Hoss Cartright

Ditto! Me too. I'm hoarding a bunch of high end turntables/cartridges bought at garage sales for five or ten bucks. And I have hundreds of yard-sale albums and quite the collection of Pioneer stuff from the 1970s and 1980s.

rat fink

I have often wondered if your moniker had anything to do with vacuum tubes... Love your collection!

Yeah, I definitely like to do that, but there certainly has been a dearth of TTs around lately. In fact, I haven't seen really any decent ones in over a year. I bought a Yamaha turntable for twenty bucks that had a Grado Gold cart on it. When I got home, I discovered that the cartridge body was cracked! (how?!??) To make matters worse, I had a Pioneer belt drive full manual TT that was sitting around for a few months, and I decided I would sell it. There was high school kid I knew who was wanting to get into vinyl and I was feeling generous, so I offered the thing for $40. When he came to look at it, he brought his dad, and his dad said something about how it had no cartridge (wasn't planning on selling with a cartridge). For some reason, instead of telling him, 'as is' or no sale, I went back into the room and grabbed a spare headshell that I had been saving for when I could get a stylus for the cartridge on it. I offered it, free of charge (like an idiot). Well, after he left I realized that the cartridge on that headshell was an Audio Technica AT120 (better than anything I have currently). And just a few months later, I realized that I really need another turntable.

Aint it always the way...

rekmeyata

I have Grado Gold I put on my Rotel AP1000 and the sound improved a lot from the oem cart.

What hacks me off is when I bought my first CD player in 1990 I threw out ALL my records!!! I thought records were dead and would never come back, what an idiot I was; but for some odd reason kept the turntable, am I glad I did that. So then I decided to go back to records so I had to rebuild from scratch, and I'm basically just beginning to do that over the last year slowly. I buy both new and old records but only pristine old records, which can be found there is new vinyl technology out now that really sound nice. Just picked up a new Warren Haynes record on Saturday and it's great, and at the same place I got the Haynes I found a pristine used Robin Trower Bridge of Sighs record, love the guitar work he did on that recording, paid $7 for it.

lotek 

Gomango,

I seriously lusted after a nakamichi Dragon back in the day. Hell I lusted after any
Nakamichi deck.
I think I'm going to have to check out all the 2nd hand, pawn and goodwill shops. I'm getting
that urge again...
sigh.
Marty

gomango

Hi Marty,

I did as well, but the funny thing is, I was in the music business for almost twenty years and never made enough to afford super nice gear.

Then I find one many years for free, it's just too much.

My main system for years was a set of Altec Lansing's Voice of the Theatre, Audio Research pre-amp, twin Phase Linear 400s, and a Thorens 145 with a Stanton 681 eee.

A major rock and roll system, no doubt.

At one time, I had a little over 3,000 albums!

bigbossman 

^^ I still have a Flame Linear 400 sitting in my garage.

I have a Stanton 681eee on my main TT, right now.

gomango

Don't get rid of her, she'd make a heck of a hot plate.

Or perhaps warming a fondue pot.

In all seriousness, that system powered warehouse parties w/o fail for many a year.

...and isn't the eee sweet!

Durable as well.

bigbossman 

It's funny...... all the years I merrily pushed that amp and had a good time with never knowing its "reputation". It gets mothballed but never given up, and 20 years later I dust it off and do some research.....

Now I'm afraid to plug it in.

photogravity

I actually have a Nakamichi BX-300 in perfect working condition. I just checked eBay and holy guano! Who would have thought they'd be fetching that sort of money? Now, whether to hold onto it or sell it...

jbkirby

Hang on to your vintage stereo equipment! I attempted to set up my brand new Pioneer VSX-921-K last week and it is still sitting gathering dust. The HDMI cable is supposed to send an image to the TV so you can set it up for operation, but so far, no signal, even though the TV is set up to receive the signal. I joined "AVS Forums" seeking help, but they must regard me as who I actually am, a clueless neophyte who does not deserve attention, so no help. The unit still sits silent, "Quadrophenia" by The Who awaits. I guess I'll stick to my Diskman. If I can't get this thing going, I'm surely not going to attempt to figure out electronic shifting and brifters. I'll stick to my 40-year old bikes and wish for a 40-year old amplifier!!

