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The Receiver Wars – 1974-1979

March 10, 2015 · admin

RECEIVERWARSOnce upon a time a long long time ago in a Galaxy far far away from the Empire and Darth Vader, there was a Golden Age of Audio. And for a time within this Age a war raged on Planet Earth for over half a decade, the likes of which had never been seen before or since, and for a short time powerful High Fidelity sound was available to the average consumer.

The Receiver Wars occurred during the ‘Golden Era’ of Audio (1971-1981) when the major HiFi manufacturers developed audio products that really were aimed at producing the finest musical reproduction as possible and multi-billion dollar corporations invested massive amounts into R&D to achieve this end.

Commencing in 1974 and ending in 1979 the major manufacturers of retail HiFi components competed against each other in a ruthless all-out war to dominate the market and offer the most powerful, best sounding and most aesthetically stunning Receiver. 

They were selling to a wealthier and more intelligent market than today (it was before “Diet, injections and injunctions” had reduced the average IQ) and the general pubic were expected to be capable of interpreting things like Nyquist Charts and be familiar with terms like ‘harmonic distortion’, ‘slew rates’ & ‘frequency response’ which today are only reserved for that bizarre and tiny segment of the human population known as audiophiles.

The World's First Receiver: The Harmon Kardon Festival TA230

The World’s First Receiver: The Harmon Kardon Festival TA230

Receivers are an audio component that combine a tuner, pre-amplifier and power amplifier into one unit, so that everything you need to listen to the radio or other music sources in High Fidelity is contained in the one box – sans speakers of course. The company that invented the Receiver was Harman Kardon, however other manufacturers were quick to introduce their own Receivers to market. By the end of the 1960s, Receivers had become a highly popular audio component genre.

whatisitExcerpt from a 1972 Marantz Catalog Explaining the Concept of a Receiver

PioneerQuadsPerhaps one reason for their popularity was their stunning looks, with their mixture of multi-coloured back-lit tuning dials, signal strength and alignment meters, VU meters and a multitude controls that all combined to produce something that looked remarkable.

Next to these most separate components would just look, well bland in comparison. Receivers became a feature in the home, standing out without taking up a huge amount of space as the furniture based systems that had been so popular in the 1950s and 1960s.

Traditionally audio purists will tell you that for the ‘best’ sound separate components are the only way to go, and normally this is the case. However as the popularity for Receivers gained – R&D funding soon followed. Receivers began to see refinements and performance that out-paced what even the best ‘high-end’ reference components could offer. Receivers had become the flagship products of audio manufacturers.

The Receiver Wars Commence

It was 1974 and two events would occur that would forever change the landscape of HiFi and trigger the ‘Receiver War’.

The first event of 1974 was when the United States Federal Trade Commission moved to introduce a new and rigorous standard for rating the performance of Hi-Fi gear. While not perfect, and some argue it is not even measuring the correct thing, it was at least a step in the right direction.

Prior to 1974 the audio market had suffered from confusion caused by a myriad of different power ratings making it very difficult to compare one brand to another in terms of performance. Often a manufacturer would pick a method that would give them the most impressive figure that they could quote in their marketing material, and there was very little control over how these measurements were made. The outcome of this meant that it was entirely possible you could purchase a 50 Watt amplifier only to find that your neighbours 10 Watt amplifier would drown yours out!

scope2The new FTC standard was directly aimed at combating the unrealistic claims being made by some manufacturers, and to arm the consumer with a rating system with which to compare one HiFi product to another.

The new metric was known as RMS or Root-Means-Squared and was a punishing test for amplifiers using sine-wave signal voltage to measure the maximum output that an amplifier could output into a resistive load before ‘clipping’ or distorting.

The RMS measurement was quoted as the maximum output in Watts an amplifier could produce with a corresponding measurement of  harmonic distortion produced at that rating. This measurement was taken over a given frequency range, typically 20-20000Hz.

GroovyPioneer70s

The second event to change the course of Hi-Fidelity History was when Pioneer – true to their brand name – released to market the first 100 Watts RMS per-channel Receiver as rated by the new FTC standard.

And thus the first salvo in the Receiver War was fired.

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Behind the Scenes at Spring Fashion Week with Miranda Kerr

March 9, 2015 · admin

Ridiculously Good Looking!! Beautiful! Gorgeous! Stunning! Elegant! Timeless!
And Miranda is not bad either! 😉

Miranda Kerr takes us behind the scenes at Spring Fashion week to blow us a kiss and show off a beautiful 70s Marantz Receiver and Turntable. I believe what we are looking at is a Marantz 2270 Receiver from their 1972 Winter Catalogue. As for the Turntable I am yet to identify it, maybe somebody out there could educate me 🙂 BTW Vintage Marantz is sooooooooo hot right now!!!

Kisses xxx #hmspringfashion @hm

A photo posted by Miranda (@mirandakerr) on Mar 10, 2014 at 6:18am PDT

Behind the scenes @hm #hmspringfashion ❤️

A photo posted by Miranda (@mirandakerr) on Mar 5, 2014 at 11:31am PST

 

The Marantz 1972 Winter Catalogue

Marantz-coverMarantz during this period were producing some of the most powerful receivers at the time, and many will attest that they were finest sounding as well!

