Vintage Stereo

My Vintage Stereo Stack In The Bedroom

2018-04-08T08:16:00.001-07:00

My Bedroom Clock

This vintage audio stack is currently set in the bedroom. To be really complete, it needs a tape deck, cassette and reel-to-reel, and possibly a switcher, and a turntable... The black-bodied amplifier was switched from the matching silver-bodied one that needs cleaning, it was too scratchy.

The stack is connected to a pair of Series III Bose 301 speakers. The timer is used as a clock right now and works well. It works in 24 hour mode, which I prefer, and is very easy to reset after a power outage for instance... The timer can be used to turn on and off the amplifier at preset times, so this system could be used as large and fairly powerful alarm clock!

The amplifier was eventually bypassed by a Lepai 2020+. I rarely turn it on, but for the times I actually want to use the tuner, the Akai amplifier was too difficult to control at very low volumes...

This is what happens when you have bit of extra gear lying around. Hey, use what you have!

Bluetooth Transmitter And Receiver With A Vintage Amp

2018-03-20T17:57:00.001-07:00

Bluetooth Connectivity, The Good

There is one component that was missing from my vintage amplifier and this was Bluetooth. Well, you know, one needs Bluetooth. Connectivity with wireless devices is a great asset in our day and age. Of course there are some drawbacks, but I'll get back to that.

First let talk about this little device I purchased a little while ago. Made by MPOW, it connect my amplifier to my computer or to my headphones, wirelessly. It is a rectangular piece of plastic containing a circuit that makes your vintage amplifier able to transmit or to receive. It is powered from the wall outlet, but can also hold a charge for a few days without being plugged in. I keep mine permanently plugged in.

These functions can be toggled, It can either receive or transmit. Currently, I have it connected to my wireless headphones which I use all the time in the apartment. Keep in mind this is only one of such devices on the market, I just happened to get this one, the price/quality value was good.

The signal from my vintage 70's amplifier is transmitted to my wireless headphones. Wonderful! My computer is hard wired to my tube buffer which is, in turn, connected my amplifier. Who says there is a generational communication gap? None here...

Bluetooth Connectivity, The Not So Good

Delay

There are a few clouds in this sunny scene. One is delay. I takes a fraction of a second for the circuit to be completed. This is irrelevant in the case of music but when video is involved it may be a little disgruntling.

Depending on the headphones type connected, this delay can vary from hardly noticeable to frankly annoying when it comes to synching sound and picture.

Cut-off

The other aspect of unpleasantness in this magical union is signal loss, or cut-off. This may occur when the device, in this case headphone moves out of range, or nearly out of range of the transmitter.

The signal loss only occurs obviously with mobile devices like headphones or in the case of transmitting to the amp, a phone or tablet for example.

Conclusion

If you need your computer, or any Bluetooth device, to send music to your vintage amplifier wirelessly or wish to receive a signal from your vintage amp, then this type of transmitter in a blessing. With a few caveats, it rocks!

Upgrading Yaqin Tube Buffer 6J1's With GE 6AK5W Tubes (Valves)

2018-03-20T16:38:00.001-07:00

I purchased my Yaqin tube buffer about 4 years ago from a Chinese seller on Ebay. I have used it as part of my system chain in different positions along that chain. Before the source and the amp, after the amp, etc...
Recently, I decided to upgrade to different and, perhaps, better tubes....... A matched pair of High Reliability 5654 GE 6AK5W *5-Star* tubes.

These tubes are very inexpensive. The 5654's are smaller than the original 6J1 supplied with the buffer originally. It's nice to do a rotation, and I intend to purchase other tube equivalents in the future.

I have positioned the buffer in the computer chain. So, from the computer to the buffer, then from the buffer to the amplifier. This way, it warms up the digital output from the computer before it's amplified by the AM-2800.

Subjectively I find the sound a little more "musical" than the 6J1 tubes. A little fuller... Overall I recommend these tubes. They come at a good price and the performance is very pleasing, so they offer very a good value.