BTW, if anyone has any idea what to do...

silvercreek

He may get a little dizzy.

bigbossman 

Absolutely the best way to get this new stuff set up is to............... pay "the guy" to do it. When I bought my fancy-pants Onkyo, new tv and universal remote, the store recommended someone for set up. They came out, unpacked everything, installed and calibrated it, and even dragged cable under the house. Cost me $120, and I didn't have to get frustrated trying to figure out how all that crap got interconnected.

Well worth it, IMO.

WNG

jbkirby:

Some of these new A/V receivers will initially default to composite video outputs. Did you try to hook up the composite line to the TV? You might see the menu there, and then custom settings for HDMI output.
Worth a look see.

Wow! A free Nakamichi Dragon. Would've killed for one back in the 80s.

lotek 

I'd still kill for one of those...

Grand Bois

Family room:
Marantz 2285 receiver; Marantz 5120 cassette deck; TEAC 3300SR reel to reel, TEAC 4070G reel to reel; Grace WIFI Internet Tuner, JVC XL-M409 CD changer; Realistic tape deck switcher; AR 48s speakers; JBL 12" subwoofer.

There's also a Yamaha home theater system in the same room that shares the subwoofer, plus it has one of its own. It's set up at right angles to the vintage system.

Master bedroom:
Marantz 2230 receiver; TEAC 2300SX reel to reel; Onkyo 5000 amplifier; Grace Solo WIFI Internet tuner; POS Sony carousel CD changer; Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble speakers.

Garage:
Pioneer BPC (black plastic crap) yard sale laser disc/CD player and receiver laughably overrated at 105 watts per channel; AR Rock Partners speakers; Grace Solo WIFI internet tuner. Also connected to outdoor Mini Advents.

My daughter has an Aiwa mini system in her room that sounds a whole lot better since I gave her a pair of Boston Acoustics A70 speakers that I bought for $20. I actually got 3 for that price. The other one is a plant stand now.

It's just like restoring old bikes. The TEAC 4070G is in pristine condition except for a missing little plastic trim piece. I've been watching eBay for 3 months for somebody parting out that rare model and it finally paid off. He was selling other parts, but I asked him if he had the part that I needed. I ended up paying $9 with shipping. I'd have been willing to pay 3 times that much.

I have a collection of old vinyl and a couple of decent turntables Miracord and Technics), but they're packed away. I guess I've gotten too lazy to fuss with it. My favorites have already been transferred to 7 1/2 i.p.s. tapes, so why bother with it?

rekmeyata

I like puzzles like that, I may not be fast at solving a mass of wires, but eventually I'll get it after a bunch of swear words. I would much rather do it myself then to pay someone because eventually I may have to change something, maybe add in a component, or move the room around, so I always do it myself so when the time comes to make a change I got just a slight inkling as to how to connect it again.

bigbossman 

I took care of that by hovering and asking a lot of questions.

rekmeyata

I got lucky buying my daughters stereo about 5 years ago, a JVC MXGC5 on the internet after going to all the stores in town and hearing nothing but junk sound. I got frustrated and gave up and ordered the JVC thinking they all sound like crap. Well we hook it up and to my surprise it wasn't bad at all, not great like any of yours and my home system, but she can blast and thump the neighbors in her apartment with it, and the sound quality is pretty good.

