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I just picked up a pair of pioneer cs-a700's from goodwill. They have a multi amping feature that I don't quite understand. From what I have heard, multi amping means that you need some sort of active crossover network. I just read something about the speakers that gives me the impression that the crossover works even with using discrete amplifiers. So far, I am pretty impressed with them considering they cost a whopping twenty bux. I do feel pretty lucky, I usually just find overpriced stuff there. I suppose the funky grill helped lower the price and ward off potential buyers as well. Thank goodness I checked to see if I could peel back the grill! I managed to find a pair of se-305 cans at the same time, for five bux! Something odd that I noticed, I usually listen to music through my laptop and set the volume high on the receiver so I can control the volume with the laptop's controls. Sometimes I don't set it high enough and I end up running out of headroom. Normally I would just reach the top of the volume on my laptop and either raise it at the receiver, or just live with it. Now that I am using these speakers, if I get much past halfway on the laptop volume, its like it is adding noise, but only the midrange. It doesn't really bother me, because I can get more than enough volume, but it just seems really weird.
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May 9, 2009 07:59
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Those are not rca plug caps, the are push button wire retainer thingies. Basically, you push the button down and put the wire through the exposed hole, release the button and the wire is held in place. I have a slightly newer pair of pioneers that have the same grill but more features (go go useless triamp ability!). If they are anything like mine, they are pretty decent. On the other hand, they are 175, I paid 20 for mine. If you are patient and look around thrift stores that are not in major metropolitan areas, you will find some steals. Since you are in portland, have you tried the red white and blue at 19239 SE McLoughlin Blvd? There is also a decent goodwill nearby in OC where I got my speakers. I also got nice pair of vintage pioneer headphones as well from the GW. I have spotted some good stuff that I passed up, there was another pair of pioneer speakers like mine at rwb for about thirty dollars, I saw a harmon and kardon dual mono receiver at GW for 20, then found another dual mono HK of slightly lower stature at RWB for like $30. I don't know about GW, but RWB is pretty good about testing their stuff too, they will even put a sticker on the item if it is missing something, something doesn't work on it or just that they haven't tested it. It is also interesting to note that those pioneers have a 1/4" input as well. It is possible to find an amp, probably not a receiver, in a thrift store that has 1/4" speaker outs, but unlikely. The thing about going to a thrift store to get good deals on old stereo equipment is to research what equipment was any good in the first place and sometimes at what point did a company turn to poo poo and stop making worthwhile products (see: altec lansing) One small drawback with this vintage by way of thrift store is that you sometimes have to deal with gear horders or people who just want to flip it on ebay. When I was looking at the HK at GW, there was a dude breathing down my neck while he was checking his blackberry for the price of it on ebay I assume. After I was done, he did a cursory look at the thing and ran off to the register. I felt kind of bad for some reason, even though my buying it wouldn't have made things much better. On final tip for thrift stores, always grab a cart first thing. I have been lucky so far, but I have heard many stories of people spotting awesome/heavy stuff and going to get a cart only to see it grabbed by someone else. Another side tip is to check out audio karma, somewhere on there is a thread about portland craigslist deals and there is also a thread or two about thrift store finds that have interesting info as well.
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Jan 9, 2010 12:04
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HKR posted:The true secret of any major area good will is that the really good audio equipment never, ever makes it to the floor. Every good will in my area has a guy or two whom everything is set aside for so he can pick through it, and the leftovers are then put on the floor. If you go to audio karma, you will find that is not always the case. Also, so what if there was a McIntosh in the back when I was handling the HK? Knowing GW and their bizarre pricing here, pretty much a hundred dollars for anything with 5.1, If they knew enough to keep it in the back that McIntosh would be on the floor for $200. A good deal, but not what I can afford. I am curious to find out how you know this to be true, do you have a guy? Another invisible problem is that vintage gear is in limited supply and there are only so many deceased audiophiles that were holding on to that sort of thing. I also figure that anything from more recent times that would possibly be a hot deal if found in a thrift store is far too shiny and obvious to the people who want to get rid of it to dump it at the thrift store. Speaking of price range, I forgot that the portland craigslist thread on AK is mostly about deals on things that would normally be really expensive and are still more than I could justify, perhaps even if I had the money. It also moves incredibly slow. I just remembered that I spotted some behringer stuff not too long ago, a studio headphone amp and something with xlr plugins on it that I thought was an amp but wasn't sure after looking closely at it. EDIT: Sorry, just noticed the phrase, 'major area'. I think that it is just the fact that there are people who will trawl goodwill on their merchandising schedule so that they can sort of have first pick. That Genuine Stank fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Jan 9, 2010 |
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Jan 9, 2010 20:49
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primitive posted:The "mint condition" speakers ended up having damage to a speaker cone, ugh. The hunt continues... Was it cone damage or a crushed dust cap? Dust caps are easy to fix. Surround damage is also a fairly easy fix. That Genuine Stank fucked around with this message at 07:06 on Feb 2, 2012 |
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Feb 2, 2012 07:04
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I recently came across a vouple of interesting HiFi related sites, mostly vintage content, but interesting nonethe less to a HiFi enthusiast. The one that is most interesting belongs to a guy who was at the McIntosh when they started making speakers. There is an interesting section on his personal journey through HiFi. The website is here, http://www.roger-russell.com/ The other is basically an image duump blog, but there are many interesting articles form the golden age of HiFi there as well. http://itishifi.blogspot.com/
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Mar 4, 2012 02:44
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