While listening to the Chambers Brothers "Time" it occurred to me that I have abandoned my blog for the last three months ... shameful!!
Happy 2014 to everyone! I finished 2013 pursuing another passion / bucket list item, learning to play the guitar! After my first lesson I realized that 1969 was a long time ago and I remembered very little about a guitar, other than it sounds great in the hands of people that know what they are doing and it is best enjoyed through a solid vintage system ... funny how it all ties together, huh? So let's move forward and get busy with the task at hand!
Last blog I wrote that I would start reviewing music sources, I.E. turntables, receivers, amplifiers ... you get the gist! I had planned on starting with a review of the Sansui 881 I mentioned in the last blog, sweet receiver, however as serendipity would help itself, a current turntable that did not want to cooperate opened the door for a review of a 1982 Luxman PX 100 turntable. During the late 70's Luxman was a very prestigious brand offering direct competition with some of the finest audio gear of the day, McIntosh included.
I was playing an old album on my Clearaudio Emotion Red Turntable. Clearaudio is a well respected German high end manufacturer of turntables and cartridges. A fine Clearaudio turntable example can be seen in the movie "Tomb Raiders" with A. Jolie. That example costs about $150,000.00 ... yup, you see it right!! My Emotion, including tonearm and cartridge sold for about $1,800.00 as a package. If you separated the arm and cartridge from the motor and plinth, well, now we are looking at a cost close to $4,500.00. There is a reason I am focusing on current prices and will reference prices as I write ... remember, the idea is rediscovering what the Hi Fi industry was and what it is today!! Talking two channel systems, "no surround sound home theater I have no clue how many speakers I have or why I need that many" type set up. So back to what started this blog.
I was playing the Chambers Brothers and the Clearaudio Maestro cartridge, ($1250 by itself), which was part of the Emotion set up, kept sounding harsh, like there was an electrostatic overload ... some passages sounded horribly cold, (which is what I call electrostatic overload), and that frustrated me to no end! I was listening to the "recording, not the music", think about it, do you want to listen to equipment or the music? Frustrated to no end, I thought, what happens if I install the Clearaudio Maestro cartridge to my 1982, ($198.00), Luxman PX 100? Some Luxman tables in that period of time were built by legendary Japanese table company Micro Seiki ... to this day, if you find a MS for less that 2k, grab it!!! Well, the PX 100 was not built by MS, but was based on a few of their models and built by Luxman, which makes this an even more compeling argument for vintage equipment!!
The reference to $198.00 is because that is what I paid for the table in 1982. So I installed a cartridge worth 9 times what the table was worth new ... the results? Well, for baseball fans that recall the late, great Harry Carey ... "Holy Cow" the Luxman sounded like a table worth a couple of thousand dollars!! I played the Luxman through my reference system comprised of an NAD C375 BEE integrated amp, (Voted Class B 5 years in a row by Stereophile Magazine) and Von Schweikert VR2 speakers, (VR= Virtual reality). The highs were true, low end was accurate and the mid range ... well, playing Renaissance you would think Annie Haslam was in the room ... I have heard Annie live twice, she seemed to be in the room. Truly amazing reproduction from a 31 year old "entry level" turntable. It blew away the Clearaudio so badly that "it" can be found on Craigslist for sale!!!
This is a sample of how good vintage systems are compared to today's "hi fidelity" systems. I have stated a few times that in order to accomplish sound reproduction comparable to systems built in the 70's, you will have to pay upwards of $10,000 in order to recreate the soundstage and holographic imaging that vintage systems recreate.
Vintage equipment, if cared for or refurbished by someone that knows what they are doing, can be so much better quality than anything you can buy today, regardless of price! There are many "out there" that will argue today's technology is better ... well, it is more "convenient". If you truly want to feel like the stage and performers are right in front of you ... analogue is the way to go!!!
Next I will be sharing my experience with a 1975 Technics SL 1500 after I added a current, (2012) Clearaudio Performer, ($475.00) cartdrige to it. By the way, I paid $65.00 plus shipping for the SL 1500 on EpRay!!!
Until next time, as the Doobie Brothers asked,
"Listen to the music"
