Luxman L235 Integrated Amplifier

Beautiful integrated Amplifier arrived a few weeks ago from my brother in-law. Love the Luxman sleekness. I'm still searching for a nice M-6000 amp deal. He obviously saw the potential in this unit as I did. In need of some repair as the left channel was blown. I'm at my tech's shop going over the unit and it was missing one of the faceplate end caps. Still don't know why they have these in the design, perhaps for rack mounting? At any rate it was complete luck that he had a DOA unit with a cap still on it. But wait... trying to get it off he snapped it in half! Told you it wasn't a good design!
I love bringing these back to life. There is great pleasure in finding these beauties a home. This purchaser wrote me saying that he has the matching tuner and would love to make it a set. He mentioned he was currently in University and price was a factor. I met with my brother in-law and he agreed. How could we not close the deal. He's a young dude into quality vintage gear!
Very cool in my book!!

Ohm Walsh Speakers - Audio Bliss!

Imaging, Engineering & Design
These speakers are simply beautiful!
Just arrived and fired them up on the Pioneer A70. Also tried them with the Kenwood KA 3500 amp and these are so musical! For an omni-directional speaker I was amazed at the imaging ability. Sade's Sweetest Taboo sounded stunning... timbre and chimes I had missed with other sets. Remarkable vocal reproduction! I remember Energy Pro 22 - 2 way's leaving such an impression years ago. These are truly an audiophile's dream. The walnut cabinets are beautiful and mint.
Warm precise low end - again supremely musical! No fatigue here. Revolutionary drivers & design.
They are 6ohms and really cry for power. The A70 really drove them well. So impressed.
I want to restore them so I contacted Ohm Corp in New York. Within minutes I received and email from John Strohbeen, President of Ohm. Truly, this is how manufactures need to operate. He helped determine what improvements I could make and suggested options. Ohm produces speakers and engineers units into the $30,000 range. To take the time to communicate with me on these is nothing short of impressive. Not to mention that Ohm has parts for every speaker they have ever manufactured. Back 40 years! Right down to the grills.
I plan to utilize these in my own collection & recommend them to all.
Keep tabs as I will post the restoration throughout.

Ohm Acoustics Corp. - John Strohbeen (800) 783-1553
www.ohmspeakers.com

Pioneer A70 - A Classic

This Classic amp just arrived...
Produced in 1982.
Tons of headroom rated at 120w/p/c
Great options including switch to assign a MM or MC (moving magnet vs. moving coil) cartridge. No right or wrong in your cartridge type it is simply a sonic & personal preference. Many a debate has been brought forth as to which type is superior. I prefer the MC as I caught more more fidelity and range than the MM cartridge in a direct comparision test. Anyways, how did I get on the cartridges? Yes, a great addition to this amp is having this option offered.
Tone is exceptional and the amp drives speakers of low impedances with ease.
Has a tonal defeat button as well to allow a preamp to control the input signal prior to amplification proving that the engineer's regarded this an Audiophile amplifier application. Not to mention the $610.00 price tag in '82. Pioneer hit the mark on this beauty!
Specifications
Total harmonic distortion: No more than 0.003% Damping factor: 60
Frequency response: 5 to 100,000Hz
Dimensions: 420 x 131 x 411m

TECHNICS PHASE LINEAR SPEAKERS - SB4500A

In the late 70s Technics started making speakers with a "linear phase array" design wherein the transducers were staggered so that all their coils were lined up in the vertical plane. This led to a number of unique speaker styles, many of which never had much of an impact in North America judging by how rarely I have ever seen them around. There were two main styles: a "box" style where the mid-range and high-range transducers were simply enclosed in boxes stacked atop the woofer enclosure, and a "horns" style where the mid-range and high-range transducers were fronted with horns. The latter style had rosewood-veneered woofer enclosures, and if you were a US serviceman living in Germany you could get them with drab-olive enclosures. Crazy!

Apart from being good speakers they are unique furniture pieces, with rosewood veneer woofer enclosures and dark fabric covers, and two charcoal-grey drivers.There's not a lot about them on the web. I do like the look of them. They have a real vintage feel and still settle in nicely to a rooms decor without causing a major domestic. ;(
I will be posting the reconditioned images upon completion. I Hope to update the crossovers as well.

Info:
http://www.vintage-audio.com.ua/en/cat/254.html

Sony TA2000

The Preamp
Sony TA2000
Vintage at it's Finest!

Landed this one a few years ago...
Can you believe someone would drop this at a Goodwill store. I couldn't but it's true. This and the matching Tuner!
Produced from 1968-73,
the Rare TA-2000 preamp is an amazing design with shielded circuit boards through-out. VU Output meters.
2 Phono Inputs which is handy and Tape Loop for the best in analog sound.
Options included the beautiful walnut casing. There isn't better in it's class.
One of my all time Favorites!

The Royal Ballet Cover

Here is a Cover shot.