Old classic gear that still works great

[flamingeye]

I had that same Pioneer multi-disc player , I always preferred the cartridge typ over the platter typ. Man I love that Oracle TT it`s beautiful , I don`t think though`s TT`s loss there value much at all , if I where you I`d be playing that thing all the time

[RPA-1 man]

Jun 12, 2009 3:38:10 GMT -5 strindl said:

The original Oracle turntable..made in Quebec. With a Magnepan Unitrac I tonearm and Shure V15 type V mr cartridge. Not many people know that Magnepan actually did make a very impressive carbon fiber tonearm.

It still works great and is hooked up in my main system. I seldom use it though.

That really is a beauty. I really like the Shure carts as well. They just have the tonal balance that I enjoy listening to.

I have the Shure V15 IV on my TT. It blows away the new M97xe that I bought that now sits in my closet as a spare.

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2009 10:40:49 GMT -5 strindl said:

what a beaut! how much did this retail for back in its day?

Let's see here..I'm doing this from memory but the turntable itself was $1100.00, and the tonearm was $300.00. That was about 1980 or so. I went through a number cartridges on there...let's see..at first I was using a Great American Sound Sleeping Beauty, and then a Denon 103D moving coil. The current Shure V15 Vmr was added after CD's came in ...I know it was a 25th anniversary V15..special edition thing that came in a fancy walnut box. Since the original V15 was introduced in 1964...this 25th anniversary one must have been from 1989. I bet it doesn't have more than 10 or 12 hours of total use on it since then.

I figured. That was a pretty penny back then. That's a great TT

[Animo]

This is the gear that got me started. I was 6 years old at the time.
Purchased in 1962, along with a portable Roberts, Reel to Reel tape recorder. The tape recorder went on another pull out shelf to the left of the turntable. I believe the reel to reel is buried somewhere in the garage right now. This was/is all enclosed in a huge console that my parents bought. Also enclosed behind yellow stained glass doors, are a pair of (probably) Fisher speakers with 15 inch woofers (from what I could see). In addition, the console contains storage and a bar. It is still upstairs where my mom lived. As my sister and I clear out more of her stuff, I will have more information. But it does work, and still sounds great.
Fisher 800B...32 wpc tube receiver. What was unique about this receiver is that it had 2 separate tuning dials for AM & FM. This was because in the early days of stereo, not all stations were broadcasting a stereo signal, and in order to receive the stereo signal, you had to tune into one station on FM and another corresponding station on AM to receive the 2 signals. I have been told that this is a highly sought after collectible. However, because it came in the console, it is basically a bare chassis, and I would need to find/build a wood case for it.....maybe!!
Garrard turntable....4 speed changer, manual or fully automatic. This baby will stack 6 records and automatically measure the record size for dropping the tonearm at the beginning of each record. Like the receiver, this too is built into the console and would be a bare chassis if removed from the console.

[Deleted]

I love it! you have such neato stuff . .

[flamingeye]

If the equipment came with the consol or was an upgrade package deal then you would degrade the value if you puled the equipment out ,things like this keep there value or are worth more if you keep everything in tacked and in working order as well as cosmetically sound

[vincedog3]

Wow see, this is amazing stuff, the Maggie Tonearm on the Oracle and the Fisher audio. That is Real Fisher, not the junk that came out in the 1980s'. Just way cool stuff guys. Very Nicely Done.

[Animo]

Jun 14, 2009 10:50:40 GMT -5 flamingeye said:

If the equipment came with the consol or was an upgrade package deal then you would degrade the value if you puled the equipment out ,things like this keep there value or are worth more if you keep everything in tacked and in working order as well as cosmetically sound

Yes, it is all integrated into a 2 piece console, one on top of the other.
When my sister and I finish clearing out mom's stuff, I will take a more complete picture of the console. Audio stuff on the bottom, bar and storage on top. My favorite part is the 4 stained glass doors that have fluorescent lights behind the glass. These must have been some of the first fluorescent lights ever, and to the best of my knowledge, they have never been replaced and they still work 47 years later.

[vincedog3]

Couldn't resist. Just love this 2 track beast of a reel to reel. ;D

[wonderment]

Jun 12, 2009 3:38:10 GMT -5 strindl said:

The original Oracle turntable..made in Quebec. With a Magnepan Unitrac I tonearm and Shure V15 type V mr cartridge. Not many people know that Magnepan actually did make a very impressive carbon fiber tonearm.

It still works great and is hooked up in my main system. I seldom use it though.

I had a Shure V-15 Type 5 Microridge once!

