Have I influenced you into remembering how good analogue sounded ... or initiated you into trying to find out if the legend of vinyl can be true? If either answer is yes, mission accomplished!!!
I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about building your system.There are a few things to consider when building a system ... how big is your listening area? How big is your budget? What are you trying to accomplish? Those three questions and their answers are critical before we move forward. We must also remember that W.A.F. is critical here ... (uh, that means Wife Approval Factor)! If you are fortunate enough to have a wife like my Kelly, then the WAF disappears, she is as much as fan as I am.
Listening area is going to determine how much wattage, (power), you need from your electronics. It will also determine the speaker size that will fit your room. By the way, since I mentioned speaker size, relax! I am so tired of hearing people state that they think speaker size equates to sound quality ... not! Also I should mention I get so tired of hearing, "they were really loud ..." please understand, quantity will NEVER have anything to do with QUALITY! The loud statement probably meant "lots of distortion". But back to room size.
Most of us would be lucky to have a dedicated listening room. If you do not, no problem, we can make this work. A 10x10 room will be plenty for a solid vintage system. This system, to keep it simple, should be driven by a receiver. It includes a power amplifier, pre amplifier and radio tuner in one box. You can find receivers producing as little as 8 watts a channel and as much as 125 watts a channel. Either extreme will work in the described room size. Your budget will determine which end of the spectrum works best for you. We could talk about integrated amplifiers, power amps and pre amps ... the idea here is to keep it simple and enjoy a great sounding vintage system that rivals or outplays anything on the market today, so a receiver makes the most sense.
How many music sources do you want? Are you interested in a turntable, cassette deck, reel to reel, CD's, (the ANTI-ANALOGUE), this will determine what receiver you need based on the connections it provides. Most vintage receivers provide enough auxiliary terminals to meet whatever criteria you have in mind. Make sure you have a plan as to how many music sources you intend to use before buying a receiver. Next consideration will be speakers.
There are many great, well known brands of vintage speaker systems available at relatively low prices. Some brands will be JBL, (beware what model you buy, research before you pull the trigger), Polk Audio Monitor, (if you can, get original model 7 or 10, not the B, C or whatever designation was used), A/D/S, Infinity, EPI or Epicure, (same brand), Genesis, Snell ... you can further research speakers by visiting AudioKarma.org. Lots of information there about vintage systems in general. I would be wrong if I did not mention brands such as Acoustic Research, a great speaker, as well as ElectroVoice!! But let's move on to a sample of a vintage system ... mine!
I have built my vintage system based on a time frame, 1974 / 1982. It includes one of the finest integrated amps ever produced by Sansui (AU717) , a couple of turntables that are legendary, (SOTA, Luxman), a Teac reel to reel and a legendary Nakamichi RX-2 auto reverse cassette deck. Speakers are the original Polk Audio Monitor 10's. This system rivals my current NAD C375BEE, (integrated amp, rated class B by Audiophile magazine), driven system which includes Von Schweikert VR2 speakers, Olive music server and ClearAudio Emotion table with Maestro cartridge.
For less than $600.00, if you research equipment properly, your listening room can boast a system that will rival anything in the contemporary 6k range. If you are not as old as I am, Google as much equipment as you can, it will pay off in the long run!! Next I will begin to talk about different vintage brands and how they compare, until then, "listen to the music!!"
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Speaker Review
Welcome back everyone!
