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In praise of Old Stuff.

M

Michael L

pfm Member
I've been bitten by the Old Kit bug.

Tony first made me think about old Sony Tuners, and I started off with a 5950-SD, and have ended up with an astonishigly good Sony ST-A7B.

I'm selling my Naim 300 and will rely on my 25kg, Class A Marantz PM-94 which I currently use as a headphone amp. To say its battleship Build is an understatement and I think it looks lovely. The only thing it misses is needle indicators ( VU meters? ). As soon as the 252 is hooked in, I'll be able to listen to vinyl via headphones. Tuner top right, PM-94 sits below.


The sound quality of these pieces of kit is, IMO, extraordinary. AS far as VFM is concerned, its hard to beat. I've even purchased a Technics separates system for about £50, which is now set up in my garage.

Hurrah for old stuff.

systemaug20090002.jpg
 
Ah, Sony Tuners. My ST 3950 F... Should never have sold it! Nearly bought one once. Also, an ST 80 F . Probably not as good as the 3950F. Didn't it turn into the ST 80 F to suit the SA 88 amp ? Martyn .
 
Mike,
are you keeping the Naim pre-amp and feeding that to the power amp section
of the Marantz ?
 
<more blushes...>

I'll try to take some nude pictures of both 80s items; the Sony weighs 14kg and has little rooms for each component. The Marantz weighs in at around 25kg...
 
Mike,
are you not tempted just to run all your sources into the Marantz and do away
with the Naim pre amp altogether, if nothing else it would reduce your box count and
there is something to be said for a good integrated amp, often overlooked nowadays.
 
Good point, Mark

I have thought about that, but suspect the combination of 252/PM94 should be better than pure PM94. There is also the reliability issue, as the Marantz is some years old and the model, running in Class A, is known to fail as soldering joints wear due to thermal expansion / contraction.

It is tempting, though... I'll A/B over the next few weeks as I've provisionally sold my 300.

M
 
I love old kit. Here is a list of my kit that is at least 20 years old:

Nak 680zx/682zx
Akai GX-77 x 2
Tandberg 3300x
Pioneer SA-9100 (Just finished a major overhaul)
Pioneer TX-9100
Lenco L75 x 3
Early Hadcock GH228 Super
Entre 1 mc cart
TDL Studio 1
Sony TC-K75
Akai X5000W
Heybrook C3
 
I love the look of that Sony tuner, Mike. By accident I have ended up using mostly old stuff in my main system too, and totally agree on the build quality and value for money being very good indeed, as well as the sound being more than acceptable.

Turntable/tonearm - 20 years old.
Tuner - 22 years old.
Pre/power amps - 20 years old.
Speakers - 27 years old.
CD player - a nipper at only 12 years old.
 
Morning chaps...does an early 80's Audio Technica AT-637 marked @ £19.95 count as old kit? :).still got some fluid in the bottle too! and on it's original battery.........

denni55
 
Seeing the insides of the Sony tuner has prompted me to take pictures of the internals of my pre and power amp. A free CD (either jazz, classical or rock - you choose the genre, I'll pick a disc) posted to whoever can guess the manufacturer and model.

The pre amp:

preandpower004.jpg


The power amp:

preandpower003.jpg
 
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