Vintage Equipment
- Thread starter Satchmo2go
- Start date
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
+1 for the Lenco’s. I have a (G)L75 and a 69 and I love them. Sound great. For the money they cost, particularly in Europe they are great value for money.
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
I think having a few favorite pieces or backups around is the way to go. I like consistency, but I know the allure of rotating vintage gear in/out as well for different sounds. I also do not like clutter.
If I ever found a Fairchild, Lenco, or Gerrard localy I would take the time and care to restore and use it. But the Dual's are a good compliment to my modern VPI.
If I ever found a Fairchild, Lenco, or Gerrard localy I would take the time and care to restore and use it. But the Dual's are a good compliment to my modern VPI.
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Russ I
Well-Known Member
@AnthonyI you make a great point about neat and proper display, and there's a lot to unpack there for me given the distance between that ideal and my pile. Going to have to find some motivation there to do something about it.Wow, that's a nice pile of gear, lol
I'll second ebay, and agree with @HiFi Guy, someone should work out a deal on that NAD
The Pioneer is really nice and If I remember correctly I had the same Onkyo tape deck back in the day. Gear is an interesting thing, the problem is there is no easy way to store it, I've often said I wanted a nice vintage receiver just to have and I get the sneaking suspicion if that ever happens a whole new can of worms might open, lol. For me these collections need to be stored and or "displayed" neatly and properly to enjoy, even if you're not actively using them. Many moons ago when I did video game reviews I had every console you can think of, some of course for review purposes and some were older versions that, at the time, I displayed in a Kallax of sorts. Once I had to give up my office and things started to pile up, I started purging. Collections, to me, shouldn't be piled in corners or stored away in boxes, collections are meant to be seen and enjoyed.............my opinion of course, and if you have the space goes without saying.
I'm sure a few people around here might be interested in a piece or two, and they should be, the hardest part is starting the process.
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
I may be interested in that Sony Receiver if its in working condition.. I'm into vintage Sony gear!
I just added another turntable, my 3rd, to the mix.. a Dual 1218.. haven't got it out of the box yet, but done with accumulating vintage tables. One of each type is enough. I haven't heard an idler in a long time, and I know this one isn't a top of the line, but it operates properly and has been refurbished so will be fun to mess around with at a very cheap price.
I just added another turntable, my 3rd, to the mix.. a Dual 1218.. haven't got it out of the box yet, but done with accumulating vintage tables. One of each type is enough. I haven't heard an idler in a long time, and I know this one isn't a top of the line, but it operates properly and has been refurbished so will be fun to mess around with at a very cheap price.
Russ I
Well-Known Member
I'll try to redeem myself just a tad 
by showing a vintage Wharfedale speaker (pair) I am using, and displaying. I have these set up in my dining room and, ironically, they are not connected to a vintage amp but to an Outlaw Audio RR2150 stereo receiver (my wife listens often to a local independent FM station and prefers the digital tuner) with an NAD C 542 CD player. These things are huge (23" W x 24" H x 14" D) and beautiful (pretty sure they're mahogany), and their sound is rich and full. Craziest thing is that I got them for $15 for the pair. They were tweeterless, but seemed to work fine otherwise. For $100 I was able to purchase NOS tweeters, which I installed and to my great surprise, they get the job done and then some.
by showing a vintage Wharfedale speaker (pair) I am using, and displaying. I have these set up in my dining room and, ironically, they are not connected to a vintage amp but to an Outlaw Audio RR2150 stereo receiver (my wife listens often to a local independent FM station and prefers the digital tuner) with an NAD C 542 CD player. These things are huge (23" W x 24" H x 14" D) and beautiful (pretty sure they're mahogany), and their sound is rich and full. Craziest thing is that I got them for $15 for the pair. They were tweeterless, but seemed to work fine otherwise. For $100 I was able to purchase NOS tweeters, which I installed and to my great surprise, they get the job done and then some.
bother
Well-Known Member
I need to purge! I once acquired vintage gear at a rate similar to how I accumulate vinyl now! At least with vinyl, I can lean on the myth that I can, or might, listen to any and all of it, eventually. I tried to apply that to vintage equipment, but at some point, the reality is that it just isn't possible to use it all. And when you consider that each new-to-me piece requires, at the very least, a good cleaning and de-oxit treatment to bring it back to some semblance of usefulness, the reality is that not using these pieces is about the worst thing I can do, since they surely aren't benefitting from sitting stagnant in the basement. Problem is, I'm a bit paralyzed by the thought of trying to find good homes for all of this stuff. I don't want to just give it away to thrift stores, and I know it would be absurd to employ any method that would involve shipping, so that leave local ads and the whole can of worms of selling electronics 'as is.'
