Post photos of your systems/rooms here! (Part 14)

I like them. They're quite effective considering their size, and they're nicely made. Here's a link to a video of Bruce Jacobs of Stillpoints discussing the panels.

 

Nice Posters and everything else

 

I had one of these (SA-500) 44-years ago! My previous set up was a JC Penney component stereo. Used to go to rock concerts and then listening to "rock" music on mine or any one's home stereo never seemed the same. I decided to start with speakers and work my way back up the chain. I wrote to Altec Lansing and they sent me plans for their A7's. I had the cabinets built and ordered the speaker components before buying an amp. I had no idea what so ever what I was going to use (or afford - making pizza's at Shakey's) as an amp on these huge speakers.

On more of a whim, I stopped by at the Hi-Fi Associates store, not really intending to make a purchase due to the cost of "high end" gear. I was speaking with the salesman, telling him about the speakers that were being built, and I told him that they did not have anything that I could afford, having spent my entire wad on the speakers. He said, "just a minute" and came back carrying a smallish box and told me he did have something that would fit my needs and it was only $79!

I believe that the box said 12-WPC and it was a Pioneer, which was a well respected brand back then. I said 12-watts, how am I ever going to drive these huge speakers with only 12-watts? They were a dealer for home Altec products and understood my speakers. He explained to me that my speakers were 103-db efficient and with 12-watts it would drive most people out of the room. I knew nothing about efficiency at the time but my eyes were wide open and I purchased the SA-500.

The speaker cabinets were delivered, I painted the cabinets and attached the horns. My friend brought over a Mountain album "Climbing" because it said that "this album was meant to be played loud". We put on "Mississippi Queen" and our jaws just dropped!!! Nether one of us had ever heard music this loud and clear inside of a house.

The store would host Macintosh clinics where the Mac rec would test customer's Mac equipment, if it wasn't up to specs, they would replace the offending tube or tubes for free, right on the spot. They let me come and bring my Pioneer. It did test right at 13-WPC. They give me a distortion graph printout, which confirmed what I had already figured out. I could run the amp wide open with the bass turned all the way down or I could put the bass knob in the 12-o'clock position and run at 8-watts with bass and not exceed 1% distortion. The amp never broke.

Friends would come over and I would play rock music real loud and they ask how big was my amp, I would tell them that they were listening to 8-watts, you should have seen the looks that I would get! The SA-500 was the 300b of its day. This amp sounds great and you will probably have it forever...

 

Great story... can hear in your tone that, that same joy, is still running in your veins

 

Avant Garde's... Vermeer - Girl with a Pearl Earring. Did you somehow manage to talk the Hague out of the painting? As everything else looks so real!

 

I still have a couple of pairs of A7's today, one is original and one is improved, currently, I'm running that pair with an Aleph J 30-WPC amp. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

Yep...I had that "Mountain" Lp as well, Leslie West is still kickin it last time I checked. I have the original manuals for these units as well and it/mine states 13w per channel. As most of us from the old days know, watts don't really mean that much. Like you said, it was using 8 watts to play loud. Look at what Nelson Pass can do with 30w.

 

I had an NAD when I was really young (14?) that was 35 watts per channel, and when I 'upgraded' to an 85 watt per channel Denon I couldn't wait to pull it out of the box. I was giddy like a 10 year-old opening a new train set at Christmas. I plugged it in and 'what the heck??' Where did everything go? The dynamics, the warmth, the soundstage. All gone! Never looked at watts the same way again.

 

I got the 'Vermeer' at the same thrift store I get most of my used LPs, I think it was a few bucks. It's all real, and 10 watts of pure single-ended power per channel through those Avantgardes sounds like 150 watts!

 

Actually, those are lithographs I purchased from someone in Santa Fe (already framed). I also have The Mummy and a Frankenstein teaser. Here's a place that sells them sans frames.

https://www.rueroyalefineart.com/shop/posters/art-of-the-movies/classic-horror-movies/

 

I bet your Denon was from the 80's. After everything went to ic's.

 

1994-ish

 

....I promised sacsongs I would post a pic of the finished product
....to refresh, my sister suggested some original Encaustic art originals for my dedicated music room (p.35)

....here they are all done and framed
....I won't have them in my home till late April - she lives in Newfoundland
....she reminds me they are more intense in colour and the characters are more defined in person
.....they look a little washed out because of the fluorescent lighting in her studio and camera flash

....I can't wait to get these up / original and created by someone I love....thanks Sis!!

 

I had a Yamaha integrated, a CA-610 I believe, I bought new in the mid 70's. I think it was 45w per. It sounded great! When it got stolen in about 85, I went to the United Audio and they had the new Yamaha integrated at 80 or 85 watts per so I bought it for I was very busy in those days and just wanted to get my system back up and running. It did not sound bad, but not as good as my old Yamaha integrated. It was later delegated to just my TV system when I upgraded to an Audiolab 8000A integrated, (great little amp!). About 15 years later I came across a very lightly used Yamaha 610, just as my old one so I bought it for I thought it would look cool in my retro TV system I had going on and I was amazed at how much better it was than the 8ow Yamaha from 85. I had already learned about the use of ic's, instead of "discreet" circuitry, which began in the 80's but....boy, what a big difference!

 

WOW coincidence my son and his girlfriend just arrived tonight from KC. I'll show them these pieces.

 

Thanks for sharing this story. Members like you are exactly why I keep coming back.

 

The folks had one like that years ago, I think it was low so you didn't have to get up to make a drink.
Love the idea of a total vintage room.

 

hey, Cool!! i've the very same TT, -best one i've yet owned to date- but i've ended up tarting mine up some in the few years now that i've owned it;

 

Have made a few changes since previous posts. First, went whole hog on the Groovetracer mods and--with the addition of the Zu/Denon MC cart--turned the P5 into a monster. I love the delrin platter, but it's a shame that it hides the beautiful sub-platter:



Our Manley Shrimp is sidelined for repairs, so we switched out the PrimaLuna Prologue 2 and the Zu cartridge from a currently mothballed second system. I'm a big fan of EL34s in the (now resting comfortably on either side) AES Six Packs, but those KT88s in the PrimaLuna are awesome.



View from the sweet spot:

 

Hey Scotto, Great lookin' set-up! We just moved to Columbia, would like getting together sometime and enjoying some tunes!

 

Love your tannoys

 

Very cool

 

These look fantastic!