This edition will be dedicated to reviewing a pair of A/D/S Monitor L780-2. These speakers were produced in the early to mid 80's and shared their "biology" with another very popular brand at the time, Braun ... yes, Braun which makes electric razors! Essentially A/D/S was created by a NASA employee who had worked for Braun, A.G in the consumer Hi Fi division. Braun sold most of it's assets to Gillette, (go figure, more razor blades!), and at that point he started A/D/S in Alabama, eventually moving to New England. He purchased components from existing Braun stock for A/D/S speakers. If you have an opportunity to look at a Braun and an A/D/S speakers side by side, you may not be able to tell the difference. By the time A/D/S made it big, Braun was out of the consumer Hi Fi business. I am sharing this story so you can see that take over and "branding" issues are not an evil of the 21st century, even with hi fidelity systems, this has been an issue for long time! But you know ... enough history, how about we move on to reviewing what I heard through my A/D/S L780-2's? By the way, for my good digital only friends, A/D/S stands for Analogue and Digital Systems ... trust me Brian, we had no clue what digital was in 1982!! Linn Sondek was the best table money could buy and CD's could not hold a candle to it reproducing music ... still can't!!! This rant leads us to the review of the A/D/S L780-2's.
Very typical of the day, these speakers measured only 21 inches high, by 12 inches wide, by 11.5 inches deep, and weighing approximately 30 pounds each. Power handling was about 125 watts maximum, minimum power is about 60 watts per channel. I hooked them up to a Sansui 881 Receiver rated at 63 watts per channel. I felt, even in 1981, that these speakers needed to be sitting on stands, so I made sure they sat on stands at 12 inches tall. The "source" for music was a Luxman PX 100 direct drive turntable in pristine condition, with a Signet TK1EA cartridge. Essentially, a kick ass table with an audiophile caliber cartdrige for 1982. I listened to "A Star is Born" by Dave Gruisin, (album title is "Discovered Again"), which was a Mobile Fidelity release. It provided, (and still does), superior sound reproduction, surpassing CD quality of that time. My results, according to my listening preferences, were mixed because of the speakers in question.
The A/D/S' produced a warm sound, which I expected since a Sansui was the driving amplifier. More on another blog about Sansui and "warm" sound. Anyway, the 780's were true to the denomination of "monitors". The sound was clear, tight, concised and just plain on the money, as it was recorded. These speakers were outstanding at producing a two dimensional presentation of the source being played. The "stage" presented was ok. I say the stage was ok because I am sure this was the first encounter with "digital sound" I experienced. The speakesr, as stated earlier, were tight, great presentation, superior sound reproduction ... essentially a wall of information being presented. It was the difference between color photography and black and white. Let's face it, black and white can create absolutely beautiful photograph's, but nothing beats color!!
Very typical of the day, these speakers measured only 21 inches high, by 12 inches wide, by 11.5 inches deep, and weighing approximately 30 pounds each. Power handling was about 125 watts maximum, minimum power is about 60 watts per channel. I hooked them up to a Sansui 881 Receiver rated at 63 watts per channel. I felt, even in 1981, that these speakers needed to be sitting on stands, so I made sure they sat on stands at 12 inches tall. The "source" for music was a Luxman PX 100 direct drive turntable in pristine condition, with a Signet TK1EA cartridge. Essentially, a kick ass table with an audiophile caliber cartdrige for 1982. I listened to "A Star is Born" by Dave Gruisin, (album title is "Discovered Again"), which was a Mobile Fidelity release. It provided, (and still does), superior sound reproduction, surpassing CD quality of that time. My results, according to my listening preferences, were mixed because of the speakers in question.
The A/D/S' produced a warm sound, which I expected since a Sansui was the driving amplifier. More on another blog about Sansui and "warm" sound. Anyway, the 780's were true to the denomination of "monitors". The sound was clear, tight, concised and just plain on the money, as it was recorded. These speakers were outstanding at producing a two dimensional presentation of the source being played. The "stage" presented was ok. I say the stage was ok because I am sure this was the first encounter with "digital sound" I experienced. The speakesr, as stated earlier, were tight, great presentation, superior sound reproduction ... essentially a wall of information being presented. It was the difference between color photography and black and white. Let's face it, black and white can create absolutely beautiful photograph's, but nothing beats color!!
