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auntblabby
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10 Feb 2014, 12:36 am

LupaLuna wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
it is mainly SETs [Single-Ended Triodes] that have a euphonic coloration mainly in the form of even [primarily 2nd harmonic] order harmonic distortion which adds a treble zing to a lot of older music. only problem with 'em is that to get any power they have to be large and heavy and HOT!! ! I was in definitive hifi's very best room back in 1983 with a pair of monoblock SETs the size of dorm room refrigerators that pumped out a princely 50 watts each [lots of dynamic headroom though] but so warmed the room that people were sweating], they were powering a pair of magnaplanar tympani III panel loudspeakers the size of room dividers, and these amps were barely able to power these speakings to any useful volume. the sound was gorgeous though. one mighta thought that one had stepped into a church cathedral on a hot day, the sound of the [reproduced] liturgical organ was so convincingly reproduced. I woulda loved to hear my own music on that system.


Sound like to me those amps where Output TransformerLess (OTL). Horribly and ungodly inefficient devices I'll bet that each of those amps drew about 2000 watts from the wall socket just to get 50 watts out. Most tube amps have a transformer on the output stage to match the impedance of the speaker but transformers make the amp sound muddy and some audiophiles don't like that. OTL amps are a lot like driving 5mph down the road in 4th gear and riding the clutch to keep your engine rpm's up.

whatever it was, it was the most accurate, neutral, undistorted and clear and utterly musical sound I have heard, before or since. they were playing a direct-disc lp of some bach organ music, and an interesting thing was the surface noise was palpably separate in space, from the music, like the surface noise was like an aural cloud in midair between the speakers and us listeners. it was a novel sensation to say the least. the music floated free of the speaker positions and turned the entire listening room into a virtual venue akin to the recorded performance location.



michael517
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11 Feb 2014, 1:20 pm

LOL all the computer CRTs are gone in our house, but in 2004 I bought a television with a CRT and a built in HD tuner, and we still use it.

The biggest problem is the thing ways like 110 lbs, and I am not the spring chicken I used to be, and now where I live you have to drop off all electronics at some distant place on certain Saturday mornings and pay like $15 for the privilege to do so.

That is to say, its so much easier with the status quo.

I also have a Hauppagge (sp?) PCI TV tuner card and a Silicon Dust dual TV Tuner Ethernet device so I can watch or record TV on computer.



auntblabby
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11 Feb 2014, 5:08 pm

i have various faux-ambience black boxes that if I hooked amps up to them, I could transform my listening room into a virtual auditorium of my choice [stadium, cathedral, club et al]. one of 'em [a Yamaha] is digital while the rest are analog.



Drehmaschine
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13 Feb 2014, 8:18 pm

I am absolutely fascinated by old machinery. I own several "Geneva" style Horologist's lathes and an old (early 1900s) Wolf, Jahn & Co Model LL. It is very intriguing to see the backgear and spindle pulleys.
I have always loved how beautiful and intricate these machines are. You were not only buying a useful machine, but a true work of art, something that took time and talent to craft, not something soullessly mass-produced by people who only care about a paycheck.



Drehmaschine
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13 Feb 2014, 8:26 pm

auntblabby wrote:
i have various faux-ambience black boxes that if I hooked amps up to them, I could transform my listening room into a virtual auditorium of my choice [stadium, cathedral, club et al]. one of 'em [a Yamaha] is digital while the rest are analog.

Remember those Leslie speakers? Those had such a rich tone, nothing much can come close to that sound. I remember hearing one of those on a Pink Floyd album. 8O



auntblabby
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13 Feb 2014, 8:31 pm

Drehmaschine wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
i have various faux-ambience black boxes that if I hooked amps up to them, I could transform my listening room into a virtual auditorium of my choice [stadium, cathedral, club et al]. one of 'em [a Yamaha] is digital while the rest are analog.

Remember those Leslie speakers? Those had such a rich tone, nothing much can come close to that sound. I remember hearing one of those on a Pink Floyd album. 8O

my gulbransen theatrum organ has a leslie in it, though I think the belt is shot.



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13 Feb 2014, 10:49 pm

I like vintage technology. I have some old computers, and video game systems. I also have some audio systems made using vintage components, along with modern ones where necessary.


