NGC - there's just something nice about analog stuff ... Pioneer entry level

[fossil]

Aeroplanes? Oh yes - I am member in a flying club (albeit not a pilot). I love working on these things. My two best friends have really nice planes: one has a Klemm 107 B (the last that was build), one a 107 C (three or four planes younger). Nice!

By the way: I like the electronic injection and the ignition of my V 7 Stone. Carburetors I have on my old Johnson outboards....

And watches? Well, the Tissot PR 516 I wear is about 40 years old. My fathers old watch. A nice memory.

[kingoffleece]

Loved the OHM F speakers.  And Magnaplaners!

Somebody mentioned the MOOG synths.  My Uncle Bill and father were two of the original investors in Dr. Moog.  I was at the factory many times as a kid and my sister worked there.  Met Keith Emerson several times and got to hear some amazing stuff in the factory control room.  I hadn't even thought of that in many years.  This thread brought back some very cool memories.

That same factory also had dozens of prototype "Sweet Sixteen" speaker arrays.  This system idea got to be better known as the BOSE 901 series.

[Dilliw]

Loved the OHM F speakers.  And Magnaplaners!


That same factory also had dozens of prototype "Sweet Sixteen" speaker arrays.  This system idea got to be better known as the BOSE 901 series.

Ah the loved/hated Bose 901's.  If you got the originals right, including adjustment of the EQ box and using the proper Phase Linear amplifier, you could get them to sound great.  And you had the best speakers ever for dorm parties as they sound great in a crowded room.  But you had to work for the magic and most people back in the day ended up with so so performance.

Modern sub technology has really made full range performers like the 901's obsolete in my mind.

[fossil]

The 901: take away the wooden stuff of the cabinet, take the plastic core with the 8 (or so) speakers to the audition and use it as a midrange guitar - and voice speaker. Then it is adequate. They call it the 803. As a HiFi - speaker it is useless. For parties however...

Give me any Klipsch of the Heritage series however and it blows away (nearly) each other speaker. And you can listen to good recorded music also.

Okay, for not-too-loud music a Quad ESL-63 (or its Braun licence version L-1000) is perfect. And an Ohm F with the correct equalizer-setting and a strong and good amp also.

Or - comparable to the Klipsch series - an Altec Lansing 19. An ElectroVoice Sentry III. Or...

[Dimples]

Well, how about horns?
This isn't entry level stuff, but it's analog and made in the USA:

http://oswaldsmillaudio.com/imperia

[PJPR01]

I see that Macintosh seems to be a favorite in the Audiophile community and even some car makers are using B&W as well these days and even higher end Bang & Olufsen systems.

I've been running a Rotel Amp/Tuner/Receiver paired up with Bowers & Wilkins 804's and a Definity SubWoofer now for about 14 years - I figured it was like a Guzzi...better to pay for highest quality I could afford at the time and keep it for a lifetime and these things will last forever and they look amazing.  If you close your eyes and sit at the apex of the triangle of sound, you can hear the "position" of the instruments as if they were recorded on stage...absolutely sublime. 

The best part is they will play any sort of music from Maria Callas at La Scala to Snoop Dogg to Robert Cray and each one will come thru as if it were being played at the studio...at low volumes or full blast.

Now if you want to go NUTS...check out the AvantGarde speakers...that's a work of art!!

[Cool Runnings]

 

[drums4money]

I've ordered from these folks on occasion:
http://www.musicdirect.com/

I like that they still send out a good ol'fashioned catalog.  Lots of great gear from analog to digital.

I've recently picked up an amp by Emotiva:  https://emotiva.com/
I'm very impressed with the build quality, performance, and the price. . . Guzzi content!
My music is mostly on iTunes, so it's a dock, direct into the Emotiva amp, and into a pair of mid-size Polk Audio towers.
I'd like to try vinyl, but space is limited in a condo, and I'm reluctant to start from scratch building a vinyl library.

Every year I'll rotate this solid state setup out with a Jolida integrated tube amp & B&W CM series monitors. 

Modest price setups with decent performance.  Pleasant audio from each that's different enough to really appreciate the nuances of each.

I am pleased that I finally decided to do it proper- let audio be 2-channel - and stop buying the hype of a 11.1 channel 1,470 watt all-in-one setup. 

[Guido Valvole]

@ Cool Runnings -- yeah, somebody had to post the Wall of Sound    First time I heard it was outdoors at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park, SF. Waylon Jennings opened. Sound was a bit quite. So it got turned up -- imagine a high-end stereo going from 1 to 4. NO distortion. The Dead came on and did a long and wonderful show, sounded like a good audiophile system.

Which it was as they'd commandeered every McIntosh 2300 power amp available at the time. Absurd overkill from the ever-fertile mind of Owsley. They nearly went broke lugging that beast around -- 2 complete sets worth.

I used the Marantz 2020 receiver that I got circa 1975 until 2003 when one channel started to go out. Took it to the local repair place only to find they were having a going out of business sale.  Got a good deal on an Onkyo receiver and some Energy speakers, later inherited a pair of B&W DM 220s for the living room. Still have plenty of vinyl and lots that was never reissued on other media. I buy whichever medium is the cheapest, my ears are definitely not audiophile quality.

Did give up on tube/valve guitar amps because of tube availability and weight. Have an Evans EA100 that has trick circuitry that can come pretty damn close to a blackface Fender sound and enough headroom to deal with drummers. My back and Twin Reverbs are never gonna be friends again...
cr

[HardAspie]

Disaster Area concert?

[fossil]

Dimples, the American-made Klipsch Heritage Series (Heresy, La Scala, Cornwall, the Klipschorn) comprises a lot of horns!

[kingoffleece]

Phase Linear-I remember them.  The engineers used to call the Fuzz Linear!

Nowadays those guys use the incredible Krell amps with no measurable distoration.

[Dilliw]

Phase Linear-I remember them.  The engineers used to call the Fuzz Linear!

Nowadays those guys use the incredible Krell amps with no measurable distoration.

Yep that was Bob Carver's first creation before he sold the company to Pioneer.  A lot of that noise came from the matching pre-amp they sold with them.  That was the king of high power, low THD amplifiers back in the day and you needed lots of horsepower (wpc) to make the 16 single drivers work in the 901s. 

I run the Nelson Pass Amp Camp Amp monoblocks with my single driver horns; they top out at a whopping 6wpc but that's twice as much as the tube amp they replaced.  It's all about pairing the right amplifier to the right speaker...

[Cool Runnings]

Whatever you do, don't run across your old Pioneer tape deck in a junk shop and be reminded how stunningly beautiful it was.  Because then you want one, and a receiver to play it, and the reel to reel you never had, ....

Interested?

Reel-to-Reel Master tapes...

Santana

CCWR - Willy and the poor boy's

The Moody Blues - A question of balance

The Band - Stage Fright

Rolling Stones - Yet yer ya-ya's out

The Doors - Absolutely Live

Buffalo Springfield - Last time around

CCWR - Green River

The Doors

Santana - Abraxas

CCWR - Cosmo's factory

CCWR - Bayou country

[Chuck in Indiana]

Probably the best I've had for speakers were Dahlquist DQ 10s with an add on sub.
Adcom power amp, pre amp, and tuner. DQs *need* a lot of power, but the sound stage is wonderful.
When I moved in with Dorcia to the 900 sq. ft. log cabin (including the upstairs) we had to downsize. NHT towers are pretty good, and as deaf as I am  wonder why?? it'll be my last stereo system.