These are absolutely classic pieces especially when dressed in their optional walnut cabinets. All of these units are rarely seen in Australia and I highly recommend any one of these items if you have the means.

The Model 2270 is a fabulous Receiver with heaps of power (70W+70W RMS) with that famous Marantz sound and was the ‘second best’ Receiver on offer during this catalogue year next to their ‘Model 19’ Receiver.

Marantz 2270sm

 

I am not sure whose place Miranda is at in these photos, but it certainly indicates that it is someone with incredible taste and style! And obviously Miranda liked it in her shots too!

The Pioneer SX-1010 (1974/75) – The First Monster Receiver

March 8, 2015 · admin

SX-1010 Banner

1974 RRP: $699.95
2015 Inflation adjusted RRP: $3,269.00

Introducing the Worlds First 100 Watt Per Channel RMS Receiver.

SX1010FTIn 1974 some seriously good music was flooding the airways, Queen had released their “Killer Queen” anthem, Bowie had released Diamond Dog and Kiss had their debut album, but what Receiver could do these bands the justice they deserved?

woman-screamingThankfully this was the decade that saw solid state HiFi evolve from being cute little music boxes that sat in the corner of ones lounge room to Monster’s capable of scaring small children and women with weak bladders. Queen, Bowie and Kiss would not be disappointed!

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A Pioneer SX-1010 on my workbench, getting ready for testing and recap.

A stripped down Pioneer SX-1010 I’m working on getting ready for restoration. Stay tuned for details of this restoration.

And the first of these Monsters was Pioneer’s top-of-the-line Receiver for 1974, the SX-1010. On it’s release was the most powerful receiver in the world!  This iconic piece marks an important milestone in this history of HiFi for it was the first 100 Watt RMS per channel Receiver and was responsible for triggering the famous Receiver Wars of the 1970s. 

To break the 100 Watt sound-barrier Pioneer engineered this unit with dual positive/negative power supply coupled with two huge 18,000uf filter capacitors. All this was to drive it’s Direct Coupled, Parallel Push-Pull OCL Power Amplifier. The SX-1010 delivered the promised 100 Watts RMS @ 8 ohms per channel with only 0.1 THD, and did it with ease.

It’s power supply capacitance to output watts ratio was amongst the highest ever seen, and as the decade rolled on other manufacturers would release units with higher watt ratings yet their power supplies could not compete with the SX-1010.

The Dual +/- Power Supply of the SX-1010 with two massive 18,000uf Filter Caps

The same SX-1010: Note the Dual +/- Power Supply of the SX-1010 with two massive 18,000uf Filter Caps

This particular Receiver has a very dedicated following, with many preferring them over other Monster Receivers. It’s sound posses warmth and character yet it has a fantastically tight bass response, great detail, and tremendous headroom making it capable of far exceeding it’s power rating for brief periods, allowing your music to be heard in its fullest expression. 

 

Raw power was not the only feature that this receiver had going for it. Promoted as a ‘Command Center’ this unit had inputs for 2 turntables, 3 pairs of speakers, 2 tape decks, 2 microphones, 2 headphones, one aux input and separate connections available for external Dolby processors.

Also featured on this unit was Pioneer’s unique twin-stepped bass and treble tone controls that can custom tailor the listening experience to over 3,000 variations. There is also an option to connect a  a 4-channel decoder allowing you to play quadraphonic sources.

 

SX-1010-br2Style wise, this unit continued with the blue back-lit dial displays from the previous X2X series, but this was also the last of the Pioneer’s Stereo Receivers in which this was style was offered. Wrapped in a beautiful walnut veneer cabinet with a warm orange-glow, this unit was also the first to incorporate the toggle switches that would feature on all Pioneer SX Receivers until the end of the decade.

It also featured plastic push buttons arranged lengthwise across the base of the dial display for input selection and other controls each with an illuminated display to give you a heads up display on your chosen settings.

1974-PIONEERThere is a presumption that for true hi-fidelity gear the best performance can only be achieved through separate component systems, this is certainly not true for 1970s receivers. Sure there are a myriad of cheap and nasty tape, record and radio combinations out there, but these are not to be confused with quality Receiver Amplifiers produced during the 1970s.

Receiver’s were immensely popular high end units in the 1970s and hence were the flagship products offered by quality manufacturers, the effort that was expended during the Receiver Wars was testament to this fact. Often the latest and finest technologies found its way into the Receivers before trickling down into the remaining product line.

SA-9100-brFor comparison Pioneer’s top-of-the-line component amplifier available in 1974, the SA-9100, was rated at only 60 Watts RMS. Many receivers internals were actually built as separate components with shielding provided for each section. Furthermore these Receiver’s also features pre-out’s allowing it to be paired with separate power amplifiers.

