OK, now we come to what has become my obsession that took over when the camera collection was finalized. The stereo equipment.
I bought an Orion Audio Blue Book which is like McKeown's for audio equipment less the pictures of the actual equipment. A veritable gold mine of information. Orion makes one for just about every kind of equipment.
In it I have high-lighted everything that I can remember owning over the years. It numbers over 100 pieces of equipment! Fortunately, I buy it, use it, sell it and buy something else. That way, like the cameras, they support themselves as a hobby. I am certain that I'm through with the buying/selling of that stuff too. Nancy doubts that!
It all started in 1975 when I met the Stubbs family in Richmond, Virginia. One of the sons had a nice Pioneer integrated amp with turntable, a big Revox reel-to-reel tape deck and HUGE speakers he'd built with at least 18" woofers. He drove his family and the neighbors crazy with his loud music. I was hooked and intended to have a better stereo, albiet with more practically sized speakers.
In the pre-Internet age we did research by going to the library and reading magazines. Somehow I came across a book called The Audio Alternative. It was a huge paper-bound book that took a non-advertised approach towards buying good audio equipment.
I ended up buying a Dynaco PAT-5 pre-amplifier kit and two Southwest Technical Products Tiger 01 60 watt mono power amps kits. The first turntable was a B.I.C 940 and a pair of floor-model Dynaco A-25 speakers rounded it out. I built the PAT-5 first and then the Tigers. A place in Richmond called Audio Art checked out my handy work and said they were fine. So now it was time to drive MY family crazy!
As the years went by, the pieces died and were replaced. Raising four kids with a wife that didn't work prevented any real exploration of the genre. It wasn't until Nancy came along and we found the Internet, did the buying and selling really begin.
Salvation Army introduced us to surround sound via an old Sansui Quad receiver. Sansui's system was the basis for Dolby's original surround system. As a result it successfully decoded the surround in the VHS movies of the time. And so THAT phase also began.
Currently we have four complete sound systems throughout the house. Two stereo, two home theatre.
Starting in here (office/library/museum) is a set comprised of a Denon PRA-1200 pre-amp with a Kenwood Basic M1 power amp with Sigma drive and DLD. Nominally 105 watts per channel in Class A. Attached are: Denon TU-600 tuner, DR-M20 3-head cassette deck, DP-7F turntable (Stanton cartridge), DCD-690 CD player, and DVD-757 SACD/DVD-Audio player. PLUS, an Insignia HD Radio tuner all playing through an MXR equalizer to LYRIC/Eosone and RCA loudspeakers.
A word on the speakers. The LYRIC 3-way bass reflex speakers I found at Salvation Army. They had 10" woofers and the surrounds were gone. I bought new POLK Eosone drivers and Cerwin-Vega crossovers. I rebuilt them with the above. They sound PHENOMENAL! Google: Eosone speakers for more info. The RCA ones are small cast aluminum surround speakers with amazingly good sound. They are above and behind me. The Eosone drivers are very efficient. It doesn't take much power to cause LOUD music. Eosone speakers were very expensive and they never had a model like I made.
The entire LP record collection is also in here. Over 1100 last count. The 100 cassettes we decided to keep are here also. The CDs, almost 400 are in the living room. Which takes us to the.........
LIVING ROOM SYSTEM. This is the main system but not used nearly as much as the one in here.
It's base comprises of Adcom equipment as the core. GFP-565 pre-amp and GFA-585 power amp. 250 watts per channel and VERY heavy! Also a GFT-555 tuner and TWO ACE-515 power conditioner/distributors. Attached to all these are: Denon DP-23F turntable with Shure M97xE cartridge, Rotel RCD-940BX CD player, Pioneer PDR-555RW CD recorder, Samsung HD-950 SACD/DVD-Audio player, JVC TDV-711 3-head cassette deck and a KLH TNE-7000A Transient Noise Eliminator for LP records tick-free playback. A Coustic HEQ-7000 equalizer massages two massive Optimus PRO-4000 speakers with 15" woofers. I think that's all the equipment in there.
The Family Room has a standard 32" TV with a Sony DVP-NS775V DVD/SACD player. A color matched Hi-Fi VHS player, a Sherwood ST-875 turntable with Ortofon OM-5 cartridge and Verizon FiOS all go through a Yamaha RX-V493 5.1 surround receiver. The main speakers are the phenominal BOSE 301 models. The center and surround speakers are Pioneers and an A-Neutronics 12" powered sub round out the speakers. The sound is quite satisfying. LPs through the 301s blow me away! Nancy bought them for me. Gotta love her!
Lastly is the DEN. It too was a bedroom. Now it houses a Samsung 32" LCD HD TV with Infinity TSS-450 surround/sub speakers. A Yamaha DVD-S1500 DVD Audio/Video SACD player, Sony Play Station 2 and Verizon FiOS all go through a Yamaha RX-V2092 7.1 surround receiver. Being a normally sized bedroom, the screen and system are more than enough to satisfy. Nancy also bought the Samsung HD TV for me!
I eventually was able to afford a used Dynaco Stereo 400 power amplifier (200 WPC) to go with the more recently purchased PAT-5 and FM-5 tuner. I discovered Mitsubishi's original venture into high-end audio equipment and eventually had all the Dual Mono equipement. Then the Adcom pieces I found (again at Salvation Army) replaced the Mitsu's.
I can now sit down in any of four rooms and listen to music to my hearts content. Unfortunately, I like it louder than Nancy does. Except in her car, you can hear her coming for blocks!
I bought an Orion Audio Blue Book which is like McKeown's for audio equipment less the pictures of the actual equipment. A veritable gold mine of information. Orion makes one for just about every kind of equipment.
