I was reading over the ‘what are you listening to tonight’ thread (lots of great tunes!) and it got me wondering what setups everyone has at home to listen to music. I know this subject has been discussed before but I can’t find it, search function whups my butt every time. I have gotten back into listening to music regularly instead of sports radio as my background noise in the house and shop…and I’ve been upgrading my audio setup.

I’ve got a JVC record player, Sony CD player, and a Bluetooth adapter feeding into a Marantz 2270 receiver. The Marantz is powering some Klipsch Forte speakers…really the muscle car equivalent of a sound system. 12” woofer, 70 watts per channel of useable power, and 12 gauge speaker wire, totally overkill. Music sounds amazing on this system…I also have a cool little 5 watt two channel tube amp my friend built in his garage. It isn’t as powerful, but it sounds great with certain types of music. What setups do you have? I bet some people had some awesome systems back in the 70s and 80s…

D@mn is that a tube amp

Yessir! It sounds amazing…very ‘warm’ sound and faithful reproduction of whatever is played through it.

My stuff is kind of pack away but not too far away from getting it all back up and running. I have had my "system" for a longtime and as a result of my brother-in-law having an audio component store at the University of WV from the late '60's until about ten years ago when he retired. He was one of about one hundred Audio Research (high end tube amps/pre amps) dealers in the country during that time so I had to get an amp and preamp from him. Added several different speakers over the years from Advents to Boston Acoustic to Infinity Studio Reference Monitors. I still have my original Advents and the Infinity's but only use the Infinity's. Have a Thorens turn table, Proton multi CD player and a Proton FM receiver. Man now I have to go get my $#!t together and get it all up and going...........d@mn you........

Mike

The D52B amp and the SP-4 preamp

Cool setup you are running.
I've got newer stuff now but I still have my old stuff from the '70's and it all still works:

Marantz 2250B receiver
BIC Venturi speakers
Garrard turntable with Shure V15 cartridge
Teac reel to reel

I've got a ton of old LP's in the basement. I plan to set up the above and start playing the old LPs.
My son like others has gotten into the newly released LP's which seems to be the latest fad now so he'll enjoy that.

I've got an Onkyo 7.1 AV receiver which is great for TV and listening to newer stuff and MP3s, especially when all the speakers fill the room evenly. And a Pioneer 727 that is better for lp's. It also has a neat radio tuning knob that slows down when it hits stations so you can get the spot with the best reception.

#1 setup was a Yamaha CR400 bought new in'75 (still have)
BSR 710 turntable, sold for a Dual 1229

#2 Yamaha CT810 and CA810 with NS490 speakers new in '79-'80(still have)

#3 Yamaha AX900, Aiwa AD F800 cassette, Yamaha NS 500M monitor speakers, Dual 721 with V15 type III. Bought used 10-15 years ago

I remember the Marantz quad receiver in '75 with a tag of $900.00. Plus 4 speakers and a quad table were also needed. Must have weighed 50 lbs. Needed pilots license to operate.

Hafler Pre Amp
Hafler EQ
Hafler Tuner
(2)Hafler DH-500's - amps
Hafler XL-280 - amp
Schiit Audio DAC

All running: Klipsch - Upgraded Cornwall's, Klipsch - Heresy's, a Klipsch Upgraded K-Horn and a 10" Klipsch sub....

Klipsch can be polarizing, but the higher tier product lines are really 👍. I'm a bit space constrained for the Heritage line in my living room, so I went with RP-8000 L&R with a matching RP-450C center. I have a powered sub for Home Theater use, but don't usually use it in Stereo. Running a Denon X3600H receiver and an Audio Technica LP120 turntable. Pretty happy with the set up for now, but always eyeing upgrades...

All 80's and early 90's era stuff.

Technics receiver
ADC graphic equalizer
Phillips dual cd player/recorder
Technics turntable
Bose 301 series speakers

I still have all of this set up in my family room but rarely listen to it anymore. I'm not into stereo equipment or loud music like I once was. I have several hundred cd's and lp's that never get played anymore. My wife was given an old Bose Wave am/fm a couple years back and that is pretty much all I listen to in the house other than my Ipod with headphones on. I also have a Sony boombox in each of my garages.

Great topic. I still rock the older stuff, and the neighbors all complement the sound quality. The other day I had Smoke on the Water playing and didn't here the person knocking on the door until the song ended. He was just a solar salesman so I didn't feel to bad making him wait.

