Best hifi you have or have had?

[Doodski]

Yep,,,,it was fantastic with a ton of power,
I liked the 501s and the Polks the best,,
You could get warmed up standing by it
I had an output transistor go on it, no replacement available,I had it for many years

Do you still have it or did you toss it in the garbage? I ask because the Pioneer VSX D1S (not version 2) has (BJT) regular non-FET transistors in it. I'm looking at the service manual. The bad ones could possibly be substituted for a similar transistor.

 

[Oldasdrt]

Do you still have it or did you toss it in the garbage? I ask because the Pioneer VSX D1S (not version 2) has (BJT) regular non-FET transistors in it. I'm looking at the service manual. The bad ones could possibly be substituted for a similar transistor.

Took it to a reputable repair shop, no longer available,
Water damage from hurricane Andrew,my stuff was in storage there when I got out of the AF,
Dain it man,
That thing rocked,

 

[Doodski]

Took it to a reputable repair shop, no longer available,
Water damage from hurricane Andrew,my stuff was in storage there when I got out of the AF,
Dain it man,
That thing rocked,

Too bad those VF displays rocked.

 

[NiagaraPete]

The one I have now. But I'm in upgrade mode.

 

[Oldasdrt]

Too bad those VF displays rocked.

It was sweet got it on sale for 900 at the bx in Germany

 

[Doodski]

It was sweet got it on sale for 900 at the bx in Germany

Lol... I sold Audio gear from ~1983 to 1992 and so I lived though that phase of big battleship receivers with VFD technology and the race for the biggest baddest displays possible. I think that JVC had the biggest displays and the most buttons on the front panel.

 

[NiagaraPete]

The one I have now. But I'm in upgrade mode.

I have to amend my earlier post.

The system I enjoyed the most was a setup of Linn LP-12, Meridian 101 pre, 103D amp, and lastly Chartwell LS35A's. The LS35A's were really hard to drive (16 ohm) but the Meridian with dual power supplies did the job.

 

[DanielT]

I had a SU-V303 that I purchased ~1983-84. I think the SU-V3 is actually a bit nicer and maybe even better inside. I used it till about the year 2000 and it finally fried itself. I engaged the protection circuitry so many times that I was convinced it was infallible. I drilled it out for additional RCA pre-out terminals at the back plate and it served me well as a bench head unit for many years. Great unit.

I should leave old memories alone but I know how this will end and what I bought within a few months just to calm my curiosity.

Speaking of amplifiers. I have revived my old interest in HiFi. Currently has no direct top notch system. Until I figured out which speakers to buy (and along with them the appropriate amplifier) I use an Aiyima TPA 3255. In any case, the Aiyiman I bought used this summer. Then the hell happened to fly in me. When I bought it, I happened to see an ad on a NAD 3020 (the original little racer from NAD not the new model). Thought then that it was damn what hifi is cheap in the summer (people spend money on other things, travel, boats and what belongs to the summer). So it just happen that I kept buying because it's fun to test, amplifiers / receivers, so it became a bundle of vintage:
Luxor 7082 A
Harman Kardon 330 C
Fostex 600
Beomaster 3000
Philips A 749
Cyrus Two with PSX
Harman Kardon HK 670 (not directly vintage)
DIY push pull tube amplifier with EL 34 tube
Technics SU -V45A

Some conclusions so far:
1. In addition to checking how the stuff works when buying vintage on the question to the seller if the transformer is humming, remember that the answer you get is subjective. What is meant by "it only sounds a little but it is not heard when you play music" can mean anything.
2. There are good and bad vintages (one in the list above was complete junk for example)
3. Such equally powerful amplifiers, most of them decently designed, it is not easy to hear a difference. It is possible to do (I think) BUT do you hear a difference or does it just happen that when you change and test, you do not check the level of the sound and thus you think that the one who sounds loudest has the best sound . Classic difficulty in comparisons.
4. It's much easier than you think (at least for me) to imagine differences in sound. I can think one thing day one for at day two day have a completely different view of the sound for day three have the same view I had day one. It can be quite confusing to have a bundle of amplifiers to switch between.
5. There are different views on recapping. I lean towards "if it ain't broke, do not fix it" at least for such cheap amplifiers. A recap will probably not add much I THINK (of course depends on the condition of the vintage amplifier). Surely there are threads about it on this forum. Recap or not that is the question ie
6. Check when in the year it is time to buy used and when it is time to sell.
7. Do something sensible instead. Try a few different speakers. .... Paint the house, change the brakes on the car.

 

[Doodski]

I should leave old memories alone but I know how this will end and what I bought within a few months just to calm my curiosity.

