80's/ 90'sJapanese Hi Fi Separates - which ones to buy
Discussion
Afternoon, i have a hankering to buy a classic Japanese stacking system but i'm struggling with the avalanche of options on Ebay etc.
for about £750 for a system with Amp, CD and speakers as a minimum but ideally cassette and record player as well, what manufactures/ ranges should i be looking at for a quality system.
Any advice, greatly appreciated.
for about £750 for a system with Amp, CD and speakers as a minimum but ideally cassette and record player as well, what manufactures/ ranges should i be looking at for a quality system.
Any advice, greatly appreciated.
I always hankered after a Nakamichi Dragon auto-reverse cassette deck B)
https://youtu.be/8nXR1IzADns
https://youtu.be/8nXR1IzADns
Edited by FWIW on Friday 1st November 23:23
Sheets Tabuer said:
Why do you want it?
Quite bizarre.
In a word, roonQuite bizarre.
At home I am running a roon core. This gives me a large amount of flexibility in regards to audio devices. These can be simple roon ready end points such as my Naim uniti Atom or my wife’s sonos kitchen speaker. But i have also several raspberry pi based end points. These are pi 3 or 4 based machines with a hifi berry dac+ hat running roopiee software. These are WiFi enabled, roon endpoints which allows you to stream hi res audio to any device with a basic line in.
If you fancy it, you could say have the roon core stream to a 70’s ghettoblaster in one room, a 80’s nait 2 in another room, a modern atom in another or what ever combination of gear you have. You can link the zones to play a music track simultaneously so you can walk between them and enjoy the differences between the devices, all controlled via an iPad acting as a roon remote.
As one of these zones, I fancy a top quality Japanese 80’s or 90’s stack.
Funnily enough, I bumped into a lad I used to DJ with this week who was asking about my old Technics set up which is boxed up in the loft-the pre/power amplifiers with the huge back lit needles on the front.
f
k me the price folk are asking on eBay for those these days!
Might have to get it al out the loft!
f
k me the price folk are asking on eBay for those these days!Might have to get it al out the loft!
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Funnily enough, I bumped into a lad I used to DJ with this week who was asking about my old Technics set up which is boxed up in the loft-the pre/power amplifiers with the huge back lit needles on the front.
fk me the price folk are asking on eBay for those these days!
Might have to get it al out the loft!
I have Technics se 900s pre/power amp boxed up in the loft bought when I was 16 with my summer work wages. Great amp just need to find a place to set it up again. Surprising how much they are worth, I think they're a nice sounding, classic looking combof
k me the price folk are asking on eBay for those these days!Might have to get it al out the loft!
Itsallicanafford said:
In a word, roon
At home I am running a roon core. This gives me a large amount of flexibility in regards to audio devices. These can be simple roon ready end points such as my Naim uniti Atom or my wife’s sonos kitchen speaker. But i have also several raspberry pi based end points. These are pi 3 or 4 based machines with a hifi berry dac+ hat running roopiee software. These are WiFi enabled, roon endpoints which allows you to stream hi res audio to any device with a basic line in.
If you fancy it, you could say have the roon core stream to a 70’s ghettoblaster in one room, a 80’s nait 2 in another room, a modern atom in another or what ever combination of gear you have. You can link the zones to play a music track simultaneously so you can walk between them and enjoy the differences between the devices, all controlled via an iPad acting as a roon remote.
As one of these zones, I fancy a top quality Japanese 80’s or 90’s stack.
If you're wanting top quality Japanese vintage, you're looking at the wrong era. Things went downhill in the 80s, the 70s were the years of the receiver wars, where manufacturing costs were an after thought. 70's Marantz and Sansui are where its at. Pioneer, Kenwood and Sony are also worth considering, with the Sony's being the pick of the bunch for price as they're still somewhat lacking in the appeal of the others, bargains can be had. Yamaha also made decent stuff, but has a very neutral sound which some don't like. At home I am running a roon core. This gives me a large amount of flexibility in regards to audio devices. These can be simple roon ready end points such as my Naim uniti Atom or my wife’s sonos kitchen speaker. But i have also several raspberry pi based end points. These are pi 3 or 4 based machines with a hifi berry dac+ hat running roopiee software. These are WiFi enabled, roon endpoints which allows you to stream hi res audio to any device with a basic line in.
