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New member Username: DangorangeJamaica plain, MA. United States Post Number: 1 Registered: Aug-05 | Hey all, hoping to get a little help in this. Basically I need to get a receiver and speakers to play my turntable and my <cough> ipod. I have a home studio where I compose music for fim scores and have a pretty nice set up but when it comes to home audio, I'm clueless where to turn. I've always lived in lofts so I've just used my monitors to listen to music but now I'm in a condo situation with broken up rooms. All I want is to hear music nicely when I'm hanging out in the living room and maybe hear some when I'm cooking in the next room. I'll be moving around the rooms so I'm not looking for speakers that need a 'sweet spot' to hear properly or to blast my neighbors away either (although I wouldn't mind the option) I've decided for my own personal aesthetic amongst other reasons that I want to go a little vintage here, just a little. I love the look of the older 70'/80's receivers and after a little reseach am thinking maybe a Marantz 2275 or so and then the speakers are up in the air. I love the look of Bose 901s, but I hear a lot of talk not only about Bose as well as the 901's that don't end well. I have never owned a decent pair of speakers, other than my monitors. I actually have never owned a decent piece of home audio equipment since I've always sunk my money into the recording gear. So if anyone would like to add a suggestion for a nice receiver and or Speakers, I'm all ears. Here are my parameters, speakers need to be relatively small, I really really want some older equipment, I love the way it looks too much, budget: limited but somewhat open-ended, I'd love to spend under a grand but as I'm expecting to get the audiophile bug somewhere down the line since I'm a terrible gear hound, I'd consider going a good bit higher. |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 1623 Registered: Mar-05 | for under $1K you can do a HELL of a lot better than the 901s, especially if you're buying vintage speakers. I'd offer some specific suggestions were it not for your attraction to "the look of oler 70/80s receivers"---I don't suppose these two separates would qualify would they? http://cgi.ebay.com/NAD-1020-STEREO-PRE-AMP-NICE_W0QQitemZ5802034697QQcategoryZ7 3382QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/NAD-2200-Power-Amplifier-Power-Envelope-Amp_W0QQitemZ5801208 653QQcategoryZ39783QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem maybe with these: http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Paradigm-Speakers-Monitor-7-v-2-Black-Ash_W0QQitemZ5801390 197QQcategoryZ14993QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem But don't know how much you'd like the "look" of them though. |
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New member Username: DangorangeJamaica plain, MA. United States Post Number: 3 Registered: Aug-05 | thanks for the links, I think I'm pretty much writing the 901's off, to be honest it's the damn tulip bases that got me. I have a thing for modern design and some of my furniture sports the tulip base. Those Paradigm's don't look too bad, I've been hearing that name a lot, it's new to me, seems recommended quite a bit. The thing with the old receivers, aside from that they do sound nice, is I love knobs and dials and lights etc etc. I apologize for that since it somewhat limits my choices, but thats the beauty of all of this diversity that exisits. Anyone interested in laying out what one needs to look out for in terms of Receiver/Speaker compatibility? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 3499 Registered: Dec-03 | try looking around in audiogon.com. There are a lot of folks in there that are looking to sell some vintage equipment. There's also http://saturdayaudio.com/ |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 5280 Registered: May-04 | "Anyone interested in laying out what one needs to look out for in terms of Receiver/Speaker compatibility?" And, while you're at it, explain why we are here and all the other mysteries of the universe. There. That should keep you busy for awhile. |
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New member Username: DangorangeJamaica plain, MA. United States Post Number: 5 Registered: Aug-05 | cute Jan, except I'm not looking to delve into existentialism here, I'm just wondering if there is a relatively simple approach to looking out for what speakers will go with a particular receiver and vise versa. We have ohms, impedance, watts, etc etc. I don't want to buy some speakers that might be incompatible with a receiver I chose, but honestly I'm not sure what to look out for. You're right about it probably being too open a request, although I can see you're having quite the time with your replies. Thank you to the few posters who have thrown a few links and suggestions my way, it's helping a lot. Since you obviously know your stuff