Speaking of amplifiers. I have revived my old interest in HiFi. Currently has no direct top notch system. Until I figured out which speakers to buy (and along with them the appropriate amplifier) I use an Aiyima TPA 3255. In any case, the Aiyiman I bought used this summer. Then the hell happened to fly in me. When I bought it, I happened to see an ad on a NAD 3020 (the original little racer from NAD not the new model). Thought then that it was damn what hifi is cheap in the summer (people spend money on other things, travel, boats and what belongs to the summer). So it just happen that I kept buying because it's fun to test, amplifiers / receivers, so it became a bundle of vintage:
Luxor 7082 A
Harman Kardon 330 C
Fostex 600
Beomaster 3000
Philips A 749
Cyrus Two with PSX
Harman Kardon HK 670 (not directly vintage)
DIY push pull tube amplifier with EL 34 tube
Technics SU -V45A

Some conclusions so far:
1. In addition to checking how the stuff works when buying vintage on the question to the seller if the transformer is humming, remember that the answer you get is subjective. What is meant by "it only sounds a little but it is not heard when you play music" can mean anything.
2. There are good and bad vintages (one in the list above was complete junk for example)
3. Such equally powerful amplifiers, most of them decently designed, it is not easy to hear a difference. It is possible to do (I think) BUT do you hear a difference or does it just happen that when you change and test, you do not check the level of the sound and thus you think that the one who sounds loudest has the best sound . Classic difficulty in comparisons.
4. It's much easier than you think (at least for me) to imagine differences in sound. I can think one thing day one for atg day two day have a completely different view of the sound for day three have the same view I had day one. It can be quite confusing to have a bundle of amplifiers to switch between.
5. There are different views on recapping. I lean towards "if it ain't broke, do not fix it" at least for such cheap amplifiers. A recap will probably not add much I THINK (of course depends on the condition of the vintage amplifier). Surely there are threads about it on this forum. Recap or not that is the question ie
6. Check when in the year it is time to buy used and when it is time to sell.
7. Do something sensible instead. Try a few different speakers. .... Paint the house, change the brakes on the car.

Geeech you have a stable of amps there... have you considered going multi-amp'd on the speakers, Like use one amp for the woofer and another for the tweeter etc. A cheap way to get control over the drivers for better sound.

 

[DanielT]

Geeech you have a stable of amps there... have you considered going multi-amp'd on the speakers, Like use one amp for the woofer and another for the tweeter etc. A cheap way to get control over the drivers for better sound.

He he that's my thought.

I also bought a Behringer, the t.amp E-800 with installed silent fans which I will use the Behringert with a couple of subwoofers. An easier DIY try on project with two 12 inch JBL woffers which I am planning the construction with now.

Along with that I will buy:
Active Crossover
MiniDSP
UMIK-1

Use the mentioned amplifiers to power the top speakers. They should fix that pretty well. In any case, the risk that I will drive them into clipping will probably decrease when I unload them (the sub frequencies).

I have already sold the Philips A 749. Useless receiver. Do not think there was anything wrong with. It distorted like hell in the treble when you pulled on the volyme. Sharp unpleasant sound.Maybe it just needed to be recapad. Or the basic construction of the receiver Philips A 749 is just rubbish.

After the amplifiers will fall off during comparisons, I sell them off one by one this autumn, winter.

Or I keep some and switch between them. I'll see what happens.

 

[Doodski]

Along with that I will buy:
Active Crossover
MiniDSP
UMIK-1

Nice! I like the miniDSP.

 

[DanielT]

I find this interesting. Two designers who have a discussion about vintage amplifiers and what they would currently build if they only got the electronics of that time. Copy paste from another forum. It is , I saw now, a ten-year-old thread.But it does not matter.
Translated directly from Swedish through Google Translate, so be forgiving if it may look a little strange.

First Amplifier Designer:
https://www.facebook.com/sybariteaudio.se/

On the other hand, the conditions for drawing fine power amplifiers were not particularly good in the 70s. The transistors from that time are today considered pure junk. In the early 80's, the coolest bipolar transistor was the Motorola MJ15003 / 04, but it is hardly comparable to a modern transistor from e.g. Sanken . Incidentally, the hard-to-beat (in terms of transition frequency, power resistance, maximum voltage and current, etc.) MT200 transistor 2SA1295 is about 10 years old.

A question that does not have much to do with this perhaps: Suppose you were given the task of constructing a high-class output stage, which leaves away 100 V peak, which makes about 500W RMS in 8 ohms. You may only use components that were available in 1972. Would you choose transistorer or tubes in inte output state? : D

Response from the designer of these:
https://www.whathifi.com/us/guru/junior/review
Transistors (many connected in parallel, and bridged) Not to avoid the tubes though, but to avoid the output transformer.

https://www.facebook.com/sybariteaudio.se/
Would you look at that . I think I actually gone with tubes. Lots of 6C33C or 6550C in parallel, push / pull 8) I'm not sure though

https://www.faktiskt.io/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7576

Edit:
Yes yes maybe What Hifi does not know Ingvar Öhman. Those who do a lot with Hifi, on the other hand, know who he is. Here is a quote from Amir:

I have known Ingvar for several years. It started because, as you probably know, he built the dummy load and installation for AB (F / E) testing of amplifiers for LTS (Swedish sound society). I watched some of his interviews and read lots of his posts online (although machine translation at the time was pretty awful). Definitely a smart guy who has a firm leg in objectivity when it comes to sound.

https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/good-morning-from-sweden.7690/