Have any of you dealt with a vintage purge? If so, I'd love to hear about how you managed it and how it worked out for you. Here's some of the stuff of which I speak.
A few turntables, and there are others, including two Dual 1210's, a couple of Thorens (which I really don't want to part with even though I'm not using them), and a Bogen (see below).View attachment 108317View attachment 108318View attachment 108319
Here's the Bogen (re-badged Lenco), which is just too beautiful for me to think about parting with.
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And then there's all of this, much of which in my mind is pretty good stuff!
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It's not all a lost cause, though. I still have my Dual 1219 in my main system as a second turntable. And I'm using my favorite vintage amp I've ever owned (Kenwood KA-9100) with a nice Thorens in an office system.
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There's a bit more spread around, but this should serve its purpose in representing the 'weight' of this necessary purge. I'd like nothing more than for one (or more) of you smart and creative junkies to lead me to the promise land of relief!
Beautiful!
I've had a fair amount of vintage gear come through my listening room over the years though I don't think I ever accumulated quite as much as you! I had a few Duals and my favorite was the 1019, a super old boy that didn't work until I replaced that pimpel thingy, then was almost good as new (might be misremembering-- this was a few years ago). Then I had a refurbed TD125 for a while, which was beautiful and nice, but eventually got rid of it. Now the only vintage piece of gear I still have is my TD124 and I doubt I'll ever get rid of it-- even if it's just shelf art at this point.
I'm a huge vintage gear fan. So much of it sounds great and can be reasonably priced, but it's also a total crapshoot. I can't tell you how many half-working receivers I've resurrected only to sell and buy something new. At this point, I just want stuff that works and sounds good and doesn't need any cleaning/tweaking/obsessing! But man, now I'm thinking about hooking my 124 back up and giving that a spin again...
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Well, it's been a while since I installed the SME 3009 S2 Improved arm with the Shure V15 III and Jico SAS VN35E stylus onto the old Sony and I thought I'd report back with my longer term impressions.
I'm currently running it through a Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 in order to be able to load the V15 correctly. My onboard phono stage on the Luxman doesn't cut it as a I was getting a lot of shaking in the cart with loading at only 100ohms. With the Tube Box, I'm loading at 400ohms and it makes all the difference in the world.
Set up with the SAS stylus is critical and the ease of adjustments on the SME arm is much appreciated. Patience dialing in VTF/VTA and Azimuth all paid dividends.
This cart/stylus is really amazing. In my set up, it is very dynamic, presents a very nice soundstage, has nice tight bass, and is pleasant on the top end. It's not at all fatiguing to listen to for long stretches. The table runs rock solid on speed, and is very quiet. Background noise, while not as quiet as on my previous MoFi UltraDeck, is really quite impressive.
I love the cart so much that if a 1200g/gr were to arrive, I would use the V15 on it first... and I am considering moving up the Pro-Ject line to the Phono Box RS2. I like the idea of having 4 or 5 carts to mix back and forth with the detachable headshell, and the dials on the front panel of the Phono Box RS2 to adjust loading/gain/etc rather than having to use the pots might be advantageous. Anyone have any experience with the RS2?
The SME/Shure combo is a keeper for sure and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking at a vintage set up.
I'm currently running it through a Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 in order to be able to load the V15 correctly. My onboard phono stage on the Luxman doesn't cut it as a I was getting a lot of shaking in the cart with loading at only 100ohms. With the Tube Box, I'm loading at 400ohms and it makes all the difference in the world.
Set up with the SAS stylus is critical and the ease of adjustments on the SME arm is much appreciated. Patience dialing in VTF/VTA and Azimuth all paid dividends.
This cart/stylus is really amazing. In my set up, it is very dynamic, presents a very nice soundstage, has nice tight bass, and is pleasant on the top end. It's not at all fatiguing to listen to for long stretches. The table runs rock solid on speed, and is very quiet. Background noise, while not as quiet as on my previous MoFi UltraDeck, is really quite impressive.
I love the cart so much that if a 1200g/gr were to arrive, I would use the V15 on it first... and I am considering moving up the Pro-Ject line to the Phono Box RS2. I like the idea of having 4 or 5 carts to mix back and forth with the detachable headshell, and the dials on the front panel of the Phono Box RS2 to adjust loading/gain/etc rather than having to use the pots might be advantageous. Anyone have any experience with the RS2?
