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oh my god i need to stop looking at incredibly impractical-looking turntables on craigslist 
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Feb 23, 2023 23:44
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I hear those are really good except for the belts being made of tissue paper and needing replaced every 5-10 years.
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Feb 24, 2023 01:02
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Has anybody tried re-capping /repairing and/or replacing old speaker crossovers before? Or other generic refurbs like redoing gasket materials, packing the cabinet and whatnot? My dad has a pair of old 3-way Realistic Optimus 25 speakers, those 1' x ~3' style of grandpa speakers. They just sound.. dead? Like the low-mids and down and the highs feel rolled off and compressed, they just sound so thin and meh. Which is weird because this thing has a 12" woofer, 4" midrange woofer, and a 2-1/2" tweeter. He has an older Realistic STA-530 driving them which definitely needs some Deoxit at the bare minimum, too. Just looking for suggestions on brands of caps to replace them with, and consideration about making a new crossover for it if that's a reasonable thing to do. I have some basic to average soldering skills and I'd like to wake these speakers up for my dad. Not my picture but they are pretty nice, it's actually real Walnut veneer on the cabinets 
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Feb 26, 2023 19:24
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Have you futzed with the bass/treble knobs on the receiver? I'd suspect a problem from the source before diving into speaker components. Especially if the speakers sound identically lovely. Give the LOUDNESS button a shot, too. It should increase higher frequencies at lower volumes.
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Feb 26, 2023 23:42
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bigman.50grand posted:Have you futzed with the bass/treble knobs on the receiver? I'd suspect a problem from the source before diving into speaker components. Especially if the speakers sound identically lovely. Give the LOUDNESS button a shot, too. It should increase higher frequencies at lower volumes. Yeah I've already done lots with that to get it to a listenable state. Added an active sub, loudness on and the treble and bass have been painstakingly set. But yeah you're right, I should bring my little Fosi TB10D class D amp over and try the speakers with that 200W animal before I go too far into the weeds.
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Feb 27, 2023 00:40
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Picked up a few things over the past couple weekends. For my system I found this pair of Mission 707 speakers, I love how they sound and will have a perm place in the stack. Right now I'm driving them with my VTL/Rotel system, but I wanna pair them with my Linn Majik intergrated amp for an all UK system. Also looking at the Mission 778X, nice small foot print and plenty of inputs for all the stupid poo poo I have. Reorganized the Rotel system, added the monster power thing, SMSL SU-9 DAC, and a 3rd gen AppleTV that is hidden in back.   Found 3 turntables that I will be cleaning up, servicing and selling. A MCS turntable with a Pmount cart, basically one of the technics SL-q200 rebadge. Then two Pioneer turntables, a PL-400 and PL-300, both quartz lock and always decent tables to flip. I think I'll match the PL-400 with a Denon receiver I got laying around, along with a pair of Bose 4.2 I picked up today. Decent first system I'll list for 300 bucks. Also found a Shure V-15 Type II basically NOS, it and the stylus look untouched, I'm starting to horde these drat carts. 
