Louis Armstrong's Audio Rack (from NYT article)

Was just surfing the NYT and ran across an article about Armstrong's home-- now a house museum-- in Corona, Queens. I thought folks might get a kick out of this photo of his gear, as it was left following his death in 1971.

 

Wow, those are some serious classics! A Marantz Model 7 Preamp, a Marantz 10B tuner, a Tandberg model 6X recorder.

I can't help but wonder if an 8B amp might be hidden below as well... I don't recognize the TT or arm though. Is it some model of Garrard changer?

But whoever left both of the Tandberg's transports engaged was not very smart. This will doubtless have created some flat-spots on all of the rubber rollers.

 

I wondered about the amp myself. 8B would be fitting, for sure. No idea on the TT. Someone here will likely ID it.

 

I believe the TT is a Dual 1019.

 

It’s always great to see musicians that care(d) about how music sounds reproduced in their home. I’ve known many who listened to the worst imaginable systems at home and really wanted great sound at their gigs. I couldn’t reconcile the two.

Louis Armstrong is one of the most important musicians in Jazz history. I’m glad his home is a museum. I have to visit it one day.

 

I've known many musicians, and this is a surprisingly common phenomenon. They usually care deeply about the sound of their own instrument, while they are playing it. But when they listen to recordings, they often don't care about the overall sound of the recordings at all. They only seem to care whether they are able to hear their own part playing inside of the recording.

 

Yep...that exactly what it is.

 

I dont know that to be true of the musicians for the era of long ago like in Armstrong's day. I remember seeing Frank Sanatra's rig...it was audiophile quality.

Frank Sinatra's Classic Hi-Fi System

Frank even seems to be relaxing in a Eames Louge chair.

 

Yes there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. And there are even some audiophile musicians (especially on this forum). But I have much more commonly observed musicians listening to something with fidelity comparable to that of an AM radio than to that of a good stereo.

 

I visited the house in 2011 and remember the audio rack - particularly the hand made labels. I can't recall the amp.

I do remember on the opposite wall there is a painting of Louis which was painted by Tony Bennett - pretty good.

Worth visiting the house if you are a Louis fan - although at the time they were talking about building a museum across the street and closing the house to visitors.

 

Now I'm curious. The linked article noted the relatively small number of annual visitors-- something like 18,000 I think. Did you get a sense that most of the other visitors were fans, or were there also random tourists?

 

The four reels left to right on the two Tandbergs:
1- a cheaper brand of tape&reel sold under many brand names and not Ampex or Scotch (correct me if wrong)
2- 3- Scotch reels, 2 is earlier, 3 is later '60s
4- the type of empty reel supplied with a good new deck, maybe the originally supplied reel from Tandberg
Also note the four reel holders are different.
Obviously he used these a lot, and could copy tapes.

What cartridge is that?

I'm glad to know, now, that Mr. Armstrong was an audiophile!

 

The Tandbergs are in Stop or "Free". I don't think there's a problem (other than age now).
I think that's a model 65 or later variant on the left, playback only.

 

There are a pair of AR4x speakers mounted in the ceiling, one above Satchmo’s desk and one above the seat opposite.

 

I believe there is an early solid state Marantz power amp inside. It’s been about 10 years since I visited.

 

If those machines are untouched, he certainly wasn't an audiophile listening at 1 and 7/8's!!

 

I wonder to what extent this is because, if accustomed to the sound of live instruments, recorded playback at home does not come close on most systems. Maybe a lot of musicians don’t really know what is possible in hi-fi, and/or it’s not where their priorities lie (instruments and the gear that go with them can be very expensive).

Because, yeah, I know other musicians, and as far as I can tell, their playback systems are very modest compared with their instruments and rigs.

Of course, if you’re wealthy like Satchmo or Sinatra, you can afford both...

 

The Tandberg 6 and the Tandberg 6x both had a top speed of 7.5 ips. Almost nobody ever used the slowest speed for music. Why do you accuse him of listening at 1.875 ips ?

 

Because it would have sounded like really bad Low-Fi AM radio.
Usually used for spoken word, so maybe it wasn't music he was listening to....

 

I thought most went out of their way to get there -it isn’t something you would stumble across. We saw an article in a magazine prior to our trip to NYC.

They only allowed small groups of up to 6 at a time on the tour.

 

Stereophile recently had an article about Ron Carter.

Musicians as Audiophiles: Ron Carter

 

That didn't answer my question. Where do you see the evidence that he listened at 1.875 ips? Nobody listened to music at that speed, except on cassettes.

 

Both decks are set to 1 7/8 with the speed switch between the two reels toward the top of each deck.
It could be that with these models the springs and etc. are least stressed when set to 1 7/8, and some conservator knew this or was told this. Could be, just a guess. The decks are set to "Free", so the idler wheels are disengaged.

 

Great blog post from Ricky Riccardi on the Louis Armstrong tapes:
Louis Armstrong's Final Tapes

 

By that article, it would seem those Tanberg's would have little to no wear at all.
Pristine perhaps.