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Proper vinyl care or "OutsideEdges"
Hello everyone! As promised, I should start this chapter by reviewing basic album care. Vinyl is very sensitive to static as well as smudges from finger contact, dirt and grime. If smudges do not detract from the sound being reproduced, oils, dirt and grime will. So you ask, "how do I avoid ruining my albums? ... think Outside edges!!! Your album inner sleeve opening should be pointing upwards inside the cover thus avoiding dust to creep into the sleeve which can get "baked" into the grooves of your vinyl. When you pull the sleeve completely out of the cover, the album should slide out of the sleeve and be guided by your thumb until your middle finger can be positioned in the middle of the album label. From there the album should be handled at all times by the outer edges!!!. Avoid contac with the grooves at all costs, your cartdrige stylus and your ears will thank you for it!
At the beginning I mentioned static as part of vinyl sensitivities. There are a couple of methods to deal with static ... yes just like clothes in winter, it is going to happen. Before we deal with how to treat static you are probably asking, "why do I care about static in my albums?".
Recall that vinyl is associated with "snap, crackle, pop". The reason you love CD's, MP3's and whatever other digital media you choose is the clean background, noise free, ease of operation of the source, esentially convinience for no background noise. Please remember, vinyl will sound better and just as clean as any digital recording, provided it is cared for. Vinyl will have clicks and pops if not cared for properly. There are a wide range of products that will deal with static at a wide range of price points. My intent here is to keep costs low relative to vinyl care products as well as equipment!
A Discwasher D4 kit will handle most of your vinyl maintenance needs. It is reasonably priced and available at some on line retailers, search "Needle Doctor, Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc and Amazon", for a starting price of about $15.00. Yes there are anti static guns available, (over $200.00), as well as several wet / dry cleaning systems at various price points, from $500.00 up to thousands of dollars. I personally own a vacume driven wet cleaning system by VPI, (a turntable manufacturer), where I use a three step cleaning process. I state the availability and price ranges just so you can see that, as with everything in life and technology, you can spend as much or as little as you like and can get great results. Just remember, follow the manufacturesr instructions to the letter, do not deviate and you will have great results. Do remember, are you listening to music, or is it background noise? BIG difference.
If you want to listen to the music, this blog will make sense, if you want background noise, this is not for you. Please feel free to post any questions you may have, I am here to help you enjoy the beauty of analogue sounds at a very reasonable price! In my next chapter I will begin to review vintage equipment. First up will be a pair of A/D/S speakers. Untill then, "Can you hear the music?"
Recall that vinyl is associated with "snap, crackle, pop". The reason you love CD's, MP3's and whatever other digital media you choose is the clean background, noise free, ease of operation of the source, esentially convinience for no background noise. Please remember, vinyl will sound better and just as clean as any digital recording, provided it is cared for. Vinyl will have clicks and pops if not cared for properly. There are a wide range of products that will deal with static at a wide range of price points. My intent here is to keep costs low relative to vinyl care products as well as equipment!
A Discwasher D4 kit will handle most of your vinyl maintenance needs. It is reasonably priced and available at some on line retailers, search "Needle Doctor, Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc and Amazon", for a starting price of about $15.00. Yes there are anti static guns available, (over $200.00), as well as several wet / dry cleaning systems at various price points, from $500.00 up to thousands of dollars. I personally own a vacume driven wet cleaning system by VPI, (a turntable manufacturer), where I use a three step cleaning process. I state the availability and price ranges just so you can see that, as with everything in life and technology, you can spend as much or as little as you like and can get great results. Just remember, follow the manufacturesr instructions to the letter, do not deviate and you will have great results. Do remember, are you listening to music, or is it background noise? BIG difference.
If you want to listen to the music, this blog will make sense, if you want background noise, this is not for you. Please feel free to post any questions you may have, I am here to help you enjoy the beauty of analogue sounds at a very reasonable price! In my next chapter I will begin to review vintage equipment. First up will be a pair of A/D/S speakers. Untill then, "Can you hear the music?"
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