The ask Tin about audio thread

I went back to the shop with one of my neighbors and looked them over better and made them hook them up. Sounded fine with no scratching noises of any kind. The enclosures are in really good shape and the bottoms were barely scuffed up so it was clear that they were well taken care of. Original grilles and original cloth on them too but no front labels any more.

Managed to talk them down a bit further on price and bought them and got them home. Now it's time to look into upgrading some other components.

What kind of amplifiers or or equipment should I be looking for that will do these justice?
 
For studio monitors, you want beefy amplifiers that are 2 or even 1 ohm stable. Something like a Crown or QSC would be best, about 200WPC @ 8 ohms or better. You'll also need a preamp, or you could simply use the preouts of an A/V receiver, integrated amplifier, or stereo receiver. Those are mighty fine speakers. JBL even sells their newer flagship M2 Monitors with a pair of Crown amps http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M2System
 
Tin said:
For studio monitors, you want beefy amplifiers that are 2 or even 1 ohm stable. Something like a Crown or QSC would be best, about 200WPC @ 8 ohms or better. You'll also need a preamp, or you could simply use the preouts of an A/V receiver, integrated amplifier, or stereo receiver. Those are mighty fine speakers. JBL even sells their newer flagship M2 Monitors with a pair of Crown amps http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M2System
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Could you give me a list of several differerent models that could work well I should look for? I'm ok with vintage stuff too or even DIY if that would be appropriate. I would prefer to buy 2nd hand.

I have a Denon home theater reciever running these right now with 2 channels but was thinking of bi- amping with it. Do I need a crossover to do this? I guess I need to see if the thing will allow me to adjust an output to >300.

If you ever want to come to Japan to see that place (among many other things) first hand let me know and you have a free place to stay while here. Come be my guest.
 
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Tin said:
That's a very cool vid, I could spend days in that place.
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If you remember a few years ago, I was emailing you about this place when I was there.


95 Z/28 LT1 said:
Could you give me a list of several differerent models that could work well I should look for? I'm ok with vintage stuff too or even DIY if that would be appropriate. I would prefer to buy 2nd hand.

I have a Denon home theater reciever running these right now with 2 channels but was thinking of bi- amping with it. Do I need a crossover to do this? I guess I need to see if the thing will allow me to adjust an output to >300khz.

If you ever want to come to Japan to see that place (among many other things) first hand let me know and you have a free place to stay while here. Come be my guest.
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Yodobashi Camera in Yokohama has a fairly decent selection of equipment. I've been there a number of times, and always spend a bit of my down time there. I never did buy any audio equipment there since I would be bringing in back to the US, if it was some obscure piece built for Japan or Asian market I'd be out. But I did see a handful of good stuff. It is interesting to go browse around though.
 
I have been to the Yodobashi Camera in Osaka on several occasions, it's right outside the JR station and fairly close to me. I think it's like 8 floors, with each one being roughly the size of a Best Buy.

If you want electronics (and anime and manga) though the place to be is Akihabara. They will have about anything you could want, new and used.
 
95 Z/28 LT1 said:
Could you give me a list of several differerent models that could work well I should look for? I'm ok with vintage stuff too or even DIY if that would be appropriate. I would prefer to buy 2nd hand.

I have a Denon home theater reciever running these right now with 2 channels but was thinking of bi- amping with it. Do I need a crossover to do this? I guess I need to see if the thing will allow me to adjust an output to >300.

If you ever want to come to Japan to see that place (among many other things) first hand let me know and you have a free place to stay while here. Come be my guest.
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DIY is the way to go, by far. I've never had any prebuilt amplifier put out higher quality sound than any I've built myself. Kits are a great way to go, as they always come with the higher quality components and take out a lot of the guesswork. A pair of M125 Monoblocks from Tubes4Hifi would run about $1800 plus another $500 to $600 for the tubes. You'd need a preamp too, and for that there are many schematics available for suitable preamps, or you could get a kit such as a Budgie Line Stage from Shannon Parks or even a SP9 from Tubes4Hifi. Keep in mind you will need sufficient power for those JBLs, and the best kits on the market right now for higher powered tube kits are Tubes4Hifi and Transcendent Sound. If you want solid state instead, it's easy to get big power out of Class D amplifiers. The kits from Class D Audio are very well regarded on the popular audio forums.
 
