K2 (mine are 1973) and weigh a bit more. I recon they would give most decent modern speakers a good beating.

 

[audioaddict]

i still wish i had some of the classic 70s gear i had.......pioneer sony jvc and my fave classic brand technics.

 

[Colly3741]

As many of us are doing lately, I've dug out my old turntable (Sansui SR-222 MkiV) and records and have really enjoyed the whole experience of playing vinyl again. A question I've never had answered is the above. I know the Mki & ii were very popular and the Mk iv & v had their day but what happened to the Mkiii ? Did it exist. Was it only released in foreign markets? I need to know......desperately!!!

 

[MeanandGreen]

I still use a Sony CDP-XB930 CD player from the back end of the 90's in my system. It still gets regular use as I still buy CD's alongside the occasional download.

I hope the Sony lasts forever, it's such a beautiful machine and so well built. It's fully loaded with Sony's 'fixed pickup mechanism' anyone remember that? A wonderful display with CD text (more discs seem to be including this these days), switchable digital filter, optical & coaxial outputs, CD-R & CD-RW compatibility, a jog dial, obviously remote control and a full host of playback modes and edit options.

It's such a detailed sounding player and super smooth and slick in operation. No other player could tempt me away from this.

I also have a Pioneer PDR-509 CD Recorder, though this doesn't see much use these days, it's still part of my system.

Since my original post as quoted, I have added a NAD 4020A FM Tuner to my set up from the early 80's... 83 I think is it's vintage. It isn't much younger than me!

Really love it! Lovely simple design, well built and fully functioning. The backlit frequency scale is very retro and looks pretty cool. The sound is very enjoyable, the best tuner I've ever had.

My Sony CD Player mentioned in my above quote is still going strong after 15 years and it's still my best sounding source to this day in my opinion.