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Message started by Matchstikman on 02/13/17 at 21:38:12

Title: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Matchstikman on 02/13/17 at 21:38:12

I've got 3 pieces.
A Bel Canto Dac that is from 1999 or so.
A ZP1 which is from 2001.
And a blue Torii from around 2004.

How about you?

Tubes don't count.
You don't count.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Lon on 02/13/17 at 22:18:28

I no longer have any of my older equipment in use, they're stored right now. The oldest may be Zen Amp #27 from '97 or early '98 that my friend Kirk says I still officially own, though he's had it in his possession for over ten years. . . he borrowed it to hear it and it has never come back! (With my blessing).

In storage somewhere I have a Hafler phono preamp that is from the early 'eighties. I gave away or threw out much of my oldest stuff when I last moved.

I have an Ovation Breadwinner guitar from the 'seventies that is "a piece of gear" but it doesn't count here.


Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Archie on 02/14/17 at 00:37:15

For my TV audio, I'm using a pair of Bang and Olufsen bookshelf speakers from the 70s that I refoamed using the Decware kit.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Matchstikman on 02/14/17 at 01:21:10

Archie, you reminded me of a pair of bookshelf Advent speakers I've had since the 70s that I always use as an alternate test to whatever I do.  They are tough little suckers.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Lonely Raven on 02/14/17 at 01:34:28

My Zen amp is a little more recent than Lon's, coming from 1998 (and it's in with Steve right now getting UFO'd)

I had a pair of Magnaplanar MG-II that were from about 1980 but I just sold them.

And I have an Eico HF-81 from the early 60s I got from Lon that I started repairing.

If I can bend the rules and include my guitar gear, I've got a Magnatone  280 from 1958 (same amp Buddy Holly used before he passed) that I repaired the amp part, but I need to rebuild the cabinet for (rescued from a flooded basement). And an Alamo amp from 1948.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Jasondw1971 on 02/14/17 at 02:45:31

1964 HH Scott LK-48.  However, it is a Mapleshade modified, so its been gone through/updated.  Still about 75% original.   I haven't heard anything that sounds better in my system yet.  I hope that will change once I take possession of my CSP3.  The Scott does not have enough power for Vandersteens.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Lonely Raven on 02/14/17 at 03:42:05


Quote:
1964 HH Scott LK-48


Those have some beautiful iron! Go ahead and update the expired caps, the magic is in the transformers!

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Syd on 02/14/17 at 10:31:56

60`s Lowther acoustas. Owned by me for 6mnths. Drivers were upgraded by Lowther a couple of years before that. They have a magic.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Jasondw1971 on 02/15/17 at 02:00:03

Lonely Raven

Caps were updated the summer of 2015 By Mapleshade.  The big cap in the center between the 2 driver tubes was bulging pretty good, so I sent it in for repair.  That's when they replace some caps and I went ahead and got the volume pot update at the same time.  The thing sounds amazing.  Just wish it had more power to driver the Vandy's.  That's where Steve comes in :D.  Looking at a ZMA, perhaps.  Ill probably be selling my other 2 systems including the Mapleshade HH Scott to fund it.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Lonely Raven on 02/15/17 at 17:42:36


The ZMA is worth it. Just rock solid consistent. I even drive some Magnepan MG-II with them, and those big bastards are only 84db efficient!!

Granted, it didn't get them loud, but they sounded amazing.  

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by kchia on 02/22/17 at 07:16:43

Quad ESL-63 was great and been keeping for the past 25years, Recently though of sell it off.  The only problem with these speaker is highly humidity can cause the panel spark.I am still playing the Select , very nice indeed,thank you Steve.Oh ya I have a pair of Westrex amp using 6BG6tube,very old amp that scrape from cinema, problem is humming,anybody can help to solve it  :)

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by David on 02/22/17 at 10:26:30

An early 70s Marantz 2215b that belonged to my father in law. I just had it recapped and it still sounds great driving my Omegas.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Rraymond on 02/22/17 at 17:35:25

A mid 70's Marantz 2238b I bought when I was in high school. I just took it to a local shop to have them do a bit of work on it to clean up the scratchy pots etc and now my daughter is using it with some old Bose Am5's I gave her. She lives in an upper flat so I'm sure she keeps the volume way down but she's absolutely loving it!

