Cowboy Movie

The Day: Sunday

The Time: Before Noon

The Album: "If I could only remember my name" David Crosby 1971

The Vintage Audio System

Receiver/Amplifier: Sansui 5000X 55watts per channel Made 1971-1972

Turntable: Techniques 1600 MKII Cartridge/Stylus ADC series III Made 1976

Sansui 5000X&Techniques 1600 Basking in the morning sun

A Speakers: Sansui SP-1200 3 way 5 speakers 8Ohms max power 60 watts 

Made 1980 & 1983

                          10" Woofer   4" Squawker x 2  2" tweeter x 2 

SP -1200 Lattice grill removed

B Speakers: Realistic Nova 9   3 Way 3 speakers 8Ohms Max power 40 watts 

Made 1970's

                    15" Woofer  4" Midrange  2" Super tweeter

Realistic Nova 9 with decorative non removable grill cloth

I am so very fortunate to be able to wake up Sunday mornings and like many people celebrate life through attending "Sunday Services" The only thing for me is that I don't have to get all dolled up for church. I roll out of bed from an wonderful slumber, make a hearty pot of coffee and then head to my Meditation room which is where this system is located in the house. It's a small room which is perfect for a Mid powered system like this one.

The Techniques 1600 MKII turntable is absolute rock solid and never misses a beat or fluctuates in speed. This is a close cousin that tends to fly under the radar of the world famous Techniques 1200 Turntable.

The Sansui 5000X is a sweet warm sounding amplifier that has the capability to sound crystal clear at low volumes like a kitten purring or when pushed get angry and rattle the walls like a pissed off teenager raging with hormones.It can push Bass with extreme clarity in the mids and highs while making sure everyone in the house knows why you really need to listen to Rush's 1st album "Rush"

The SP-1200's Are truly a unique design. Hence why I am such a fan of the Sansui SP lineup of speakers. In my experience people either really loves this line up or absolutely hate them. Personally I love them will admit Sansui speakers to me are like women and shoes...Well they pack 5 speakers in to this box and they all are strategically placed in order to optimize the sound. Also, one of the big problems with vintage speakers is the rotted out foam around the speaker cone. So Sansui used an cloth impregnated with glue as the speaker surround instead of a foam surround that could potentially rot away (Which by the way, most people will look at a speaker and see that the foam surround is rotted and think the speaker is bad it's not. The speaker can be repaired). Using a cloth surround for these speakers makes them almost bullet proof! Plus the dense medium drives the Bass is a way that doesn't punch you in the chest it envelops you and creates the sense of Bass that flows through the room. The mids and highs are so well reproduced that you can actually here Jerry Garcia fingers slide across the fret board with this album.

The Realistic Nova 9's were such an impulse purchase one rainy Sunday afternoon a while back. There they were sitting on the shelf looking as if Austin Powers had outgrown these party hardy speakers. Chips, dings scratches and of course the dreaded drink rings all over the top... I felt sorry for them but as soon as I saw that retro fabric speaker cloth, well I new they had to come home. I've used them in various applications but always in lower watt type situations. This is a little higher than I like but they seem to be working. The 15" Bass is like 1970's sub woofer. They vibrate in to the floor even though they are sitting on very dense wool pads. They resonate off the walls and fill in where the Sansui's leave off. The Mids are nice and unassuming and the high's just sing!

The speaker combination is a very nice mix. The Sansui SP-1200's are definable more direct and fill in the higher frequencies where as the Nova 9's big ole resonating box covers the  warmer lower end of the sound profile. Over all I am extremely impressed with this sound system. Low volumes, to Rockn' out and everything in the middle, this system has it all.    




                        

Mountain and Water

The name Sansui literally means Mountain and Water. I was amazed by this but after finding my first vintage stereo receiver amplifier The Sansui 881 and giving it a serious listen I understood why. Who isn't amazed by the power and glory of a crisp clean mountain stream? Well, when you listen to this top of the line receiver/amplifier from 1976 you'll get it.

The Sansui Electric company started in 1947 in Tokyo Japan and manged to create some of the most amazing audio products that many audiophiles still covet to this day. I know it's my preferred manufacturer stereo gear especially from the years 1968 till about 1980. Their philosophy strength and simplicity. I think they got it right. I am so amazed by the warm tube like sound and  the stereo stereo separation. Not to mention the classic "silver face" look.

