Technics by Panasonic SU-8080 photos.

Updated Sunday:
This amp is really growing on me, visually and sonically.

I'm very happy to have this beautiful (to me) amp back after 2 trips for service. It delivers a very strong 72 watts/channel into 8 ohms, 90/channel into 4 ohms, and sounds great.

PSB Passif 2 Speakers.

This is one of Paul Bartons early designs, refined using the anechoic chamber and test equipment at the National Research Council Lab in Ottawa.

They used a common Philips 8 woofer, but one was blown when I got the speakers. I've upgraded them with what look like the same Philips woofers, but with much bigger magnets, and squiggles of black toothpaste on the cones. They're actually hand calibrated versions, a matched pair intended use in a pair of Wilson Audio WATT speakers, highly respected audiophile speakers costing thousands of dollars a pair. I've never heard them, but know that Dave Wilson, who was an early reviewer at The Absolute Sound magazine, could've chosen many excellent woofers, and chose these.

They aren't going to be exploited to their fullest in the Passif 2s, but the system does sound great...as good as any I've heard that use the same classic Philips tweeter.

B&W DM2 photos.

I rebuilt 3 corners,sanded, oiled, touched up, painted the backs, redid the grills, repainted the badges, and now they look almost as good as they sound.

Realistic Mach One 4029 photo.

This is the second iteration of one of the iconic macho speakers of the seventies. The original Mach One was catalogue number 4024. It looks the same, except that six screws hold the horn tweeter/mid/high frequency adjustment panel, rather than ten, as in the 4024. The 4024s fifteen inch woofer had a lifetime rubber surround, where the 4029 has a foam surround that rots. I just finished refoaming the woofers. This is my third pair of Mach Ones, but my first 4029s. The woofers were easy to refoam, but slow. They speakers sound better than I remember, are awesome for dance and reggae, and I think the 4029 has even better bass than the 4024.

Horn loaded speakers aren't usually my thing, but it's easy to see what the fuss was about.

B&W DM2 Sneek Peek.

I have to do a bit more touching up, and the grill cloth, which I thought was ok, isn't, and will have to be replaced. I wanted to show you how the stripping sanding and oiling worked out, and will have them all finished soon. They're sounding great with the Technics SU-8080.
This is the before picture of the tops:

Wednesday Update.

The Technics SU-8080 is back and healthy. The phono stage is a revelation.

Just arrived PSB Passif Twos, Realistic Mach Ones (4029).

Monday Update.

I got the B&W DM2s stripped and sanded today. I had a couple of dented corners to rebuild, which are setting now, and they should be looking good by tomorrow.

The speakers continue to impress with their overall musicality and solid bass response.

Just arrived. B&W DM2s!

Updated: These speakers are awesome.

These sound great, but are a mess.
This is going to be fun!
Here's an excellent description and review from Gramophone Magazine in 1972 when the DM2s were released.

This is perfect.

From the White Rock Blues Society website:

Craigslist Ad:

We are a small & casual restaurant in downtown Vancouver and we are looking for solo musicians to play in our restaurant to promote their work and sell their CD. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a nightly event if we get positive response. More Jazz, Rock, & smooth type music, around the world and mixed cultural music. Are you interested to promote your work? Please reply back ASAP.


A Musician's Reply:

Happy New Year! I am a musician with a big house looking for a restaurateur to come to my house to promote his/her restaurant by making dinner for me and my friends. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a nightly event if we get a positive response. More fine dining & exotic meals and mixed Ethnic Fusion cuisine.
Are you interested to promote your restaurant? Please reply back ASAP.

Friday Update.

Happy Friday. I'm sorry that I haven't updated the blog since Tuesday. One of you, between when I went to sleep and when I woke up, was the 450,000th viewer of Seventies Stereo. The blog has been averaging over a thousand hits a day for a couple of months now, with a peak of 1,461 earlier this month. Thank you for visiting.