the_yetimonster

My last 3 vinyl-related purchases:

 

First I bought and restored this SL-1500:

(note the SL1200mk2 feet and dust cover.  Some SL1500 parts aren't that easy to find anymore.)

 

And then I bought this amp:

and these Focal Chorus 705v speakers because my regular speaks got damaged and these were on closeout:

 

At roughly the same time.

 

Everything sounds hella good. 

The speakers are gone, but the receiver is still here.  $120!

Just add a retro turntable and you've got full hipster cred!

 

I bought both of these things a while back and until recently I've been using them in my bedroom with a Pure i20

iPod dock. 

 

The receiver is a Sansui 441.  It's restoration consisted of all new capacitors except for the big main filter,  new insulators and thermal paste on the output transistors, new diodes, lamps, bias/offset adjustments, and a thorough cleaning/DeOxit treatment.  Of course, it's got a very nice sounding phono input   I bought it from an electronics technician in IL.  It works without fault and sounds really nice. 

 

 

 

And the speakers.  These were built from scratch by a hobbyist specifically to look retro.  They've got brand new woofers and Advent type tweeters, the guts are all new, etc.  He made the cabinets out of wood and oiled them with tung oil.  The grilles are old-fashioned cane.  I bought them for their looks, but they actually sound really good, especially with the Sansui.  I bought them from a fellow on Audiokarma.

 

 

 

Looking for $200 for the receiver and speakers. 

Not going to happen if the tooling for the 1200s was scrapped when production ended. 

I believe the 1200 mk2 sold for about $650 back in '79-'80 when they first came out.  Which in today's money is about $1900.

 

These were never a reasonably priced consumer turntable.  Expecting a $750 mk2 today is completely ridiculous. 

 

Still, I think $2000 would be a better price than $4000. 

It looks good, sounds good, and plays my records.  I can't complain.  I'm sure the day will come in the future where I move the Sony along and buy another nice full manual table.  Maybe another 1200 or something else. 

I sold most all of my extra gear (save the two sets of speakers I'm still trying to sell) and all of my nicer main setup stuff because I'm going back to school for a semester or two starting in January and was raising funds for that. 

 

I traded an amp I wasn't using for the Sony.   I'm not really one for automatics, and it isn't a 1200, but I'm pretty happy with this Sony for now. 

I sold the more potent gear and scaled back a bit. 

 

 

Music Hall A15.2 amp and Marimba speakers, Sony PS-X5 table with Shure M97xe cart. 

I've recently downsized things a bit, and switched to easily moved bookshelf speakers and stands instead of floorstanders.  So, I've got two sets for sale.   These are local pickup in the Milwaukee, WI area. 

 

 

Set 1:  JM Lab Focal Daline 3's.  $225. These are early 90s transmission-line speakers (big bass in a small package) with Focal's inverted dome-tweeters and fully rubber woofer surrounds, so there's no monkeying around with crumbly foam on these.  They've also got new gold-plated binding posts.  I've owned these since 2012.

 

These are pretty efficient speakers, and I've driven them with as little as 12 wpc and they can perform with that.  They sound FANTASTIC...as they should, considering who made them.  The cabinets are solid, but have corner nicks.  The front grilles could really stand to have new fabric put on though. 

 

 

Set 2:  Mirage M-5si's.  $425.  There are currently two sets of M-3si's on craigslist near me with $1000 asking prices, so this is a pretty solid deal.  These are big (4.5' tall at least) heavy bi-polar monsters from Mirage of Canada - back when they made good speakers.  Each speaker has two tweeters and two woofers - one forward facing and one rearward facing.  These speakers are in pretty much mint condition.  The bases, spikes, tops, socks, posts, and all of the drivers are in excellent condition.  Two spare tweeters are included also, which I pilfered from a set of smaller Mirage speakers.  These speakers are mirrored left and right and have matching serial numbers, and their original boxes and packing materials. 

 

These are really smooth and nice sounding speakers, with a giant soundstage.  BUT, they are NOT efficient, and they're a relatively difficult load to drive.  Trying to drive these with your Pioneer SX-550 will result in something getting fried.  I used a Sony TA-N77ES and then a pair of Crown 1500's to run these. 

 

Since getting the Music Hall amp, my old Sansui receiver is just sitting, so I thought I'd try to pass it along.  Local pickup in the Milwaukee WI area. 

 

 

Sansui 441 receiver -  Mid 1970s vintage, 11 watts per channel.  It's in really excellent condition except for four marks on the top that are clearly from another piece of gear sitting on top of this one.  It's completely plug and play.  Before I bought it, this receiver was recapped (all capacitors save the main filters), got new lamps, new diodes, new transistor insulators and thermal paste, had it's circuit boards cleaned, and had all of it's controls cleaned and lubricated.   $135.

 

 

 

Make the trip!

This is one of the very first pieces of audio gear I ever bought.  But, I haven't used it in ages so I'd like to sell it.  I played the first couple of tables I ever owned through this one.

 

It's an Onkyo TX-860 receiver from the late 1980s.  It's got a pretty beefy power supply, 80 watts per channel and is 4ohm stable, which opens up a lot of passive speaker options.  All metal construction and has a working remote. 

 

It's got a (pretty good, actually) phono stage already, so you don't need a separate preamp.   It would be a great amp for a vinyl newbie, I think.

 

 



 

A combination of heft, large size, lack of packing materials, and low price not really justifying shipping means this one is local pickup. 

I really like my Music Hall a15.2. It sounds amazing for the price. How much did you pay for a 2nd hand one? I paid $421ppd for an open box one.

 

I paid $200 for mine.  It's in pretty much brand-new condition without a scratch and included the original packaging/remote/book. 

I just bought a second-hand Music Hall A15.2 amp to power my Mirage speakers.  Quite happy with it. 

 

What I really need to buy is a better stand to keep the stuff on.

Kind of a piss-poor photo, but:

 

Turntable is a Technics SL-1200mk2 with a Denon DL-110.  Amp is a Music Hall A15.2.  Other sources are a Teac CDP650 and my iPod, and an Onkyo TA-R22 cassette deck.  Speakers are Mirage M-5si's. 

Buy a used car, get free cassettes!

 

 

I found them in the driver's door pocket. 

Yep, plywood.  3/4 to 1" hardwood-based plywood, with an oak finish veneer over it. 

 

No particle board.  I guess that's what I meant by 'solid'. 

I registered here because of this thread, and I've just scrolled through the whole thing looking for inspiration.  Some of you guys have some great storage ideas!   I may steal some. 

 

Here's where I started:

 

 

Those shelves are cheap things I bought at Target.  I much preferred this storage setup in terms of room aesthetics.  Unfortunately, they weren't up to holding all of those records, plus a heavy integrated amp and a 25 lb. turntable (I don't own either of those anymore) on top.  The left one eventually got bumped and pretty much crumbled.  So, I plucked out all of my rougher records and dupes to slim down the library, and went to this for storage:

 

 

Solid plywood bookcase with oak veneer I found on craigslist.  It had removable shelves and wouldn't have been strong enough that way, so I shot and sunk 3" brass screws into the end of every shelf.  Now it's solid as a rock and holds the weight without a hint of strain.  I don't like the way this looks though.