LFF Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 He should, they're spectacular I know! Before I bought the 4311's (consumer version was the L100) I was looking to buy a pair of the L65's. Never found some and being impatient, went with the 4311's. Never wanted another speaker ever since (except maybe for a pair of WATT/Puppy).
grawk Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 My L65s were bought new by my dad. He gave them to me this summer.
LFF Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 My L65s were bought new by my dad. He gave them to me this summer. Lucky you! Take care of them.
philodox Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Posted January 7, 2009 (edited) It would also give you spare parts which could be a really good thing. I'd say go for it.I agree. Thanks Steve. You've given me an excellent excuse.Nice looking set-up there. Looks to be a very clean vintage piece. I always use white lithium grease on bearings on my turntables.As for it being clean... that took a bit of work. Still not completely done there yet, but I've got my isopropyl alcohol and goo gone, so I should be fine. Thanks for the tip on the grease. They ain't bad, but they're not that special either. My Dual 721 does a good job but I'd by lying if I said it came anywhere close to the Garrard 401 I heard at the shop. Nice score! We should do a vinyl meet soon, I'll bring over a stack of records.Well, my Lab 80 is no 401, but it sounds pretty nice to me. We'll definitely need to do a vinyl meet. I have much more space now that I'm moving in with Rachel. Looks like an awesome vintage rig. Hook that up some vintage JBL's and you'll have an AWESOME sound! I like Garrard tables a lot. Still waiting to find a minty 301 or 401 for cheap.Thanks buddy. I know next to nothing about JBL's, but I've been thinking about either building some speakers or buying some speakers from Fab Audio... just because they are Canadian and I've had good experience with them. They are high sensitivity, so I could get into the whole SET thing. Seriously though, I'm happy with my Polks at the moment. My Grado RS-1's sound pretty nice out of the Marantz, but it has so much gain that I don't get much play on the volume knob. Can't wait to try my K340's. As for the 301/401 quest. You just got more competition. Trying not to get sucked in to deep as I am currently quite happy with what I've got, but the 'fancier' Garrards are certainly on my radar. Listening to Portishead's Dummy right now on vinyl. This is something else. Why did I have to get this damn turntable? Edited January 7, 2009 by philodox
philodox Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Posted January 7, 2009 Some fun with time and money... I realized the other day that I now have a headphone which was last sold in '84, a reciever that was last sold in '74 and a turntable that was last sold in '64. Did some looking around and found the indexes for those years as well as 2008 and figured out what they would have cost me new in todays money. AKG K340 2008/1984 = 2.07 Original MSRP = 350 MSRP today = 724.5 Marantz 2230 2008/1974 = 4.36 Original MSRP = 350 MSRP today = 1526 Garrard Lab 80 2008/1964 = 6.94 Original MSRP = 110 MSRP today = 763.4 That's all in USD as well, so given the current CDN exchange rate, I got some pretty killer deals on my gear.
LFF Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 Some fun with time and money... I realized the other day that I now have a headphone which was last sold in '84, a reciever that was last sold in '74 and a turntable that was last sold in '64. Did some looking around and found the indexes for those years as well as 2008 and figured out what they would have cost me new in todays money. AKG K340 2008/1984 = 2.07 Original MSRP = 350 MSRP today = 724.5 Marantz 2230 2008/1974 = 4.36 Original MSRP = 350 MSRP today = 1526 Garrard Lab 80 2008/1964 = 6.94 Original MSRP = 110 MSRP today = 763.4 That's all in USD as well, so given the current CDN exchange rate, I got some pretty killer deals on my gear. I love when people do this! Really puts vintage gear into perspective.
Duggeh Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 Who would even you pay $725 for a K340 today is the question.
philodox Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Posted January 7, 2009 (edited) LFF I agree, it really helps you get a better idea of how high end the component was considered in its day. Duggeh/Grawk If someone wanted to buy my K340's they would have to shell out a hell of a lot more than $725. [Mine are modded/recabled though in fairness] Remember, that is MSRP, so the price in stores would likely be lower. And I would totally pay it for a brand new [and likely updated] K340. Value is a relative thing. How much does a SR-007 cost? What's the going rate for a used K1000? I don't think either is a bad headphone, but I prefer my K340's overall. I realize there is more than sound signature and fidelity that goes into the price of a headphone though... if only my K340's *looked* like the Omegas and had their quality of construction. As an aside, I actually did pay $350 for my K340's... but they were NIB/NOS. I got my first pair for under $100 though, so it evens out. EDIT: I'd also imagine that the design money spent and cost of manufacturing the K340's was much higher than the costs associated with the K1000. Edited January 7, 2009 by philodox
swt61 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 I paid $350 for my K340 as well. Brand new, off the shelf of my local Audio dealer in 1985. What you also need to remember is that the choices of headphones in 85' were but a very small fraction of what's offered today, and an even smaller number of those were truely audiophile headphones. I thought at the time they were well worth it, and I agree that an updated modern version would have a great value.