The SME/Shure combo is a keeper for sure and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking at a vintage set up.
400 ohms is way too low. You should be at 47k ohms with the Shure.
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Correction: 440pf.. my bad. I am at 47k ohms..
That makes sense.
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
Vintage electronics cleanup tips...
Cleaned up, removed tarnish buildup, and shined up the front (even glass) of my vintage McIntosh receiver this weekend. Years ago a old tech taught me to use plain ole Turtle car wax paste but I was out. Went to the auto store and they did not have it so tried McGuiar's and seemed to work ok. I just used a hand mit duster and then two light coats of lemon oil on the wood case. Not bad for 1967!
Cleaned up, removed tarnish buildup, and shined up the front (even glass) of my vintage McIntosh receiver this weekend. Years ago a old tech taught me to use plain ole Turtle car wax paste but I was out. Went to the auto store and they did not have it so tried McGuiar's and seemed to work ok. I just used a hand mit duster and then two light coats of lemon oil on the wood case. Not bad for 1967!
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Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Looks great!!!Vintage electronics cleanup tips...
Cleaned up, removed tarnish buildup, and shined up the front (even glass) of my vintage McIntosh receiver this weekend. Years ago a old tech taught me to use plain ole Turtle car wax paste but I was out. Went to the auto store and they did not have it so tried McGuiar's and seemed to work ok. I just used a hand mit duster and then two light coats of lemon oil on the wood case. Not bad for 1967!
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NewsFedora
Well-Known Member
Oh wow, I just went through this thread and everybody's equipment is absolutely stunning and gorgeous and everything looks like it belongs in a museum. Anyways I just dropped 15 bucks on this a few hours ago, don't even know if it works yet:
Assuming it even turns on... it could use a bit of a touch-up.
Assuming it even turns on... it could use a bit of a touch-up.
Russ I
Well-Known Member
In a lot of ways you're at the most exciting part of the vintage experience. Clean it up, inside and out. Use Deoxit to clean all the switches and pots. With luck, you'll have stereo sound!
NewsFedora
Well-Known Member
I've never used Deoxit before, I don't suppose there's a good tutorial or something that's recommended so I don't mess anything up?In a lot of ways you're at the most exciting part of the vintage experience. Clean it up, inside and out. Use Deoxit to clean all the switches and pots. With luck, you'll have stereo sound!
I was also thinking of using some rubbing alcohol for the front plate and knobs, kind of how I go about cleaning my video game controllers. They're quite grimey!
I plugged it in and it lit up, so that's a good sign. Of course, it wants speakers with split wires, which I don't have any at the moment so I can't tell how good/bad it actually sounds pre-cleaning. The outer shell is a wood composite and a bit chipped (it also has an old US Army Kiowa helicopter sticker slapped on its side, giving a hint about its previous owner), but according to some reviews I read, apparently what this model lacked in outside appearance it makes up for with its sound quality.
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
Test the unit first with some junk speakers if you can and see if you get sound from both speakers, the tuner, and or plug something into one of the inputs then it should be working. With repair rates at 50-$150 hr having a tech look at it doesnt make any sense.
Rubbing alcohol may take the printing off the panel, use some Dawn, warm water/squeezed tightly on a lint free cloth to clean, then dry. You can use a little paste car wax to further clean, shine up chrome, glass, and front panel.
You can use lemon oil or similiar to polish the wood cover.
You can buy cheaper generic ofc speaker cable or lamp cord by the foot at at Home Depot or online.
First unplug the unit and let power discharge. Detoxit is available at your local Guitar Center, electronics store, or online. It comes with spraying straw. Take all the knobs off the front pots, switches, etc. and spray the pots and work the cleaner into there by working the controls. Repeat several times. Do the same with the RCA jacks on the back panel, clean off with a rack, or very light sandpaper and repeat until clean.
If your a little more adventurous remove the top cover outside and use a computer compressed air sprayer to spray out the dust and dirt inside. If you have access to the inner side of the pots/switches you can also spray/clean them with Dexoit from the inside. Again, make sure power is discharged and unplugged.
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NewsFedora
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I'm pretty busy this weekend but it looks like I got a fun little side project for later in the month...
Russ I
Well-Known Member
If you search you can find some videos. Here’s one link:
And there’s not much to worry about with the deoxit ruining anything. It evaporates quickly. Maybe try to keep it away from the boards inside the unit.
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
I heard Abraxas on W-70's driven by tubes once and was blown away Russ!I'll try to redeem myself just a tad
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