Specifications (Short Version)

  • Power output: 100 watts per channel RMS
  • Harmonic distortion: less than 0.1%
  • Frequency response: 7Hz to 100kHz
  • Output: A, B, C, A+B, A+C, B+C (4 to 16 ohms)
  • Damping factor: more than 50
  • Residual hum and noise: less than 1mV
  • Dimensions: 520 x 175 x 440mm
  • Weight: 22.2kg

Specifications (Long Version)

SX-1010 Specs

1973 AKAI AS-980 – High End Quadraphonic Receiver

March 3, 2015 · admin

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Original 1973 MSRP $USD > $830.00
Inflation Adjusted 2015 MSRP $USD > $4,400.00

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AkaiCoverAkai’s 1973 product catalogue is one of my favourites. It’s exuberant, colourful and full of beautifully designed and crafted audio gear. This is, of course, one of those pieces…

The AS-980 is Akai’s top-of-the-line Quad-Monster Receiver for 1973 through 1975. I decided to introduce the term Quad-Monster to differentiate these beasts from the top-end Receivers of the Receiver Wars while still awarding them the title of Monster. Why? Most of the high-end Quadraphonic Receivers are typically physically impressive Beasts that possess huge dimensions needed to house the four separate amplifiers required. And the AS-980 is no exception, being the widest Receiver I have seen to date enter my collection it measures 66cm or 26″ wide – this is a full 10cm wider than my Pioneer SX-1980 Stereo Monster Receiver in my collection! I placed a coke can into some of the above shots to better enable the viewer to appreciate the dimensions of this Beastie!

AKAI AS-980 Sexy

I love the early 1970’s adverts for HiFi gear. They are playful, sometimes naughty, and free from Orwellian Newspeak otherwise known as Political Correctness.

The early 1970s saw the major manufacturers embrace 4-channel Quadraphonic sound seeing it as the next big thing. Decades before Dolby Digital Surround was introduced Quadraphonic sound saw a battlefield full of formats and the consumers of the time must have been a little bewildered and confused about just which quadraphonic format to choose. Akai’s solution to this quandary – pun intended 🙂 – was to pack their high-end Receiver with every Quadraphonic Decoder available!

As such the sheer size of the unit was also necessary to house all the controls and displays necessary for both stereo sound reproduction and the quadraphonic settings.

You might think that you would need a Pilot’s license to operate this Beast, so I thought it might be fun to take a journey across the fascia. Moving from left to right the controls for mains power, speaker selection and the 2-channel or 4-channel mode selector. This Receiver accommodates up to 3 pairs of speakers allowing you to select a 2 pair combination for playback at any time. And in Quadraphonic this actually translates into 6 pairs of speakers in total with up to 4 pairs of speakers operating at any one time. So this amplifier while operating in a Quadraphonic mode could have 8 speakers pumping at once!

Akai's Flagship Quadraphonic Receiver the AS-980 paired with their top-end Quad Reel-to-Reel

Akai’s Flagship Quadraphonic Receiver the AS-980 paired with their top-end Quad Reel-to-Reel

The 2/4 channel mode selector switch is such a great feature because many other manufacturers placed these on the BACK of their Receivers and Amplifiers, and some even involved changing or rotating a plug that needed the use of a screwdriver! On this side of the display are the dual tuner controls representing tuning and signal strength. The next section incorporates independent Bass, Treble and Left and Right Balance controls for the Front and Rear channels. It also features independent Loudness controls for each of these channels, this is the only model I have come across to have this feature! Next to this is a linear potentiator for controlling Front and Rear Balance.

The centre of the fascia is dominated by two large and important looking knobs that are for Main Volume, Balance and Tuning. One unique feature is a Volume Limiter device placed around the volume knob. I’ve never come across this anywhere else to date! It surrounds the volume knob and allows you to rotate it to set a desired maximum limit, the device will stop the volume knob from rotating beyond it without a fair bit of effort. A great idea to protect the unit from kid and teenager abuse 🙂

Akai AS-980Around these are placed some push button controls for Muting and High and Low Filters and a DIN plug for an external remote control, the Akai RC-4. I have been looking around for this remote, will let you know if I come across it. Directly above this the display features and attractive blue-lit tuner dial and illuminated pointer.

AS-980-Front

The next section offers two dials. One gives the user a generous selection of inputs or music sources to choose from, including my favourite being two turntable inputs, as well as a MIC and an AUX option.  Below this is a 4-channel mode selector offering options for Mono, Stereo, Discreet, SQ and Matrix. Right next to this is the CD-4 decoder controls. Again Akai was on the ball and thoughtfully placed the CD-4 separation controls on the Front Panel (many other manufacturers would place these on the rear of their units).

AS-980-Rear

Situated directly above the CD-4 controls is an FM Muting push button and Meter Level Controls to ensure no matter what volume you are listening to your music the VU meters are satisfyingly dancing away. The 4 VU Meters are on display directly above this. If your listening in 2 Channel – only 2 VU meters are lit up and on display, while in 4 channel modes all 4 light up 🙂 Next to these is also the attractive 4 channel mode light to let you know that the amplifier is operating in 4-Channel mode.

Finally we complete our journey and have finally reached the far right of the fascia where we discover the selectors for 3 Tape Monitors giving you even more input sources with output as well. Perfect for connecting into your PC or Mac. And a front panel MIC and DUBBING inputs. And lastly but a very important feature that should not be overlooked is that this unit came with a multi-voltage selector, meaning you can take this unit with you wherever you wish to travel and with a small adjustment you can operate it on any power-grid around the world! 

