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.
So, if I have this straight, you want us to suggest pieces of equipment from over forty years of audio; none of which is made any longer. And the only real guideline we have is you want it to be kind of small? 2275's were not small. Unless, of course, you compare them to a McIntosh MC2300.
pretty much, I'm going to buy some used equipment here I realize. Once I get an idea of what people recommend I'll research it like crazy and then make an informed decision, just like I've done with all my recording equipment. The size issue is more of a concern with speakers, I went to a store thinking I might buy new and saw some of the largest speakers I've ever seen, well aside from a PA system. But you know, if you like vintage stuff, let me know what you've enjoyed listening to an d recommend, I wanted to leave this open to hear what people write about. I listed a couple of pieces of gear to give a sense of what I like looking at and what I've read about. But to more specifically answer your post Jan Vigne, what would be help for me to say to narrow things down a bit, I'm a totally newbie here, I didn't even realize how much crap is out there until recently.
I listen to vintage gear but I don't make recommendations on the forum. I've called in a specialist who might be able to give you some assistance. Get a cup of espresso and a biscotti and await his arrival.
The advice I will give you is post on one side of the forum only. There is no need to duplicate this sort of request on two sites. Speakers go with receivers, posting on one or the other will get you an answer.
Rusin
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Check the forum on audiokarma.com. They have a wealth of information on vintage gear and most of the folks seem quite helpful
i hate bose sound. i liked the sound of my first pair of real speakers ($250 JBL 6 1/2" 2 ways) better than the sound of ANY bose speakers that the store sold.
if you're VERY keen on retro aesthetics, then yes, bose 901s look retro with their inverted trumpet shaped bases.
a couple of classics that you might consider from way back when before black speaker grilles are Quads which are highly prized and sught after and the "original hifi speaker" acoustic research acoustic suspension models. if you want a new speaker that's cheap and looks retro, get a pair of magnepan MMGs with off white grilles and blonde wood trim like old school speakers had. an old "built like a tank" reciever should have a power supply up to driving 4 ohm loads.
you could also look for speakers with wooden horns that have an old fashioned look.
many old speakers like JBL paragons and wharfdales are still highly prized.
i REALLY like the "out of room" sound of lightning fast magnepans alot, but they are very "sweet spot" specific for imaging. if you're out of the room, imaging isn't an issue... if you want to have half a dozen listeners share the listening experience, it is.
p.s. if you REALLY want to go for the retro look, why not go with "urban fireplaces" (tube amps?)
old marantz tube amps have been sought after BEFORE the return of tubes. some blonde klipsh horns with off white tweeter grilles would look really retro and be a good match.
adire audio used to sell 20 watt tube mooblock amps that looked like they cost $2000 each for just $250 each at one point. the last time i visited, they were gone though.
the norh se 9, 9 watt stereo integrated single ended triode amp ($450) is a great bargain that's gotten good reviews especially considering that it's almost impossible to find SETs for under $1200 or so.
klipsch horns could boogie with that little power.
On the receiver side, you will need a receiver with a phone pre-amp built in, like they used to do in the 70s and 80s as a matter of course or you will have to buy an external phono pre-amp. Not a big deal but just to keep it in mind.
Those are some pretty interesting suggestions budget minded has given you. I agree that the use of tube based amps gives a vintage look; even the new products do. There are many options, but most enter in at around 1000 or more, like budgetminded says.
I actually still use a Panasonic sa-300 from 1977 for both phono and CDS and it works fine after all of these years. AS far as older speakers-- thats a huge field there, and matching speaker and receiver, particularly with regards to power requirements is very important.
One thing you might do is visit audiogon.com and scroll through the featured auctions or 1$ no reserve area and check out the pics of speakers, since you are going for looks; you might find something to give you an idea; then you can query again and get opinions on the speakers yourself.