• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

What stereo(s) do you listen to? What do you want?

RedLantern

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2008
Messages
5,161
Reaction score
3,888
No way to know until you have somebody take a look! Good news is there is enough interest in vintage hifi these days you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding someone to go through them
 

RedLantern

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2008
Messages
5,161
Reaction score
3,888
In general though, I think the prevailing attitude is that for cost/performance purposes, it will always be less expensive to buy new equipment. You might have different reasons for restoring old equipment though, as I did.
 

Rumpelstiltskin

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
5,226
Reaction score
4,369
In general though, I think the prevailing attitude is that for cost/performance purposes, it will always be less expensive to buy new equipment. You might have different reasons for restoring old equipment though, as I did.

You can get previous TOTL equipment for literally pennies on the dollar
 

Rumpelstiltskin

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
5,226
Reaction score
4,369
Thanks. I believe now he only has some speakers. No real commitment (or time) restore them if he still has them.

Depending on the speaker they may not need anything, they may need refoaming and crossovers rebuilt or anywhere inbetween. Some speakers are worth it and some are not. If your father was into the good **** then they will be worth the time and energy. Find out the brand and model
 

Rumpelstiltskin

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
5,226
Reaction score
4,369
Speaking of refoaming, I picked up a pair of Snell Type E/III speakers for a song and a dance.

1616461523782.png

pic from the interwebz

Mine has the same oak veneer as the pic. One speaker needs touching up in a corner and the grill cloth on both has seen better days. I'm thinking of switching to lambswool linen cloth instead of the stock (read: boring) black cloth
 
Last edited:

Rumpelstiltskin

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
5,226
Reaction score
4,369
Did anyone see the mods that Andrew Robinson did to his Pioneer SX-780? I've been to that shop before, out near Towson. It's a nice shop and they know what they are doing



Recap? Of course

Changing out spring speaker connectors for 5 way binding posts? Oh HELL yeah

Swapping stock power cable for removable IEC power cord? Interesting...yeah I think I could get with that

Adding HDMI ARC? Uhhhh...?

Installing internal bluetooth receiver, wifi and a DAC? ?
 

RedLantern

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2008
Messages
5,161
Reaction score
3,888
Did anyone see the mods that Andrew Robinson did to his Pioneer SX-780? I've been to that shop before, out near Towson. It's a nice shop and they know what they are doing



Recap? Of course

Changing out spring speaker connectors for 5 way binding posts? Oh HELL yeah

Swapping stock power cable for removable IEC power cord? Interesting...yeah I think I could get with that

Adding HDMI ARC? Uhhhh...?

Installing internal bluetooth receiver, wifi and a DAC? ?


I mean, I've just got an Amazon echo dot hooked up to the AUX - works fine for me, but I'm not the most discerning. Gives me voice control of playlists as well as volume, which I appreciate a lot of the time. Just pop it over to phono if I want to play records and get up to fiddle with the volume.
 

poorsod

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Messages
4,261
Reaction score
970
I think that adding HDMI, WIFI and etc is more for show and makes it a potentially more interesting video. Practically it is a waste of time because that tech changes so fast it’s easier to get an external unit that can be easily swapped out.

Regarding waste of time, I got my schiit mani a better power supply. I just ordered some ERS paper to see if I can reduce the noise. Not sure if it’ll help but just for kicks ?
 

chobochobo

Rubber Chicken
Dubiously Honored
Moderator
Joined
May 7, 2006
Messages
8,098
Reaction score
2,570
I've been mulling over a restored Garrard 301 for ages. Two arms would be great for playing mono and 78s. My Yamaha GT2000L has been fine for when I want more oomph than my Technics SL-15 that is sooo easy to use.
 

poorsod

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Messages
4,261
Reaction score
970
The professionally restored 301s I’ve seen are asking about $7k and that’s some serious $$$.
For example:
 

Rumpelstiltskin

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
5,226
Reaction score
4,369
I mean, I've just got an Amazon echo dot hooked up to the AUX - works fine for me, but I'm not the most discerning. Gives me voice control of playlists as well as volume, which I appreciate a lot of the time. Just pop it over to phono if I want to play records and get up to fiddle with the volume.