All up that’s a heck of a lot of features! BTW the Exam will be held at 08:00 hours sharp tomorrow. So now that you have your Pilot’s license let’s take a look at whats under the hood…

This beauty is jam packed full of amplifiers, decoder and equaliser boards, every square inch of space has been fully utilised here. Everything is built upon its own separate board.

IMG_0834

The amplifiers consists of a direct-connected pre-amplifier and a double-push-pull Darlington configured SEPP-ITL-OTL Power Amplifier. In stereo mode this setup produces 50 Watts RMS per channel at 8 ohms while in Quadraphonic Mode it generates 32 Watts RMS per channel at 8 ohms.

IMG_0824This unit is powered by a dual +/- power supply consisting of a large laminate-core transformer. In this configuration only a single large smoothing capacitor is directly integrated to the power supply circuit while other smoothing capacitors are built into the power amplifier boards directly.

akai babe magnet 2

An advert for a complete Akai Quadraphonic System with a debonair Bond like character with a martini. If only I’d known sooner that the secret to success with women was a 4 Channel Akai HiFi! Or perhaps this advert is trying to say that listening to an Akai 4-Channel system feels like the warm embrace of 4 lovely ladies? 

It is finished with a genuine wood veneer case and dark brushed aluminium fascia and all up weighs an hefty 20.5kg!

What doesn’t translate with the technical specs is it’s sound. Warm, silky and detailed sound with heaps of low end is what you can expect from this Receiver. You will want a large room to play this Monster in so you can enjoy it in it’s full glory. 

It’s decoders are excellent and you can achieve brilliant channel separation in it’s various Quadraphonic modes. Many quad amps suffer from lack of power, but not this bad boy, it is the second most powerful Quadraphonic amplifier in my collection, and I am almost certain this was the most powerful quadraphonic Receiver in 1973.

Mine admittedly get’s most use in Stereo playback, but with just a flick of a switch it’s ready to play quadraphonic! This unit would also be fun to setup for 4-track recording either to digital or reel-to-reel.

It is seriously is one of my favourite Receivers (for both Quad & Stereo) for it’s unique styling and sheer size and I just love its character, warmth and power and I currently prefer it over any Sansui I have auditioned to date! I am currently restoring Pioneer’s King Quad the QX-949A, when I am finished I am looking forward to running these two head-to-head!

Specifications:

Power Output:
           2-Channel Mode: 50 Watts (x2) Continuous Power Output @ 8 ohms.
           4-Channel Mode: 30 Watts (x4) Continuous Power Output @ 8 ohms.

Frequency Response: 10Hz – 60kHz at 8 ohms (-3dB)
Harmonic Distortion: 0.5% at Rated Power Output, 0.05% at 20 Watts
Input sensitivity: 3mV (mic), 3mV (MM), 170mV (DIN), 170mV (line)
Signal to noise ratio: 35dB (mic), 35dB (MM), 40dB (DIN), 35dB (line)
Output: 170mV (line), 34mV (DIN)
Dimensions: 650 x 168 x 426mm / 25.6 x 6.6 x 16.8″ / (W) x (H) x (D)
Weight: 20.5kg / 45.1 lbs

1976 Kenwood KA-7300 – Dual Power Darlington Direct Coupled Amplifier

July 17, 2014 · admin

KA-73002

Kenwood (Trio) 1975 KA-7300 – Darlington Direct Coupled Amplifier with Dual Power
2 x 65 Watt RMS at 8 ohms both channels driven from 20Hz – 20 kHz with less than 0.1 distortion.

Original 1975 RRP $400.00USD
Inflation Adjusted RRP 2015 $1,769.00USD

Kenwood Corporation was the brainchild of William Kasuga a first generation Japanese American that saw an opportunity to market Trio Corporation products in America products under a new brand name. In my experience Kenwood’s 1970s gear  demonstrates tremendous build quality, solid performance and stunning designs, and the KA-7300 ticks all three of these boxes.

It’s hard to believe that the features contained in this amplifier would appear in a consumer electronics product. It certainly wouldn’t happen today but in 1975 consumer audio gear was in a different league, back then it was ‘all about the sound….man’.

KA-7300-PS

The KA-7300 Power Supply: Separate transformers for each channel.

Firstly lets start at the foundation of this beastie, it’s power supply. Dual Power was first introduced to the market by Harman Kardon and by the mid-70s it had really caught on, mostly in the high-end components. But different brands implemented it differently. Sansui, Marantz and Pioneer settled for a single large transformer which utilised both the negative and the positive rails to power independent amplifiers.

However in this case Kenwood had followed Harman Kardon’s example and integrated two independent transformers with their own rectifiers and filter capacitors to power each channel. Essentially this amplifier was two ‘mono-block’ amplifiers contained in the one cabinet. 

Only two amplifiers from Kenwood’s range in this period featured this dual power setup, the KA-7300 and the other was their top-of-the-line ‘Model 600’. Interestingly the dual-power supply in their high-end Monster Receiver for 1977, the KR-9600, featured a dual power supply with a single transformer.

