Stereos in your garage, any other Audiophile's here besides me?

[cudaken]

 First, if you are not a Audiophile, don't read this post. It is a sickness as bad as HP Mopars. You will be sorry if you get the sickness like myself and other Audophiles.

I was MIA for some time after Troy saved this great site, I was in to the stereo gear big time again and hanging out at a Audiophile site. Found many gear heads there as well, seem's that any hobby where bigger or better can be had it can becoma a sickness and there will over lap in taste.

Moved my gear out to the garage little over a year ago. Sleept for 10 year's, got tried of the bitching machine yelling "turn it down".

With the luck I have had lately with the blowen 440 project ($12,000.00 so far and fresh 440 has a problem) I wished I stuck with the Audiophile stuff.

Alll my gear is old, and the priecs I list is what it caused new when it was made. I have audtion $40,000 set up's and my gear will waste it. Something like a 69 Charger R/T against a 2006 Charger, old has more quality.

There where a few Audiophiles at the old site, sold a preamp to one that I wished I keepet, Sansui CA-2000.

By the way, most none Audiophiles will not know the name's I list in my system. Kind of like going to a none car person and saying I have Ross piston's in my Blowen KB Hemi. More than likely go "so, what is your MPG"?

My gear, or should I say garage stereo.

Reamp's
Carver 4000 T (1978 $950.00) Fun to play with all the buttons.
Adcom GFP-555 (1984 $560.00) Back up and great Preamp, in the family room for now.

CD Player
Adcom GCD-575 (1990 $1000.00) Had reapired one time and well worth the cost.

EQ
Harmond / Kardon EQ 8 (1988 $450.00) not used excpet on old CD's, they blow with good gear.

Tape Deck
Yamaha Natural Sound K-700 (1990 $1000.00) Was going to go Reel to Reel to I got this.

Tuner
Adcom GFT-1A (1985 $350.00)  Had a Sharp and Kenwood, took me a while to hear the driffanes but it is there.

Speaker Selector
Adcom GFS-6 (1988 $400.00) can run 6 sets of speakers at the same time and will match the OHM's.

Power Amps
Adcom GFA-555's (1985 $900.00 each). Run them Mono Blocked, means one drives one channel. 600 watt's a side at 8 ohms and 1250 watt's at 2 ohms.

Sub Woofer
NHT SA-1 (1995 $900.00) This is not a slap amp subwoofer (mean's amp is in the speaker) but has it own power amp! I can control cross over and volume with out getting up. 8" speaker and ported. 

Speakers
Keff Q 75.2's (1990 $1200.00) These are my secondery speakers. Do not need a sub woofer with these. Odd shape wooflers, base reflex and ported as well. Tweeter is in the center of the 6" mide range. They are tower speakers and would be great for home theater system. No sweet spot at 40,000 hurts and easy to drive at 6 OHM. Blew then up a couple time's with the Mono Blocks at 600 watt's at 8 ohm's. They are now fused. Oh, they can be Bi-ampied as well. Very good sound stage as well, sound's as good as Maggies but beat's the snot out of them in base. I have audtion Maggies at my house, I take the Keffs.

Dahlquist DQ 10's (1984 $1600.00) These are my Hemi Cuda's. Have yet to hear better sound stage than these. Boy they but me through some hell saving them being 20 year old speakers. Refoamed after the foam feel apart, then blew the cones, had Dr Hi Fi recone and some work on the cross overs to bring up to speed again. They have 2 draw backs. They have a small sweet spot so placeing was a issue. In the garage, not now. They are in the center of the "Room" and sitting on a pair of Panasonica SB-750 Speakers so 30" of the floor. Also very hard to drive, like trying to run 10.0's in a C-body. Use to playing them with a ADCOM GFA-1A Power amp at 200 watts a side. Never heard them till I went Mono Blocked at 600 watts a side.

Well, there is my run down of what is being ran now. Have other gear as well, like a gear head that have engines not being used, just watting for there need.

If I statred to talk about sepeakers cables ($3.00 a foot) or sliver power cables or the dumb ass stuff that Audiophiles will do for the quest of the perfect system I be kicked off the site. OH tube gear, started to go that way but $2500.00 for a 25 watt class A power amp? That when I came back to Mopar's.

    Any other sick people here?

                                 Audiophile Ken

[mustanghater]

does the one built into the hottub in the garage considered one?

[Brock Samson]

 

[cudaken]

 Stratocharger, do you have the sickness as well?

