Take Your VINTAGE Audio System to the NEXT LEVEL!

[@ForeverAnalog]

That Fisher tube amp is a beauty! Thanks for the great video Scott!

[@stereoniche]

Thanks Aaron! She sounds as good as she looks! 🙂

[@mikeymopar1171]

My brother was in the Navy in 1977 when he was in Japan he brought home a Pioneer stereo when he got back he traded that Pioneer receiver to a friend of his for a Triumph motorcycle my brother still has the Triumph motorcycle and his friends still has the Pioneer receiver after all these years

[@stereoniche]

Seems those two pieces found their right homes early on and never left. Don't you wish everything we buy was like that, we could get one thing and enjoy it for 40-50 yrs. :-)

[@richardwhite2344]

Great video Scott. Love to see viewer systems also. So much fun. Take care

[@stereoniche]

Thanks Richard!

[@andrewmcmahon632]

I have a Oracle Alexandria turntable going into my Fisher KX 90 amp. I'm tempted to get a phono pre-amp after watching this and seeing what happens. Great video!

[@stereoniche]

Thanks! Let us know if you get one and how much you like it... or not. 🙂

[@TomSherwood-z5l]

I have an X-101-B I was given years ago. From first owners estate bought in 64. When I got it switches and pots needed cleaned but that was the extent of what I did to it before using in a second system with some decent little monitor speakers. Did not recap it, replace any tubes(tested OK), upgrade etc. Has a gorgeous midrange and imaging and thus is partial to some kinds of music more than others. Now it is in a closet. I thought of overhauling it but that is a big job and it is not in use right now.

[@stereoniche]

It would have been a little ironic if you found a Sherwood unit. I very much like my X-101-B, it was fully recapped some time ago, but certainly worthy of the effort. A great winter project (hint, hint..).

[@JuanGarcia-kv7yv]

Scott, great video as always! Those shelving units look solid and ideal for storing gear. Where did you purchase those shelves? I certainly need one and am looking for a recommendation..

[@stereoniche]

They do work very well. Mine are from here: saferacks.com/collections/garage-shelving

[@bacarandii]

At this moment I'm listening to a 1965 "The Fisher" (definite article included) 500C tube receiver (a cousin of your beautiful gold-faced integrated), using a Soundsmith Otello (moving iron) cartridge in a new-ish Music Hall Classic turntable (nice vintage-looking wood veneer plinth) plugged into the receiver's built-in phono stage, which can handle low-output or high-output cartridges. If I remember correctly, it was built to accommodate ceramic cartridges, too, though I don't know what settings would have to be manually adjusted for that. I have another turntable (also new-ish but vintage-looking), a Fluance RT85, with a Hanna moving coil cartridge running through a Cambridge Audio duo phono preamp (I saw one among your insert photos), which you can easily switch for MM or MC cartridges and plug into the AUX or TUNER or TAPE inputs on vintage amps. They all sound swell. That "Mystery Photo" -- with the black faceplate, silver knobs, rectangular buttons and the white graphic boxes with round corners looks like it's trying to imitate the look of my McIntosh C28 pre-amp (1970-75). Compare and contrast!

[@stereoniche]

Excellent. There is no "correct way" to mix and match modern/vintage, great to see how you have implemented the eras of gear. That "Mystery photo" will be fun to find out what it is all about once they share more details.

[@andrewmcmahon632]

I have The Fisher KX 90. I'm running my Oracle Alexandria turntable with a Grado Moving Iron cartridge into the low output inputs. It sounds great. I am going to try a phono pre-amp and see how much of a difference it makes.

[@jeffbranch8072]

I bought a Pluto 2 phono preamp by U-Turn Audio for a little over $100. It's MM only and seems to be at the price point above the really cheap units and a good alternative to a Cambridge Audio. One selling point is that the Pluto 2 is designed and made in the USA. I don't really **need** a phono preamp as my 1970's receivers are each equipped internally, but it helps to simplify cables a little bit. I use RCA switches to connect 3 receivers with 2 pair of speakers and AUX inputs. Using a phono preamp turns the turntable into an AUX input instead of having it connected (and grounded) to only to one receiver. I have one RCA switch to select between 4 AUX inputs: 1streamer, phono, CD, or cassette, and another switch to choose which receiver AUX input to send to.

[@stereoniche]

You have quite the setup there! Awesome!

[@jeffbranch8072]

No, not really, almost all entry level stuff to try different flavors without spending too much. I've had a Pioneer SX-434 and PL-10 for decades, and added an H/K 330B and Sansui 661 this year. Speakers are Ohm Model E and Sony SS-510 bookshelf. Just very nice to listen to.

