Vintage Stereo

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.

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.

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 LE...

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.

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.

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.

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

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...

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

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

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.

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. Photos: VINTAGE STEREO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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)!

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!

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.