MustangHater, well sort off. Can you hot tank engine parts in the hot tube? If so, I will get one. Hum, wonder if I can get the pool up to that kind of temp

                               Audiophile Ken

[Brock Samson]

I ain't in yur league Ken, or Haters either,... oh God!..  I sure hope not!

[cudaken]

 Stratocharger, what do you have, N.A.D, Kenwood, old Pioneer reciver (that where dam good) Marantz (spell check) Sherman Williams, Sharp, Radio Shack? My first sort system of good was a Rat Shack STA-38 that was 22 watt's a side reciver that I all so miss. Still have what is left of the optiums speakers. God, I wanted a pair of the old Mach 1's (not the K--king Mustang).

Stratocharger, not worried if your or anyone gear is better or worst than mine. Just like to chat with someone that has the sickness. Or maybe a just a little ill.

Yes, my system is good, and run's a hell of a lot better than the POS 69 Charger. Stereo does not have a tapping sound!

Best part in old stero gear goes DOA, don't need a tow truck.

                           Audiophile Ken

[4cruzin]

SOunds like a sweet system.  I definitely have the fever when it comes to music! Got a system in everything I own just about!  lol   

[Roth68rt]

Oh no, someone mentioned the Audiophile sickness.  I had it bad when I was stationed in Japan, it's like a virus though it never really goes away.  This was my system at it's peak 20 years ago, now the wife wouldn't even let it in the new house. 
Receiver: Sansui G-8700DB 165 watts per channel
Equalizer: Pioneer
Noise reduction: DBX model 224
Cassette Deck: Pioneer CT-F1250 almost got a Nakamichie but couldn't swing the $1250.00 price
Turntable: Technics SL-1600MK2, I call it the most expensive close and play (linear tracking and moving coil cartridge)
Reel to Reel: Akai 636, if I had waited one more year the 747 came out with DBX built in.
Speaker system #1: Bose 901 series 4 the most impressive sound stage I ever heard except maybe Carver's sonic holography.
Speaker system #2: Sansui SP-X8900
Cudaken I think my nose is running, I might be having a relapse

Steve

[Brock Samson]

Well, recently I've only bought crappy bookshelf systems i honestly can't even tell ya what makes,.. I used to have some NAD stuff which worked pretty good till the late '90s,.. I gotta YAMAHA natural sound reciver i forget the specs on it though,.. works pretty good for my vynal in the living room,.. im using guitar speakers,  4 10s and four 12s and several smallers ones for tweeters!,..  turn in up to 4 and the dishers in the kitchen start edging to the floor,.  i used to only buy TEAC tape decks and real to reels, i had several of their top 'o the lines,... i have none left i gave them to the other musicians when my dad fell ill and i left the band in '00, including alot of outboard musicians gear like reverb rack mount stuff and a PA and some really really HUGE speakers I/we homemade with several speakers built to fit in my studios/ corners,.. 30' 60' with 28' foot cielings.. those were all from the '80 -'90s i had three different rehersal studios but those are all some really really loooong stories,.. I simply didnt have room for everything and i donated it all to the band... they broke up just'a few mos after i split,... sad,..  
I was thinking about my expenditures fo the studios and equipment and recording costs, and IF I had spent the money only on cars i bet i would've had a Daytona prolly with a HEMI...  but i'm not at all sorry,... I had a good run.

[JimShine]

I don't have the sickness, but I have owned some old tube rigs. I bought them when I saw them at tag sales and flea markets. I only had one Macintosh amp (was pretty nice), the rest has pretty much been old HH Scott receivers and amps. Speakers ranged. There was a guy up here in Maine making high end speaker enclosures (think they were called acoustic technology?). I traded him a guitar for a nice setup, but he didn't name nameplate them. My favorite setup was using reel to reel. I had a quadrophonic Akai that was fun. It was cool to hear some of those old albums the way they were meant to be heard. I unloaded my stash 3 years ago on eBay. I would like to get a decent reel to reel setup again.  

[Brock Samson]

i had an AKAI R 2 R. it was comparable with the TEACs,.. This sure has set me to thinkin about all my old gear,.. I had more stuff stolen then I care to rememeber,... no Axes though that's another loong story... see there was this one time,..

[Todd Wilson]

Years ago when my room mate and eye  lived in a house together.......... He ran a stereo shop in town.  Always trying different combo's.