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by hdrider on 02/23/17 at 20:56:13

My ears. Just racked up another trip around the Sun and love our Decware / Omega rig more today than yesterday. The SOTA Star Sapphire Vac table and Fidelity Research FR-64 arm would be mine...mid 80's I believe. Happy listening, Chris.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by DB2 on 02/27/17 at 02:04:50

By oldest do you mean "owned the longest" or "made the earliest"? There is a difference because I tend to buy used equipment.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by markv on 03/01/17 at 01:23:20

Adcom GFA555 Amp and GFP555 Pre-amp from 1987.  The amp was recently rebuilt and converted into dual mono. Also, a Mitsubishi DA-F20 FM tuner from 1980.  Finally, a rebuilt SystemDek IIX turntable from 1983.

Yes they are old, but sound great together with my fairly new Omega Super 3XRS speakers from 2013.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by audiomaniac on 03/01/17 at 01:25:58

I've got a pair of JBL L166 monitors. That's pretty old I guess.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by samb0357 on 03/01/17 at 21:27:39

AR 3's(speakers for you young guys here) from 1964. Also have 3 turntables that all date from the 60's that are in regular use.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by 4krow on 03/03/17 at 03:43:26

 Ummm, well, I guess that it would have to be my ears. Next in line is the occasional use of a Carver C9 which has been updated.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by bikehappy1 on 03/10/17 at 20:46:57

I still listen to a couple pair of Klipsch KG4's from the mid 80's. I also just sold my Sony PS-3300 turntable from 1976. Many memories from that turntable! My Kenwood KA9100 amp gave up the ghost a few years ago.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by mark58 on 03/10/17 at 21:06:50

I still have that Kenwood KA-9100 Amp.  I use it to burn in speakers.  Bought in college I think...about 1977. Mark.



Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by hurdy_gurdyman on 04/03/17 at 15:44:24

Pair of late 50's-early 60's Electro-Voice LS12's I am using for movies, a Rek-O-Kut Rondine B-12 60's era turntable with late 50's-early 60's Grado wooden tonearm, 1970's Infinity Black Widow tonearm with 1970's ADC LXM cartridge. Early 70's TEAC A-3340s four track/four channel reel-to-reel tape deck, 1980 Realistic TR-2000 Reel-to-reel 1/4 track tape deck, 1980's TASCAM 133 pro cassette deck. Pathe crank type record player. There is more but too lazy to get up and read serial numbers.

Probably don't count, but lots of music comes out of: early to mid 19th century unlabeled German trade fiddle, early 19th century Hopf viddle, 1`924 Vega Tubaphone banjo, no name 1920's-1930's tenor banjo. various old fiddles not quite ready to play, but working on it. 1958 Hammond M3 organ.



Dave  :)

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by rjw on 05/14/17 at 21:26:41

A 1963 McIntosh MC225 and it sounds amazingly wonderful thru my Klipsch LaScalas.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by mdl62 on 05/15/17 at 01:20:40

Adcom GFA-555 from 1985 that used to power M & K S-1b's, which I still have.
The Adcom now drives Maggie 1.7's

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Acetone on 05/15/17 at 18:41:56

Cerwin-Vega AT-8 speakers circa 1985'. refoamed 3 years ago....currently used in living room.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Lonely Raven on 05/16/17 at 15:23:43



I don't have photos, but my Dad gave me his first year Bose 6.2 speakers. I checked the surrounds and they are still intact and not rotted. I think the speakers are '86 or '88? I forget when they came out. The grill is trashed by cats, but I should be able to fix that myself, just need to find a decent grill cloth material - the wood looks perfect, though I may oil it to give it another 30 years of life.  ;)

I'm going to give them a run later tonight while I'm doing some housecleaning. See if the likkle Zen can drive them.


Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Lon on 05/16/17 at 22:02:46

The Zen will drive them. Maybe even loudly enough.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by whitneycole on 07/27/17 at 10:53:45

Thanks for sharing this great information! It's really very interesting to read about the oldest gears.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by JD on 07/27/17 at 14:02:28

Currently in the bullpen but sometimes use a Marantz 2275 from 1977.

JD

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Palomino on 07/27/17 at 19:51:39

Phillips 312 turntable from 1977.  I also have my original SAE amp and Onkyo Quartz tuner from the same period but not really in use.