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Feb 27, 2023 02:47
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Mederlock posted:Has anybody tried re-capping /repairing and/or replacing old speaker crossovers before? Or other generic refurbs like redoing gasket materials, packing the cabinet and whatnot? My dad has a pair of old 3-way Realistic Optimus 25 speakers, those 1' x ~3' style of grandpa speakers. They just sound.. dead? Like the low-mids and down and the highs feel rolled off and compressed, they just sound so thin and meh. Which is weird because this thing has a 12" woofer, 4" midrange woofer, and a 2-1/2" tweeter. He has an older Realistic STA-530 driving them which definitely needs some Deoxit at the bare minimum, too. it’s absolutely reasonable—within reason, so to speak. there’s actually a fairly committed and extensive Realistic upgrading/refurbishing scene on the internet. It’s mainly focused on the somewhat iconic metal-bodied Minimus line, but there are ppl who know about Optimus in the Audiokarma/etc orbits who might be able to give you good advice or even point you toward complete crossover upgrade kits or guides, or help you put one together from raw parts. I know people have put together various crossover upgrade kits for the Minimus over the years. All that being said, keep your expectations within reason. At the end of the day, Realistic was a Radio Shack house label, and while there may be some gems of varying value in that portfolio, and certainly there’s historic and personal value in keeping these things in working order, you’re not going to magically turn a 50 year old budget-branded “mid-fi” speaker into a proper high end speaker with some new capacitors and a woofer refoam. These kinds of restorations/refurbishments can get expensive and time consuming much more easily than ppl think, so think of it as a passion project and hobby job first, because once you’re spending $150+ on parts and tools and shipping and trips to Home Despot and whatnot for all the various poo poo you need (and god forbid you get to the point where you’re paying professionals for help), you’ve blown past the point of diminishing returns from a purely performance-for-dollar standpoint. TLDR- fix them up because they’re your dad’s old speakers, and that means something to you; but if you want your dad to have nicer sounding speakers just spend the money on new speakers. There’s a lot of speakers under $500/pair from the past several decades that will easily and handily beat a pair of Realistic Optimus.
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Feb 27, 2023 09:35
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namlosh posted:Yep, barring the super expensive headphones… I addressed this. Some people don’t like the output of built-ins which is fine. They want a different one. The default approach to headphone amps is to buy and test with the Apple dongle first before you even think of any amp 99% of the time that would work perfect unless you want to damage your hearing
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Mar 13, 2023 07:48
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I'm thinking of buying a pair of old speakers (5 euros pair of Philips F 9216 3-way), 4ohm but I got 8ohm amp amplifier (Phillips F5110). I don't plan to run this thing very hard so I think I am fine. I am also considering rebuilding the speakers with new wooden enclosures (pine I guess) and just reusing their innards. This isn't like sacrelige or anything right. e: Open to alternatives to pine I just got this memory of hearing pine's good for audio for some reason. Assuming I go through with it, the speakers now are all black and uggo but maybe they will pretty up. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 10:00 on Mar 15, 2023 |
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Mar 15, 2023 09:55
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His Divine Shadow posted:I'm thinking of buying a pair of old speakers (5 euros pair of Philips F 9216 3-way), 4ohm but I got 8ohm amp amplifier (Phillips F5110). I don't plan to run this thing very hard so I think I am fine. You usually want a really dense speaker box, so most home speaker builders use something like MDF.
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Mar 15, 2023 12:03
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MDF sure is ugly though 
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Mar 15, 2023 14:21
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That's what veneers are for.
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Mar 15, 2023 15:06
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I would prefer massive wooden construction instead of veneers, veneers never manage that real wooden look. I remember John Heisz made a pair of really nice looking speakers years ago. I should go look it up again as that was the start of me wanting to do my own speakers. I got the speakers home now, not very pretty, original construction is particle board. For another 5 euros the guy threw in a Pioneer SX-400 amp, might need some work.
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Mar 15, 2023 17:21
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His Divine Shadow posted:I would prefer massive wooden construction instead of veneers, veneers never manage that real wooden look. I remember John Heisz made a pair of really nice looking speakers years ago. I should go look it up again as that was the start of me wanting to do my own speakers. A good walnut veneer is going to look better than pine, right?
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Mar 15, 2023 17:56
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His Divine Shadow posted:I would prefer massive wooden construction instead of veneers, veneers never manage that real wooden look. I remember John Heisz made a pair of really nice looking speakers years ago. I should go look it up again as that was the start of me wanting to do my own speakers. at least use Baltic birch if you insist on solid wood it's used in a lot of speaker and amp cabs, particularly touring equipment the only thing pine has over MDF is that it holds up marginally better with serious moisture, and that assumes that you're leaving your cabinets unsealed, which is inadvisable if you're spendy you could build out of solid walnut/oak/etc but lmao trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Mar 15, 2023 |
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Mar 15, 2023 18:08
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OP if you really must, you can run Baltic birch plywood with a good stain(use stain conditioner) or just use MDF like everyone does for a reason and use a nice walnut or cherry veneer. Align the grain as you go around the box and it'll look great.