[RPA-1 man]

Jun 14, 2009 4:08:59 GMT -5 Animo said:

This is the gear that got me started. I was 6 years old at the time.
Purchased in 1962, along with a portable Roberts, Reel to Reel tape recorder. The tape recorder went on another pull out shelf to the left of the turntable. I believe the reel to reel is buried somewhere in the garage right now. This was/is all enclosed in a huge console that my parents bought. Also enclosed behind yellow stained glass doors, are a pair of (probably) Fisher speakers with 15 inch woofers (from what I could see). In addition, the console contains storage and a bar. It is still upstairs where my mom lived. As my sister and I clear out more of her stuff, I will have more information. But it does work, and still sounds great.
Fisher 800B...32 wpc tube receiver. What was unique about this receiver is that it had 2 separate tuning dials for AM & FM. This was because in the early days of stereo, not all stations were broadcasting a stereo signal, and in order to receive the stereo signal, you had to tune into one station on FM and another corresponding station on AM to receive the 2 signals. I have been told that this is a highly sought after collectible. However, because it came in the console, it is basically a bare chassis, and I would need to find/build a wood case for it.....maybe!!
Garrard turntable....4 speed changer, manual or fully automatic. This baby will stack 6 records and automatically measure the record size for dropping the tonearm at the beginning of each record. Like the receiver, this too is built into the console and would be a bare chassis if removed from the console.

Wow. What a great piece of audio history. I've heard about the the early stereo radio broadcasts you mentioned but don't recall ever seeing one of those tuners. Pretty neat.

[strindl]

I had a Shure V-15 Type 5 Microridge once!

I've had a bunch of different shures over the years. My very first decent audio system that I bought in 1974 consisted of a Marantz 2230 receiver, a pair of the original Advent large speakers with real walnut cabinets, and a Dual 1218 TT with Shure M91ed catridge.

I later upgraded in 1977 to a Dual 704 with Shure V15 type III. I also had a V15 type IV for a while. When I did that I added a second pair of the advents and had them stacked..which was quite the rage back then. I added a Phase Linear 200 power amp..100 watts per channel and the first amp I ever saw that used an LED metering system. That got upgraded to a Phase Linear 400 sometime later.

[Animo]

May 12, 2009 18:28:02 GMT -5 strindl said:

and the pads are here....before:



and after:



three days ago those new pads were in Japan.

Just did mine a week ago. These are Sony Digital Studio Monitor series, and are about 25 years old.
Funny thing is they cost about $80 back then and are still available today, new, for the same price. Go figure?

[Animo]

Here is my Pioneer PD-M603 CD single play or multichanger.
The single tray cartridge is in the deck and those are the multiplay magazines on top. This is nearing the end of the road,
as it is starting to develop some intermittent old age problems.


And now my Pioneer CT-WM70R Cassette changer, that I still use in my rack. Under the Pioneer is a JVC HM-DH30000U
Digital VCR. The JVC is only about 7 years old at the most....not quite vintage, but it will record and play back in HD
at 1080i, so not too shabby.

Doors closed


Doors Open

[flamingeye]

Boy that pioneer cassette player brings back memories , if I remember right it was a pretty good sounding deck too , didn`t it have heads that would play steel taps or something like that - can`t remember what the cassette taps where called , but where able to produce better/higher frequencies or maybe I got that wrong too

[Animo]

I'll check the specs sometime tomorrow or Saturday and get back to you.

[ratmice]

Jul 23, 2009 16:26:32 GMT -5 flamingeye said:

Boy that pioneer cassette player brings back memories , if I remember right it was a pretty good sounding deck too , didn`t it have heads that would play steel taps or something like that - can`t remember what the cassette taps where called , but where able to produce better/higher frequencies or maybe I got that wrong too

Maxell had an MX metal tape (other companies, too), is that what you are thinking of?

[ratmice]

<snip double post>

[Mr. Ben]

I've never seen a cassette deck like that. It's pretty cool looking.

Top is Type I, the next cassette down is Type II, and the bottom two are type IV (metal). I use type II when I can. My cassette deck supports type IV, but I've never seen a type IV cassette.

[strindl]

Just did mine a week ago. These are Sony Digital Studio Monitor series, and are about 25 years old.
Funny thing is they cost about $80 back then and are still available today, new, for the same price. Go figure?

By a strange coincidence, I also bought a pair of Sony Studio monitor headphones back in the lat 80's. Mine are the MDR V7's though..and they also need an ear pad replacement. They still work fine though.

I have an old pair of Koss Pro 4 AAA's too. The ear pads on that are vinyl and have not deteriorated at all.