Author Topic: Favorite Gear of the 70s  (Read 28134 times)

thechairguy

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2007, 02:37:38 PM »
miniminim
Call Vince at www.audioproz.com to update them.  He has at any one time several already modded there.  That's where I bought mine.

Prepare yourself for a lecture tho...he's mighty opinionated.  But, his prices are fair and he has a good, little nonsense attitude.

WEEZ
They're not worth much used...I think I saw Blue Book at $200 used and they sell for $250 on ebay.  I bought mine for $500 from Vince at www.AudioProz.com

Inscrutable Tim
For the most part I agree with ya', but for vinyl guys late 70/early 80's gear is the best value for us in many regards.  The phono stages were built when there was only one high fidelity choice in audio (well, two if you count reel-to-reel) and they could amortize the cost over hundreds of thousands, or millions, of units.  These days with vinylheads in a small minority of audiophooldom, we pay a lot more for most TT's, cartridges, and phono amps of equivalent quality today.

For folks that prefer CD I think there is no better time than the present for gear - unless you factor in whatever sentimentality or 70's aesthetics are worth to you  :)

WEEZ

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #16 on: March 15, 2007, 04:29:14 PM »
Thanks for the link!  :)

WEEZ

Offline Inscrutable

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #17 on: March 15, 2007, 04:50:59 PM »
John,
After thinking about it i would have to agree with you about the vinyl.  Although I was only into the lower end at the time, my Pioneer PL117 and Shure M91ED, adjusted for a 3% inflation rate, would go for only the most entry level new rig now, and might well sound better.  I could test that hypothesis, as I still have the table sitting around (it's my third table), but the Shure has been replaced by a Grado Black.

shep

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #18 on: March 16, 2007, 12:15:32 AM »
I just remembered one I lusted after for years! It was Sony's top of the line portable cassette recorder/player, the CM-5 or something. It was in their catalogue for years. It was a top flight recorder, with a good mic. beautifully made. I bet they still hold up. Marantz copied it. I don't think anything but Nagra was ever better.

Offline bpape

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #19 on: March 16, 2007, 04:07:46 AM »
The one piece I lusted after was a Tandberg TD-20A reel to reel.  What a sweet looking and sounding piece that was.

Bryan
I am serious... and don't call me Shirley

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« Reply #20 on: March 16, 2007, 04:33:07 PM »
Bryan,
Yeah man!  My first source was an open reel (not as nice as the Tandberg), and once in a blue moon I mentally threaten to look for another.  Ususally when I get tied up in a thread like this. I'd better move on now  :wink:

Offline miniminim

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #21 on: March 17, 2007, 11:38:13 AM »
Quote from: "WEEZ"
Hey my brother still has an APT/Holman pre...wonder what they're worth today?

WEEZ

I would say they're probably worth keeping more than almost any other piece I know of. They're not very big so they don't take up much space if you have to store it, and my impression is that they aren't worth much on the used market. On the other hand, I can't think of a more versatile preamp for less than very silly money.

I don't know of any other consumer pre that gives you that "mode" control, where you can sweep continuously from L+R to L-R. That's right, you can choose how "stereo" you want your sound to be.

You know those contemporary mixes where the lead vocal is almost buried in the mix? You can sweep a little over to the L+R side and emphasize whatever's in the middle. If the center soloist is too hot for your taste, a slight move of the mode control towards L-R takes care of that.

Bottom line, they're worth way more than they sell for.

WEEZ

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #22 on: March 17, 2007, 11:58:41 AM »
My brother doesn't even use his anymore. He is currently storing the Holman; a big ass SAE amp; a Thorens 160; a Sony integrated; and two pairs of Large Advents.

He has in-wall speakers throughout his house that he plays thru a Yamaha receiver and a computor. :roll:

WEEZ

Offline bpape

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« Reply #23 on: March 18, 2007, 07:00:46 AM »
Now there's a good old 70's system that was pretty typical of someone getting into the high end.  There are a few guys here in STL that have purchased the old Advents for 2nd systems.  We sat and listened a few months ago to one of them and had an absolute ball just listening to music instead of equipment.

Bryan
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thechairguy

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #24 on: May 17, 2007, 01:22:04 PM »
I know this topic has been dead for a while...but I got a Mitsubishi DA-C20 Tuner/Preamp (circa 1979)  

Tired caps and all....I think it's the best preamp I've ever owned.  Good line section and fantastic MC section (very good MM section).  Tuner...well, don't care much - it works. Even has a headphone jack that sounds good enough (I'm not a head'ie) :)

I find the phono stage(s) to be better than the vaunted APT-Holman.  The APT's greatest failing is it's 36db gain in MM stage....the music here doesn't get groovin' until you use 5mv cartridge (soooo silly, that kills the other 85% of cartridges out there).  I think my tube amps are pretty low gain, so that's complicating the issue, but 36db just ain't enough to enjoy vinyl.

Anyhow - it gets my vote for best 70's gear that I've bought.

John :D

WEEZ

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #25 on: May 17, 2007, 06:20:21 PM »
John,

Probably the reason for the 36db in the Holman is that in those days, the line stage gain was probably high..so a few db less in the phono stage wasn't important. The difference between 36db and the 'standard' 40db is actually pretty negligable when you add in 20db or so for the line stage that follows it. Two clicks on the volume knob and you're right there.

Today, line stages may still have 20db of gain...but many have less...maybe 12 or 15. Seems that amp makers are putting more gain in the power amps. Wrong place for it if you ask me.

Glad you're liking the Mitsubishi :D

WEEZ

thechairguy

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Favorite Gear of the 70s
« Reply #26 on: May 17, 2007, 08:27:31 PM »
Yup, I know part of the issue is that my (vintage tube) amps must be low gain.  I have 10 watt 6V6 integrated's that seem to play louder, earlier.

I'll have to try the APT one day on another amp...but teamed with the tube amps I have, not even the Grado Green sounds right (full and dynamic, that is).  I have to use a 5mv AT or a 5mv ADC before I get some measure of fullness/rightness to the music.

The line stage, whatever the gain on the APT, is amazing.  I've never heard so much clarity nor have my little 6.5" 2 way Linaeums ever pounded out as much bass as this.  

I end up listening to the Mitsui more often, tho, as switching from preferred phono (the Mitsui by yards) to line (the APT, by a goodly margin) is a pain  :evil: