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Hmmm, I wonder why vintage prices keep going up?

All excellent recommendations! I wish we had such a wealth of vintage pieces here in the UK, but being a much smaller market there just aren't the number you're blessed with in NAmerica. Great video.

I've heard that the Bose 301s sound surprisingly good in smaller rooms. 901's - Never have sounded good surprisingly

Morning Kevin!!

Nice to hear from you again👍

I'm trying to hookup my harmen kardon 500 avr, with a harmen kardon cdr 2 , with 2 Xfinity 8-a speakers to my Samsung TV, the 500 has no humidity ports, can anyone help

My biggest regret is not picking up the 200 records that came with my amp and cassette player Yer they were heavy but you can’t beat stuff dumped on the street Still unsure about the luxman stuff it was newer so I left it beside the road Haven’t found anything for a while now, why would anyone buy when you can find stuff beside the road

Hope it,s got an 8Track quad

i got a Harmon Kardon avr25 ii when the local circuit city went out of business in the 90s. i had a pioneer (think it was the same one from the video) and this Harmon Kardon sounded so much better. i still use it to this day, in fact i recently got some new speakers to go with it (klipsch rp600m ii + powered subs)

I still have an old Sanyo quad that thing blew out for speakers

Best to you Kevin

About subwoofers. Yes, what you said. I have a very nice older Marantz amp - not a receiver. It’s only about 80 watts a channel. With a subwoofer (pre-amp out) I can get a much louder, better sound because it’s not having to drive the low frequencies. My Marantz is useful again. (Also use a Schitz DAC to get optical inputs with it.)

My dad passed away earlier this year, and I inherited as set of AR 3a's that he bought new, they sound fantastic.

I have a 1980 pioneer. It's a beast

Kenwood and Technics have made some junk over the years, basically you get what you pay for.

Get well, Kevin! Thank you for all the fantastic videos.

I have a Marantz 2226B, what does the 2270 have over it? Is there a good page for comparisons? How about a top 10 on CD players? I have a Pioneer PD-65. And turntables, I have a Technics SL-23.

I Agree

LOVE the AR XA - I have had 3. Best one was with a Shure V15III --- very sweet.

I am a fan of whatever provides the best quality listening experience. If the use of digital media makes it better quality, then good for the listener.

I have a Sansui AX-7. Audio mixer with spring reverb. I don't understand why not much more of such machines were built. Should be a part of every father's stereo. Looks ballsy with x17.

Cassettes, speakers and vinyl usually had a non-linear frequency response. EQ helped offset that. Most users didn’t know how to adjust them to fix the issues, yet it was fun. Digital is a predictable tonal outcome, so they are not as necessary now. Fixing room modes and taming reflections is better with room treatments. EQ has benefits if applied appropriately.

Glad to see ya' back!! Nice rig for some serious listening!! Did you ever hear of Shffield Labs records? They are "Direct to Disc" recordings. They are amazing, give them a listen if you stumble across any. The Harry James ones are excellent. Cheers!

Elac deserves better, i don´t know their current belt driven models or their late 70s like the PC 900 or 910, later look nice but i heard have to much plastic parts. I personaly love their stuff from the 60 till mid 70s, i own a Miracord 10h and Miraphon 22h, love the early 60s Cadillac chrome look of the 10h. Buildwise on paar with top line Duals of the persiod, hardly an plastic parts, but more straightforeward mechanic design than the later, therefore more easy to repair. All the H models were equiped with the well regarded Papst motor, imho Dual just had the better tonearms.

I had a pair of Cerwin Vegas D9's, they were great on the low end, but we're lacking on the highs. I paired them with a pair of bookshelf polk audios.

Kevin, I hear you with amps.vs receivers. Receivers are the weapon of choice in the US, but here in Australia, we didn't get FM until 1975, so receivers weren't necessary to us, a we sold a few prior to 75, but amps were the norm here until 75. I worked in the business at the time & I got a Marantz 2325 direct from the importer. What a beast.