He had an adcom pre amp reciever. I forget the model of it.    A Hafler 500     amplifier  hooked to 2 15 inch subs in a custom box. He built different boxes for this and we finally ended up with one that fit in the corner.  He tried different shit. Measuring the room and so forth. Some stuff sounded good and some sounded better if it was in a corner. Really wild stuff.
We also had 2 Energy speakers about 3 foot tall.    All I can say was the MOFO would rock. Loudest best sounding home stereo I have ever heard. We ended up using a walkman CD player and had to put it on a folded towel and cover it with a towel to absorb vibration to keep it from skipping.   This was back about 1990 or so.

Had the cops called on us 2 different times from a neighbor 3 houses down.    One time we never heard the cops knocking on the door. Finally saw their flashlites in the window! HAHA!   They were pissed.   Me opening the door drunk with a beer in my hand didnt help matters any! 


Ahhhh the good ol days! I hate getting old!



Todd

[Brock Samson]

   1990 huh? so you were like,.. 12?..

[Crazy440]

Here's my setup, in my garage.   I have a 70s era Panasonic 250 watt stereo amp/tuner.   Hooked to it are a Roberts reel to reel, a Sound Design 8 trac, a Gerrard turntable and a Panasonic dual tape deck.   Playing through two old Fender Super Reverb amps.   Each with 4-10 inch Jensen speakers.   Can rattle the roof and piss off the neighbors.:-)   Have about 200 8 tracs, close to 2000 45s and over 500 LPs.   As you can tell, I'm old school, no CD player.
Crazy

[Todd Wilson]

    1990 huh? so you were like,.. 12?..

20 years old   dildo head!



Todd

[JimShine]

Oooh, I love Super reverbs. Those are my favorite Fender amps. Love the punch of the 10's!

[firefighter3931]

I like my tunes loud too Ken:

(1)Soundcraftsman power amp 305 watts rms per channel (h-class amplifier)
(2)Soundcraftsman pre-amp/equalizer
(3)DBX-3bx dynamic range expander
(4)DBX route connecter
(5)Technics 5 disc carousel cd player
(6)Sony single disc player
(7)Kenwood tuner
(8)Technics cassette decks x 2 (dolby b & c with dbx noise reduction)
(9)Technics sl-1200 turntables x 2
(10)Mixer
(11)Technics SB-8000 speakers 4-way with 15in woofer
(12)Acoustic Research (small) monitors as backup

I've had this setup for years and it works great. I've blown the leaf tweeters twice in the big technics speakers and finally replaced then with a liquid cooled replacement. I allways liked Klipsh and Tannoy as well but got a killer deal on those SB-8000's.  

I also have a home theatre setup in the living room with a sony 500 watt dolby digital reciever with (5) Polk Audio speakers and 2 subs. Perfect for watching movies.  

Ron

[Mopar440+6]

You would start this thread just as I'm starting to think about rebuilding my home theater. Oh dis is bad... 

[ChargerBill]

Vic Venturi studio speakers circa 1976
Infinity speakers circa 1994
Polk Audio speakers circa 1990
2 Onkyo receivers mid 80's
Pioneer receiver circa 1994
Teac reel to reel circa 1982
Macintosh turntable circa 1982
Teac dubbing deck circa 1981
Sony 5 disc player circa 1989
Magnavox stereo cabinet/turntable/receiver (lowboy style 5 feet wide X 30" tall X 18" deep) circa 1962

my sickness extends into smaller electronis as well

Sony Walkman - all weather bright yellow case - circa 1984
Blau Punk tape deck car stereo circa 1983
Alpine tape deck car stereo circa 1986

[cudaken]

Well I was right, the sickness is her as well.

Few PIC of my garage system.

[cudaken]

 Big white speakers are the Dahlquist DQ 10's. One of the odd things about them is only the 10" woffer is enclosed. Rest of the speakers are free standing. There are 2 mid range and 2 tweeter. Might not be able to see it in the PIC is if there is a light behinde them you can see through them.

Keff Q 75.2 speakers are the black tower speakers. For someone on a normal budget great buy. Easy to drive and can be found on E-bay used for around $600.00 for the pair. Are to find, but there little brother's Q 55 and Q65 go for $350.00 most of the time.