I don't have ears of an audiophile. AFAIK I have yet to experience "a superb phono stage", whateverthehell that is. I don't have a fancy turntable and don't ask me what kind of cartridge it has. Hell, my decidedly pedestrian turntable record player is not even on its shelf anymore but in its place is a monitor. I have a simple $5 3.5mm to RCA cable hooked up to the onboard soundcard in an old core duo computer running Windoze 8 and for now I am fine, even with no DAC. I can play music remotely for now via Teamviewer app on my phone

That being said I can instantly hear the difference between lower and higher bitrate mp3s as well as mp3 vs flac. And I can tell hear the "deficiencies" in a bluetooth streamed music, at least at home.
 
Last edited:

Rumpelstiltskin

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
5,226
Reaction score
4,369
I've finally gotten around to addressing the issue with the Snell speakers I found

It turns out I snapped off two of the 5 way binding posts on one speaker stuffing these behemoths into the trunk. Genius move Rumples

1618265682349.png



Replacing them was supposedly an easy fix as as binding posts are all over Amazon. I ordered a set that looked stock as well as a soldering iron because...well...I haven't soldered anything since 5th grade. How hard could it be? :blush:

Whelp it turns out that I suck at soldering. Correction: I'm sloppy and haven't gotten any better since 5th grade.

1618269044238.png


After my 3rd attempt at at joining the braided wires I said "Eff that!" and decided to hold off on repairing the binding posts. Since the speakers only came with a single bridge pin, I grabbed a bit of 14 gauge solid copper wire, cut it into 4 pieces and soldered an end on the broken post and ran it to the opposite post. Problem solved. One day I will swap out all 8 posts but not today

1618270216915.png




On to the woofers.

It seems these things are made in matched pairs from the factory and set to very tight tolerances. Techs actually dialed in each woofer to each crossover individually and then tuned then entire box to a factory referenced system. Mixing and matching parts would change the sound so it is frowned on.

1618266237672.png

1618266154558.png


1618266303491.png

I ordered a set of foams and refoamed the woofers last weekend. This is only my second foam job I hooked them up and 1 speaker sounded bad. Horrible even. Blown woofer? Dammit. No wonder the previous owner donated them. "Replacement woofers are $200 and Yaweh/God/Allah/David Koresh knows how much the crossovers are" I silently fretted to myself.

Then I consulted Mr. Google. It turns out that I mounted it incorrectly which resulted in the rubbing. So I ordered yet another set of foam so that I could redo my mistake. I spend the next couple of evenings slowly and methodically removing old-old & new-old glue from the cone as well as the speaker frame. I took my time and had zero problems

1618270268747.jpeg


I soldered the leads to the woofer and that was that

1618270560037.png



My gawd these speakers sound nice. At one point I contemplated flipping these but at 52 lbs each, it would have to be to a local buyer. Plus they sound so clear, with such range and good god they sound sweet. Although Snell no longer exists, an almost exact clone of these speakers with updated wiring, woofers and fancier veneer lives on today: Audio Note AN-E. They start around $6k and top out at over $200k!!! :eek2:

These just might be my forever speakers
 
Last edited:

Rumpelstiltskin

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
5,226
Reaction score
4,369
Picked up a 50 year old low powered Harman Kardan Two Thirty from before the infamous 1970s Receiver Wars. Everything about it is impressive: looks, build quality and sound.


CMBbybQ.jpg


RvCgZPO.jpg


Spec sheets don't always tell the whole story. The frequency response range is nuts: 15Hz - 70kHz? :crazy: Dogs and bats will love it


5hAAMT6.jpg


I listened to bossa nova and jazz on it all day Saturday and alternating speakers and was impressed. I have a pair of Klipsch KG .5 bookshelf speakers (sensitivity: 90db) that would be a perfect match, once I replace a single bad woofer that is
 
Last edited:

Nader393

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
243
Reaction score
664
Checking in for an update. I went big on vintage audio, all Pioneer (except the speakers):
Pioneer SX-1250 receiver, SG-9500 equalizer, RT-707 and 1011L R2R tape decks, and Monitor 10 headphones. Speakers are ADS L810. All vintage 1976.

IMG_8317.jpeg
IMG_8311.jpeg
IMG_8256.jpeg
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.3%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 61 39.1%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 10.9%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.3%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 17.9%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,206
Messages
10,579,269
Members
223,893
Latest member
tuga1
Top