Buying The Audio Technica AT95E Stylus

2018-03-20T05:42:00.004-07:00

I just replaced the stylus on my vintage Hitachi PS-15 turntable. I picked the Audio Technica AT-95E.
I had bad luck with my previous stylus, a Shure M25C. I wanted something affordable and sturdy, yet of a good audiophile quality.

The AT-95E seemed to fit the bill. It comes with a bunch of screws and nuts and was easy to install on my cartridge. Well, actually I managed to sever one of the tiny wires as I was installing it. I had to solder the wire back in. After fixing this mishap, It works perfectly. The sound is excellent.

I am not a fanatic audiophile. My means and tastes are modest but serious. This stylus seems sturdier than my Shure. I set the weight at 2 grams. I always have been a Shure fanboy, changing to Audio Technica was a leap of faith. But it paid off. So far, after several months and at about two hundred vinyl sides, it performs flawlessly. I think this is a great affordable stylus for vintage turntables.

Changing The Fabric Of Your Vintage Speakers And Changing The Surrounds

2018-03-15T11:51:00.002-07:00

Revamping My Four (4) Large Advent Speakers

Changing The Fabric On the Large Advent Speakers

This year I decided to put my Advents back in full working order. I own four Original Large Advents. Two of them were in storage for over 2 years, the other two were functional in the living room. I started by cosmetics. Not only was the fabric stained and discoloured, the cats had a field day piercing little holes in them.... The result were speakers that had lost their mojo. So I decided it was time to change the old fabric on the speakers. Since I intended to restore all 4 speakers and stack them, I had to make them look good as well as making them fully functional. So, I bought fabric. I looked around and tried to find a fabric that would look good on vintage speakers. Of course this had to done without braking the bank, I could always change them again later. So, I purchased the least expensive, best looking fabric I could find. I found a good source in China. Other places asked for just too much money for my budget. The photo below show the "silver". colour of that range of speaker fabric. I all worked out well except for one thing...

How To Secure The Fabric To Your Speaker Grills

I couldn't find the proper staples to secure the fabric. The original staples are very short, and, try as I may, I couldn't find the equivalent in any hardware store!... Amazing! Then I decided to use tape, the idea of using glue didn't appeal to me at all somehow.

So I went off to get some double-sided tape. Last time I remember it was an easy thing to find... But not this time. It's not called simply "double-sided tape" anymore it seems. I had to try so many variations in order to find the right stuff. Well, I managed to find something that worked, but what a pain it was. The photo on the left shows the tape that worked for me, on the right. The one on the left in the photo was not appropriate.

The shrink and seal did a fair job, considering it's not really meant to be used this way. The main thing is it's fairly easy to work with, cheap, and can be scraped off eventually without making too much of a mess. Also, I do recommend to iron out the fabric before installing it (on very low heat)...

Very inexpensive and elegant fabric. I think it keeps the vintage flavour while modernizing the look of the Large Advents.

Re-foaming The Bass Speaker On the Large Advent Speakers

The reason two of my advents were in storage is that one them had to be re-foamed. The infamous scourge of 1970's speakers had made another victim... After some time, the foam "surround" of the bass speakers had disintegrated. Perfectly normal phenomena that is cured by simply replacing it. If there is no damage to the rest of the unit, everything will work like new after replacement. I had been putting it off mostly because I wasn't comfortable doing it myself. I had asked around and responded to ads... They required that I purchase the kit, bring the speaker and pay them outrageous amounts of money for their time...

DIY Speaker Re-Foaming

I ordered a kit specifically made for these speakers. It included glue. Well, I must say, it went very well. I cleaned the material out of the speaker with the tip of an old screwdriver and a utility knife after taking it out of the speaker box. Then proceeded to align the new foam surround, glue it down and re-install/re-connect the speaker.

If you are going to do it yourself here are links to videos that may help you:

Advent Speaker Repair Replace Foam Edge Metal Frame Woofer

and:

Advent Loudspeaker Repair "Advent - 1"- Woofer Refoam. Part 1.