[@redspotaudio]

I'm surprised you never mentioned SUTs. That way you can maintain the original MM phono sections of the Amp/Receiver

[@phonatic]

This video was quite re-assuring to watch, as I have been doing very much the same thing. I have an Aikido Phono 1+ hooked up to my vintage gear. Even though, some of the early solid state amps can also handle MC, I appreciate the overall lower noise floor of a modern pre-amp, also for MM pickups.

[@stereoniche]

Thanks for watching. For me as well, I think a perfect combination of mix & match. In particular for phono gear, those dedicated phono pre-amps can certainly make a huge difference. While I am not there just yet, I am going to start venturing into streaming and will begin documenting my experience of adding it to my vintage gear.

[@phonatic]

@@stereoniche Absolutely, you should give it a try. Aside from vinal and reel-to-reel, I have been using a portable player and a Topping DX3Pro+ DAC for a long time. It's under $200 and very clean, good for rolled-off tube gear. But just a week ago purchased the inexpensive FiiO K11 R2R, which is such a beautiful pairing with my Crysler Audio horn speakers and solid state. Smooth and with a greater stereo image. Originally I had expected to send it back after trial - that one didn't work out as planned. 😅

[@AllboroLCD]

Your accumulating quite the hoard of desirable pieces, nice! I just acquired a Music Hall pa2.2 phono pre, a pair of passive Jensen MC x-formers in a homebrew box and a small hoard of assorted carts ive yet to fully identify. I def saw two DL103's which is promising, but one needs a stylus. That Denon doesnt look like its a traditional style replacement however.

[@AllboroLCD]

Just noticed the JVC TT, very very nice! Thats their top shelf Quartz lock DD if im not mistaken, that some claim to even rival the Denons of the period.

[@stereoniche]

It is a wonderful unit. I like it as much as my Mitsu linear tracker.

[@hydroalternation]

Rush Caress of Steel AWESOME

[@stereoniche]

Yes, it is certainly an AWESOME album! 👍

[@sidesup8286]

If you like mysteries, see if you can solve these; without looking it up. 1. What rock album did the absolute poorest in sales numbers % percentage wise, compared to the groups previous album with the same group name and same personnel. In other words, the most disappointing follow up album. The much better selling.album released right before it was not the groups debut album. 2. What group held the record for best seling guitar instrumental album for nearly 3 entire decades? They also did 2 Christmas albums (cds) & are two of my favorites around the holidays. Before cd came onto the scene, many preamps with phono stages had very advanced phono sections. Then phono became an afterthought, and the phono sections of preamps didn't have much effort or expense put into them usually; if they even gave you a phono section. Seperate box power supplies, circuit boards made of glass etc. were on the scene right before cd came out and stayed around a while; as cd players took a while to come down in price, and become popular with the masses. Phono is still a secondary consideration to most listeners; so who knows what quality you are going to get with a preamp's phono section nowadays. And not many stores set up, or in business where you can bring an lp in and find out either.

[@stereoniche]

I am not much of a music historian, but let's see. 1. Survivor? and 2. Eagles? :-)

[@sidesup8286]

Those are tough questions, and I knew there's only a 5% chance of anyone getting them right. I thought the album cover pictured behind you in the video might help a little bit though. Tusk by Fleetwood Mac was the most disappointing follow up album in sales (to the album Rumors), which was a mega seller and in fact Rumors was the best selling album of all time until Thriller by Michael Jackson overtook it a few years ago. Thriller also passed up The Eagles greatest hits on the all time sales list. Tusk was a bit like The Stones Exile On Main Street, another double lp that wasn't considered great when first released; they both are thought of much better now, many decades later The best selling guitar instrumental album, which held its place for decades was an album by The Ventures. I think it was Walk Don't Run. It was finally surpassed in sales decades later by Surfin With The Alien by Joe Satriani. The 2 Xmas cds by The Ventures are great. After listening, you end up wondering if they weren't the best musicians ever,.They were very sophisticated musicians, and such creative arrangements.. Their heydey was the 1950's/60s. The Ventures Christmas Album on cd, which has 12 tracks is great. Maybe even greater is their 18 track cd called Christmas Joy. It repeats several tracks frim the earlier album, but they sound like different mixes. It has more volume than the earlier cd, and very noticeably better sound quality. So much for loudner cds sounding worse. Both are musts. I've never seen The Ventures Christmas albums on reel tape. Reel tape is coming back. Revox has re-entered the near empty new reeel deck machine market with the Revox B77 III reel to reel tape deck. Which was first? Abraham Lincoln's birth or the first newspaper publication of the poem which we know as T'was The Night Before Christmas? And what major thing associated with Christmas is not even once mentioned in the poem?