Tapes slowly wear out, and it does it so gradually you don't even realize it's happening if it's nothing noticable like dropouts. You might want to bring out the old records clean them and retape them. I going to start recording my records that I've buying onto cassette tape so I can save the records I'm buying

Grand Bois

The trouble is that I don't have much interest in listening to the records I bought 20-30 years ago. My tastes have changed and broadened. Most of the time we listen to the WIFI internet tuners. It costs almost nothing ($3/mo for Pandora 1) and there is nothing to wear out. The sound is mostly very good.

shrinkboy

i just had my Phase Linear 400 MK II amp and 2000 Model 2 pre completely recapped and restored for a lotta dough. the guy is local here in dallas and although it was costly, he did a fabulous job. i've been through the whole cycle of 'too much' vintage and new audio gear, including reel to reels, tube amps, etc. i'm now in a reduction mode and have sold off a ton this year. what remains along with the Phase Linear gear is a pair of Altec Santana cabs that have been 'E-waved' per Zilch's (RIP) instructions in the giant Ewave thread on Audiokarma. i pulled the OEM 15" Altec 420a woofers and sold those off to a guy in Korea. what is in the cab now in a new baffle is a pair of JBL LE14A woofers, and JBL wave guides for the high end driven by Selenium compression drivers, with Zilch's custom x-over. two Technics TT's sit up above, with a TEAC cassette player for those old tapes, and an iPure docking station with digital out going to the external DAC for really terrific iPhone/iPod sound. there is also a Denon DVD player in there for CD's.

since getting the Phase gear back about a month ago, this system has been going almost every minute i'm home

rekmeyata

Why are you paying $3 a month for Pandora? Somehow when I got my Panasonic Blue Ray they had a whole bunch of stuff on it, most of which you had to pay a monthly subscription for, though I was already getting Netflix so no additional charges there, but I got Pandora for free! Just wondering what's going on if there's another package I'm not aware of, or if perhaps Panasonic made some sort of deal.

My listening habits have always been fairly broad, Pandora and my cable provider stations lets me explore a bit more. But with records or cd's if I find a band I like on one of those stations, I'll first get on You Tube and listen to more of their music and then if I like it I get the album. I like to hear the same stuff more then once, but I can't stand listening to much of FM music because they just keep playing the same stuff over and over and that gets weary after awhile. But at the end of the day, records just sound better then Pandora, Cable radio, or FM.

For you record nuts, I'm wondering how you clean the records today. Back in the day I use to use Allsop Record cleaning system which was a wood block with a red microfiber directional cloth, then you applied some sort of liquid on the brush, clean the record. So after reading some internet stuff when I got back into records I read just to use a microfiber cloth with warm distilled water because the chemicals in the commercial stuff can ruin records. Seems to work ok, just wondering if you all do the same thing. Also I read using TiteBond II (not I or III) wood glue on dirty records gets them really clean. Simply put the smooth the glue on then peel off about 24 hours later, anyone tried that?? See this about the glue, and read the comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gyvi...eature=related That gluing thing I never heard of till I was doing some web searching.

bigbossman 

Basic Pandora is free - you want some more features, you have to pay.

When I first bring home used vinyl, I clean it with warm water and diluted Awesome or Dawn over the sink, using a cut down painters brush to go around the record surface. I then dry them with a micro fiber cloth and set them on the dish rack to dry completely. This is a one-time only process, and gets them clean. I had one Bad Co Lp that looked like it was used a s a plate for PB&J sandwiches. Turned out it was shiny and pristine underneath.

Thereafter, I use a carbon fiber brush prior to every play to remove dust and stuff. CF fibers are very thin and easily get down into the grooves - the old wood block cleaners are less efficient...... even retro-grouch LP lovers have gone to CF, it seems.

I've tried the glue thing - labor intensive, slow, and inconclusive results.

Grand Bois

Pandora is free. Pandora 1 is $3 per month and sounds much better on good equipment.

Higher bitrate.

rekmeyata

That's interesting, thanks. The Pandora site I went on to register at the time I got the Blue Ray never once mentioned an optional fee for better sound so now I'll have to go check it out.

Grand Bois

Audio Quality
"Pandora on the Web plays 64k AAC+ for free listeners and 192k for Pandora One subscribers. All in-home devices play 128k audio, and mobile devices receive a variety of different rates depending on the capability of the device and the network they are on, but never more than 64k AAC+."

It's still not CD quality, but it's a huge improvement over 64k.