1981 Amp Vs £1000 2024 Amp

[@MichaelYates]

Amazing how a low end Pioneer 50 quid amp is is holding well against a new 1000 quid Leak amp on this listening test.

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

I was surprised too, especially after 40 years!

[@stevengagnon4777]

​​@@UTILITARIANTVUK I bought the SA-520 second hand for $125 ...still has the price sticker on it. I always liked it and found use for it . I've always paired it with some 90 ish dB 8 ohlm speakers . This works well the first watt is very good . Bouncing off the 65 watt led seems to be pretty clean yet. A 30 watt discrete mosfet amp with plenty of headroom. Mine is in original condition without any service done to it. The phono amp is good. Can personally recommend it

[@ianyates7742]

Older hifi still has a place in homes today grate fore budget listening 😊

[@alistermccallum]

Less cheddar for sure

[@acswales]

Hi Mart. As a I said before. You are more than welcome. Glad to see you getting so excited about vintage equipment. MS stands for 'Music Search' . Press the button, when fwd winded it will stop at the next song and play it. The power meters were from the 'Blue Line' of Pioneer amps. They were supposed to be of higher /better quality. I fully agree regarding the tape deck. Never going to be a Nak, but You can pick them up for £25. Great sound test. I even used headphones this time. you are right, very close. Mind blowing really. Proves that I can fix's, eh. Great vid. 10/10, as per usual.

[@tomooo2637]

Receiver was a term used for a combined amplifier+tuner in the 1980's. Therefore you have a tuner in this demo.

[@machse69]

Nice to see your dipping your toe into the budget world. Lots of opportunities with little outlay if you look closely. I'd like to hear some Akai stuff against the Leak.

[@O.G.LIL-MAN]

Pow...right in the kisser!!! Marty, I have been subscribed for months now and glad I am . You provide good fun and awesome hifi reviews and information here!! I'll be here as long as you keep doing it!!! Cheers from the States!

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

Thank you! 💪

[@msgillingham]

Nice job the pioneer was not that far off the leaks sound, you should try and get hold of a sansui 331 or 441 receiver, I have both and they sound fantastic. I bet you would not hear any difference between the leak or Sansui's, keep up the excellent work.

[@Rockin_Kat]

I liked it better when Marty hit us with his fists :) Cartoon Marty hits uncertainly.

[@keithjones7810]

I thought the Pioeer had more punch. It may be 1970's ears but I prefered it.

[@Rockin_Kat]

They sound almost identical, I would add 1 point to Leak for slightly more pronounced high frequencies, and 2 points to Pioneer for appearance. So I would keep Pioneer.

[@PremierComputerFairs]

Beautiful quality system!

[@MrSlipstreem]

I remember my brother having a Pioneer system very similar to this many moons ago. It sounded great paired it up with a huge pair of Eltax floorstanders. You definitely needed that subsonic filter when listening to vinyl on decent headphones or a badly warped record would suck your eardrums out! 😄

[@hobhood7118]

I agree with your conclusion. Leak is more open and detailed a bit more separation. Pioneer had more of a 'vintage' sound. A bit less precise and open, with some bass emphasis, which gives an impression of 'warmth'. Both were very listenable.

[@chuckmaddison2924]

The big benefit of the old analogue tuning is on the AM band . When the carrier is modulated, it creates side bands. So it's possible to tune slightly off centre ( carrier) to bring in the higher audio frequencies. My big complaint is the old style speaker connections.

[@oscarmouse65ify]

Bought a CT-520 brand new and used it for years with a NAD 3020, great deck and i still have many tapes it recorded. Eventuality it failed and was replaced with a Technics cassette deck which i still have. I also still have the NAD which was in daily use until just before Christmas 2024 when it was replaced by a new Marantz model 50 after 44 years. I believe the cassette door front cover on the Pioneer unclips upward and comes off to allow access for head cleaning. Always loved the blue of Pioneers from this period, the reel to reels in particular are stunning looking.

[@chrisnunya7171]

Nice. I'd take that Pioneer over the Leak any day! 💯

[@carlosfernandez1]

It's a master piece. Looks very nice. I remember a Pioneer equipment mounted in a tower. It looks impressive and sounds really clear. Thanks for shearing 👍🏼 Saludos 🤙

[@TheOffertonhatter]

That is tough. I prefer the Leak for the openness of the treble, but the Pioneer has a richer tighter bass. But Hey, we are talking about a 40+ year old amp and overall sounds great.