Kenwood’s dual power supply was marketed as a solution to the problem of ‘dynamic cross talk’ where the stereo stage (or image) could be disturbed by power struggles between the left and right channels – defeating the whole purpose of stereo. With each amplifier channel drawing upon a completely separate reservoir of energy this problem is overcome.

Trio-darlington-pack

Trio’s Darlington Power Pack with large heatsink.

All stages of this amplifier are Direct Coupled, from the input section to the driver and power output stages. This minimises phase distortion, the signal-to-noise ratio is improved and signal attenuation is eliminated resulting in a exceptionally high level of sound quality. The output stage consists of Kenwood’s ‘Darlington Power Modules’ that provides an improved amplification factor, wider frequency response, lower distortion and increased operating life through better heat dissipation. 

The other features I would consider the icing on the cake, and these include:

  • Negative feed back bass and treble tone controls with turnover frequency adjustment.
  • Presence control for the attenuation of frequencies around 800Hz and 3 kHz
  • 32 Position attenuator type volume control.
  • Attenuator to reduce output by 15 or 30 dB
  • Subsonic high and low filters
  • Dubbing facilities for 2 tape recorders.
  • Double protection and delay start circuits.

KA-7300-connectConnections:

  • 3 Pairs of Loudspeakers
  • 2 Tape Deck Inputs
  • 2 Turntable Inputs
  • 2 Auxiliary Inputs
  • 2 Headphone Outputs

KA-7300-diag

Overall this is a superb performing and very musical amplifier that still possesses that warm timbre and with plenty of power. I can happily listen to this amplifier for many hours without fatigue.  

Visually this item is stunning, as is all the Kenwood components from this product line, and is one of my personal favourites. A point to note is that these items are still very serviceable with parts still available.

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Francesca DiMattio’s Eclectic Media Room

February 6, 2014 · admin

Francesca DiMattio's Eclectic Media Room

 

Francesca DiMattio is an artist living in New York City. She and her husband share a beautiful apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan. Their space is filled with vintage finds, including a Sansui sound system from the ’70s and some very large wooden speakers flanking their flat screen TV.  [READ MORE]

The Finest Receiver Ever Made? 1976-77 Pioneer SX-1250

February 2, 2014 · admin

SX-1250

1976 $USD RRP: $900.00
Inflation adjusted $USD RRP: $3,680.00

SX-1250 - Not in a rushConsidered by many to be the best receiver/amplifier of the 1970s (translates best-ever – period!) the Pioneer SX-1250 was the top-of-the-line model for the 1976-1977 Pioneer Receiver range.

A product of the “Receiver Wars” no expense was spared in the design and engineering of this model and this is evident in the specifications, build quality and performance. 

 

Over the course of the 1970s Pioneer led the trends in terms of design and engineering of audio equipment with the majority of its major competitors shamelessly copying the styling of many Pioneer models. From the blue back light model Receivers of the early to mid-seventies to pressed aluminium silver tuning dials from the mid-seventies onwards.

In terms of aesthetics the SX/50 series design was a dramatic departure from all previous silver fascia receiver designs to date with its silver pressed tuning dial and warm yellow glow and was quickly duplicated by the likes of Kenwood, Sansui, Marantz and Sanyo. Few brands such as Yamaha and Sony stuck to their guns with their own distinct styling.

In Pioneers previous 1974-1975 product range the top-of-the-line receiver the blue-lit SX-1010 had made a world first by being the first 100 Watt RMS amplifier ever released and while the other manufacturers rushed to catchup with this beast Pioneer were slowly and deliberately planning a new monster. So when the SX-1250 was released in 1976 Pioneer again broke all previous power records boasting an enormous 160 Watts RMS per channel.

powerTo achieve this unprecedented power rating Pioneer developed the now legendary power section of the SX-1250 with completely independent power supplies, including separate power supply windings, rectifiers and smoothing capacitors for each channel, the components of which include a massive 22 pound toroidal core transformer (less susceptible to power fluctuations and less likely to create noise than laminated core transformers) and four ‘Coke Can’ size 22,000uf filter capacitors.

page2 The amplifier section was composed of a 2-stage differential amplifier and a Darlington push-pull amplifier for the final stage. All stages are direct coupled in a pure complementary OCL circuit that includes a current mirror circuit.

This combination delivered FTC regulation measurements of 160 Watts RMS per channel into 8 ohms from 20-20KHz with no more than 0.1 THD and 200 Watts RMS per channel with 0.1 THD into 4 ohms. 

The preamplifier section combines exceptional flexibility with superb sound achieved through utilising field effect transistors and CR type integrated circuits. The phono input has a 4-stage preamplifier equaliser with an RIAA correction of only +_0.3dB and a overload level of 500mV meaning no magnetic cartridge can strain the pre-amp. The designs of these sections were directly borrowed from Pioneer’s separate components.