I bought my kit at Simply Speakers

AKAI AM-2800

2017-07-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

This is the amp I use these days the AKAI Am-2800, it powers my 4 Large Advents. It is rated at 80 watts per channel.

Realistic Tape Control Centre - Switcher

2011-10-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

If You Own Multiple Reel-To-Reel Or Cassette Decks... Realistic Tape Control Centre - Harmony At Last

A few weeks ago, I found this neat little switcher from Realistic for 7$, the Realistic Tape Control Centre. I can now hook-up 3 tape decks; listen, record from one or all three or just from the source. I have put my tube Yaqin 6J1 tube buffer in the loop. If I select tape from my Yamaha controller, I can pass the signal through the tape control centre and get amplification through the buffer. Neat. The control centre works very well, no perceivable loss of signal or interference, and now, I am not getting "hum" from the buffer.

Realistic Tape Control Center

Yaqin Tape Buffer with 6J1 tubes and 2 Lepai 2020+

mounted vertically by me...

I can now control 3 tape decks with 1 input to the Yamaha controller.

Music Angel "Yayi Amplification - Mini" EL-34 push-pull tube amplifier

2011-05-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

Just received my Mini Music Angel "Yayi "from China, a 2 month wait. Unpack, put the tubes in, connect and plug in. Well, it lasted 4 hours. The next morning, nothing. Turns out, a fuse blew... to be continued...

Beautiful light show while it was working. A bonus is, if you install a shelve at the top on the amplifier, you can cook dinner while listening to your tubes! It's gets hot enough to keep your coffee warm to say the very least... Careful with that amplifier Eugene, 250 Volts.

Yaqin Tube Buffer With 6J1 Tubes (Valves)

2011-04-10T04:53:00.000-07:00

Just received my Yaqin tube buffer. My opinion is divided so far. The small buffer introduces a good amount of noise at higher volumes on my system. On their own, the Lepai amplifiers I use at this moment did not show any noise even at maximum volume. Since I installed the buffer between the pre-amp and amp, the noise level is remarkable. I have to limit the Lepai to half-power in order to get the noise level to an acceptable level. This being said and before I find a fix for the noise issue (if there is a fix), the Yaqin buffer is very interesting. I does add an exotic element to a system an provides very smooth sound and separation. The source material seems to matter a lot as to the effect of the buffer.

If I keep the Lepai TA2020A+ amplifier at lower levels and only use the pre-amps volume, the sound is excellent and very detailled as is channel and instrument separation.

Above - The finish and overall look is good but could be improved...

The blue LED lighted logo adds an interesting touch.

I am still investigating this little device and will report later with more comments.

Above - The Yaqin buffer connected between the pre-amp

and the little Lepai TA2020A+ amplifier.

Akai AT-K02 FM/AM Stereo Tuner

2011-03-06T06:53:00.000-08:00

I have used this tuner in my bedroom for a while and it is a very honest machine, nice display (too bright for a bedroom really) and very good sound and reception. A nice feature is it's slimness, it fits anywhere.

Akai AP-D33 Direct-Drive Turntable

2011-03-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

This is the Akai AP-D33 Direct-drive 33/45 rpm Turntable with strobe light for speed accuracy verification and adjustment, it has a pitch knob to achieve this. The body is mostly plastic.

Unfortunately, speed is a problem on this one. Seems I may have to change a resistor inside.

Hitachi PS-15 Full Auto, Belt-Drive Turntable

2011-03-06T06:40:00.000-08:00

I picked up this turntable for 10$... and added a 80$ Shure M25C cartridge and stylus... It was 2nd from the top of the line the year it was produced and is a 2-speed, belt-driven, fully automatic turntable. I was impressed that a fully automatic turntable could perform so well.

The automatic mechanism is noisy before the stylus touches the vinyl, then it's super-quiet.

Nicely styled levers, very good turntable - no issues.