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Mar 15, 2023 18:13
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BigFactory posted:A good walnut veneer is going to look better than pine, right? I haven't yet seen a veneer I liked tbh. I think it could be done if you had like like 15mm or so of solid wood outside the MDF. Then it would actually look like solid wood and I could have those roundover edges I want being all a solid wood roundover.
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Mar 15, 2023 18:56
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His Divine Shadow posted:I haven't yet seen a veneer I liked tbh. I think it could be done if you had like like 15mm or so of solid wood outside the MDF. Then it would actually look like solid wood and I could have those roundover edges I want being all a solid wood roundover. Why not just box in the existing speakers with solid wood?
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Mar 15, 2023 19:20
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I wouldn't like to make them any larger than they are now. I was wondering if I could make them a little smaller even. I guess there are rules to that too so we'll have to see. e: Dunno what the material they're made of now is, looks like OSB but smaller grain. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Mar 15, 2023 |
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Mar 15, 2023 19:33
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His Divine Shadow posted:I wouldn't like to make them any larger than they are now. I was wondering if I could make them a little smaller even. As long as you’re not expecting to take cheap speakers with cheap drivers and somehow make them sound better by putting them in homemade pine cabinets, you can make them as big or small as you want, I’d say. It might be a fun project.
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Mar 15, 2023 19:43
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I finally found a vintage boombox that wasn't beat to hell thrifting. Hefty, silver, has a rail to protect the tape deck controls The bad news it's mono.  But... A quick wipe with a damp paper towel and it cleaned up perfectly.  And googling the model it's actually a semi rare version of the GE superradio and is probably worth $100  Everything works except the tape deck belt needs to be replaced as tapes play but are warbly.
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Mar 16, 2023 04:26
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That's the fanciest mono boombox I've ever seen. I've always been looking for a SuperRadio but never find them.
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Mar 16, 2023 13:45
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I've been looking for a good condition 80s ghettoblaster style boombox to use as a photoshoot prop. I've got this old sharp that is mint and better than nothing but way more of a 90s vibe  The weirdest thing about the GE is it has an external antenna input block on the back that had an archer 300 ohm to 75 ohm adapter attached so whoever previously owned it probably just left it on a shelf playing the radio 24/7 which explains why it was in such great cosmetic shape.
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Mar 16, 2023 19:34
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It looks like they just cut down a GE 3-5286a boombox: I actually own the Zenith version of that boombox: wa27 posted:
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Mar 16, 2023 20:39
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So we’ve been thinking of getting a turntable. It’ll be our first one since I was a kid. The question revolves around if I should buy new or used. I had assumed used would be the way to go since most of these things were made better years ago… for example the way tape decks all suck now But then I saw the Audio-Technica ATLP120X-USB And it seems to be really good… like i can’t see anything that this table is lacking compared to a good quality table from the past. What’s the thread consensus on it? We have some 33’s, 45’s and even some old 78s we’d like to be able to play. This turntable should be all we need right? Shellac 78s will need a different stylus though, like one made out of bamboo or steel. Does it make sense to buy a whole new headshell and just switch those out to play with different stylus’?
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Mar 17, 2023 02:52
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I have one of those. It seems fine. You can replace the cartridge if you want (and as you noted, you'll need to for 78s), but it sounds good to me, and the RPM checking app seems to suggest it's solid. I understand it's technically a downgrade in some manner from the model it replaces, but probably not in any way that really matters.
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Mar 17, 2023 03:37
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namlosh posted:So we’ve been thinking of getting a turntable. It’ll be our first one since I was a kid. Makes perfect sense. Audio Technica themselves make a 78 stylus, and you can buy a headshell with the cartridge pre-mounted on it if you want https://www.audio-technica.com/en-u...78-rpm-records/ don’t pay $160 for a VM95SP, you can get it on its own for $70 if you Google it, or $100 mounted. Endless Mike posted:I understand it's technically a downgrade in some manner from the model it replaces, but probably not in any way that really matters. AT downgraded the 120? How so?
