■■■ Chris, yes! It’s easy to overlook (Or forget) these little foibles when dealing with state-of-the-art equipment like the Dansette!
Barrie
■■■ Chris, yes! It’s easy to overlook (Or forget) these little foibles when dealing with state-of-the-art equipment like the Dansette!
Barrie
As the vinyl night gets ever nearer, I ran out of speakers Well,i could have reverse engineered my switch box and had all the amp outputs running to the LEAK 600’s but decided to swap the 12” woofers out in the LEAK 2060’s which would have been great
The swapover was ( I thought) Because the voice coil was grating on one of the woofers. Having subsequently tested them with the replacement set, they are just the same
I‘m thinking now, perhaps one of the crossovers is failing? Who knows !
Anyway, a trip down to Leeds and a visit to RicherSounds, saw me driving off in the 5, fully loaded with these guys!
OK, they were never high end units when they were in production but I only paid £70 the pair in the end with a 6 year guarantee These were almost the last ones in the country to be sold by RS. I rang round to check stock availability and the few that were showing were reserved already at stores in travelling distance from me. These were display models with no original packaging
However, when I got down there, the chap pulled them out of the stockroom with only one grille present, then another staff chap said, “I still have the boxes and the grille is in there” Off he went and next thing, they were boxed up like new with the foot bars, floor spikes, spike caps, instruction book and all the bags, polystyrene ends, everything! So chuffed
The store in Leeds city centre has a tiny loading bay to the rear of the store, so I pulled in there with the 5 and snuck in the back door! No parking costs etc. When the guys brought them out to the car, their immediate reaction was that I wouldn’t get them in the car! Well I did!
Back home now and having a coffee while I type this, will get them unpacked and connected next. Will post up pics when they’re up and running I know they’re new but are a bit old school so hopefully no one minds that I’m adding new things to the retro HIFI thread
TBH, the SONY STR-DH190 tuner amp plus these TANNOY eclipse 2 floor standers cost £220 all in which I think is a bit of a bargain and a retro price! and with a bit of luck, should survive until at least the vinyl night is done!
Even the dog is excited!
Barrie
Well that didn’t take long!
Only connected to the HITACHI SDT-7785 music centre as that’s where the LEAK 2060’s were, but sounds really nice Here is a pic with the grilles off! The keen eyed amongst you, will have spotted the more humble turntable sat underneath. It an AIWA PX-E860 fully auto, it’s going with one of the AIWA 22 series stacks when I bring it down from a spare bedrooms and will be using the little MOURDANT SHORT M10’s perched atop the new TANNOY’s for the sound.
Barrie
Welcome back, Barrie. I was beginning to miss our little Retro Hi-Fi update.
Those Tannoys look the biz, don’t they? How are you going to hide them from Mrs. B ? Behind the curtains maybe ?
Good idea Chris
I’m bracing myself for when Mrs B gets home
thing is, my man maths doesn’t wash with her, I was going to try and track down another set and save even more money
but she wouldn’t understand
that SONY set up you posted about, really caught my eye but I dare not go looking as I know what would happen!
Barrie
Miracles do happen (sort of)
First off, Mrs B and I sat down to watch Leeds v Millwall last night and we won 3-2 second “miracle” was, she was sat directly opposite the new Tannoy’s! She never noticed!
In fact, we even spoke about the majority of the gear going back upstairs once the vinyl night was over, can’t believe my luck
I’m sure it’s short lived though, she’ll catch on soon enough
Barrie
Of course it’s retro, I bought it hours ago…
Got the mini AIWA stack into a HIFI stand and set it up next to the HITACHI, complete with its rather tatty AIWA turntable
Needs must I suppose!
Using the MOURDANT SHORT M10’s as previously mentioned, they lack a bit of Bass but are very clear and nice for their size They double up as stands for the headphones too!