Pioneer never manufactured a unit to match these specifications ever again and this is one of the many reasons purists believe that this model is the apex of high fidelity sound. The now legendary SX-1980 from Pioneers 1978-1980 product range used essentially the same power supply to produce 270 Watts RMS per channel while the model intended to take over from the SX-1250,  the SX-1280, had downgraded its capacitors to 15,000mfd even though it was rated 20 Watts RMS higher the the SX-1250!

This receiver was meant to be the finest available then and as it turns out it remains one of the finest available to this day.

sx-1250 2page spread

Reviews:

“This unit is a must have if you can find one. I will never part with this monster. No other receiver has ever compared.” http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1250/prd_118733_1593crx.aspx#reviews

“NOTHING that I have ever owned or heard sounds as golden as my SX-1250 and the RT-707 reel-to-reel hooked up to it. The sound kind of reminds me of when I was a little boy and my father had purchased a monophonic tube amplifier from Radio Shack (there were only two Radio Shacks, one in Boston and one in my home town, New Haven. The SX-1250 beats that old tube amp for warmness and full-spectrum sound. It is also manufactured to outlast my life, and I am fifty! Can’t praise the sound or quality enough. Plus, it’s good looking. Beauty and brains!” http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1250/prd_118733_1593crx.aspx#reviews

“I spent a couple years in Germany in the late 70’s. All the guys were buying monster receivers from down @ Mainz (spelling?), so I’ve listened to a lot of different models and nothing tops this 1250. It’s got a “warmth” of sound difficult to describe and aesthetics beyond compare. All my wife’s friends pity her for having to put up with this yugo sitting in her house. If you come across one you can afford, don’t let it pass you by.” http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1250/prd_118733_1593crx.aspx#reviews

“This is hands down the best Pioneer receiver I have ever heard, the depth, clarity and power that the restoration has given it is something else, I can’t describe it, it’s something that must be heard to appreciate it. It will have a permanent place at the head of my rack, I don’t think I will ever sell it. ” http://mattsvintageaudiorepair.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/pioneer-sx-1250-score.html

The NAD Model 300 – Early NAD Glam!

January 10, 2014 · admin

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300-081 300-072 300-013 300-034 300-045 300-066 300-107 300-11a8

Original RRP (1975 USD): $995.00
Inflation Adjusted RRP (USD): $4,308.00

nad_logoNAD Electronics (New Acoustic Dimensions) is a world renowned audiophile brand originally founded by Dr. Martin L. Borish in England and is now headquartered in Ontario Canada. NAD focuses on the concept of “effective power” and its amplifiers have been known for delivering generous headroom, meaning that they can deliver dynamic power bursts far in excess of their rated RMS power. NAD’s core philosophy is to only incorporate genuinely useful features for aesthetically understated designs, but this wasn’t always the case…


NAD Brochure2In the 1970s NAD produced some stunningly designed audio components that had flare, elegance and style, none of which could by any stretch of the imagination be considered understated. The Model 300 is one of NAD’s original creations. This was their top-of-the-line monster receiver produced between 1975 and 1978, an aesthetically and acoustically stunning unit it featured a beautifully brushed aluminium display featuring a brilliant blue tuner dial with a red illuminated indicator and an impressive battery of buttons, switches and knobs, the chassis is well built and weighs a solid 22kg.

m300-insides-SMAn historic piece this unit was positioned at the pinnacle of NAD’s very first product line. Developed by Bjorn Erik Edvardsen under the founder Dr. Martin L. Borish the Model 300 was manufactured by Foster
Electric in Japan using only the finest available components.

 

Looking under the hood of this unit you can tell that some serious love went into the design. Everything is well laid out and it appears obvious that no expense was spared. The entire front section containing the AM/FM receiver and separate Dolby module has been shielded.

m300-powersupply-SMThe next thing that hits you is the size of the power supply. The transformer is generously sized and is accompanied by two large 18,000uf filter capacitors. For instance the 1978 Marantz Model 2600 boasting 300 Watts RMS per channel output was being powered with less capacitance than the Model 300! I guess this is what NAD is talking about when they say “effective power”. It’s great to see a company taking their mission statement seriously! The sound is rich, abundant and detailed with a velvet feel backed by effortless power, it the rare kind of sound that you can ‘hear’ with your heart. One of my audiophile friends could not hide his disbelief at hearing this unit perform, his jaw dropped and his mouth remained open for quite some time!!

Aside from seriously excellent sound the unit is packed with features. Firstly this is the first unit I have come across with a built in Dolby processor which can be applied to both FM and an input device such as a tape deck.

Furthermore this is also a Quadraphonic receiver as well! Which would make it one of the most powerful and high quality quadraphonic receivers I have come across. There are many quadraphonic receivers out there, but most can’t come close to the power and fidelity of this unit by a country mile. While it doesn’t offer a plethora of Quad options it offers one of the most popular formats known as ‘Quadro’ format, which I believe was commonly referred to as SQ in the US, Canada and Australia and Quadro in Europe. I believe this is the case because many European SQ encoded records are labelled QUADRO. I have not listened to this unit in this mode as I do not have a turntable set up for quad sound right now.

Notes on the Quadro Option

I have yet to test this the Quad mode on this unit.

