The Doctor
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,434
Club RR Member Number: 48
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Vintage AudioThe Doctor
@thedoctor
Club Retro Rides Member 48
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Jan 13, 2021 22:24:32 GMT
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Anyone on here into vintage audio? I added my dream Reel to Reel machine to my setup today, so i decided to show my setup here and maybe talk about it with like minded people Backstory.... When my parents got married in 1979, they got an Akai setup as a wedding present (or he bought it, not really sure). As a little kid, i always played with it, and when the downstairs setup got upgraded to something new (my dad is just as much as a music lover as i am, so his gear gets updated every now and then), the old setup went to the attic to live as the upstairs audio system from there on. More and more components died and got thrown out/replaced with other stuff. When i moved out, i took the turntable, as that was the only bit still surviving. Online i found the correct matching amplifier to go with it. For years i enjoyed this, as i didn't need more. When i moved from a little flat to a decent house, i started to upgrade the system. I wanted to get the 'set' back complete again, so i was searching for 1978 and 1979 brochures to look for the right typenumbers. As showed by this Swiss brochure, it wasn't a cheap set back in 1979! I got the whole Pro 300 setup complete, except from the speakers. I've got my own (modern ish) Dali tower speakers for that. And then i stumbled across this picture: And i started looking for the Reel to Reel machine, but soon found out it's regarded as one of Akai's best machines. It's not terribly rare, but sought after, so very expensive. After a year of scouring online all around the world (hifishark saved searches came to the rescue) i bought my dream machine today. A black GX-635D in immaculate condition for not a huge amount of money! I very much enjoyed playing with it today. Now all i need is the rack to mount it.... A little video i made, sorry for it being in portait. I tried reshooting it in landscape, but the autoreverse didn't want to play ball after i did the autostart setup, so that's something i have to dive into. After all, it's still a 40+ year old machine! My previous R2R machine was a GX-600D. Which was decent, but wasn't the all singing and dancing autostart, autoreverse deck this GX-635D is! Anyone else into vintage audio stuff?
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vitesseefi
South West
Posts: 2,243
Member is Online
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Depends what you mean by vintage. I’ve still got most of the stuff I bought in the mid 80s. Some of it new, some (like my Rega Planar 3), already well used.
Used to have dealings with a couple of Revox 77 reel to reel machines at school as they were used for the sound for plays etc. Used to splice the tape and put clear sections in so it would stop automatically cue’d for the next effect. Incredibly heavy things.
More recently I’ve made my own class A amp and some transmission line speakers.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Jan 14, 2021 11:18:16 GMT
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Very nice! I've had a fair bit of vintage stuff, quad amps and electrostatics, rogers speakers, many different turntables. Then I discovered diy!
Current set up is Lenco l70 with audio technica arm a d rega apheta cart, tecgnics slp1200 cd player, all diy valve amps and tannoy dual concentrics in diy cabinets.
Played around with air bearing tonearms for a while but enjoying the convenience of traditional arms at the moment.
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thomfr
Part of things
Trying to assemble the Duett again..
Posts: 640
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Jan 14, 2021 12:04:25 GMT
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Love it! I used a Quad 707 current dumper amplifier connected to Kef 104 speakers and on the other side an rather Early Sony Extremely Standard CD player with a adjustable output (so also working as pre-amp) as source. Loved it but the Kef woofers where returning to ashes due to age and being a system of two coupled woofers vertical into the bottom of the chest I did not know how to repair them at that time. Then I wanted to be able to play more sources etc. and I changed to a Naim Uniti 2 (ex demo) and Monitor Audio Silver 8 speakers (dreaming of one day replacing them with Piega's). Totally different but also sounding nice. Update will probably never happen as I suffer from a buzzing in my ears almost always (it was not from loud sounds so I'm puzzled) which spoils my love for hifi. No pictures of the old setup I'm afraid.
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73' Alfa Giulia Super 64' Volvo Duett 65' Volvo Duett 67' Volvo Amazon 123GT 09' Ford Focus 1.8 06' Citroen C4 Exclusive
71' Benelli Motorella 65' Cyrus Speciaal
The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys
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Vintage Audiodeanflowers
@deanflowers
Club Retro Rides Member 81
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Jan 15, 2021 14:02:45 GMT
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Ive got a set of these lovely revox speakers and looking to get a matching amp and deck with the really chunky arm
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'The reason i have pulled you over is to say how incredible and absolutely awesome that is'
Mercedes W109, Mercedes W140 S280 SWB & S320 LWB, W201 cosworth kitted, clk230 Kompressor, w109 300sel, Lincoln Continental 1964, BMW E30 Tech II tourer, MK1 Golf Clipper, BMW E31 840ci sport, JAGUAR XJ40 3.6, Kangoo van, Volvo 740GLE estate, Maserati Quattroporte GTS
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Jan 20, 2021 22:44:34 GMT
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Nice tape machine. So, auto reverse? It has a four track head and plays 'the other side'?
When I started my career in the audio industry I must have fixed hundreds of Revox PR99. We also had loads of Studer A80s, A807s, Schlumberger F500s (which were horrible machines but could easily out perform the Studers which were stunningly engineered) and a few other things.
I remember being a trainee engineer on a night shift and getting called to a studio where they had started playing an hour long tape on air - 2400 feet of it - on an old Leavers Rich machine. The brakes on the take-up spool had stuck on and the presenters coleague was leading the tape off the machine onto the floor. They were about 20 mins in and he was up to his calves. Guess he'd have been up to his knees before the programme finished. Nothing we could do so we wished them well and left them to it!