All set now (I think) One of the couples messaged to say they’d had a look in the loft but couldn’t find the old albums
Fingers crossed the others find theirs, I don’t think they’ll like my Mantovani collection
Barrie
I like this idea of yours of a vinyl night, Barrie - I might nick the idea and try to organise something similar down here. I met loads of vinyl nuts when I used to do a show called “The Woodstock Generation” for our local radio station, Frome FM. I did it for five or six years, and I was always surprised how many like-minded folk there were hanging around the studio each time I went in to do my show.
Thought it was about time I showed you mine. Not as retro as some but I love it. Started with the amp. £10 on eBay and five minutes with a soldering iron to make it work again. It’s all only stereo despite being an AV amp but this particular one means I can bi-amp not bi-wire the speakers (using mains cable ) and the amp is a battleship at 18 kilos with a gorgeous copper coated chassis. It does have a phono stage but it’s pretty weak hence the external one.The record player is the same age as me at 46 but I got in new in 2018! Cartridge updated and quite a few chassis mods to make it the best it can be. Speakers are Monitor Audio and rock.
One thing has happened since my last visit, the “stuff” that was blocking access to my Garrard 401/SME 3009/Shure V15 turntable assembly has gone to its new home and I have retrieved it and installed it into a system. Checked all the settings for the SME arm - spot-on, tracking weight for the V15 - ditto, then the moment of truth, turned on the 401 and let it run for a few minutes with the speed adjustment dial in the neutral position - the result, according to the stroboscope, all speeds running accurately. Not bad for a 47 year old unit that hasn’t been used for 8 years. But then it’s BRITISH, well the cartridge is from the USA. Will try to add some photos later - I’ll have to take some first!
Got my morning “Retro Fix”… Making me look at Fleece Bay… Bring back Sony Walkman…
Just added a couple of photos to my earlier post. Just to prove that everything was working I played a nice relaxing track to settle my nerves - “All Along The Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix!!!
That Garrard deck looks lovely, and in such great condition - well done.
It is indeed, a thing of beauty. How good is retro HIFI equipment, just love it! On another note, youngest son and GF were busy viewing apartments over the weekend, looks like the music room is getting nearer, sooner than anticipated! Currently I have two full stacks of the AIWA mini compo 22 series, the HITACHI SDT-7885 music centre (although currently for sale), the LEAK DELTA 75 amp/tuners (needs repair) the AKAI 4000DS reel to reel, LEAK 3001 turntable and LEAK 600 and 2060 (need attention) floorstanders, MOURDANT SHORT M10’s, AIWA SC-E11’s and a similar pair of cast alloy ones from REALISTIC, loads of interconnects, speaker cables and 3 x HIFI stands. More modern units are the TANNOY ECLIPSE 2’s and the SONY STR-D190 amp/tuner, phew!, I intend to set everything up in the soon to be vacant bedroom. The lounge then will just have the PHILLIPS Fidelio 4.1 sound bar system. This should please Mrs B as she has an aversion to cables and wires. I’m going to display one of the AIWA systems in an original rack cabinet, sold as an option back in the day along with the optional rack handles.
I’m hoping then, to be able to ‘optimise’ the speaker positions as I won’t need to constantly move stuff around to accommodate family requirements I also have some pairs of, not high end but nice, over ear headphones too!
Just hope there’s room for a listening chair
Barrie
Since my “clear-out” I have room for 2 systems with a large, not too comfortable. sofa. The thing at the moment is not being able to find the “ideal” position for the speaker units, and my tinnitus doesn’t help!!!
Knackered lug ole’s aint fun.
All those years of headbanging directly in front of the speaker stacks at rock concerts have caught up with you at last Roger. Had it coming to you.
(Really missing the little sideways whistling emoji}
I well remember back in the 1970s, when I frequented discos every week, driving home and not being able to hear the noisy tappets rattling in my old car’s engine, because of all the ringing in my ears. Only to discover of course, that the rattle was back the following morning ! I guess I’m lucky though, that the ringing only lasted a few hours, and has not stayed with me for life, unlike the unfortunate Roger (Countryboy).
Is there some kind of mathematical formula, or guide, to show us optimum speaker position for any room size / seating arrangement ?
Yes. If it’s folk, classical or opera then the speakers should be in the next county…
Oh, and Daniel O’Donnell too.