After chatting with a Quadrophile there may be doubt as to what this QUAD mode is for. Perhaps it is for an external quad decoder or it could possibly be an internal decoder, or some even a simple effects processor – if it is quad it would be  for turntables only. Here is the response I got from NAD:

Thank you for your recent inquiry on the NAD model 300.
The Model 300, we do have limited documentation on does not have a QUADRO option, just speakers Main and Remote. That said, the option could have been for the North American market where Quadraphonic was adopted by audiophiles. This option is similar to Enhanced Stereo today, for the surround speakers.

We hope this information is helpful,

As you can see this unit DOES have a Quadro option on the Speaker Selector and NAD themselves could not shed much light on this. If you are specifically after Quadraphonic Amp, you will need to do your own research on this. (until I get  a turntable setup for SQ of course!) 

There are a decent number of controls to tailor the sound with channel independent Treble and Bass controls, Muting, Mono, Subsonic, High Filter, High Blend and Loudness, and that’s without including the Dolby processing options. Also conveniently positioned on the front panel is a second Tape input (or iPod, iPad, iPhone etc), a second microphone input and a headphone jack

SPECIFICATIONS:

Tuning range: FM, MW
Power output RMS: 85 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo)
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz
Total harmonic distortion: 0.03%
Input sensitivity: 2.2mV (mic), 3mV (MM), 200mV (DIN), 200mV (line)
Signal to noise ratio: 63dB (MM), 85dB (line)
Channel separation: 50dB (line)
Output: 200mV (line), 30mV (DIN)
Dimensions: 508 x 400 x 145mm
Weight: 22kg

nad040xy

 

Future Retro

January 1, 2014 · admin

new future retro2

RetroiPad2Do you love retro analogue HiFi’s but crave the convenience and cool factor of the modern gadgets? Then fear not! For you can add Bluetooth, iPods, iPhones and Media Centers to any of the vintage beauties on this site! Digital sources of music such as CD’s and iPod sound so much better through quality vintage audio gear, here is how to connect them.

 

 

rca cable and socket

RCA Connectors are the most common input source for amplifiers even to this day.

RCA Cables and Sockets have been the primary means of connecting audio gear to amplifiers for more than 50 years. And the good news is most modern gear still supports these connectors. iPhones, iPods, iPad, Media Centres, MP3 Players and others all have docks and adapters that can connect into most vintage amps using RCA connectors. 

Most vintage amplifiers have ‘AUX’ or auxiliary inputs, the manufacturers provided some future proofing on their amplifiers to allow new music sources to be added to their gear and these are the perfect choice for adding iPods and Bluetooth music receivers. Other than the amplified PHONO ports, virtually any other RCA input can be used such as ‘TAPE’ or ‘TUNER’. Just be aware that some amplifiers select their TAPE sources differently and may have an individual button or switch independent of the usual source selector.

Running out of Inputs? 

An A/V Switcher Box Can be Used to extend the number of audio sources to an amplifier.If you have run out of RCA inputs you can always add a input port multiplier. Similar in function to a power-board the port multiplier allows you to add multiple sources to a single input. The box plugs into an available RCA input on your amplifier and then use the input box to select from the sources you have added to it. Some boxes are available with remote controls.

 

 

iPad&RetroiPhone, iPod & iPad Docks
A huge range of iPod and iPad docks are available, but not all support audio line-out, especially for the newer phones and tablets, ensure that the dock you purchase has an audio line-output. These docs make it easy to connect your iPod, iPhone or iPad to your HiFi so can enjoy your digital tunes.

BUFFET3productLarge3_15755 productLarge2_15755 productLarge_15755

bluetooth

bluetooth logo 2Bluetooth
Bluetooth music receivers can also be added to your HiFi and allows you to beam your music to your vintage equipment. Enjoy your music from your phone or tablet as you walk around your home!

 

Other Phones & MP3 Players
If you own another brand of phone or mp3 player please check with your manufacturer. In almost all cases a docking station or cable that allows music playback on a HiFi will be supported.

 

Micromax_LEDLED Televisions, Blu-Ray, Computers & DVD
Yes you can! All of the above can be connected to your vintage amplifier. However please note that when you connect to a Stereo amplifier you will only be getting 2-channel sound, so it is important to setup your device to DOWNMIX to 2-channels.

You CAN get 5.1 or more channel surround sound with vintage gear, but you will need multiple amplifiers to achieve this. This is completely over the top, but hey some of us are willing to go there! Perhaps one day you will see me post on such a setup 🙂

Digital to Analogue
Some devices may only have digital outputs such as HDMI or Optical. In these cases you will need a converter!

Please be wary of some dodgy sellers on eBay and elsewhere selling cables that purport to do this. They are an absolute SCAM and will not work. These devices need to convert and decode a digital signal into analogue, and as such need power and circuitry to achieve this.

OPTICAL-RCA HMDI-to-RCA

 

ABOVE: REAL Digital-to-Analogue Converters

badCable

ABOVE: SCAM – FAKE CABLE

Pioneer SX-1980 – The Holy Grail of Vintage Receivers?