[@jhuc2869]

First impressions of audio reproduction usually favour frequency range and dynamics. A smiley face response curve also appeals. Dynamics are always important, but accurate reproduction is often about less, rather than more. It’s the distortion that’s absent that often makes good equipment sound bland. Feed a high quality signal in however and the difference becomes apparent.

[@sachsenthing963]

Bei mir verstärkt ein A 30 von Pioneer in schwarz und macht seine Sache gut ... und die KEF Boxen mögen ihn .

[@musicforlife6903]

Nice video, as usual. I have one exactly like this in my bedroom (also have 2 more vintage Pioneers, the monster SX 950 and the SX 690). Still prefer my new Nad 3050 LE but i like very much this litlle Pioneer 520. I love vintage gear that's why i have 7 vintage amps or receivers in my colection (my prefered was a Sansui and a Revox, but still love the 3 Pioneers). Keep going with your ansome videos. Cheers from Portugal

[@pedge66]

Could those headphone rca sockets on the back of the amp be a pre out?

[@OldSonyMan]

I 'believe' that the headphone out on the rear is for a headphone socket mounted on the HiFi cabinet ! I do not know for sure but I do own a (very tall) Sansui cabinet that has a headphone socket mounted on the front at the bottom. It is not possible to connect the socket to a front headphone socket because of the glass doors but it makes perfect sense to plug into the back of the amp. I haven't seen one before but it would make sense for it to be true !

[@Evolved_ue7]

Until recently many snubbed audio gear more than 10 years old, now many realise just how good some (not all) vintage audio is, from amps to speakers to turntables, mini disc cd, tape and cd . Some older speakers 40-50 years old leave some present day speakers sounding pretty grim . Like most things it's knowing your stuff, I'm no boffin but I do read a lot and have used many older audio units, and there are some real diamond buys out there . New gear has to be honest better everything, however that does not equate to better sound, many audio companies have become so obsessed with measuring equipment, they forget music needs soul, a very big pointer is how many amplifiers omit tone controls.. If you get vintage equipment serviced and repaired chances are it will last another 20-30 years . (Some older technics have parts shortages) I use Technics SU-A8 Technics SE-A7 Pre and PowerAmp and it's a superb unit ..

[@rakitakhan]

I agree about older speakers. I have a Delcoid satellite/sub setup. In 1979, they were about $2000 for the set. Today maybe $7000. Price aside, they're some of the best sounding speakers I've ever heard. I love MBL speakers but I still prefer the Delcoids. Even my amp and preamp are old. I have a GAS Ampzilla and a matching Thoebe preamp. Both are over 40 yrs old and sound fantastic.

[@Niels133]

Looks very much like my Philips set in late 70's.

[@rhoderickcallos2211]

sir where is the two layer it is also important to making a clear and beautiful sound rebervaration amplifier and also the seven band graphic equalizer same model we have so where is it.

[@ruimonteiro3012]

OK, nice channel, very nice reviews, with very "utilitarian" products, nothing hi-end with stratospheric prices. I really like watching your videos, simplicity and humility, why not? subscribed channel. Como dizemos em Portugal: Um grande abraço (As we say in Portugal: a big hug)...sorry if my English isn´t the best. Until the next video.

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

Obrigado!

[@andrehendrik]

Great discussion, I think the Pioneer gear looks way cooler, the Leak amp imo is trying too hard to look vintage, it's a bit over the top style-wise

[@Norman-bone13]

I agree. To me, the Leak looks old. I’m aware it was designed to look “Vintage”, but appears drab. May sound great, I don’t know.

[@edjrod29]

nice of you to mention analytics, i thought i was subscribed but wasn't, but am now wonderful videos, down to earth guy not prancing around being pretentious :)

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

Thanks!