I have 1 speaker left from my high school stereo dating back to '72-'73.  The other one blew out and I tossed it.  I was the first kid in my class to have speakers with a woofer and a tweeter so I kept the remaining good one for sentimental value.

In a box in the attic, I have an old reel to reel and a quadraphonic decoder box that served me well in my Pink Floyd listening days. Ummagumma!

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Archie on 07/28/17 at 00:53:55


Quote:
...so I kept the remaining good one for sentimental value...


Your children wont thank you!   :D

I tell my daughter that she inherits everything including a 40 yard dumpster! ;D

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by stone_of_tone on 07/28/17 at 13:59:09

You guys have some cool old stuff. Oldest thing I have is from the late 80's......my Polk SRS SDA 1.2's. A lot of fun. The antithesis of my Listening Room....but that is the whole idea.  The SPL's these guys are capable of when I want to go there.....is one of presence and scale...and bone crushing if you want (and not fatiguing to a point of course).

I have had mine for 6 years and paid $1250 for them.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=polk+srs+sda+1.2's&qpvt=POlk+SRS+SDa+1.2%27s&qpvt=POlk+SRS+SDa+1.2%27s&qpvt=POlk+SRS+SDa+1.2%27s&FORM=IGRE

The key for the Polk 1.2's is, POWER!

"The XPA-2 exceeded its power specifications by considerable margins. Into 8 ohms it was rated to 250 watts at 1% THD , yet I measured 312 watts at 0.1% THD. Into 4 ohm loads it was rated to 500 watts at 1% THD while again my measurements exceeded this rating producing 512 watts at 0.1% THD. Make no mistake folks this is one POWERFUL amplifier and most definitely the most power for the money amplifier that has ever come across my test bench since I launched Audioholics nearly 10 years ago"!

KONG, Skull Island ~ tonight, in Stereo Dimensional Array....with a tasty beverage
http://surlybrewing.com/beer/furious/
after sunset.....is happening this evening. Usually, Friday night, if we don't go out...is our Vinyl night. Movie night instead. ALL, have a great weekend!

I will eventually upgrade my Polk 1.2's:
http://forum.polkaudio.com/categories/vintage-speakers
http://vr3mods.com/LCSDAUpgrade.php

.....the important part is to NOT Franken' Polk them.....need to stay true to the provided approved stuff..... . 8-)

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by DirtDawg on 07/29/17 at 12:48:32

I have two McIntosh MC2500 amplifiers that I kept from the old days, circa early eighties, late seventies (I had racks of these things back then - not sure just how old mine are. At over one hundred twenty pounds each, one rack of four was well over six hundred pounds, but it was all about rock and roll in those days) and I use one as a "touchstone" for most other gear, because I consider it almost flawless.

I mostly use my three SE84s to listen to my best open box gear, but sometimes I power them up with the McIntosh. It is a bit of a power touchstone, as I said.
I still use the open Visatron driver, but with two fifteen inch JBLs below. I have made a decent looking baffle, about five years ago; all sold maple from local "source."
(I stopped a guy down the street from splitting firewood and offered him bucks for his larger timber pieces. I have solid old growth maple to brag about, now)

The other I use as a part of my "home theater" style subwoofer system (which is used just for watching movies)  which consists of four bi-amped fifteen inch JBLs and two ten inch running a small thousand watt Crown from the nineties. The McIntosh powering the four fifteens just sees the frequencies below thirty hertz, while the tens only see the frequencies above thirty hertz and up to about sixty hertz.  You never hear my sub system. You only FEEL it when it is time.

I am the only one I know with a bi-amped subwoofer system and I live around a bunch of HT "experts"  so to speak.

Only other piece of older gear I own sits abandoned in the garage, only powered up for wienie roasts and late night bonfires, is a Pioneer receiver from the seventies, sorry - I will have to go find out the model number - I salvaged from my company's (I work for a large company) first efforts at "recycling."   Not really sure that it sounds as cool as it "soiunds"  like it might, but I only use it as a simple (one hundred twenty watts, advertised) CD system. Bottoms are single fifteen, mid-highs are single twelve and single horn, all JBLs from the seventies, passively crossed.
Sounds fine for a backyard system.