March 7, 2013 · admin

1980 BANNER2 1978 Original RRP ($USD): $1,295.00
Inflation Adjusted RRP ($USD): $4,574.00

This is it! The Big Kahuna! The most powerful Receiver of its time! What else do I need to say?
……well if you insist 🙂

Pioneer-Logo-1978In the 1970’s Pioneer was not just a meaningless brand name. The company had truly led the industry not just in cutting edge research and development but also in terms of design and aesthetics producing industry firsts in many areas.

As their brand suggested they were in fact Pioneering the brave new worlds of stereo. They were the first company to introduce a 100 Watt RMS Receiver, a 160 Watt RMS Receiver and a 270 Watt RMS Receiver. They say that imitation is highest form of flattery, and Pioneers aesthetics heavily influenced their competitors with even Marantz imitating aspects of their design.

SX-1980-Mag-Ad

SX-1980-advertThe Pioneer SX-1980 was their flagship top-of-the-line Receiver from 1978-1980 and was the most powerful Receiver on the market upon it’s release. It is no overstatement to say it is one of the most desired and sort after vintage amplifiers on the planet today. Sure there’s the Sansui G33000, the Kenwood KR-9050, Marantz 2600 and the Technics SA-1000,  however these were created after the SX-1980, and mostly because of the SX-1980 in the first place. All of them are excellent receivers with their dedicated followers, but none of them have inspired the wide popularity and almost cult following that this receiver has. This was Pioneer’s last receiver built for the Receiver Wars.

Released in 1978 the SX/80 Series followed on from the extremely successful SX/50 Series and saw subtle but stylish aesthetic improvements and increased wattage throughout the range. It also saw the introduction of a new top model – the SX-1980. Pioneer had again raised the bar in the final years of the Receiver Wars.

The amazing power-supply of the SX-1980 with it's dual wound toroidal core transformers and a total of 88,000uf of Capacitance!

The amazing power-supply section of the SX-1980 with it’s dual wound toroidal core transformers and a total of 88,000uf of Capacitance! Note: the shielding covers have been removed in this photo.

Building on much of the technology of the SX-1250, the SX-1980 included some subtle technical additions. Other than the increased wattage the other metric that saw a massive improvement over their previous model was THD – which saw a reduction from 0.1% to a tiny 0.03% across it’s entire power spectrum.

The amplifier consisted of a cascade connected, current mirror loaded, differential amplifier with a three-stage Darlington triple parallel-push-pull direct coupled OCL circuit. Just try saying that three times! With a dual power supply arrangement incorporating a massive toroidal-core transformer with two independent windings and four ‘Coke Can Sized’ 22,000uf filter capacitors provides the amplifier with an enormous reservoir of power to draw from.

SX-1980-PhonoVinyl fans will love the the phono section on these units with 3 cartridge impedance and capacitance settings for the phono input and a 500ma phono pickup that cannot be overloaded by any magnetic cartridge.

This model also featured Pioneer’s unique dual tone controls for Bass and Treble which they boasted would give you tens-of-thousands of tone combinations.

SX-1980-Tone

Physically this unit is impressive measuring 56cm (22″) Wide X 21.1cm (8 5/16″) High X 49.7cm (19 9/16″) Deep and weighs an incredible 35.4Kg (78 lbs). Its brushed aluminium fascia is one of the most attractive ever produced during the 1970s and would stand out as a feature in any lounge-room. 

This is the model of receiver that recently went head to head with modern amplifiers in a blind listening test in which it was overwhelmingly voted as having the best sound. – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

SX-1980-shot1Specifications (the short version)

  • Power output: 270 watts per channel into 8 ohms
  • Total harmonic distortion: 0.03%
  • Frequency response: 5Hz to 80kHz (line)
  • Signal to noise ratio: 87dB (phono), 100dB (line)
  • FM tuning section: 87.5 to 108 MHz
  • AM tuning section: 525 to 1605 kHz
  • Dimensions: 560 x 211 x 497mm
  • Weight: 35.4kg

 

Reviews:

“I can’t say enough about this gorgeous piece of Japanese quality.To me,it is the Rolls Royce of all receivers.” – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

 

“It is the most awesome receiver my ears have ever heard.And I’ve heard a lot of them in my 50+ years of listening to audio equipment.”– http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

 

“This may be the best receiver ever made…[t]hey are extremely rare, and unbelievably impressive.” – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

 

“This monster is not for the faint of heart” – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

 

“The SX 1980 is a receiver for a fortunate few. I’ve owned it for a while and say what you will about the Marantz, Kenwood, and Sansui of the same period (1978-1981) and it matches up with them and exceeds it most areas.” – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

 

“I believe the SX-1980 is one of the best receivers Pioneer ever built, and I’ve never regretted the purchase.” – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

 

“This unit is possibly the best piece of mass market audio gear ever built.” – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

 

“They can keep their all black components with plastic knobs and face plates. This is a real component, 18 years old and I’ll put it up against anything made today. You young boys need to learn what the real Hi- Fi days were all about!!” – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

 

“It is the most awesome receiver my ears have ever heard.” – http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/receivers/pioneer/sx-1980/prd_118735_1593crx.aspx

Specifications (The long version)

sx1980Specs

 

 

 

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