howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
edit:
July 23rd, @05:11AM
| The Good Old Days - Early '90's Pioneer Receiver
VSX-D1S Rear Panel | 
Remote | 
Top View | 
Front | 
Marantz 2500 Stereo Receiver (1977) | 
Pioneer SX-1980 | | 
Pioneer SX-1980 - Cover Removed | | 
Kenwood KR-9600 Stereo Receiver (1977) |
Before this, I used a Kenwood KR-9600 (1977). That was even bigger and heavier, weighing in at 53 lbs. It had 2 huge rack-mount type handles on the front panel to facilitate lifting and moving it (see above). If I recall, Pioneer also made one at that time that was just as big and heavy.
[EDIT] After a little research, I found the Pioneer SX-1980. This had to be the heaviest consumer stereo receiver ever made (see pics above). This behemoth weighed in at a whopping 78 pounds! 
The Marantz receivers of the same time period were also a desirable aquisition. The Model 2600 stereo receiver, which sold for $1600 in 1977, can fetch up to $4000 today. |
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jmacd27
Premium
join:2001-05-13
Florida
clubs: 
edit:
July 22nd, @10:47AM
|  |  |  | 
Aiwa Tape deck | 
FM tuner | 
Speakers | |
My cousin has my old 1988 Denon PMA 1520 Integrated Amp at his house and is using it to drive a pair of Infinity speakers. I bought it along with the matching Denon DCD 1520 CD player, they could be hooked up with a optical cable. At the time it was one of the only Amps the had optical/digital inputs.
He also has my old Magnum Dynalab tuner and a Aiwa dbx Tape deck and a set of Celestion speakers. I think the stuff all cost in total about $6000-$8000 back in the late 80's.
I am still torn about selling the stuff, I know I'll probably never use most of it again but I like to hope I'll find a use for it some day. Maybe for my 1 year old son to use in his room in 10 years from now lol. |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
edit:
July 22nd, @11:05AM
| 
Adcom GFA-555II |
BTW, I used my Pioneer VSX-D1S's pre-outs to feed 2 Adcom GFA-555II power amps, each bridged to 600W mono. I recently sold them for $300 each (were $750/ea brand new). They powered my 901 Series VI's to earth shattering levels. LOL
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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jmacd27
Premium
join:2001-05-13
Florida
clubs:
| I still think the older stuff was made better. I have a Denon AVR 3808CI I use for my home theatre, it has 7 channels @ 130 watts, my old Denon 2 chanel integrated amp above was 120 watts per channel. Both of these amp weigh about the same at 35 pounds. I would think that the new AVR with all the additional amps and circuitry should weigh more.
My old Denon CD player and Aiwa Tape deck both weighed about 15 pounds each. Current CD players don't weigh more than a few pounds. |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
edit:
July 22nd, @01:51PM
| reply to howie
I temporarily hooked up the old Pioneer and my original Sony D5 portable CD player (the world's first) and it sounds as good as the day I bought it (listening to Supertramp's "Breakfast in America"). I'm gonna start using this stuff again.
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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gallowsroad
join:2004-08-09
Tulsa, OK | reply to howie
Do you know what "GFA" stood for when Adcom released its first amplifier? |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
| said by gallowsroad  :Do you know what "GFA" stood for when Adcom released its first amplifier? Good F**king Amplifier? LOL
I know they originally were made and located here in East Brunswick, New Jersey but think they moved to CA at some point.
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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gallowsroad
join:2004-08-09
Tulsa, OK
 ·Comcast
| said by howie :said by gallowsroad :Do you know what "GFA" stood for when Adcom released its first amplifier? Good F**king Amplifier? LOL I know they originally were made and located here in East Brunswick, New Jersey but think they moved to CA at some point. Great F**king Amp, to be precise. The GF prefix wound up on most if not all of their components. My old boss in a hifi service/sales (total repair genius - those pics of the old receivers I know intimately take me back, having cleaned many of them up for resale) shop knew one of the early Adcom guys, and loved to remind us what the letters meant.
It created a bit of a problem, as I'd be talking to someone about an Adcom piece for sale and say something like "it's a really great fuh...er, amp!"
One of our techs went to work for them while they were still in Jersey but eventually left, not happy with the work environment. He never elaborated on what he meant by that.
I always admired them for swimming against the tide of black in audio gear and offering their components with white face plates (been many years since they did that).
--
Ha ha haaaaaaa....ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
- John Lydon, last Sex Pistols show |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
| Thanks for the interesting story!
