I was not born...but I have the analog love. My main receiver is a big old 70s sansui 9090db that I run into a pair of sansui sp5500 speakers... I also have a mid 80s B and 0 Beogram 5500 system (cd, tape, receiver, record player) that runs into a set of the big powered penta 2 speakers And a pioneer sx1250 that I run into a pair of Klipshorn corner speakers..... And I do have a modern monoprice tube integrated amp that I run into a small pair of paradigm bookshelf speakers for my pc when working.
Seeing the r2r brings back memories. Back in the day I bought an auto reverse Roberts/Rheem r2r with bi/8 track player with a pair of A/R bookshelf speakers for $75.00 from an ex bil. He sweetened the deal with a factory reel tape of Cream Disraeli Gears & several new reels of blank Memorex recording tape thrown in. Oh man I recorded sooo many hours of The Moody Blues from my vinyls on both sides of a tape. It even went with me thru college but like an idiot I ended up selling it several years later to a minister of music when I was going thru a divorce.
I still have my HK 330b I bought with yard mowing money back in 1975. It's now with my son at college, though. The one in this pic isn't mine, just for reference.
I really like the beo system. I got mine from a guy who bought the whole set in 87. Gave me all the receipts and books and everything. It's pretty cool.
Never got into the audiophile thing. Every tuner/amplifier I've owned has been a Sony along with tape deck and CD player. Turntable is a Technics. Speakers have ranged from old wood cab Cerwin-Vegas to Advent to current Definitive Technology Bi-Polar models. I've liked those best.
My favorite was a Kenwood setup all the way. U gave an old Pioneer, I think, in the spare bedroom I use for the TV. For being close to 30 it still works and sounds pretty good Here in the living room I'm going to start putting together a little theater type system. It'll take a few months since im bot buying it all at once. The soundbar im using now actually sounds ok, it will get moved to my bedroom
Back in the late 70's early 80's I was a total stereo NERD. Had a friend i met at a music store, he ended up being a excellent musician and very ear gifted guy who got so into stereos (and guitars) that for awhile he was custom building passive crossovers and custom speakers with a local speaker guy. I was getting into the sound business and one day we went through about 30 pro amps and a bunch of stereo receivers to hear the differences listening though TAD studio monitors $$$. ANyhow, as far as old stereo receivers the higher end Onkyo's and Onkyo CD players sounded the best. Later on I bought a full relatively unknown high end Sanyo Plus Series stereo (all separates). Their pre-amp and MOS-fet power amps were top notch quality. They also made a full tape noise reduction system that worked excellent - and were promptly sued by dbx, even though the Sanyo was a dual band encode/decoder system and better. It's amazing to A/B amp after amp. The sonic differences were absolutely huge! Winner and kinda tie - Marantz 510 parallel output stack solid state amp (direct coupled so when they blow they BLOW), and the McIntosh tube amp (model I don't remember) The Mac sounded overall the very best but the Marantz could blast some serious tight bass and 250 wpc back then was HUGE, the tube amp couldn't keep up. Worst sounding was the Hafler amps total smeary sound. But it was the very first series of them I tested. Some amps sounded good in the mids and highs but crappy in the bottom. And vice versa. Crowns sounded terrible in the highs, Yamahas sounded okay at best, terrible in the bottom end. We tested a lot of amps. I don't remember all of them, but BGW's, etc...
Check out this classic audio site with pics and specs - Marantz, Sony, Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood, Luxman, etc. Very cool! http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/mindex.html
Almost forgot my trusty JVC receiver that I use for my garage stereo. I've had this one forever but it works so hey....yay for JVC, haha! And further proof I never throw anything away, my big book o' CDs on top of yet another Kenwood multi-CD player.
I was never a big radio guy so I had - and still have - a Denon PMA750 integrated amp. Bought it in 1983, still works great but the selector switches need cleaning.
Mine was/is an integrated amp. FM radio, while interesting, was not the reason I got into component stereo.
How about a separate Crown pre and power amp with JBL Studio monitors, Technics pro series turntable with Stanton cartridge, a Nakamichi Dragon and a Teac Reel to Reel.
My Fisher Studio Standard DC amp 60W that I bought back in 1976 is what runs my monitor speakers. Hard to believe it still works well.
