Who remembers audio from the time when ...


... I recall hurrying home with the newest vinyl, placing it on the rek-o-kut  belt turntable (arm and cartridge beyond recall) then turning on the HeathKit preamp (with all sorts of equalizing circuits) and amp, then watching the tubes warm up.  The anticipation of hearing the new music through a decent system built up with the warming rube glow from orange to red and dimming into the infra red.  Gently grasping the arm and rotating it to place the needle’s crystal  perfectly into the first cut.  The Heathkit 2way speaker was placed forward from center wall to mimic a mono transducer at center stage.  Switching the turntable motor on while gradually increasing gain at the preamp required a soft touch.  Then stereo,  Reel to Reel.  The Dolby cassette deck, tubeless amps and preamps. Digital ...

  i continue to be amazed at the continuing tidal wave of efforts directed to achieve more accurate sound reproduction and more pleasing perception utilizing our incredible ability to hear sound in the spectrum of musical experience.  The sounds of nature: A drip of water on the wet surface of a broadleaf in the rainforest. The startling gasping wheeze of the change in air flow through the mountain pass.  The sizzle of receding waves through the pebbles on shore.  And the sounds made by humans.

  Old timer’s reminiscences of early audiophile recollections are welcome.  




davesandbag

Showing 1 response by vintage_heath

To directly answer the question posed by davesandbag ………. I do! 

I am lucky enough to still own almost every piece of audio gear I ever purchased, minus the Garrard SL-72B turntable with Shure M93-E cartridge. The mechanicals wore out and I set it out for the trash. I still regret it.

I also inherited a number of older Heathkit tube amplifiers from my father when he passed including a pair of Heathkit A7-E tube amps and a pair of Heathkit A9-C tube amps.

I still have my very first Symphonic stereo which had just a turntable with ceramic cartridge, built in amp with volume, tone and balance controls and two fold out wing speakers. My first upgrade was a switch to a Pickering magnetic cartridge and a small preamp to boost the signal level to one that could be used with the built in amp.

Then came speaker systems I built from plans in Popular Mechanics. Then the Lafayette KT-630 stereo tube amp built from a kit in junior high electronics shop. The Garrard SL-72B turntable and Shure M93-E cartridge. Then the Fisher 210-T AM/FM stereo receiver, the ADC 303AX speakers and Ampex 761 open reel. The Teac V95RX reversing cassette deck. The Heathkit AD-1304 active audio processor. The ADC Sound Shaper 20, A pair of Heathkit AA-1640 amps, Heathkit AP-1615 preamp, Heathkit AD-1307 power meters and Heathkit AD-1305 equalizer. The entire collection of the Heathkit Pro-Series audio gear, including a pair of the AA-1800 power amps, the AD-1702 electronic crossover, the AD-1308 spectrum analyzer, the AD-1309 white & pink noise generator, the AD-1706 active audio processor, the AD-1703 equalizer, the AD-1701 graphic output indicator, the AP-1800 preamp, the AJ-1600 tuner and the AE-1705 rolling audio rack. Can’t forget the Heathkit AD-1013 audio scope. A pair of Heathkit AS-101 (Altec) speaker systems. Technics SL1700MKII DD turntable with Audio Technica AT155LC cartridge. Also somewhere in there was the ADC Accutrac 4000 turntable. 

Along the way, in no particular order, I must also include my Pioneer SX-1980 AM/FM stereo receiver, Pioneer RG-2 audio processor, Pioneer SR-303 reverb with time tunnel display, ADC Sound Shaper SS-412X and ADC Sound Shaper SS-450X, Empire 8000P speakers, Harman Kardon HK-50 speakers, Marantz 2250B AM/FM stereo receiver, Marantz 4300 AM/FM stereo receiver, Marantz 4400 AM/FM stereo receiver.

After that, came the current set-up!

It’s funny, as much as I like all my current gear, I still enjoy owning and listening to the old gear. Not all of it is set up, nor is it all fully functional, but most of it is. Now that I am retired, I have begun repairing and/or restoring it. 

Never before have I bought so many electrolytic capacitors and discrete transistors! 

Thank god I don’t have any other hobbies as intense as this one, I’d be broke! 

Although wives and kids are pretty expensive. Probably even more so that audio equipment! :-D