In it I have high-lighted everything that I can remember owning over the years. It numbers over 100 pieces of equipment! Fortunately, I buy it, use it, sell it and buy something else. That way, like the cameras, they support themselves as a hobby. I am certain that I'm through with the buying/selling of that stuff too. Nancy doubts that!
It all started in 1975 when I met the Stubbs family in Richmond, Virginia. One of the sons had a nice Pioneer integrated amp with turntable, a big Revox reel-to-reel tape deck and HUGE speakers he'd built with at least 18" woofers. He drove his family and the neighbors crazy with his loud music. I was hooked and intended to have a better stereo, albiet with more practically sized speakers.
In the pre-Internet age we did research by going to the library and reading magazines. Somehow I came across a book called The Audio Alternative. It was a huge paper-bound book that took a non-advertised approach towards buying good audio equipment.
I ended up buying a Dynaco PAT-5 pre-amplifier kit and two Southwest Technical Products Tiger 01 60 watt mono power amps kits. The first turntable was a B.I.C 940 and a pair of floor-model Dynaco A-25 speakers rounded it out. I built the PAT-5 first and then the Tigers. A place in Richmond called Audio Art checked out my handy work and said they were fine. So now it was time to drive MY family crazy!
As the years went by, the pieces died and were replaced. Raising four kids with a wife that didn't work prevented any real exploration of the genre. It wasn't until Nancy came along and we found the Internet, did the buying and selling really begin.
Salvation Army introduced us to surround sound via an old Sansui Quad receiver. Sansui's system was the basis for Dolby's original surround system. As a result it successfully decoded the surround in the VHS movies of the time. And so THAT phase also began.
Currently we have four complete sound systems throughout the house. Two stereo, two home theatre.
Starting in here (office/library/museum) is a set comprised of a Denon PRA-1200 pre-amp with a Kenwood Basic M1 power amp with Sigma drive and DLD. Nominally 105 watts per channel in Class A. Attached are: Denon TU-600 tuner, DR-M20 3-head cassette deck, DP-7F turntable (Stanton cartridge), DCD-690 CD player, and DVD-757 SACD/DVD-Audio player. PLUS, an Insignia HD Radio tuner all playing through an MXR equalizer to LYRIC/Eosone and RCA loudspeakers.
A word on the speakers. The LYRIC 3-way bass reflex speakers I found at Salvation Army. They had 10" woofers and the surrounds were gone. I bought new POLK Eosone drivers and Cerwin-Vega crossovers. I rebuilt them with the above. They sound PHENOMENAL! Google: Eosone speakers for more info. The RCA ones are small cast aluminum surround speakers with amazingly good sound. They are above and behind me. The Eosone drivers are very efficient. It doesn't take much power to cause LOUD music. Eosone speakers were very expensive and they never had a model like I made.
The entire LP record collection is also in here. Over 1100 last count. The 100 cassettes we decided to keep are here also. The CDs, almost 400 are in the living room. Which takes us to the.........
LIVING ROOM SYSTEM. This is the main system but not used nearly as much as the one in here.
It's base comprises of Adcom equipment as the core. GFP-565 pre-amp and GFA-585 power amp. 250 watts per channel and VERY heavy! Also a GFT-555 tuner and TWO ACE-515 power conditioner/distributors. Attached to all these are: Denon DP-23F turntable with Shure M97xE cartridge, Rotel RCD-940BX CD player, Pioneer PDR-555RW CD recorder, Samsung HD-950 SACD/DVD-Audio player, JVC TDV-711 3-head cassette deck and a KLH TNE-7000A Transient Noise Eliminator for LP records tick-free playback. A Coustic HEQ-7000 equalizer massages two massive Optimus PRO-4000 speakers with 15" woofers. I think that's all the equipment in there.
The Family Room has a standard 32" TV with a Sony DVP-NS775V DVD/SACD player. A color matched Hi-Fi VHS player, a Sherwood ST-875 turntable with Ortofon OM-5 cartridge and Verizon FiOS all go through a Yamaha RX-V493 5.1 surround receiver. The main speakers are the phenominal BOSE 301 models. The center and surround speakers are Pioneers and an A-Neutronics 12" powered sub round out the speakers. The sound is quite satisfying. LPs through the 301s blow me away! Nancy bought them for me. Gotta love her!
Lastly is the DEN. It too was a bedroom. Now it houses a Samsung 32" LCD HD TV with Infinity TSS-450 surround/sub speakers. A Yamaha DVD-S1500 DVD Audio/Video SACD player, Sony Play Station 2 and Verizon FiOS all go through a Yamaha RX-V2092 7.1 surround receiver. Being a normally sized bedroom, the screen and system are more than enough to satisfy. Nancy also bought the Samsung HD TV for me!
I eventually was able to afford a used Dynaco Stereo 400 power amplifier (200 WPC) to go with the more recently purchased PAT-5 and FM-5 tuner. I discovered Mitsubishi's original venture into high-end audio equipment and eventually had all the Dual Mono equipement. Then the Adcom pieces I found (again at Salvation Army) replaced the Mitsu's.
I can now sit down in any of four rooms and listen to music to my hearts content. Unfortunately, I like it louder than Nancy does. Except in her car, you can hear her coming for blocks!
I ASSUMED THAT I COULD ARRANGE PHOTOS WITH THE PARAGRAPHS THAT MENTION THEM!
HOWEVER, I HAVE YET TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THAT. BEAR WITH ME. IN THE MEAN TIME TO SEE IF A PHOTO HAS BEEN POSTED RELATED TO THE TEXT, PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM.
HOWEVER, I HAVE YET TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THAT. BEAR WITH ME. IN THE MEAN TIME TO SEE IF A PHOTO HAS BEEN POSTED RELATED TO THE TEXT, PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM.
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