Garrard RC 88/4 Turntable

2011-03-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

Nice 4 speed turntable with automatic loading arm, the mechanism works perfectly,

it needs a new stylus though.

above: loading arm

4 speeds: 18, 45, 33, 78

Lepai Hi-Fi Digital Amplifier TA-2020 (TA2020A+)

2011-02-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

I know this is not vintage subject matter, but I just got this small amplifier from China for a about 30$ US, including shipping. I was wondering while I waited for it to arrive from China if such a small amplifier could handle my Large Advent speakers and what the big deal was about..

Je sais bien que nous ne sommes plus dans le « vintage » ici, mais j'ai reçu ce petit ampli de Chine pour un coût dérisoire, je devais partager mon enthousiasme. Pourtant, je me suis demandé en attendant son arrivée de Chine comment il se comporterait face à mes enceintes Large Advents.

Well, I was impressed, the sound is very, very good and there's plenty of power for my small apartment... plenty. Good separation and very nice solid sound. For the price what do you want...

Well, you get a lot for the money in the sound department with this tiny amplifier.

There are controls for Bass and Treble, most similar amps don't have these. I also got a tone/direct button to bypass the pre-amp stage with this one, this model usually doesn't have one.

After some research it turns out to be the newer model, TA2020A+.

J'ai été impressionné dès la première écoute!

Bonne résolution et excellente séparation,

un son cristallin mais qui tient bien aussi dans les basses.

Ce modèle possède en plus un bouton « tone/direct » qui permet de désactivé la section pré-ampli.

Le fini en général est bon mais il y a quelques petites failles :

le bouton volume ne tourne pas bien et et la face en aluminium était égratignée.

Peut importe, à ce prix, j'aime beaucoup et le son est vraiment très bon. Mon Akai AM-2800 (80 watt par canal et des nouveaux condensateurs, c'est un monstre) est au repos en ce moment. J'économise de l'énergie aussi... Le petit Lepai ne chauffe, à toutes fins pratiques, pas du tout... ;)

The finish is poor on front plate, it looks "used"

and the volume knob has difficulty turning below a certain point... I love it anyway!

Sitting on top of my Akai AM-2800, the Lepai is tiny.

Behold! The Big blue volume dial light.

Driving a pair of Large Advents

Yamaha RX-V670

Mac mini connected to the Yamaha

I use the Yamaha RX-V670 as a sound processor/controller only, I do not use it's internal amps.

This permits me to still use the Yamaha with the remote control

to change sources or control volume at a distance.

The Lepai is using my 5.0 channel Yamaha for sources. The Yamaha is bridged (no use of internal amps, only 2 wires come out of the Yamaha and go into the Lepai) and outputs to the Lepai All the sources go into the Yamaha (computer, turntable, reel-to-reel, cassette tape, TV, kitchen sink).

The Lepai amplifier drives my 2 large Advents with ease at room volume

- with about 13 Watts per channel at 8 Ohm and 20 Watts at 4 Ohm.

I will try it in 4 Ohm mode with my other pair of Advents when I get a chance.

My amp is slightly different than the one on the box, it has a tone/direct button which this model does'nt usually have, it seems it's a newer model. The box itself pictures different images on each side of the box, go figure. The watt rating on the box is the "new" way of rating amps... 20 watts becomes 550!

I put a piece or "stylish" rubber to hold the Lepai in place - the Lepai is very light and has a tendency to be carried away by the weight of the wires in the back.

Right now, this little Lepai is driving my system while the 80 watt per channel Akai AM-2800 (re-capped and no slouch) is taking a vacation. Hey, it's good for the environment! I think my electricity bill is going to go down! Hardly any heat is coming out of the Lepai's aluminium shell.

PART 2

Well, I ordered 2 more Lepai amps., they will be driving my advents - one amp, two speakers mode.

I just also bought a tube amp from China, but more on that later!

I gave the first Lepai to my brother to investigate ;)

UPDATE

Here are the Lepai amplifiers powering the system, 2 original "large" Advents

and 2 Yamaha NS-451 RM (Rock Monitors, but more on those later...)

