Vintage Equipment

Surprising find at a local thrift shop today. Acoustic Research AR4x speakers. They're in pretty good shape cosmetically. I was able to connect them to a boom box-type rig at the shop and they both seemed to work without any obvious issues. Brought 'em home and so far, they sound good. I was able to get the grill off one of them, and to my great surprise, the woofer is fully intact, and from what I've heard through the other speaker, there's no reason to assume anything different. I'll have to check them out further and clean them up a bit, but at the moment, this is looking like a great find for $10.

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Sooo…. how old do speakers have to be to be “vintage”? My Thiels were first introduced in 1988, but I don’t know the date of manufacture of my pair. My Bryston preamp and phono are both at least 20 years old.
 
Angsty said:
Sooo…. how old do speakers have to be to be “vintage”? My Thiels were first introduced in 1988, but I don’t know the date of manufacture of my pair. My Bryston preamp and phono are both at least 20 years old.
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Well, in Colorado a car has to be 32 years old to be a “collectors car.” If we use the same logic your Thiels are in. Add in that the company was renowned for making great speakers and sadly is closed, you got a twofer on the vintage front.

This reminds me that all the music I listened to in high school is now on “classic radio.” Damn, time flies.
 
Since I purchased a Feickert Protractor from @HiFi Guy, I figured I should use it! So today I decided to pull out this beast (32 lbs if I’m not mistaken). Kind of cool that because the cartridge can’t be moved within the head shell, adjustments are accomplished by moving the pivot point of the arm, which is really easy to do with the 3009. Just a couple of tall screws and a trough within which the assembly slides back and forth. The one thing I haven’t figured out with the protractor is that the distance between the pivot point and the body of the protractor doesn’t seem to affect where the geometry plate sits on the platter. (I could extend or shorten that rod and nothing else would change.) And why is there a measurement scale on that piece that’s parallel to the platter? I feel certain I’m missing something! But until I figure out what that may be, I’ll just assume it’s working as it should.

EDIT: Answering my own question, I can see that the adjustable rod would be critical for mounting a tonearm. I assume the length of the arm would dictate the optimal distance between the pivot point and spindle, which the Feickert can then measure. I keep thinking the exact mounting location on the top plate of the turntable also should be a matter for calculation, but realize that as long as the two lengths (arm and pivot-to-spindle) are maintained, the arm will follow the same arc across the platter regardless.

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Russ I said:
Since I purchased ... I figured I should use it! ... But until I figure out what that may be, I’ll just assume it’s working as it should.

HI, you're quite lucky as not all of this kind of protractors will improve and set your arm at max. of the possibility. Anyway, happy for you.
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I’ve been itching to take my Pioneer PL-530 in for some repairs and was wondering if it’s possible to have modern connections including power supply installed? Has anyone done this with older tables?
 
Ginormousthumbs said:
I’ve been itching to take my Pioneer PL-530 in for some repairs and was wondering if it’s possible to have modern connections including power supply installed? Has anyone done this with older tables?
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Yes, both can be done easily enough. Some people prefer to have a straight run of cabling from the arm to the preamp, beyond that though, and decent electronic repair shop could do it
 
I need another turntable like I need a hole in the head, but couldn't resist this for $15 at a local thrift shop. So unusual to find a halfway decent vintage table that's running, has a dust cover, has it's head shell (if removable), and also has a decent cart. In this case, the cart is an Empire 2000 E/iii. Only things missing are the hinges for the dust cover. Runs and holds its speed; auto return works. Haven't listened yet, but I'll get around to that just for fun.

EDIT: Damn, it sounds good!

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Russ I said:
I need another turntable like I need a hole in the head, but couldn't resist this for $15 at a local thrift shop. So unusual to find a halfway decent vintage table that's running, has a dust cover, has it's head shell (if removable), and also has a decent cart. In this case, the cart is an Empire 2000 E/iii. Only things missing are the hinges for the dust cover. Runs and holds its speed; auto return works. Haven't listened yet, but I'll get around to that just for fun.

EDIT: Damn, it sounds good!

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Good on ya man. Right after I read this latest post I got a call from my local repair guy. I bought two TT's lately. One a Technics D2 and now with repair cost is gonna hit $400 all in. It looked in good shape, but alas it was a risk. Then in another estate sale bought some TOTL early 80's kenwood that was in rough cosmetic shape, so got it for $45. The repairs on that are <$100. You win some...lose some. Crazy hobby.
 
Satchmo2go said:
Good on ya man. Right after I read this latest post I got a call from my local repair guy. I bought two TT's lately. One a Technics D2 and now with repair cost is gonna hit $400 all in. It looked in good shape, but alas it was a risk. Then in another estate sale bought some TOTL early 80's kenwood that was in rough cosmetic shape, so got it for $45. The repairs on that are <$100. You win some...lose some. Crazy hobby.
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Crazy indeed! I definitely have pumped some money into vintage buys in the turntable department. Specifically a Bogen/Lenco and a Thorens. Had to pay decent prices for both and then hundreds for service. Kind of worth it to get them working well, but neither ended up becoming mainstays in my system.

With buys like this last one, it feels to me almost like seeing a stray on the side of the road. I just can’t bear to leave them sitting there awaiting a horrible fate!
 
Russ I said:
Crazy indeed! I definitely have pumped some money into vintage buys in the turntable department. Specifically a Bogen/Lenco and a Thorens. Had to pay decent prices for both and then hundreds for service. Kind of worth it to get them working well, but neither ended up becoming mainstays in my system.

With buys like this last one, it feels to me almost like seeing a stray on the side of the road. I just can’t bear to leave them sitting there awaiting a horrible fate!
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Still digging the Garrard?
 
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