Now they frown upon taking things out of the recycle bin, so I never will again. The company wants to responsibly dispose of this old gear turned in by customers, so no more shopping in the recycle bins.
That rule is hard to follow, sometimes. I had to pass up a few pieces of ancient Harmon and Marantz gear not long ago. :'(

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Syd on 10/10/17 at 15:46:44

Old gear alert !!   :)
Came accross this link after looking at a pair of Stentorian speakers.

http://www.vintagevacuumaudio.com/

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Todd A. on 10/11/17 at 18:54:19

Kenwood KT-8300. It's still a helluva nice tuner.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by RayBan on 10/12/17 at 15:12:39

The oldest piece of gear I have is a Realistic Model 31-2000 Hi-fi 20-band Graphic Stereo Equalizer. Picked it up back in the early 80s.
It's in storage right now, but I've used it to "tweak" the sound of the stereo/speakers we use for the outdoors during the warmer months :)

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by stone_of_tone on 10/13/17 at 01:38:20

Now, an Audio Research LS-2B MkII providing stereo line amplification to my ZMA. Absolute joy.

I had a stent put in my Heart on Monday. Got out of the Hospital yesterday. I'm lucky to be alive.

Nourishing my soul with my ARC/ZMA right now and grateful to the Nurses and Doctors at Woodwinds that kept me alive to make it to St. Joseph's where the Nurses and Doctors there, provided me a new lease on life without any damage to my Heart. Cardiac Rehab ahead of me and so grateful.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Jeff of Arabica on 10/13/17 at 01:59:39

Stone,
I am happy to hear you endured and are ok.  Never a good thing when the heart starts acting up.  Hallelujah for modern medicine and for those that dedicate their lives to saving others.  

May your listening these days be even that much sweeter!


Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Donnie on 10/13/17 at 01:59:47

Get well soon Stone. I went through the same thing last March.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by JD on 10/13/17 at 12:03:10

Stone,

Glad to hear you are ok, you as well Donnie. Enjoy the tunes fellas.

JD

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by Lon on 10/13/17 at 12:16:58

Keep healing fellow sonic travelers. My Dad had a stent installed 21 years ago. . .still going strong. Glad this was found and taken care of.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by stone_of_tone on 10/13/17 at 15:37:58

Thanks guys, for the kind words. Donnie you know, and Lon, your dad knows. They can if you have the vein structure....go up through the arm now. With mine they did....amazing stuff. I'm still beat up....happily so.

Okay, enough about that. I might not have owned this ARC LS-2B MkII that comes from 1995 for 22 years.....but in the few months I've had it....I'm not selling it and love it with my ZMA.

I need to roll some tubes in it. So far, I have only used the stock 6922 Electro Harmonix as my control baseline and my Mullard with wonderful results. My Mullard has made sure the Harmonix does not come back. This showed me, even though this is an Class A hybrid FET (transistors), with a single 6922 variant....the tube has a great positive influence. I can understand why, many love this LS2 Line Stage still today. The cool part is, Audio Research will repair to new, 22 years later if she goes down. However, I found an un-swollen gem in this one........ .

I will add.....I have tried the LS2 into Class A/B and the magic was lost. Running the Class A LS2 into my Class A ZMA is pure magic, pushing the ZMA into AB1 (as Steve has coined). Input tube rolling in the ZMA further's the breath taking.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by stone_of_tone on 10/14/17 at 20:14:09

Ha! My oldest piece actually, is in my 2nd Rig..... My Polk SDA SRS 1.2's. Love this solid state system always in SDA. They are from 1987....I got them 6 years ago and will not part with them.

Do they have any business being in my Listening Room with ZMA /ZDSD ARC /KIMBER SELECT /PLATINUM NOS TUBES / modified Acoustic Zen Adagio's = no.

But, very fun and enjoyable in the 2nd Rig with my Silver Pills too in play.

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by stone_of_tone on 10/14/17 at 20:21:21

Ha! I just realized I posted about them in July! Well, they still excite me for this Rig.... So I mentioned again. 😜😎

Title: Re: what is the oldest piece of gear that you use?
Post by stone_of_tone on 10/16/17 at 18:29:29

Listening Room with: Zitron Alpha /ZDSD / ARC / ZMA / KIMBER SELECT / PLATINUM NOS TUBES / modified Acoustic Zen Adagio's. .....and of course isolation devices, such as an townshend seismic sink for my ARC Line Stage and decoupled ZDSD....and iso of ZMA.