Dusty Chalk Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 I had no idea what audiophile meant before about 1999/2000, as I only "listened to music" on my dad's monaural Heathkit and my Pioneer SX-450. So I was a HD414 man for a long time, and then a Sony MDR-V6/-7506 man from somewhere around 1990 on.
swt61 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 Well the term get's a bad rap, but there are those that will be quite happy with whatever speakers or headphones happen to be around and cheap, and there are those that have a passion for trying to recreate a live experience in terms of SQ. I've fallen into that group for decades now. I don't think of myself as uppity or snotty at all, but the term has a valid place IMO.
Dusty Chalk Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 Well, sorry, I didn't mean anything disparaging by that remark, I have no problem with (my definition of) the term, 'audiophile'. In fact, I'm not even sure where that little background post came from -- I guess I was just saying I have no idea what the headphone scene back then consisted of.
philodox Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Posted January 7, 2009 Well, I ordered the 'backup' table. Can't wait to try that new cart out.
swt61 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 Well, sorry, I didn't mean anything disparaging by that remark, I have no problem with (my definition of) the term, 'audiophile'. In fact, I'm not even sure where that little background post came from -- I guess I was just saying I have no idea what the headphone scene back then consisted of. Oh I didn't think you were being disparaging at all, and took no malice from your post. I was just further expounding on the phrase. Actually I guess I fall into both categories, because I can be quite happy listening to lesser gear as background music. I"ll always take music over no music no matter the system. Back then headphones were mostly relegated to the times when blasting the speakers was inappropriate. I never knew anyone who's main system was headphone based. Dedicated headphone amps were unheard of. I think there are several reasons for this. One is that headphones were heavy and hot back then. They were almost, if not all closed designs with pleather pads. Little ear saunas. I think headphones started coming into their own with the introduction of the Senn. HD414, and really took off with the introduction of the Walkman. Well, I ordered the 'backup' table. Can't wait to try that new cart out. Sweet!
philodox Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Posted January 7, 2009 Yeah, but do you HAVE any of this so called 'lesser gear'? I'm pretty pumped... if I get/make another set of speakers, I'm gonna have around 5 functional rigs at my new place. Scary.
Duggeh Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 Until you've got more rigs than rooms you're all good. Everyone needs a little bathroom rig, a decent kitchen rig and a meaningful bedroom rig in addition to the main living room rig
tyrion Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 Jay, sweet vinyl rig. Enjoy the analog goodness!
aerius Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 Until you've got more rigs than rooms you're all good. I beg to differ. How many rigs can you see in this single room?
Salt Peanuts Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 Nice looking rig you got there, Jay. I was actually looking at a similar Marantz receiver recently. So not to hijack the thread, but anyone here has any experience with Sony PS-X500 table? I've a chance to buy one for ~$50+shipping and it appears to be in decent condition (aside from the missing cover on the start button).
swt61 Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 Yeah, but do you HAVE any of this so called 'lesser gear'? Does an iPod Classic 160Gb count?
Dusty Chalk Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 I see Reference 3A (I think) and Wilson Benesch, but can't name either from the first pic. Nice rug you've got there, really brings the room together.
aerius Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 I see Reference 3A (I think) and Wilson Benesch, but can't name either from the first pic. Nice rug you've got there, really brings the room together. It's not my room, that's the local audio dealer's shop. I wish it was my room though. On the bright side I now own the EAR Acute CD player (below the left turntable in the first picture). The black Reference 3A is the MM de Capo i and the small red ones on the inside of the Wilson Benesch Discovery is the Dulcet. There's also a pair of Lowthers behind the de Capos.
Duggeh Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 I beg to differ. How many rigs can you see in this single room? I count 5 if the rack off to the right of the second picture has a set of speakers attatched. I base the designation "rig" on the number of transducers. A set of ESL-57 with a choice of 3 racks, one containing Quad, one containing Naim and one containing Technics, I would consider one big rig. The Quad rack with a choice of ESL-57s, MMGs, Acoustimass or B&W as transducers, is 4 rigs. But thats just me. (Pimp rigs btw )
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