Pioneer SX-1980 AM/FM radio receiver, bought in 1979....the year I graduated.
SONY TC-K333ESG 3 Head Cassette Deck Tape Recorder, purchased in the mid 80s.
Technics Sl-q300 Quartz Turntable. Yes I still listen to vinyl.
Cerwin-Vega D-7 monster audiophiles. I have replaced all the speakers in them though.

The biggest draw back is that its is NOT compatible with all the new technology for TVs, so I also have a Sony surround sound system and bluetooth mp3 player.

Happy Rocking!

Sansui
771, 881, 9090, 9090DB tuners, 525, 717, 828, 929 turntables
RA-500 reverb

Sonab
OD-11
OA-12
OA-14
OA-116

Main system - 5 Klipsch Cornwall speakers - circa 1983 - driven by a Harmon Kardon home theatre Receiver - Panasonic Technics CD/DVD Audio player - Velodyne subwoofer

Second system, - a pair of Polk Audio Monitor Model - circa 1976 - 2 Polk Audio LF 14 sunwoofers - Kenwood concrete resin direct drive KD - 500 turntable with a Mayware Formula IV tonearm - Sonus Red cartridge - Hafler DH 200 amp - Adcom preamp / tuner - Dynaco PAT 4 preamp (as a substitute) - Shure V 15 Type 3 cartridge (as a substitute)

Third system - KLH Model 20 system featuring Model 15 speakers, Garrard turntable, Pickering cartridge

I do swap out the Hafler / Adcom / Kenwood from the second system and install in the Main system ....

I'm still using my Pioneer SX1010 receiver, bought it in 1975(?) in Germany. Still works and sounds great. I have a modern Sony CD player, a Technics turntable, and am currently using Bose 301 speakers. The Bose 901s I used to use are in the garage as a back up.

I have a Marantz 7.1 surround receiver with Infinity towers and surrounds with DCM center and sub woofer. Not the high end stuff you guys are using but it really does get the job done. My BIL's business is high end home theatres and home automation. He pointed me at the Marantz(I had the speakers already) Glad he did...that thing is built like a tank and works fantastic.What's the saying? When I watch a good movie....so do my neighbors! lol

I have (3) different systems....

* 1 for just music in the den
* 1 for movies in the family room
* 1 for music in my home office

My favorite is the music system in the den, Marantz 2600 the most powerful stereo receiver ever built. 400Wx2, quartz-lock tuning, scope. Plus we have an extensive collection of audiophile vinyl and CDs..
Since we do product development/sourcing for certain major clients, plus AV install for home automation we have access to a lot of awesome products...

Just my $0.02...

For laughs, my first stereo, bought at Sun Electronics in Columbus, Oh at age 15, summer of 1970. Panasonic, The Barrington, have the matching turntable and 8 track player/recorder. Later the same summer, same store, bought two Lantz AM/FM's, the first was stolen at school, still have the second. For Christmas 1972, received a Panasonic "toot a loop", lost to time...

Onkyo M-508 Amp playing through a McIntosh MA 6100 pre amp and a set of Speakerlab Super 7s. With a Dual 1219 turntable.

Pioneer SX-1980 - That's awesome!!!!!!! Those units are beasts! Worth a mint as well. I also have a SX-1250.... Cool stuff.

Cool stuff so far! Now, for the other end of the spectrum, I present my humble 'systems'..........

My Dad's old radio. I think its from '69. When was the last time you saw any radio with a wooden case? . I use it to listen to local radio (re: very little). Plays surprisingly good for a single speaker,



Don't shout me down too hard.........a google assistant. When I moved into my apt, the electric company I chose gave it to me as a welcoming gift. Too many bluetooth speakers sound 'tinny' to me unless you go with something like bose. This has some bass to it without sounding like one of those idiots that pulls up next to you at a light. It will crank clearly and it will rattle windows if need be. I play my spotify thru it all the time. My apt is just over 500 sq ft, so it works well for me.







This topic has stirred up a memory from when I was a kid back in the '70's. I don't remember what brand it was, but my Mom went and bought a turntable/radio with remote speakers. The speakers were in boxes almost 30" tall. She got it all set up, put on her favorite record, and it sounded like........crap. It played fine, just sounded bad. Come to find out those huge speaker boxes only had 4" speakers in them! I had a set of Panasonic 8" speakers from a radio my Dad had given me, and I hooked them up and it sounded so much better. Only problem was I ended up with the crap speakers.....