I would be remiss, not to mention Power Cords. My Shunyata Research Zitron Alpha digital cord takes my ZDSD to an other level. It is already good, with Steve's output stage. However, I can't recommend this cord enough. Believe me, I'm a card carrying member of the CableCo/Loaner Program....have had quite a few in here. This is the one for a DAC.

Furthermore, to wrap this up, besides my Decware Silver Pills being significant in my 2nd Rig (see reply #31/just above), my XPA-2 with an Kimber Palladian PK10, I purchased used a few years back.....more than subtle difference for my behemoth XPA-2! I prefer my XLO power cord to my ZMA. However, the Palladian to my SS Beast made it a whole other positive experience for my Polk 1.2's.

Note: off topic....but since I did not list in my reply #42..... .




Listening Room:



Room Treatments from Michael Green & Home Brew


Sony as Transport (DVP-NS57P)

Illuminati D-60 Digital Coax IC ~.5 meter


Shunyata Research Zitron Alpha Digital Power Cord to ZDSD {Significant}


Decware ZDSD DAC / Recorder ++
***************************************************************
W/Steve's Output Transformer's/kicking to the Curb quite a few superb DAC'S
***************************************************************
(@ -20 Ref Level, 0.0 Input volume and @ 16/192)


WBT Kimber KS1030 ~.5 meter


Audio Research Stereo Line Stage Amplifier w/remote volume & mute LS-2B MkII
NOS Platinum/Mullard 7308/E188CC / Cryogenic


WBT-0102Ag RCA Kimber Select KS1030 ~.75 meter


currently.....NOS Platinum Tungsram PCC88/7DJ8 ~ 1 pair....in for Inputs/ZMA

Decware Zen Mystery Amplifier
~BIASED at *56* mA~
NOS/Platinum/Mullard E188CC/7308's in my A12 an B12 Input positions Cryogenic~NOS/Platinum/Telefunken E88CC for Inverter Tubes~NOS RCA 0A3's & matched Quad/Tung-Sol KT66's
ZMA adjusted at 20% to 30-40% max ~ from 0 Gain ~ w/ZDSD running direct to ZMA only
ZMA adjusted at  80-90% or 100% gain ~ w/ARC Line Stage, running via Remote Control



***************************************************
Kimber Select KS6063 Speaker Cable 8ft WBT-0681-Ag Spades
***************************************************
Kimber 8TC new/white & clear jacket/to remind me of how fluid/timbre correct and good the KS6063 are
Also Read.....the lowest noise floor you will ever witness....that a $5180 pair of speaker cables should have....and they do.....(I was fortunate to get them for $2680/Demo pair/mint, from the CableCo....worth every penny/extraordinary realism.....)



Acoustic Zen Adagio - Black Pearl (Modified)
.....enjoying from 8 ohm ZMA Taps


Caintuck Audio Eminence Alpha 15" OB BASS Unit
at 53Hz, with my Velodyne CHT 130 watt plate amp and 0 degree phase.....at 1/6 volume on plate
Plate Amp....regen'd clean ~ plugged into P3







Acoustic Zen Adagio's x-over's Modified/Full Range with Mundorf MCap Supremes-single Cap to each Tweeter/4.5k cross
(Gutted: 3kHz/18dB/Octave, Linkwitz/Riley Crossovers....with all crappy parts = gone)


XLO Pro Power Cord to ZMA
PS Audio P3 Power Plant / Pangea AC-9SE from wall to P3
(Transport, ARC Pre, and ZDSD, Regenerated/*120*~ Multiwave off...ZMA on High Current Output).

++ ZDSD DAC, kicked to the Curb: Auralic Vega, PS Audio PWT & PWD, PS Audio Direct Stream DAC, Chord Qute, NAD M51 (twice) & Schiit Yggdrasil.


~NOS Platinum Tubes from Upscale Audio/Kevin:

(Great Britain) Mullard 7308/E188CC ~  2 pair (both pair Cryogenic)
(Germany) Telefunken E88CC ~ 1 pair (painfully expensive/worth it)
(US/Great Britain) Ediswan CV2492/6922 ~ 2 pair (one pair Cryogenic)
(Hungary) Tungsram 6922/E88CC ~ 1 pair
(Hungary) Tungsram PCC88/7DJ8 ~ 1 pair.

From Cryoset:
(Russia) 6N23N/P-EB ~ 2 pair

(Russia) 6N23P's ~ 2 pair/came with ZMA.    


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