Between the Yamaha 5.0 channel RX-V670 and the Lepais sits a Yaqin tube buffer

with the original 6J1 tubes.

How to stack and connect 4 "large" Advent speakers

2011-02-06T05:04:00.000-08:00

I made a diagram for those of you who want to stack 4 "large" Advent speakers and create the "wall of sound".

Any post can be used as negative or positive behind the speakers as long as they are all connected the same way

Akai AP-100C Auto-return Turntable

2011-02-05T08:29:00.000-08:00

My current turntable: the Akai AP-100C Auto-return Turntable in black.

Curved arm

This is a belt-driven turntable. It is particular in that you have to move the "up-down" lever

to the down position, position the arm over the vinyl, then press the "start-cut" knob to release the arm (the arm only comes down when that knob is turned). The turntable starts turning when the arm is hand-positioned over the record area. To end playback, just turn the "start-cut" knob again, the arm automatically returns home. There is also a lock mechanism for the arm. The cover comes off by pulling, the hinges release the plastic cover, simple.

Original stylus and cartridge

AKAI GX-4000D Tape Deck

2011-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Just got an Akai GX-4000D. This deck is small and well-made. It has 2 speeds 3 3/4 and 7 1/2, the speed is changed by installing a "speed sleeve" (see my post for more info).

The motor is a little noisy and the tape, or reel(?), is rubbing.... Plays well but will need a little TLC to bring it up to specs. Overall, a nice deck.

Akai GX-4000D Tape deck speed sleeve

2011-02-05T05:43:00.000-08:00

The GX-4000D speed sleeve explained and illustrated!

Here are a few photos showing the infamous GX-4000D speed sleeve. This sleeve is actually 2 pieces, the sleeve itself and the screw that holds it in position. I had to clean it a little as it was difficult to pull out of its "resting post" inside the head cover. These parts allow you, when installed to change speeds on the GX from 3 3/4 to 7 1/2. Without these parts, the machine can only run on the slower speed setting. They are stored on a special post inside the head cover, when you want to change speeds it is taken off that post and installed on the guide post of the tape as shown in the photo.

Akai EA-G40 Stereo Graphic Equalizer

2011-01-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

Akai EA-G40 Stereo Graphic Equalizer, 8 bands. Used it for a while, but my current set-up doesn't really require equalizing, also, equalizers tend to add more wiring than I like in a system... I run everything flat, what you hear is what you get... K.I.S.S (Keep it simple and stupid)!

Akai CS-M3 Stereo Cassette Deck

2011-01-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here are a pair of Akai CS-M3 Stereo Cassette Decks. Very honest little 2 headed deck - I found 2 of these in need of a home, unfortunately I never use them. They do have impressive VU meters though!

Akai AM-UO3 DC Stereo Integrated Amplifier

2011-01-30T09:45:00.000-08:00

I have 3 of these, 2 silver and 1 black - nice little amps that are brigeable!

I used this to power individual sets of speakers,

a "front/back" type of layout plugged into a bridged controller.

Rated at about 40 watts per channel.

I'll post more photos later. I had it's smaller cousin the AM-UO2 as well, very similar.

Akai AT-2600 Stereo Tuner

2011-01-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

Among the features: volume control, signal strength, FM mute and mute control level, high blend, signal deviation meter.

The AT-2600 is a great 5 gang AM-FM tuner from Akai, it complements the AM-2800 amplifier.

Akai GXC-725 D Cassette Deck

2011-01-30T05:52:00.000-08:00

The Akai GXC-725D, a nice 3-head deck.

Akai GX-630D Reel-To-Reel

2011-01-30T05:46:00.000-08:00

My favorite tape deck, the Akai GX-630D, shown with a Dokorder metal reel and a reel of Quantegy 456 tape.

Akai AM-2800 Stereo Amplifier

2011-01-29T11:36:00.001-08:00

This is the amp I use these days, an Akai AM-2800. It is rated at "real" 80 watts per channel. I use it to power my 4 Large Advent speakers, no sweat.