Vintage hifi

[Deranged Rover]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Ive managed to find a b&o setup locally to me actually is it worth it
Beomaster 1900-2
Beogram 1700
Beochord 1900
And a pair of beovox s40

I know b&o is style over substance really

Your last sentence tells me you shouldn't really be allowed any B&O!

Congratulations on a great purchase - it's a decent system and should perform well. Circuit diagrams and full service manuals are readily available and they're really not that difficult to fix if they go wrong. They are made from exactly the same electronic components as most other hi-fi - the biggest issue is usually working out how to take the damn things apart!

When you say the speakers "are shot", do you mean the foam around the woofers has deteriorated? if so, they can be re-foamed fairly easily.

You cannot use any third party cartridges on the Beogram and they are expensive but there are places that can re-tip them, however you'll still be paying more than you paid for the entire system.

Good luck with it and feel free to PM me if you need any assistance with it.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

You will regret saying that

Yes foam surrounds are both very very gone, I refoamed a woofer in a ls430 once so can't be much different

The tuner doesn't seem to work either

[thebraketester]

All this and no pictures yet? Should be a fun project.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Crappy pics

[Boom78]

What about about receiver like this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Technics-SA-200L-Receiv...

Would look great on top of a sideboard or unit next to a period turntable

[stinkyspanner]

I got a Panasonic SU2700 amp from eBay, it's got the two power meter needle thingies, and looks cool. It was only £35, I put my Dad's old Mordaunt short MS35 speakers and my old Thorens TD160 turntable and its awesome.. but crackly on the volume, ive been meaning to fix that for about 5 years but its certainly usable as is

[Trustmeimadoctor]

What's good for removing 45 year-old nicotine etc

[Crackie]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

What's good for removing 45 year-old nicotine etc

- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Servisol-Foam-Cleanser-30...

Edited by Crackie on Wednesday 3rd February 22:06

[S6PNJ]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Yes foam surrounds are both very very gone, I refoamed a woofer in a ls430 once so can't be much different

I have some old Mission speakers (from the 80's) whose foams have gone but the drivers themselves should be fine - any recommendations as to where to get new foams from? I've already seen a few YT vids on how to go about it.

[Monty Python]

I still have my Tannoy 605 Mk 1 speakers - must be nearly 30 years old, and they still sound great. Originally had an Ion Obelisk 2, but now have a Musical Fidelity X-A2.

[Chimune]

I finished my little 80s Technics setup during autumn.
On top I have the same vintage deck SL150 mk2 and a set of 80s Mission floor standers.
As metioned above, this 80s jap stuff if built very well!

[thebraketester]

Wow! That’s a lovely setup.

[Chimune]

Cassette is 615 £60 ebay.
Tuner is st-7300 £40 ebay.
Amp is su-7300 inherited with the deck.
The cool thing is they all have matching dark wooden side panels, which took a while to find.
There was a couple of bulbs needed replacing but found a vintage hifi bulb specialist in USA who was very helpful.

[Boom78]

Chimune said:

Cassette is 615 £60 ebay.
Tuner is st-7300 £40 ebay.
Amp is su-7300 inherited with the deck.
The cool thing is they all have matching dark wooden side panels, which took a while to find.
There was a couple of bulbs needed replacing but found a vintage hifi bulb specialist in USA who was very helpful.

Funnily enough I recommended a late 70s Technics SA receiver with wood cabinet in a post above. I personally prefer Japanese made equipment from that era. I’m building a similar vintage pioneer blue line stack at the mo but also have technics stack in office, an SL1200 and 2 x 1210s in basement, love technics stuff

[Deranged Rover]

S6PNJ said:

I have some old Mission speakers (from the 80's) whose foams have gone but the drivers themselves should be fine - any recommendations as to where to get new foams from? I've already seen a few YT vids on how to go about it.

I use these guys in the Netherlands - great product and fine service.

https://speakerrepairshop.nl/en/foam-surrounds/by-...

Looks like their delivery is a bit slow since Brexit, though.

[Mars]

I hope this isn't cheating but I have always fancied a Quad 405 amp so when I saw the Chinese eBayers selling recreations of the circuit boards AND that iconic case, I had to have a go at building one myself. The original Quads underwent significant development throughout their production, and development even continued by some well-educated owners. Strangely enough, the most developed versions have fewer and fewer components. The very latest designs I found whilst researching these seem to have fewer than half of the original components. The theory was that components introduce noise. For sure, mine isn't totally silent when there is no signal, but it's as good as any production amp I've ever owned.

The boards available on-line are about a mid-age design. I couldn't find any actual boards for sale from the ultimate design and I don't have the capability to design or etch my own.

I had a set of Mission 751s from about 1991 but about 15 years ago I gave them to my brother whose children poked the tweeters, picked at the bass cones, and generally knocked them off their stands. Eventually he went for Sonos and gave them back to me, a little embarrassed at their distress but I didn't care because I had also gone for Sonos. I relegated the Missions to entertaining me when I was working in the garage.

Anyway, having completed the Quad amp in lockdown, I bought a Sonos Connect and found a well preserved pair of Mission 751s on eBay, so one thing led to another...





I am truly impressed with this little set-up. I've lived with Sonos for 15 years which I like for the capability to fill a room with music "conveniently" but their speakers lack the depth and "life" that the Quad and Missions bring. The Sonos Connect does a good job though. I also have a couple of Google Chromecast Audio "pucks" which are arguably better still but projecting your music to them is made tricky by Google's insistence that you must upload your music to Google Play. I have all my music on a NAS which the Sonos is able to reference just fine.



There's a unidirectional auto-reverse (seriously) Nakamichi cassette desk for sale on eBay at the moment. It'd be £1300 by the time it is delivered to my door which I cannot afford but I have lay awake the past few nights just looking at it on my phone... it's only a matter of time.

[craigjm]

The quintessential 80s turntable is the Technics SL1200 mk2

[dhutch]

The ones and twos!

[Crackie]

I have my original Sony TA-212 amp from the late 70s plus an Aiwa6550 cassette and STD305M/SME3009/ShureV15 turntable from the same time. The cassette and TT were added in the late 90's; these were waaay out of my price range when I was 14. The Sony amp doesn't get used any more but the Aiwa cassette and STD turntable both do...occasionally.

Will take some pics if anyone wants to see them?

Edited by Crackie on Thursday 4th February 12:29

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Yeah as it will be a while til mine works so I can just live through others systems