You jogged my memory a bit and you're absolutely correct in that they were offered in white as well as black. Adcom also had a fan option where the cover could be replaced with an air-cooled version. I kept mine in a cabinet (smoked glass front) and aided ventilation with a couple of fans I installed myself in the top rear of the cabinet. The rear heat sinks were huge and the thermal overload protection never kicked in in the dozen or so years that I owned them.
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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drjim
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Torrance, CA
clubs: | reply to howie
An SX-1980!!!
I'm STILL kicking myself in the behind for selling mine!
Really a wonderful piece of gear.....
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
edit:
July 22nd, @10:09PM
| reply to howie
Sony D5 Portable CD and Discman D35 |
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
| reply to drjim
said by drjim :An SX-1980!!! I'm STILL kicking myself in the behind for selling mine! Really a wonderful piece of gear..... Man, you should've held on to that one! It was a beauty...
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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drjim
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Torrance, CA
clubs: | Yeah, and to replace it would cost me about $2k!
I've been looking into getting an SX-1280 as they seem to go for more what I'm willing to spend.
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
edit:
July 22nd, @10:20PM
| 
Pioneer SX-1980 (1978) |
said by drjim :Yeah, and to replace it would cost me about $2k! I've been looking into getting an SX-1280 as they seem to go for more what I'm willing to spend. I'll keep my eyes open for you too... I love the old stuff.
[EDIT] Here's a review of the SX-1980:
"The Pioneer SX-1980 is quite possibly the most beautiful looking receiver ever made. At
270wpc, its more than a receiver, its an assault weapon! I had it hooked up to a pair of
Bose 901 series IV because they're just about the only speakers that wont burst onto flames
when you crank up the 1980. If you listen to classical music, dont bother reading this. The
SET and tube lovers should surf elsewhere. But if you love hard rock, at rock concert
decibles, and dont mind cops knocking at your door, snag one of these monsters off ebay! If
the price is too steep for you, you cant go wrong with the SX-1280 or SX-1250 at 160wpc. My
1980 died around 1995. While I now own McIntosh equipment, I still bought an SX-850 on ebay
simply for it's looks.
Product Weakness: Will cause small speakers and lab rats to explode!
Cops will know you on a first name basis.
Product Strengths: Ultimate hard rock machine."
»www.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?fo···review=1
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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breadman
Premium
join:2001-01-30
00001
clubs:
| reply to howie
My dad picked up a Pioneer SX-1250 a few years ago and it was collecting dust till he picked up some Cerwin Vega 15" monster speakers off craigslist recently.. that combo will rattle his house and his neighbors house. Its amazing how old quality electronics sound. |
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drjim
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Torrance, CA
clubs: | reply to howie
My favorite site for Big Iron:
»www.silverpioneer.netfirms.com/
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
edit:
July 22nd, @09:18PM
| reply to howie
Here's another:
»www.electricalhobby.com/monsterreceiversite/
[EDIT] There's my Kenwood KR-9600... the third from the top. It looks like someone removed the big handles (they used allen head screws). I still have this monster but the output transistors are blown. 
I'm gonna drag out this bad boy and post a pic.
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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drjim
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Torrance, CA
clubs: | If it's only the output stage it should be repairable.
FET's or Bipolar?
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. |
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howie
New York Giants
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
| said by drjim :If it's only the output stage it should be repairable. FET's or Bipolar? Not sure... I'm gonna fork lift it out of storage and look. 
--
N.Y. Giants - Super Bowl XLII Champions |
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gallowsroad
join:2004-08-09
Tulsa, OK
·Comcast
| said by howie :Not sure... I'm gonna fork lift it out of storage and look. You're not kidding about the fork lift. All of those 70's era Japanese receivers are stupidly heavy. For a while I was the guy who sold our used gear on the Web, back in the late 1990's/early 2000's, and getting one of those safely shipped across the country is no small task (we did all our own packing for shipment). Transistors are still available for most of those old receivers, if you are interested in getting it working again.
It's too bad that FM radio programming in so many places is so lousy - those same companies made many outstanding tuners that not only worked well, but looked very cool. (No disrespect intended to the Magnum Dynalab posted further up the thread - doesn't get any better than that these days).
For a while all of this older gear was quite inexpensive, until about 1998 or so, when the market for that era of big receivers really made a come back and they were suddenly selling for thousands via audio web sites (like Audiogon) and Ebay.
My past audio addiction (affliction?) included literally hundreds of pieces of gear over the years, though I've settled down to a very modest 2 channel system these days.
--
Ha ha haaaaaaa....ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
- John Lydon, last Sex Pistols show |
|
