NGC - Old Pioneer component stereo

[oldbike54]

^^^ Well, at least you still have some memory left  ^^^

 Maybe , what were we talking about ?

 Dusty

[Dilliw]

Funny to see this thread as I've been playing with my 2.1 stereo all weekend.  I took out the DAC, preamplifier, and class A monoblocks and replaced them with a direct digital box.  I hooked up my TV and computer via soon to be antique usb and optical cables but it has aptx Bluetooth if you want to go that route.

The big difference was the linearity of the sound; with my preamp/amp the sound remains very consistent across the spls and frequencies while the digital amp sounds different in different situations.  From what I've read on class D amps that's the difference right now between the low end models (mine was $140) and some of the more custom configurations, but I'm not ready invest a lot in all digital just yet.  In a couple of years I predict that's all there is going to be and it's clear that the geeks are going to win like they've done in most every other area.  High end audio, as referenced in this post, has a lot o holdouts still. :) but most of them are slowly changing.

Papa Pass said that we are at the end of science for analog signal amplification, and when you get to end of science you turn to art.  In that regard I will always enjoy my little monoblocks but I know that I'm enjoying them for their art more than for their function.  The Apple Homepod, an active speaker that listens to itself and adjusts according to signal and room acoustics, is just a baby but it is the future.  And Skynet was always just software!

[rider33]

a bad recording on marginal equipment will still sound mediocre no matter what formate you use.  A good recording on a properly set up turntable tho will get you closer to the heart of the performance than the stats might suggest.   It's a bit like a V7 verses a DL650,  both will get you to 75 MPH pretty quick, one just manages to stir the blood a whole lot more while doing it.  The nice thing about the analog revival is that  some of the more modestly priced tables (Music Hall 2.2, Pro-ject etc) sound nearly as good as the high end models back in the day (better bearings, advances cartridge materials).  Maybe that is why LP sales eclipsed CD sales last year.  It's also nice that more vinyl is being pressed.  Digital captures the image of a performance, analog done right captures it's soul too.

[rtbickel]

My Klipsch Heresy speakers and 1980-ish Yamaha tuner will still disturb the neighbors

[Gliderjohn]

I would be happy to have good enough hearing left to hear the difference between anything. I can't even here the valve train on a Guzzi.
GliderJohn

[brider]

Hard to beat the warm sound of analog isn't it bud .
 Dusty

Just this past weekend I did a back-and-forth comparison between my '80s-vintage Pioneer SX-880 tuner and a Rotel RSX-965 receiver I got for free. I still play 70s-era vinyl on my Denon DP-31L turntable. Speakers are late-model Polk Audio.

While I don't think the Rotel receiver is "digital", it is a 20+-yr improvement in tech on the Pioneer. I was hoping this "free" new-tech would be a slam-dunk replacement for my Pioneer.

What I found was a big difference in the sound between the two. With tone controls set flat on both, the Pioneer was waaaay "warmer" and fuller-sounding than the Rotel. And I used my kids and wife as the blind reviewers; it was unanimous.

So I'm keeping the Pioneer and selling the Rotel, for which there is a big following, I've learned.

I also record my vinyl-to-CD-to-iTunes via a Harmon Kardon CD burner straight from my turntable thru the Pioneer receiver. I considered one of those USB turntables for the ease of downloading to my computer, but the specs for THD for any I looked at are awful compared to my Denon. Ain't saying I'd be able to hear the difference, but just knowing of the degradation would bug me.

I have an Aux line off the Pioneer that I plug my phone into (or tablet) and can now play my vinyl collection, those that I've recorded/downloaded, and skip song-to-song, something I can't do spinning discs. Best part about digital. I still have hundreds of vinyl discs left to record.

In high school, a friend's dad's Klipsch Heresy's were the top dog in family stereo speakers. I can still remember skipping class and going to his house to get stoned and listen to Zappa's Overnight Sensation album.

Digital is cool, and I use it, but the analog/vinyl "thing" is real and I will always prefer it.