Speakers the DQ 10's are sitting on are Panasonic SB-750's, only thing left from dad's system. Used to love them, when Dad and Mon where at work I beat the s--t out of them with Grand FunK. If you look at the very rear you will see a set of Pioneer CS-G-403 speakers. Bought them while I was trying to bring DQ 10's back to life. Far from being a Audiophile speaker, but Rock like hell. (Mean's loud) They are in the family room now, 15 woofers will shake you when a boom come's a long on a DVD.

Few more PIC

[cudaken]

 I use a fan to cool the Adcom GFA-555 power amp's. When they are bridged Mono Blocked they have 600 watts a side. When I beat on the DQ 10's they do get warm! To be safe I use a fan to keep the temp down.

Best single thing I did to make the system sound good? Move the speakers off the floor and get them away from the wall's.

Old pair of 901's, yea love them till I heard the DQ 10's (big white speakers) then I knew why they say "No high's no Low's must be Bose".

Anyone one to show some PIC of there gear or Hot Tube?

                            Audiophile Ken

[mustanghater]

In mentor we had a radio per garage, about 3. we had one for the one attachted ,one for the seconed garage and one for the storage garage.

[Neal_J]

In my garage, I have a Kenwood amp in a stereo cabinet (to keep the dust out) with garage sale, 12" woofer circa 1970 speakers mounted in the rafters at each corner.  I alos have a dula cassette deck, DVD player and 5-CD changer.  None of these get much use since I got my IPOD.  I now connect my IPOD via an auxillairy input to the amp and listen to all my tunes in the garage.  Love it.

Cheers

Neal

[cudaken]

 Any Pic any one? Looks like I will be selling some stuff. Seems the 440 is needing a heart transplant.


                              Ken

[chrisII]

well i guess i have a variation on this sickness....im a PA audiophile, it crosses over into my home system tho. it stays in the living room beacuase my gf would shoot me if i took it outside to the shop (i luv her ) currently im very under powered but trying to figure out how to hook up another 2000 watts. my tuner / amp  is a sony str- d715. 7 chanel dolby pro logic. its around 10 years old an still rocks as well as it did new.main speakers are currently peavey SP-4TI . 2 x15s and a large horn. they arent the most efficent pair of speakers ive had (actually they draw alot). these will be replaced for the winter with my good mains , EV SX500s . these are single 15 with a horn and hands down the nicest sounding speakers i have ever heard. the best price i can find new on these things is $780 each and worth every penny! my "surround" speakers are old OLD sansui sp5500X. I actually got these in a deal for a 360 i sold (i basicly got them free)and i love them, they are very clean and the 15s thump! (so yes folks i currently have 7 15s playing in my living room)
  I my partner in crime and myself own our pro sound system together (each owning different parts that complement each others) it consists of 6 sonic singel 18 cabs (4scoops , 2 folded horns) each cab is 48 high 24 wide and 36 deep. and 4 of the above listed EV SX500s.currently powered at 4000 total watts (way under powered). i wont even go into the effects and mixing board here

      Yes Ken it is a disease   

[Steve P.]

I have Carver and Klipsch.. Does that count??

[Telvis]

I have an old console stereo in my garage. We had it in our living room when I was a kid. I was listening to it when they anounced Elvis died. It's one of those things that sticks in your brain. I am not a big music person but it has a nice tone to it. I think all the high tech stereo equipment you guys have would be wasted on my tin ear. I listen to more talk radio than music.

[cudaken]

 Telvis, not a big Elvis fan, but could sing. Saw his second to last concert, think it was 1975 or so.

When I block a Charger, I just wet them down, stick the paper on and crank the stereo, vibrations do the rest. If I am in a hurry, I play some AC/DC.

By the way, you have E-mail as well.

                                   Ken

[8WHEELER]

Love my 4 speaker system in my garage all Sony except the speakers 8ft up on the wall near each corner.
The neighbors probably don't like it sometime's but they have not complained yet  rock and roll.
Does not look like much but I made the cabinet myself with 3/4 Particleboard, heavy as hell.

Dan

[cudaken]

 8WHEELER, what is in the cabinet?

My neighbors dont know what the heck to with my taste my taste music. About 40 % jazz, just because it sound good, 25% classical 25 % rock and rest what ever sound's good.

One of the neighbors called the cops this last 4th of July. Showed up just in time for the National Anthem, what could they do but salute and tell me to turn it down a little. Alos the same woman that does not like open headers.

Doing some AC / DC and God, it is 12:16 AM. Wife will be pissed as well, like that is new.

Time to crash, well maybe 1 more track.  

             Audiophile Ken