If your a skeptic or just looking for a good audiophile fix stop on by for a Microbrew and some vintage vinyl. I guarantee you'll be blown away.... 

Once upon a time...

A great friend of mine asked me a simple question, "When was the last time you listened to an vinyl record?" I laughed because it had been a while and to me "Records" were beat up scratchy replications of old Barbara Streisand and Tom Jones albums sitting on the shelf of thrift shops collecting dust. Turns out his his Grandfather was a huge music fan and a collector of vinyl records. The man was a genius! If he bought something new to add to the collection he bought two! One to listen to, one to keep wrapped and store away. He even did that with his Dual turntable and Pioneer receiver/ amplifier. One for show and one to go. So the conversation turned to how most of the mass produced  audio gear of today sounds no where near the quality of vintage audio gear from the past. I was skeptical at first, after all my mid 90's Sony receiver amplifier seemed to be able to bring me many hours of musical bliss. Plus, I just made an investment into a Modern Yamaha HTR 5740 6.1 surround system boasting a massive 100 watts per channel that was rattling the walls and pissing off the neighbors. How could a piddly ass amp from the early 1970's brandishing a massive 25 watts of power ever sound better?


I would soon be reminded that more is not always better...

I have always enjoyed  supporting my local thrift stores. Whenever I've moved it's like the ace in the whole. If I have to get rid of stuff they take it no questions asked. If I need something basic they just might have it and fairly cheap. Not to mention besides the library it's the greatest source of books I've ever found. Well, one day I had a few extra minutes so I stopped. Made the normal pass around the store and made my way to the electronics section. It sits nestled all the way in the back of the store and is usually mis match of VCR's DVD's and modern day amplifiers. That day their was an interesting glow that only brushed aluminum could emanate. Under a pile of the black mass produced crap lay helpless "Silver-faced Receiver/Amplifier". Instantly I was intrigued and even took a double take to make sure I was the only one actually looking at this amazing unit. It was simply gorgeous! It actually had all the dials and knobs and as I turned them they felt silky smooth. Then I noticed the Receiver/Amplifier was encased in a wooden box. A wooden box? Sort of seems like a fire hazard if you ask me. Later on I would read that most of the audio gear from back in the day was encased in wood. It gives the gear a very classy look and allows it to be featured as an additional piece of furniture. So cleared the crap and picked the unit up only to be pleasantly surprised as to how heavy this things was. It was like picking up a lead filled cinder block! By the shear weight of it I knew I struck gold! Without hesitating I lugged it all the way to the counter and with a huge smile, gladly paid the ransom and off we went.

Now mind you this was before I had a competent smart phone. So an instantaneous search was out of the question. I would have to wait to get home in order to do any research let alone test this little monster. So once I hauled it up 3 flights of stairs and a quick wipe down, I hooked it up to a pair of basic speakers. To my disappointment only one channel seemed to be working. It sounded good but, All that work only to realize the damn the things phucked up. I was pissed at myself for wasting time, money and energy on some piece of crap someone else threw out. I figured energy in energy out, this makes up for some of the broken crap I've passed off on others. I had run out of time and needed to continue on with my day. So I took a few deep breaths and let the project go for now.

Later that same day when my head was a bit more clear I grabbed my Phillips head screwdriver and thought, well I probably can't screw it up any more so why not open it up and see what's what. (Unplugged of course) Once I opened her up I was mesmerized by all those circuit boards full of resistors, capacitors and fuses. Wait a second FUSES??? So I took a look at the fuses and sure enough one was blown! I frantically rummaged through the junk drawer desperately trying to locate a 5amp 250volt fuse. Ah ha! Found one! I replaced the fuse and the amp came to life! The sound was magical! So much power and depth with the volume just under #3 and this thing goes to 10! (Okay maybe louder than 11 but you'll have to hear it to believe it) Not to mention a stereo seperation that defines a true analog experience. Simply amazing! I decided to hook it up to my system I had up in my meditation loft. It was a high ceiling loft with 4 speakers I was using for daily meditation. I had been using an RCA surround amplifier up there but this unit fit just perfect in that space.

Little did I know what analog gold I was so fortunate to have found.

To be continued...