Ah, the good old days. It's all computers now and I just can't get excited by computers.
James
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The Doctor
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,434
Club RR Member Number: 48
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Vintage AudioThe Doctor
@thedoctor
Club Retro Rides Member 48
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Nice tape machine. So, auto reverse? It has a four track head and plays 'the other side'? This is the era when Akai went all out on their stuff, before it became cheap plastic curse word. There's 2 full sets of erase, record and play heads! And having to get rid of some old, crappy and falling apart tape from 2 7" reels I couldn't split, I can imagine the amount of tape which came from that 2400ft reel! I was amazed there was something audible left in this tape!
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Jan 22, 2021 16:47:11 GMT
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There's 2 full sets of erase, record and play heads! That explains why the pinch roller is in the middle! Is the pinch roller ok? We still have a couple of machines kicking around. Last time somebody tried to use one the pinch roller it was so soft it was almost dribbling off the machine.
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The Doctor
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,434
Club RR Member Number: 48
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Vintage AudioThe Doctor
@thedoctor
Club Retro Rides Member 48
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Jan 23, 2021 10:44:01 GMT
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I've had it running for a few evenings this week and it performs perfectly. Apart from when I stuck the sensing foil tape wrong and it got caught on the capstan...
There's not a single bit of the dreaded gloopy rubber in sight, luckily.
And judging by the lack of new spares that's a) a good thing or b) never going to happen.
All other tape decks (reel to reel or cassettes) I've looked into are a bit older and do have spare pinch rollers etc for sale online. So I'm hoping it's the second option in this machine 😁.
There's quite a demand for these decks, so I guess that spare parts would be remanufactured when they are needed.
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Last Edit: Jan 23, 2021 10:44:56 GMT by The Doctor
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,314
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Vintage Audiobrachunky
@brachunky
Club Retro Rides Member 72
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Jan 23, 2021 11:05:40 GMT
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This thread is full of nostalgia for me! The days of experimentation for that ultimate sound on a budget shortly after leaving school . Who tried laying the turntable in a bed of sand or the spindle clamp to help improve tone Then there was the hundreds of hours spent comparing the quality of Std vs chrome, chrome vs metal etc etc whilst tweaking the adjustable bias on decks. Good times! No money for fags and much booze- it all went on the kit.
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Jan 23, 2021 14:16:10 GMT
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This thread is full of nostalgia for me! The days of experimentation for that ultimate sound on a budget shortly after leaving school . Who tried laying the turntable in a bed of sand or the spindle clamp to help improve tone Then there was the hundreds of hours spent comparing the quality of Std vs chrome, chrome vs metal etc etc whilst tweaking the adjustable bias on decks. Good times! No money for fags and much booze- it all went on the kit. A mate of mine was right into it, with all the latest mega money stuff. I remember he used to spend a fortune on ‘first pressing’ vinyl just so the sound quality was the best he could get
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,815
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Jan 23, 2021 21:08:42 GMT
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Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Jan 24, 2021 12:24:55 GMT
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This thread is full of nostalgia for me! The days of experimentation for that ultimate sound on a budget shortly after leaving school . Who tried laying the turntable in a bed of sand or the spindle clamp to help improve tone Then there was the hundreds of hours spent comparing the quality of Std vs chrome, chrome vs metal etc etc whilst tweaking the adjustable bias on decks. Good times! No money for fags and much booze- it all went on the kit. A mate of mine was right into it, with all the latest mega money stuff. I remember he used to spend a fortune on ‘first pressing’ vinyl just so the sound quality was the best he could get And then you have the problem of if it's better to have a slightly worn first press or a mint second press. Or the end of the first press run or beginning of the second press run. I tend to buy various copies untill I settle on the best sounding.
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Jan 25, 2021 12:14:24 GMT
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A bit left field to what’s been listed, but I have these in my 70’s room. AMI Jukebox And HMV Stereomaster
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,314
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Vintage Audiobrachunky
@brachunky
Club Retro Rides Member 72
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Jan 25, 2021 14:25:34 GMT
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A bit left field to what’s been listed, but I have these in my 70’s room. AMI Jukebox And HMV Stereomaster I think the old folk used to call them Radiograms! Idea......gut one & fit modern stuff inside
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Jan 25, 2021 14:43:03 GMT
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A bit left field to what’s been listed, but I have these in my 70’s room. AMI Jukebox And HMV Stereomaster I think the old folk used to call them Radiograms! Idea......gut one & fit modern stuff inside Strangely I always knew them as Radiograms & would still call it that myself, I just thought if I put that on here someone would come on & say ‘it’s actually a Stereomaster’ the irony eh 😀😀. Do you know I actually bought it for that very purpose, thinking it just suited the 70’s room but would sound curse word. I popped some vinyl on & wow it sounds great. Distorts if you wind the volume way up, but tbh, it’s a pretty nice mellow sound
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fredje8v
Part of things
96 Daihatsu Atrai
Posts: 186
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Feb 17, 2021 20:17:50 GMT
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Not really vintage, but still 22 years old, my technics sa-dx940 amp in the living room powering two bookshelf Yamaha speakers Little bit more retro is the setup in the dining room 30 year old Technics su-v670 with matching cd player and tuner and a Thorens td166 mk2 Speakers are Kef Q5 and a bit more modern, but still approx 20 years old Both amps are really nice and heavy and well built, and they sound so much better than the new stuff. My wife used to have the famous bose 123 system, that was no match for this "old junk" the sound is just so much nicer and more "honest"
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Last Edit: Feb 17, 2021 20:21:11 GMT by fredje8v
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