An all vintage system


Got to thinking, if I could just will it into existence, how grand would it be to have a JBL Paragon, Thorens TD124/SME 3009/ADC, Marantz 7, Marantz 8B, Marantz 10B

Is there any set up you would will into existence? 

 

zavato

That would certainly be a nice looking system.  Soundwise, the Paragon is not so good (but one of the best looking speaker systems ever built), so perhaps you could sneak in an Everest if you want something in the JBL family.  

My own vintage system would be built around vintage parts, not necessarily vintage builds.  The vintage gear would be a pair of Western Electric 133 amps wired as booster amps, and a pair of Western Electric 124 amps.  The linestage would be something modern (gotta have that remotely controlled volume) built around Western Electric 310 tubes.  The speaker would be a modern build using vintage parts, such as an open back cabinet holding a Jensen/ERPI M-10 full range fieldcoil driver and a Western Electric 597 fieldcoil tweeter.  The turntable would be a Thorens 124 with a modern arm like the Reed 5T and an Audio Technica ART 1000x cartridge.  The phono stage I will have to think more about, and, depending on the definition of "vintage," it might be a while before a good server meets that criteria.  I think an Audio Note DAC5 signature meets some people's idea of a vintage DAC; that would be my pick.

That would certainly be a nice looking system.  Soundwise, the Paragon is not so good (but one of the best looking speaker systems ever built), so perhaps you could sneak in an Everest if you want something in the JBL family.  

My own vintage system would be built around vintage parts, not necessarily vintage builds.  The vintage gear would be a pair of Western Electric 133 amps wired as booster amps, and a pair of Western Electric 124 amps.  The linestage would be something modern (gotta have that remotely controlled volume) built around Western Electric 310 tubes.  The speaker would be a modern build using vintage parts, such as an open back cabinet holding a Jensen/ERPI M-10 full range fieldcoil driver and a Western Electric 597 fieldcoil tweeter.  The turntable would be a Thorens 124 with a modern arm like the Reed 5T and an Audio Technica ART 1000x cartridge.  The phono stage I will have to think more about, and, depending on the definition of "vintage," it might be a while before a good server meets that criteria.  I think an Audio Note DAC5 signature meets some people's idea of a vintage DAC; that would be my pick.

For me, there just were not any older systems that sounded better than newer systems in my memory. I grew up with mono systems and the new fangled transistor radios and every step since then has been better. While putting the speakers of our 1967 Sears portable phonograph on the floor and my in between them is a strong memory... it wasn’t the high end.

It would be fun to put some vintage components together that I never heard. Stuff I dreamed of.  The maranta with the oscilloscope for instance.