[Dukedesmo]

Had a Pioneer component system back in the day, not been used for many years but I couldn't bring myself to get rid so sitting at the back of the garage.


I keep intending to bring it out one day as I have a large album collection, much of which I never got round to digitising. At the very least I'd like to rig up the turntable to a PC to transfer the music but I have to wonder if damp/dust may have got to it, or mice are nesting in it...

[Muzz]

I would be happy to have good enough hearing left to hear the difference between anything. I can't even here the valve train on a Guzzi.
GliderJohn

Now that IS bad John!

I have lost mainly the high end with industrial deafness but I can still hear the valves when they need a bit of tweaking.

[giusto]

Had a Pioneer component system back in the day, not been used for many years but I couldn't bring myself to get rid so sitting at the back of the garage.


I keep intending to bring it out one day as I have a large album collection, much of which I never got round to digitising. At the very least I'd like to rig up the turntable to a PC to transfer the music but I have to wonder if damp/dust may have got to it, or mice are nesting in it...

A good way to acquire that warm analog sound and even warmer tube driven tone is to run your turntable through a Dyneco tube amp....or try "monoprice" they have a few versions of very very reasonably priced tube preamp driven amps that work pretty darn slick. A great way to pull out that old vinyl and get it on your turntable with pretty decent quality sound and with out spending an arm and a few legs. I'm really happy I did.

[Scott of the Sahara]

When I finally switched from vinyl to CD, I was happy. No More pops, warps and hiss. I really do not miss it at all, except for the Album Art and the liner notes.
   My hobby is recording music with Guitars and other instruments. When I went from Tape based recording to Digital, it was a jump ahead in sound quality. There was debates from the old timers saying why analog tape was better, but I have never looked back. I think those guys were just stuck with expensive outdated gear. My old Reel to reel Tapes of studio projects are unplayable.
   When I could burn my own CD's for projects, that was another huge advancement. No more Cassette tapes. I have never heard anyone lament the cassette tape being gone.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Digital is cool, and I use it, but the analog/vinyl "thing" is real and I will always prefer it.

Gotta agree. Many, if not most, people any more have never heard true "hi fi."  Yes, it is convenient to have a digital player. That's all I'll say about that.

[giusto]

Gotta agree. Many, if not most, people any more have never heard true "hi fi."  Yes, it is convenient to have a digital player. That's all I'll say about that.

Agreed !!!  :1:

[mjptexas]

I got my millennial daughter hooked on vinyl a couple of years ago.  I had given her my old system, Audio Research electronics and floor standing Linn speakers, and then gave her a Rega turntable and phono amp for Christmas.  She’s hooked.  Her vinyl collection is well past 500 albums.  One of her favorite pastimes is attending record shows, looking for that one good buy.

[LowRyter]

well.....digital, analog.  uhm, my ears don't know.  So long as I don't hear the pop on records and hiss and low fi on cassettes.

And speaking of live music.  I've attended three Dead & Co concerts and have purchased the recordings, one on Lossless WMA, another on FLAC and the last one MP3.

Can't hear any difference in quality.   For some reason the MP3 is not as loud as the other two.

BTW, I don't know the difference in any of them other than I had a hell of a time to get anything to play the FLAC until I downloaded it to Cd and  back to digital (that's why I went to MP3).

I don't know what any of it means.  I load my stuff on my laptop and then on a thumb drive and stick it my receiver (or phone or car radio).  No pops, clicks or hiss. 

Man, life is good if this what we kick around?  eh?

[Kristian]

I've been a serious music fan my whole life. I've been having music nights on Fridays or Saturdays for thirty years; my quality of life just isn't what it should be without them. Friends join in, of course, and actually rely on these music nights as weekly getaways. I sold Hi-Fi at Seattle chain Magnolia Hi-Fi from '86-'95.