[@michaelvincent8306]

I have 2 amps a single ended valve which I love and a sansui au 101 recapped the valve is very good but the vintage sansui is a serious piece of kit considering its50 years old I use it at night because of the loudness button I have heard the leak it's a very nice amp

[@MrSlipstreem]

The CT-520 amplifier was way, way above mid-fi level in terms of performance if you look up the technical specs. In fact, the whole matching component system was. I checked with my bro and this was the system he owned. He had very deep pockets back then so auditioned it against many "audiophile" systems at the time in the same hi-fi shop's dedicated listening room as well as on an expensive pair of Leak headphones and chose this over anything else. The wow and flutter on the cassette deck is definitely age-related as it's specced at 0.05% WRMS (the same as many expensive single capstan decks from the 1990s) which is inaudible the vast majority of the time to most people.

[@MrSlipstreem]

The cassette deck may need a new pinch roller if it hasn't had one yet, or it may just be that it needs running for several hours to bed the capstan motor brushes back in. The motor commutator tarnishes over time if it's sat unused, and that can upset the internal servo control leading to random speed variations and increased wow and flutter. All of the secondhand decks I've bought have had measurably better wow and flutter figures after running in play mode for a few hours, so it seems to be a widespread issue with the kind of motors typically used in a belt-driven capstan mechanism, particularly if they've been sat unused for decades as many have.

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

I believe it had a new pinch roller so I'll try playing it for a few hours.

[@michaeljones19731]

The pioneer hands down sounds better. I was surprised by that honestly. 🎉😊. Ps. I think the Dac prob has something to do with that though. 👍🏻. Keep up the good work buddy.

[@martinburn]

I've got an 80s marantz amp, Denon cassette deck, ruark templers in the loft a Sony st tuner es in the garage, just can't part with them.

[@multicyclist]

Subscribing does not help you out on KZbin anylonger so you don't need to constantly ask But comments do like this one, as well as views of course.

[@kurthill7030]

Leak is better and from blind I got it right still sounds good 👍

[@augustoviglioni3869]

Olá. O áudio (a música ) , no amplificador Lear 230 é mais claro na região de médios alto , me parecendo ter um pouco mais de resolução!

[@vitalmachado9232]

Eu tenho da marca Gradiente desse modelo .

[@alanjipy55]

I remember MS stands for, music search.

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

Ah cool, thanks

[@alanjipy55]

@@UTILITARIANTVUK No worries. I got my first hifi about 4 years after this one which was Poineer.

[@AlexanderG-mi7ip]

Well, it seems I belong to the 10 percent that subscribed to your channel, so, it resembles the good old sentence from the Bible, saying: '...many are invited, but few are chosen...' As for the gear, I have three CD players, two of them are by Pioneer, the third one is Denon. I must have been Japanese in my previous life...

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

Domo arigato!

[@randomweirdyoutubechannel8955]

Ive got a jvc A-X2 from 1980 and it just shits all over my denon avc-s670h that i wasted £550 on the denon is just downright miserable compared to the jvc

[@emiliorodenasgonzalez8568]

Japón versus China...ocomments..even 40 years old

[@turokforever007]

pioneer for me

[@gaborszekeres2161]

Not a huge difference for 40 years.

[@peripheral1258]

No Scope ?? NO ABX ??? These are merely sound demos and opinions... Are we supposed to listen through our big-ass flatscreens or headphones to 'decide' which one 'wins' ?? The stats show most people like equipment that measures well -imagine that. Measurements aren't everything -imagine that ...but that is why there's ABX. I Tidal thru a Topping E30 dac, a Yaquin 2100 -because it has Toobs and only cost $350 cdn ...and 1990's Celestion 5000 = electrostat strip w/ 8" woof... How do I know this is 'decent ? If I level the volume between my Stax L300 phones and 5000's and take 'em off and put 'em on... the enthusiasm from each is about equal ... different but equal... So I could say the sound is decent... Entertaining and time well spent... But this ain't Science.

[@cabronesse386]

Well said indeed, that if you have rubbish ears and you only can enjoy your music and audio gears snobbery and validation through measurement tools. For most of us music enjoyers we don't need audio measuring equipment, we only need good ears and a good state of mental health, no need for snobbery nor audio precision tools.

[@Synthematix]

Channels that beg for subscribers actually push away viewers

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

No, just you. The 53 people who subscribed to the channel from this video would disagree.

[@UTILITARIANTVUK]

Now over 80 subs and still climbing! 😄