If you fancy it, you could say have the roon core stream to a 70’s ghettoblaster in one room, a 80’s nait 2 in another room, a modern atom in another or what ever combination of gear you have. You can link the zones to play a music track simultaneously so you can walk between them and enjoy the differences between the devices, all controlled via an iPad acting as a roon remote.
As one of these zones, I fancy a top quality Japanese 80’s or 90’s stack.
Have a look here for some inspiration, if this doesn't get the juices flowing, nothing will
HiFiPorn
Edited by RowntreesCabana on Saturday 2nd November 11:13
FWIW said:
I always hankered after a Nakamichi Dragon auto-reverse cassette deck B)
https://youtu.be/8nXR1IzADns
https://youtu.be/8nXR1IzADns
Edited by FWIW on Friday 1st November 23:23
That is so coolFWIW said:
I always hankered after a Nakamichi Dragon auto-reverse cassette deck B)
https://youtu.be/8nXR1IzADns
I use to collect a lot of early Nakamichi stuff . When it comes to “Dragons” .Make 100% sure the heads are genuine etc . Most get swapped for cheaper stuff. Its a great Deck .But very fiddly to get set up perfect .In someways I would say don’t buy one .They are like LP12’s that have been modded etc ! You never know what’s gone on or how they will sound etc .https://youtu.be/8nXR1IzADns
Edited by FWIW on Friday 1st November 23:23
RowntreesCabana said:
If you're wanting top quality Japanese vintage, you're looking at the wrong era. Things went downhill in the 80s, the 70s were the years of the receiver wars, where manufacturing costs were an after thought. 70's Marantz and Sansui are where its at. Pioneer, Kenwood and Sony are also worth considering, with the Sony's being the pick of the bunch for price as they're still somewhat lacking in the appeal of the others, bargains can be had. Yamaha also made decent stuff, but has a very neutral sound which some don't like.
Have a look here for some inspiration, if this doesn't get the juices flowing, nothing will
HiFiPorn
Sansui was WAY over engineered and stunning build quality .But they are now very collectible .Unless you find a local idiot ! BUT all these amps will have caps and resistors that will have failed . Early NAD stuff is very good .But NAD and Marantz must have paid fortunes for Hifi mags reviews. There was a lot of “polishing “ going on with their reviews . Other Amps worth buying are the Pioneer SA stuff .The 508 was my first ever amp and I thought it sounded far better than the NAD 3020 with a rega and some Monitor audio speakers .
Have a look here for some inspiration, if this doesn't get the juices flowing, nothing will
HiFiPorn
Sansui was WAY over engineered and stunning build quality .But they are now very collectible .Unless you find a local idiot ! BUT all these amps will have caps and resistors that will have failed . Early NAD stuff is very good .But NAD and Marantz must have paid fortunes for Hifi mags reviews. There was a lot of “polishing “ going on with their reviews . Other Amps worth buying are the Pioneer SA stuff .The 508 was my first ever amp and I thought it sounded far better than the NAD 3020 with a rega and some Monitor audio speakers .
Edited by RowntreesCabana on Saturday 2nd November 11:13
Pinoyuk said:
I use to collect a lot of early Nakamichi stuff . When it comes to “Dragons” .Make 100% sure the heads are genuine etc . Most get swapped for cheaper stuff. Its a great Deck .But very fiddly to get set up perfect .In someways I would say don’t buy one .They are like LP12’s that have been modded etc ! You never know what’s gone on or how they will sound etc .
Or just go for a CR-7E...The 2-box Dragon CD player is a sight to behold too.
OP, recently there was a full Pioneer system up for sale on one of the forums including an excellent DD turntable. I’ll post a link when I find it - beautiful gear with rosewood cheeks.
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