I think I want to go with tubes.

If I went with Transcendent would I need 2 Beasts to drive the 4343s? Seems like a lot of money...

How would a pair of the M125 monoblocks sound in comparison? Is this the best bet?

I'm not that familiar with the OTL sound advantage besides a little of what I read online.
 
IMG_3429_zpsagif6mmk.jpg~original



IMG_3430_zpschd2dath.jpg~original
 
Thanks, getting those were actually driven in part by this thread and seeing Bob post so much help that has encouraged me to get back into this hobby (addiction). :lol:

I looked again at the Transcendent website and was looking at their forum and reading about 'The Beast'. What I see now, and it's not immediately clear, is that the kit actually includes TWO monoblocks. Going by the photos and the description it appears initially that two of these kits would be needed. For example other vendors sell their monoblocks one at a time so you basically have to double the price. I think that's not the case with The Beast.

All that being said, is The Beast the best choice for a kit type amplifier to drive these things or are two M125 monoblocks better? I want to buy/build something once and keep it for a very long time.

How often will I need to replace tubes and how much will I need to worry about being able to find tubes for these things 10 or 20 years from now?
 
95 Z/28 LT1 said:
Thanks, getting those were actually driven in part by this thread and seeing Bob post so much help that has encouraged me to get back into this hobby (addiction). :lol:

I looked again at the Transcendent website and was looking at their forum and reading about 'The Beast'. What I see now, and it's not immediately clear, is that the kit actually includes TWO monoblocks. Going by the photos and the description it appears initially that two of these kits would be needed. For example other vendors sell their monoblocks one at a time so you basically have to double the price. I think that's not the case with The Beast.

All that being said, is The Beast the best choice for a kit type amplifier to drive these things or are two M125 monoblocks better? I want to buy/build something once and keep it for a very long time.

How often will I need to replace tubes and how much will I need to worry about being able to find tubes for these things 10 or 20 years from now?
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I'd go with the M125s for sure. It uses common tubes, the same type used in many guitar amps. Truthfully, if it weren't for the musicians, tubes would be a relic of the past right now, but they kept the ball rolling when the solid state craze took hold 50 years ago. The M125s can use either EL34, 6CA7, KT88, or KT120, which are very popular among musicians. Best of all, there are many well documented mods for the Tubes4Hifi amps, so there are way more configuration options to keep you busy. Tubes last a long time, especially if they weren't intentionally red plated or over driven. The tubes in my last amp were from the 1940s and looked pretty well used when I got them, but measured well within factory spec when I put them on the tester. You'll be all good ;)
 
Hey Tin, do you have any info about this "Pioneer SX-50"?
I couldn't find anything online about it. What it cost new?
are they worth anything today? How good are they rated?
What year is it?

I can't seem to find much on it. It works real nice. I just
picked it up at a yard sale. I did get the original owners
manual with it too.

%%%% Stereo.JPG
 
I don't know anything about that particular Pioneer, but it does look to be from the early/mid 1980's going by the aesthetics. It's pretty consistent with competing models of the era, but that's all I can gather from it. It certainly looks interesting. Have you hooked it up and listened to it? It may be a sleeper component. Something that sounds great but flies under the radar and isn't particularly sought after. There are a lot of those out there, but they generally don't command the same prices as 60's and 70's era components. Having said that, I can't put any value on it as I've never seen one before. If you have some speakers you can hook up, sit back and enjoy it for a spell until you find out for sure what you have.
 
I too thought it was 1980's vintage. I didn't think it would have
been a big dollar unit, but I've never seen one like it before.

I'll hook up some speakers & CD player and take it for a spin!

Thank you!
 
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