Sansui built great amps. I have a 555a and a 317II. Not exactly high end. But these things beat every amp in the higher mid range that I can compare them with. It's sad how such a company was forced to change their philosophy (built better stuff) under the pressure of capitalism. These amps bring joy and excitement. They were made for music, not for money. And if you want to spend that money: there are options too. The story of audio and capitalism is tragic.

@Kevin. Not sure if you know, but Nobsound has a new amplifier coming out called the A3. It looks like it addresses some of the problems with the B100. I think it has the same 25wpc amplifier and it costs a bit less at $170.

Stacked POWERED Advents are amazing. Something about the bi amps built in. My buddy had them and he cooked up a bungie cord kind of thing to tie them together. Really better than the sum of the parts.

Regarding the 4311’s comment: I’ve used owned 4311’s and 4312’s for personal home use, and studio production. Exceptional reference monitors. However having said that, their low end is a misleading and required plenty of practice to prevent ending up with tubby bass during multitracking and/or mixing and mastering. But still wonderful speakers. I really do appreciate the ADS L810’s design. Two drivers that are placed so closely together increases the total SPL output by a factor of four. And is very efficient!

My system from 1979 included the Pioneer predecessor to the 1980 with 180 watts a channel with Bose 901 series IV and Technics 1410 turntable. I loved it, but the speakers demanded that you decorate your living spaces. The turntable and receiver I wish I had today.

People no longer buy EQ,s because recievers or amps are surround sound now, and people dont know how to connect them to their systems ! I myself would not go without an eq , not all music is recorded the same way, and newer music is recorded way different than music of the 60,s 70,s and 80,s , some music have almost no bass while other music have too much same with the highs. Adjustment its all about adjustment

I bought a Sansui 7000 in 71 or 72 at the audio club of the Base Exchange in Stuttgart, Germany. I needed something that would handle my Bose 901 Series I speakers, and the 7000 had 70 WPC. A Sansui SR-1050C turntable and TEAC A-2300 reel-to-reel rounded out the system. The 7000 gave me great service for many years and sounded great with the 901s. Access to that kind of equipment was a real perk of military service. The selection and prices of high quality stereo equipment were rarely equaled by stateside stereo stores.

Bought one of the HK 330C receivers a few years ago for $130.. crazy to see what they go for now. It has a few issues. Shame you don't accept receivers for repair.

I don’t know about the first Optimus with the weird tweeters. I’ve seen videos here on CZcams on them. A guy had a new old stock pair he opened and straight out the box they sounded bad. He opened them up replaced the drivers and reworked the crossover and they still sounded bad. Maybe could be good for a business like a restaurant or market where you hang them in each corner of the place just to spread music as background noise. They have a metal enclosure which yells quality but the sound is not for stereo hifi.

Man “O” man, talking about going down the rabbit hole, I’m speechless from seeing the video I can only imagine what it was like to be there physically. Thank you so very much for sharing. I live less than an hour from Salina KS and am five hours from you guys. In the not too distant future I would like to arrange to visit Skylabs, I have three vintage Pioneer receivers I would like to have looked at by you guys. One of three was made in 1980. It is an SX 7000 D. Long story short, I enjoy watching and learning talk soon,Christian

I put a little LED light plugged in on the back so that I can see the plugs when I am hooking something up. I am always playing around and getting new things so it's annoying when I can't see what I'm doing back there.

Hi, what's the definition of "vintage" when it comes to stereo equipment? Is there a certain age or year, above which it's not vintage and below which it is?

PL for peel

Please excuse if this is a dumb question. Have a Marantz 4400 (quad) playing in 2 channel to either a pair of JBL150a's (12" woofer & 12" passive radiator) or Pioneer HPM150's (15-3/4" woofers), in a 12'x21' living room. Due to openings, I'm limited to placing the system on either long wall. How much would I benefit from a subwoofer? Thank you Kevin. Very much enjoy your videos.

You are skipping Sony FH series Mini components.