My system is Klipsch Cornwall IIIs, Bryston 2b-SST amp, Benchmark DAC2 DAC/preamp, hot-rodded Technics SL-1200Mk.II turntable, Ray Samuels Nighthawk phono preamp, and a small PC with a 4GB HDD with 10,000 FLAC albums on board. I have roughly 1,400 LPs. Modern LPs generally have far superior sound quality than any that came before, being recorded, mastered, and pressed better on virgin vinyl. Generally the sound quality is amazing; but, between the same recordings on top vinyl and top digital, the digital still wins. The specs just don't lie. The key behind why we still go nuts over records is that only a small fraction of records were ever re-released on digital, meaning there are millions of releases out there on records only. And, there are many labels that specialize in re-mastering and re-releasing long-gone and forgotten albums by obscure artists, bringing the art back to roaring life. Imagine being able to buy a fully modernized Le Mans 850 that looks identical to the original. Yummy. Sortof like what Teo Lamers does--for a price!

I keep my music room in a building a couple of blocks from my house; no spousal disturbance that way. Some photos of the room below. I post about music on FB, under @politicalburo.

[Laker]

Vinyl is still my main source, via a Linn LP12 I bought in 1982. It is getting to be a drag getting up every 20 minutes to change the record, and though the system is in the main room, the records have been banished to a back room, so I have to bring a bunch of them through every day, and lug them back when I�ve finished listening. Streaming is beginning to look attractive. There�s one streamer cum amplifier which can download vinyl as you play it, store it and find and display the cover art. That seems like the way to go.

LP12 guy on the forum, nice!

[antmanbee]

I keep my music room in a building a couple of blocks from my house; no spousal disturbance that way. Some photos of the room below. I post about music on FB, under @politicalburo.

Your music nights sound like fun. Very cool room and I like all the artwork and posters. I spotted the spotlight kid.

[fossil]

Brider, the SX-880 was always one of my favourite receivers!. A smooth giant.

[LowRyter]

long live the lava lamp!

[Chuck in Indiana]

long live the lava lamp!

2018-02-27_10-16-13 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr

[bigtex]

Be very careful here.  All I wanted was my old high school tape deck, and then others followed...

[dguzzi]

I've been trying to sell a Kenwood tuner and amp from the 70's for a while now. No one seems interested.  Also a reel to reel Sony...
  Back then it was higher end than I could afford.  Now it rests waiting for a chance, an offer, a new life...

[brider]

Be very careful here.  All I wanted was my old high school tape deck, and then others followed...

I LIKE that receiver the reel-to-reel is sitting on....Pioneer?

[twowings]

The guy at the store said this one was perfect for me:

[fossil]

It was about 6 years after the CD was invented. Im my father´s HiFi - shop there stood a system, a giant Kenwood turntable with a stock cartridge, other bigger Kenwood components including a CD player and a pair of Canton - speakers. It was nice, but at this time I was already bored from the typical HiFi - equipment. I should mention that at this time one of my hobbies was mixing and recording amateur rock groups.

Anyway, one day a customer I knew well entered the shop, pulled an expensive Ortofon - cartridge from his pocket (well, it was in it´s transport box ...) and put it into the Kenwood turntable. We selected a disk and then: a system I knew well began to live! The same evening I went home, gave my (even then) old Dual 1229 a workover and fitted a Shure V15 V MR. From then on I was in the HiFi - world again.

The Dual I still own, as the Pioneer SA 8500 II amp and most other components. These components have companions: an ominous Philips Preamp with Philips AH 585 MFB speakers, the Kenwood C1 preamp with Philips RH532 MFB speakers and a Dual 502 (seldom!), diverse other old stuff like Uher open reel and harman/kardon cassette tape decks, the ReVox A77. And each time I listen to those old but well-maintained components pure joy for the music comes. Listening to modern equipment does not generate this joy. Especially modern loudspeakers (with expensive exceptions!) are not worth listening to. And (and this is important for me!) modern components do not emit this glamour like an old and more-than-well built receiver or amplifier from Pioneer, Marantz, Sony, Sansui, Kenwood, The Fisher, Yamaha, Harman and the like. Not to forget things like e.g. the JBL TI loudspeaker series and the ridiculously inexpensive but fun-emanating Pioneer HPM speaker series.

