Post by CountryCrock on Apr 4, 2024 1:20:42 GMT
Before the time of robber-baron Internet auctions: the 1990s were the last golden age for hitting flea market and garage sale "jackpots" (in the summers, that meant: between Friday all the way thru Sunday mornings).
It was the last era of; where, the generation (of people, at that time, born during the 1930s) which had then been ready to retire and downsize (usually, to Florida)...would just want to get rid of EVERYTHING they'd bought in the '60s/'70s/'80s for (now) insanely *low* prices ($10 - $75), so they could figure they'd -at least- made something in return while also having cleared it out.
What gave me good experience toward knowing the premise of what produced a quality level of sound (and what did not), the number of (used) components I was finding on a weekly basis made me sort-out the "gold from the dross" to be able to advance my learning curve fast (then, rebuilding them better than stock: showed me even "consumer-fi" could be tweeked into an "elite" performer and surpass all expectations...like putting a 2080cc engine into a 1960s Volkswagen Beetle, as a comparison!).
The type of stuff I was running back in 1998/1999:
° Marantz 2230 (*not* the "B" model)
receiver from 1972
(then: $20 --- either: tape
monitor switch would need tuner
cleaner sprayed into it; dial
bulbs would be burnt out; or,
at worst, a channel would need
two new power transistors)
° Acoustic Research "2ax" floor-
standing speakers; the ones
made before 1969 had/have cloth-
edge woofers...so they'll NEVER
DISINTEGRATE (again, during the
1990s, could be had for $25
because people hated how "old"
and big they looked --- worst
problems: the mid and tweeter
rheostat controls had to be
dismantled and cleaned in solvent
to make the midrange and tweeter
come "on"; then, replaced the
crossover capacitors and replaced
the woofer seal with a bead of
silicone caulk)
° Thorens TD-160 Mk. II turntable
from 1977 (fucking $15! in 1998
--- needed a belt from EVG and,
just threw-on a new $39 Shure MM
cartridge back when Radio Shack
was still in business and had
them...did not even have a
cosmetic defect on it!)
° Teac A-4300 reel to reel from
1974 ($50 --- just needed a
thorough cleaning; especially, the
old grease on the pinch roller's
solenoid lever)
° cd player: Luxman "DZ-92" from
1990 ($10 --- needed new drawer
belt as well as a manual cleaning
of the lens with a Q-tip and 90%
isopropyl alcohol; later re-capped
it and put a 12AWG power cord
on it, because I've kept it all
this time...it's good-enough for
whatever "physical digital
product" I have; since I always
focus on trying to get the
vintage format FIRST and, because
any "problem" with how cds sound
is mainly from mastering and
eq and *not the digital domain
itself* --- give me a 24-bit-
mastered cd *having* NO NR, NO
450Hz/800Hz/or 2200Hz boost, and
the way 24-bit eliminates the
11,200Hz sibilance peak 16-bit
notoriously reveals on a bad
player...ANYDAY and: THAT is the
*closest* a DIGITAL physical
product CAN sound to a reissued
source from a tape, period)
It was the last era of; where, the generation (of people, at that time, born during the 1930s) which had then been ready to retire and downsize (usually, to Florida)...would just want to get rid of EVERYTHING they'd bought in the '60s/'70s/'80s for (now) insanely *low* prices ($10 - $75), so they could figure they'd -at least- made something in return while also having cleared it out.
What gave me good experience toward knowing the premise of what produced a quality level of sound (and what did not), the number of (used) components I was finding on a weekly basis made me sort-out the "gold from the dross" to be able to advance my learning curve fast (then, rebuilding them better than stock: showed me even "consumer-fi" could be tweeked into an "elite" performer and surpass all expectations...like putting a 2080cc engine into a 1960s Volkswagen Beetle, as a comparison!).
The type of stuff I was running back in 1998/1999:
° Marantz 2230 (*not* the "B" model)
receiver from 1972
(then: $20 --- either: tape
monitor switch would need tuner
cleaner sprayed into it; dial
bulbs would be burnt out; or,
at worst, a channel would need
two new power transistors)
° Acoustic Research "2ax" floor-
standing speakers; the ones
made before 1969 had/have cloth-
edge woofers...so they'll NEVER
DISINTEGRATE (again, during the
1990s, could be had for $25
because people hated how "old"
and big they looked --- worst
problems: the mid and tweeter
rheostat controls had to be
dismantled and cleaned in solvent
to make the midrange and tweeter
come "on"; then, replaced the
crossover capacitors and replaced
the woofer seal with a bead of
silicone caulk)
° Thorens TD-160 Mk. II turntable
from 1977 (fucking $15! in 1998
--- needed a belt from EVG and,
just threw-on a new $39 Shure MM
cartridge back when Radio Shack
was still in business and had
them...did not even have a
cosmetic defect on it!)
° Teac A-4300 reel to reel from
1974 ($50 --- just needed a
thorough cleaning; especially, the
old grease on the pinch roller's
solenoid lever)
° cd player: Luxman "DZ-92" from
1990 ($10 --- needed new drawer
belt as well as a manual cleaning
of the lens with a Q-tip and 90%
isopropyl alcohol; later re-capped
it and put a 12AWG power cord
on it, because I've kept it all
this time...it's good-enough for
whatever "physical digital
product" I have; since I always
focus on trying to get the
vintage format FIRST and, because
any "problem" with how cds sound
is mainly from mastering and
eq and *not the digital domain
itself* --- give me a 24-bit-
mastered cd *having* NO NR, NO
450Hz/800Hz/or 2200Hz boost, and
the way 24-bit eliminates the
11,200Hz sibilance peak 16-bit
notoriously reveals on a bad
player...ANYDAY and: THAT is the
*closest* a DIGITAL physical
product CAN sound to a reissued
source from a tape, period)