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auntblabby
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13 Feb 2014, 10:50 pm

would you please describe your vintage audio setup? :)



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13 Feb 2014, 11:02 pm

I have a old Realistic mini amp with the matching AM/FM and AM Stereo Tuners, a Pair of Minimus 7 speakers, a newer Sony dual well cassette deck, a Teac MP3 CD Player, a Pioneer Stereo 8 recorder, an Audio Techhica AT-LP120-US Turntable and an iPod dock. I also have a sound system with a Soundesign 8-Track/amp combo with speakers as the heart of another system, and I'm going to setup a sound system with a Creative Surround Decoder, a Realistic SA-10 Mini Amp, a Realistic QA-681 Quad Amp, a Yamaha subwoofer and 3 Minimus 7 speakers with two shielded Minimus 7 design speakers for the front channels, for video games.


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auntblabby
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13 Feb 2014, 11:07 pm

I have a old Realistic mini amp with the matching AM/FM and AM Stereo Tuners, a Pair of Minimus 7 speakers, a newer Sony dual well cassette deck, a Teac MP3 CD Player, a Pioneer Stereo 8 recorder, an Audio Techhica AT-LP120-US Turntable and an iPod dock. I also have a sound system with a Soundesign 8-Track/amp combo with speakers as the heart of another system, and I'm going to setup a sound system with a Creative Surround Decoder, a Realistic SA-10 Mini Amp, a Realistic QA-681 Quad Amp, a Yamaha subwoofer and 3 Minimus 7 speakers with two shielded Minimus 7 design speakers for the front channels, for video games.[/quote]
Hmmmm... :chin: I have a few minimus 7s and a few Yamaha subs of different shapes and sizes, one of 'em is from 1982. I have two of the kind with 2-8" woofers in a YST active servo ported enclosure, and with each in the corner they pressurize the air in my listening room fairly well, on the low organ bass pedal notes. I can feel my lungs pulsate and my ear drums get pressurized even at lower volumes. I am a bass freak, BTW. I would LOVE to have a vintage quad 8 track system, I LOVED quad. the original red book specification for sony/Phillips CD system called for quad but it was dropped at the last minute when the Japanese [sony] insisted on 79+ minutes capacity to hold Beethoven's 9th symphony on one disc, and the 4 channel CD standard was only 40 minutes, matching LPs of the era. gee, what coulda been....



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16 Feb 2014, 4:27 pm

As I have posted before I have some beautiful vintage speakers, the trouble is the listening devices attached to my head are also becoming somewhat vintage :cry:


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auntblabby
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16 Feb 2014, 4:47 pm

can you jog my memory as to what kind/brand of speaker system?



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16 Feb 2014, 5:35 pm

zer0netgain wrote:
Kurgan wrote:
My parent's coffeemaker is almost 26 years old. It's been used everyday since it was brand new, and isn't showing any signs of giving up yet. I still have a portable Olivette Praxis 20 typewriter from 1983.


Well, they really haven't improved the technology for boiling water and pouring it through a filter basket. :lol:


The coffeemaker is still a far more important invention than both the TV set and the radio. :)



Arran
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05 Apr 2014, 8:03 am

Hard drives with the ST-506 interface that used two data connectors. Were they sold with a floppy containing utilities to set the interleave and park the heads because they were not included with DOS?



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05 Apr 2014, 3:09 pm

I am a total vintage electronics nut. Mostly radios and audio equipment the vast majority is tube based. I love to repair and restore this technology as well and have a total lab setup just for this. This is an older pic of part of my shop. I have added equipment since and also have other stuff hidden away on shelves and all over the house. It is my aspie obsession I suppose. :D

Image

Image

My audio equipment is pretty much elsewhere but includes vinyl, R2R, cassette, etc. Most all is vintage of course and a good portion is studio grade. I enjoy rescuing audio and preserving it in digital format however I prefer the analogue sound. :lol:



auntblabby
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05 Apr 2014, 10:03 pm

KB8CWB wrote:
I am a total vintage electronics nut. Mostly radios and audio equipment the vast majority is tube based. I love to repair and restore this technology as well and have a total lab setup just for this. This is an older pic of part of my shop. I have added equipment since and also have other stuff hidden away on shelves and all over the house. It is my aspie obsession I suppose. :D
My audio equipment is pretty much elsewhere but includes vinyl, R2R, cassette, etc. Most all is vintage of course and a good portion is studio grade. I enjoy rescuing audio and preserving it in digital format however I prefer the analogue sound. :lol:

wow, I bet that all cost a pretty penny. what sort of audio restoration do you do? I wonder if it is similar to what I do.