Jan, I wouldn't mind a suggestion from you. How's this: say you have 2 rooms that connect via a large open entrance way. You wish to listen to some music, maybe some records... maybe a cd.... nothing too fancy. You own nothing, except maybe a turntable but let's not get caught up in it's details since you might end up buying a different one someday soon. If you had $1000 giver or take several hundred dollars, what would you try to put together to get some music happening. Once again my only wish is to have it consist of quality(not audiophile quality) equipment from say the late seventies/early eighties. Does that help at all? |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 5288 Registered: May-04 | Not really. There's just so much to cover in suggesting products from such a broad time span. If you put a request on this forum that reads something like, "What speakers go with a NAD T753 receiver?", you will get twenty to thirty responses suggesting speakers that are available today. Some you may not like, some you may not have access to hearing, some are just a personal response from the person posting and will not work well with the receiver in question to begin with. And that alone only gives you choices that work within the bounds of impedance and efficiency at best. The character of the sound made by combining this receiver with that speaker is most often overlooked other than simple considersations of "bright" and "warm". Now take that scenario and apply it to your question covering at least twenty years worth of options. Think of the various combinations that are possible. How many will you actually have access to? It's like asking for a recommendation for a 1970 to 1980's red car. And, as you can see from the posts you've received here, not many of the posters on this forum know where to begin when dealing with products that are beyond their timeframe of experience in audio. As I mentioned on the identical thread you posted on the "Speakers" forum, I hardly ever make recommendation of products since there are too many variables to consider in doing so. If pushed, I revert to McIntosh because of its reputation, reliability, sound and long term availability. I've asked Kegger to respond to your request as he is currently gathering and selling some vintage gear. He is as good a place to begin your search as any. He at least has an idea what equipment he could provide if you choose to buy now and not wait two weeks when a suggested piece of equipment might be gone to another buyer. If he hasn't contacted you on your other identical thread under "Speakers", you can send him a private message by clicking on his name in any of the threads he has responded to. You can easily find him on the "Home Audio", "Amplifiers", "Tube Talk" thread. Your other alternatives I would suggest would be to put "vintage audio" or "pre owned audio" into a search engine and start trolling the offers. Many of the people who sell vintage are looking to help the buyer with suggestions of matching equipment. But, keep in mind, you are getting a recommendation based on what they like. It may not be what you like or that works in your room. There is no substitute for hearing a combination before you spend your money. Finally, my above post is quite appropriate to most of us who have been around audio for any length of time. To us putting together an audio system that does more than just reproduce "sounds" is either an existential endeavor or a Zen experience. If all you want is sound, however, pick most anything, the issues of impedance matching were not as great as today's components. There weren't that many 4 Ohm speakers and discrete component amplifiers handle the impedance swings better than most of today's gear. And, character will be taking a back seat to just having sound. Not to be snide; but I hope that helps. |
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New member Username: DangorangeJamaica plain, MA. United States Post Number: 6 Registered: Aug-05 | hey thanks, all of that is super help, and I'll look out for Kegger. I wasn't really sure how to ask the proper questions mostly because of my lack of knowledge but already I feel like I'm starting to learn some things here. I really expect that over time this side of the audio world is going to become a new passion for me, I just don't know where to start. Now I'm starting to get a slightly better sense. I'm afraid that the space I'll be setting up this equipment is not an ideal spot for relaxing and listening to music. It's noisy, a lot of transient sound exists (traffic, neighbors etc) so for now I don't think it's worth going over board. I converted one room to be sound proofed for my work and I can enjoy listening to music there from my monitors if need be. I can't shake my passion for analog and old gear which serves me well in the studio so that's mostly why I want 'vintage'. As I learn I expect much will change from whatever choices I make now, but who knows.... |