Not sure if anyone has ever felt an audio orgasm, but wow. I purchased an old set of Bose TriPort Headphones on Amazon, popped in my Moody Blues (Other Side of Life Cassette) and jacked into my FIIO CP13. OMFG. I never experienced such an amazing distribution of sound from my all-time favorite band on a cassette player. This wouldn’t have been possible without the FIIO and Bose headset. Strike me for whatever you want, but even my high-end phones don’t produce this amazing sound. To much base, etc. … Sometimes old school is still the best.

I think for control.of sound w Pioneer 1 is better off with the 850 or 950 with the SG9500 or SG9800 Eq as the extra bass and treble knobs don't add all that much but the SG9500 is a great Eq and will enhance an already great system. ADC's Eq work.oretty good as well. Yup on the automatic turntables, I think a semi- auto is good record is done, tone arm goes back to its resting spot. U go an put on another bit of vinyl, heck u were gettin up ta grab a cold beer anyway...right.? trust me even in a semi auto Tt there's a lotta,stuff down under.

How the heck is B&O in C category?!?! Makes no sense. Have you heard any B&O speakers?!?!…Especially the Beolab 3’s or 5’s? I can understand if complain about the connectivity or proprietary features, but sound wise, their stuff sounds fantastic.

The SX1980 rcvr has to blow the WOWfactor into Alpha Centauri. The mutha of receivers. I'm very pleased w the SX850 and SX950 paired w an SG9500 Eq.

Hello Kevin, people who spend a few thousand $$ on a vintage receiver ot to be mature enough to deal with the truth about vintage audio.

Love your videos. Great resource for us older folks getting back into the vintage stuff. My next bucket list item is pairing two subs to the vintage tuners ( pioneer sx950 or 1250 )or perhaps the Yamaha 2010 and the baby Sansui 7070. Current speakers are infinity rslllb, kappa 6s and Kappa 5s. I have watched your speaker vids many times and just waiting for something to get posted. Also have a Concept 5.5 that's near mint .so I'm just getting started.

Hi skylabs audio. I have a minty pioneer sx 828, exteriorly anyway, would like it to be like new again. Can you guys make that happen?

Resolving issues with lower end Technics (and probably other turntables from the 80s and 90s): If the semi automatic functions won't work (the tone arm won't return it the end or it does sketchy things): First of all, to help avoid causing a problem in the first ppace, hold your finger down on the spindle when you lift off the platter to replace a belt or do anything else to the turntable (like turn it over to take off the bottom, etc.). Sometimes, when you lift the platter, it will slide the little gear out of place that was on the spindle. That gear then won't connect to the rest of the gears correctly anymore. You might be able to just push that gear back up the shaft of the spindle a little bit and get it back into place. However, it might also be worn or damaged. If the the gears inside are messed up in some way, you might need to replace the whole set of gears and the cam, etc. People actually sell them on eBay when they part out other turntables. I have fixed two this way. It's not for everybody but it doesn't take any electronics skills. It's just a matter of removing dome screws and sliding things into place. It helps to take pictures of everything before you take anything out. And then try to be really careful not to bend or break anything else (like this super tiny wires coming from the tone arm they give you your sound). However, you can still use your turntable even without technically repairing it. You can just disengage the spindle gear from the rest of the gears by removing it or sometimes even just by pushing it down out of the way. Then it is a manual turntable (e.g. you need to return the tone arm after it gets to the end of the record). There is a gear around the spindle (where are you put the record on). When the arm moves to a certain spot, it causes a piece of metal on another gear to connect with that main gear and start turning a cam inside that moves the arm around and does other things (turn the power off at the end, etc.). That gear or other parts inside can get messed up. Sometimes as possible just to replace that main gear. People sell those on eBay that they have 3-D printed. You have to get the exact one and be careful about how you put it on. You might ask why anybody would bother doing this instead of just taking it into a technician. It's because turntables from that era are not worth as much as it cost to pay someone to repair them (Hsu I ended up figuring out how to do it myself). There are some CZcams videos that explain a little bit of what I listed above. I am happy to walk someone through it if they have a question.