Welcome OldHiFi Guy

[laatsch55]

Welcome to Phoenix Sir!!

 

[Elite-ist]

It's always a pleasure to have a new member who has experienced a number of decades of audio gear, only to come full circle. We do a lot of that, here.

Nando.

 

[Old HiFi Guy]

Thank you for the welcome. I will tell you a little about me. I have been nuts about stereo equipment since almost the time it came out. My first one was a cheapie Sylvania that I bought in 1964 with my paper route money. I still have the speakers after 50 years, they still work not that they are very good but at this point of my life I am not going to get rid of them. In the 70's I was a warehouseman for a local stereo shop that had stores in 4 cities in the days before the fair trade laws were repealed. They carried everything from Macintosh on down to Superscope. It was a fun place to work as we were all young and I got to play with some very awesome stereo equipment, not that I could afford to buy it at the time. The guys in the repair department were all buying Sansui gear and said it was best next to Macintosh. They said stay away from the quad stuff and especially the HK quad equipment. Their stereo stuff was good, but almost everyone of their quad units failed due to a faulty logic board they told me. Eventually I quit them and went to work at a job that payed good money. I bought a nice Nikko receiver that was almost a lookalike for a Pioneer silver face, I forget what model it was. A little while later I bought a Sansui AU-7900 integrated amp, a TU-3900, a BIC 960 turntable with a Grado F3E+ cartridge, a set of Cerwin Vega model 25 speakers, Sony TC-280 RTR and a Sansui SC-2110 cassette deck. I was in hog heaven for the good old days of loud rock and roll music. Partied with this system in true mid to late 70's-early 80's style. Sadly today the Sansui AU-7900 is awaiting repairs(have 2 other ones in the same state), the TU-3900 still works great and is part of a low volume system, the BIC is sadly gone, the CV speaker cabinets are now home to new woofers and ESS Heil tweeters and crossover system, the TC-280 is awaiting repairs and the SC-2110 is gone. I have bought and sold over the years and have about 34 RTR decks, 10 or 12 cassette decks, over 25 pairs of speakers, 4 8 track decks 2 which record, numerous amps, preamps, tuners, turntables, switch boxes, patchbays, cables, tapes and other accessories. It all either works or is easily repairable. All my sound equipment is analog. The main computer sound system is a Phase Linear Model 3300 Series Two Preamp, a Harmon Kardon 330B receiver that I use as the amp(has separate preamp-amp input/outputs) and a pair of Realistic Minimus 7 speakers. The bedroom TV sound system is a pair of KLH Model Sixes driven by a Sansui 3300 receiver. The den system is a Soundcraftsmen preamp/equalizer, a Sony amp(one of the very few I have ever seen), SansuiTU-5900 tuner, double Large Advent speakers(refoamed woofers of course), Sansui SC-3300 Cassette deck and a Teac X-10 reel to reel. Living room system is a Sansui 9090DB, newer Pioneer speakers with 15" woofers, and Onkyo cassette deck. The satellite TV and computer are also connected to this. If I had my way this would be way more but my wife of over 30 years doesn't want anymore in the LR and I have learned over the years if mama ain't happy then nobody is happy. Have about 3 or 4 other systems scattered over the house. I am looking to lighten some of the load and to get repaired or rebuilt what I really want to keep. I have not had good experiences with places in Portland, Oregon except one where the guy used to work out of the back of a local music equipment and rental shop but he either retired, moved or even possibly died. I will stared reading the posts in entirety to find out exactly what is going on here but from the posts I have read so far I am favorably impressed. I no expertise in repairs especially electronics except speakers. I can do easier belt replacements and am good at maintenance and cleaning. I hope I have not bored you with my ramblings.

 

[orange]

No, you haven't, and was that perhaps a Fred's Sound Of Music or one I don't know about?

 

[Old HiFi Guy]

Are you referring to where I worked or where the repair person was? I worked at Mac's HiFi during the 70's They had stores in downtown Portland, Progress Square in Tigard, Albany and Eugene Oregon. The place where the repair person worked was Showcase down the street from Fred's.

 

[laatsch55]

That wasn't RAMBLING, that was priceless background information. How's the3300 Ser II treating you, that's one of our specialties. Good pre-amp, great preamp when they're done. Minimum component count, 2nd generation op-amps that can be replaced by 3rd,4th and 5h generation. One of the more upgradable units out there. And each one done here is a constantly evolving process. The next one will have no ceramics when it leaves . And over 1/2 the components get changed out already...

 

[orange]

Are you referring to where I worked or where the repair person was? I worked at Mac's HiFi during the 70's They had stores in downtown Portland, Progress Square in Tigard, Albany and Eugene Oregon. The place where the repair person worked was Showcase down the street from Fred's.

Having been born in 1966 and lived almost all of my life near Boise I don't know a ton about old time Portland, much less new time...I do know those were better daze.

 

[NavLinear]

Damn - welcome HiFi dude! You've had and have some nice gear. Glad you made it to this cool site. We don't bite - but if we do it doesn't hurt too much.

 

[premiumplus]

Welcome to Phoenix, Old HiFi Guy! I think you'll like it here, a lot of us found a home around these parts. Sounds like you have some nice gear, and I wish I were closer to Portland. That's the only problem with the friends I have made here, we're scattered all over the country/world, but we unite here under the same passion for GREAT audio and a lot of do-it-yourself-with-help attitude. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. We're quite relaxed and nobody gets their feathers ruffled here.

 

[Northwinds]

Welcome! Sounds like you have some very cool equipment and thanks for sharing a little about yourself! You will find this board's members knowledgeable and friendly. Not much equipment that can't be fixed or made better here

 

[kevin]

HiFi Guy ! Welcome man !!! Great story ! I always loved those Advents ! Great speaker for the money ! I'd still like to have a pair of those for my bedroom system ! Your going to love it here man !

 

[Old HiFi Guy]

Again I want to thank all of you for the warm welcome! Is there a particular sub forum where Phase Liner is discussed? I have a PL 4 400 amp(First model) and the matching 4000 preamp that I would like to get rebuilt. The amp still works and I presently use a newer Nikko Beta II preamp with it. I have posted old pictures of some of my equipment.

 

[Fast Forward]

Thanks for Joining our Site and thanks for the Great Pics

 

[laatsch55]

Phase Linear is discussed everywhere there is a component to be in the sub-forum. DIY, Amps, Pre-amps, Receivers....

 

[stuwee]

A warm welcome to ya old hi-fi dude

Ya got me with that Grado F3E+ cartridge, I bought one of those gems way back when for my Thorens/SME 3009 , Damn was that a sweet sounding rig , I still play tapes I made with it and I'm in awe of what it can pull from that vinyl ditch. Nice ta have you here

 

[Jimmy]

Salutations fellow Portlander.

 

[Old HiFi Guy]

Thanks again for the welcome. Stuwee that would have been 9-10 years ago.