In my eyes (ears) it was the CD that in the long term killed the HiFi - business. As I wrote above it came too early, of course there was no hiss, no noise and the like. But that equals not to the quality of reproduction. I have a lot of albums as vinyl and as CD. For example Dire Straits "Love over Gold". And the vinyl (German pressing) simply sounds better. I can hear more subleties. And: starting a turntable and watching it work has a certain influence on me. Putting a CD into an ominous black box or listening to (uncompressed) sound files from a digital memory is boring.

What would I add to my devices? Of course a Pioneer SX-1250 receiver, a Linn-Sondek LP12 and a pair of Heresies. The latter perhaps even new. But this stuff is expensive!

[keuka4884]

I was in the Navy in Guam in the early 70's. My favorite thing to do was browsing the stereo equipment at the BX (Navy base) store. Lots of fun.
Today I have a Marantz 4300 receiver hooked to the analog gear, a Marantz 6300 turntable, an Akai GX636 black reel to reel and a Pioneer cassette deck. Warm sound in that wonderful Marantz blue light. I get a kick out of watching the VU meters dance.
The main system for regular music and TV listening is a Marantz 8002 receiver (vintage 2010 with HDMI inputs and outputs) running a pair of 70's Pioneer HPM 1500 speakers. The ones with the round tweeter on top. They come with 15" woofers. No need for a subwoofer. Incredible speakers. I wish I had the coin for a pair of Martin Logan's.
On my bucket list is a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck. The best piece of analog equipment from the era. Also, the coolest piece of analog gear ever invented.   

[Kristian]

I was in the Navy in Guam in the early 70's. My favorite thing to do was browsing the stereo equipment at the BX (Navy base) store. Lots of fun.
Today I have a Marantz 4300 receiver hooked to the analog gear, a Marantz 6300 turntable, an Akai GX636 black reel to reel and a Pioneer cassette deck. Warm sound in that wonderful Marantz blue light. I get a kick out of watching the VU meters dance.
The main system for regular music and TV listening is a Marantz 8002 receiver (vintage 2010 with HDMI inputs and outputs) running a pair of 70's Pioneer HPM 1500 speakers. The ones with the round tweeter on top. They come with 15" woofers. No need for a subwoofer. Incredible speakers. I wish I had the coin for a pair of Martin Logan's.
On my bucket list is a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck. The best piece of analog equipment from the era. Also, the coolest piece of analog gear ever invented.   

Nice system. With Pioneer HPM1500s from Pioneer's heyday, you wouldn't want most Martin Logans ; they'd sound thin, disembodied, in comparison. I had HPM70s in the '80s; fabulous.

[AJ Huff]

I was in the Navy in Guam in the early 70's. My favorite thing to do was browsing the stereo equipment at the BX (Navy base) store. Lots of fun.
Today I have a Marantz 4300 receiver hooked to the analog gear, a Marantz 6300 turntable, an Akai GX636 black reel to reel and a Pioneer cassette deck. Warm sound in that wonderful Marantz blue light. I get a kick out of watching the VU meters dance.
The main system for regular music and TV listening is a Marantz 8002 receiver (vintage 2010 with HDMI inputs and outputs) running a pair of 70's Pioneer HPM 1500 speakers. The ones with the round tweeter on top. They come with 15" woofers. No need for a subwoofer. Incredible speakers. I wish I had the coin for a pair of Martin Logan's.
On my bucket list is a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck. The best piece of analog equipment from the era. Also, the coolest piece of analog gear ever invented.   

I wanted that Dragon so bad. Part of of me screamed "too many moving parts!" the other part of me yelled back "but it's so cool!"
It would have paired nicely with my Nakamichi CD Player 1, that is until the movers destroyed it :(

-AJ

[bigtex]

I LIKE that receiver the reel-to-reel is sitting on....Pioneer?

Yep, all Pioneer.  SX950 receiver.

[bobrebos]

Be very careful here.  All I wanted was my old high school tape deck, and then others followed...

Nice!