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Mar 17, 2023 05:33
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I think they removed a feature of the previous iteration, I forget what but I recall it being pretty minor, and fixed a bunch of stuff like the line out. The current version is definitely the one to go for. If you go used, factor in either a service or learning how to service it yourself.
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Mar 17, 2023 05:44
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Thanks for the replies… what made this a tougher decision was the fact that I have been tinkering with electronics and could probably have fun tinkering and fixing an old table… but in this case, for us I think, sticking with new makes a lot more sense.
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Mar 17, 2023 15:51
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namlosh posted:Thanks for the replies… what made this a tougher decision was the fact that I have been tinkering with electronics and could probably have fun tinkering and fixing an old table… but in this case, for us I think, sticking with new makes a lot more sense. (Buy an old one)
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Mar 17, 2023 23:20
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BigFactory posted:(Buy an old one) Eh, they’re much harder to get cheap in good order than they were 10 years ago If you can get one from a family member/estate/etc then 👍
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Mar 17, 2023 23:29
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Ok Comboomer posted:Eh, they’re much harder to get cheap in good order than they were 10 years ago Still more fun, especially if tinkering is a plus not a minus.
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Mar 17, 2023 23:37
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BigFactory posted:Still more fun, especially if tinkering is a plus not a minus. “change an old belt” is a pretty ‘meh’ kind of tinkering
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Mar 18, 2023 00:30
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Ok Comboomer posted:“change an old belt” is a pretty ‘meh’ kind of tinkering Not if that’s all you’re capable of!
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Mar 18, 2023 00:33
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I mean the real answer is buy the ATLP120 so you can play records now, and then start scouting local spots for a promising fixer upper. Then you either flip one or keep both and start hoarding vintage gear like god intended.
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Mar 18, 2023 07:17
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Enos Cabell posted:I mean the real answer is buy the ATLP120 so you can play records now, and then start scouting local spots for a promising fixer upper. Then you either flip one or keep both and start hoarding vintage gear like god intended. This goon gets it
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Mar 18, 2023 16:47
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Ok Comboomer posted:“change an old belt” is a pretty ‘meh’ kind of tinkering Get an old automatic, like a Bic 960, and you can spend hours degreasing then re-greasing everything!
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Mar 18, 2023 18:46
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Enos Cabell posted:I mean the real answer is buy the ATLP120 so you can play records now, and then start scouting local spots for a promising fixer upper. Then you either flip one or keep both and start hoarding vintage gear like god intended. Ding ding ding ding! I’m pretty sure this is what’s going to happen  Thanks guys!
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Mar 19, 2023 00:34
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I am looking to add a subwoofer to my stereo. My current speakers are a pair of old Wharfedale 9.2 bookshelf speakers. They have 6.5" drivers and go down to ~55 Hz at -3 dB. Now the problem is that I live small so size is a factor. I don't need a powerful subwoofer because I live in an apartment and don't want to annoy my neighbours. I mostly listen to music so I don't think I need a huge subwoofer that can go down below the audible frequencies? Can I get away with an 8" sub? Also, does anyone here have experience with the Wharfedale Evo 4.2 speakers? I listened to them briefly and and were impressed. Their form factor is similar to my current speakers (which I like). Are big bookshelf speakers unnecessary if I also have a subwoofer that can deal with the lower frequencies?
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Mar 24, 2023 13:36
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Sigmund Fraud posted:Also, does anyone here have experience with the Wharfedale Evo 4.2 speakers? I listened to them briefly and and were impressed. Their form factor is similar to my current speakers (which I like). Are big bookshelf speakers unnecessary if I also have a subwoofer that can deal with the lower frequencies? I'm doing a test listen at somebody's else house before i buy them second hand I also did listened to them briefly at an audio shop, at least i know for sure they aren't sibilant at all. They also had the Lintons which I wasn't impressed at all probably due to their excessively small room
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Mar 24, 2023 15:29
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