JBL L166 pictures.

The JBL L166s are up & running.

The woofers are refoamed, and one tweeter was repaired (I'll tell you about that later), and now they sound amazing! Pictures and lots more about them to tell soon.

JBL L166 update.

The 122A woofers (with 7.5 pound magnets!) need refoaming. Standard 12" foams don't fit at all, so I have to wait (something I'm bad at) 'til Friday or early next week to hear them. I'll do the cabinets while I'm waiting, and hope to have them ready to hear and show you soon. The full brochure is available here. My grills are black.

As you can imagine, I'm a little excited.

Altec Lansing Model 5 & 7 Series II

Stacked and driven by the Marantz 1200!

Ariston RD11s with Mayware Formula IV tonearm and Stanton 681EEE Cartridge.

I got this 'table a few weeks ago. It sounded good right away, but the cueing function wasn't usable. The hydraulic cylinder travels up and down in a sleeve, secured at the correct height by a plastic set screw, in a plastic thread that's completely stripped. I made a small rubber spacer of the required height, and epoxied it (removeably) between the arm mounting plate and the underside of the cylinder. It works perfectly. I've never had a Stanton cartridge before, and was always skeptical of the little brush at the front of the body. I couldn't imagine that performance wouldn't be compromised. I'm convinced that Stanton have designed their cartridges well. The 681EEE tracks well and sounds great. I think the brush (and its additional point of contact with the record surface) probably is extra helpful with the Mayware Formula IVs unipivot design.

Altec Seven pictures.

I just recapped the crossovers, and they sound fantastic!

Specs here.

I have a camera again. Pictures to follow.

Quick Update

  This is my first post in May, and I apologize. Stuff has been happening, I just haven't been able to tell you about it, or even show you pictures.
  The Altec Sevens have been refinished, and recapped, and I'm (still) evaluating, the (so far positive) changes.
  I refoamed a pair of The Advent Loudspeakers this week, and after not hearing a pair for probably 3 years, was bowled over (again) by their inherent musicality.

Just arrived! Ariston RD11s turntable with Mayware Formula 4 tonearm.

California.

 After what feels like months (happy ones) of (mostly british) 2 way monitor speakers, they're an ear opening experience. Many may wonder why, but for me, this is what makes vintage audio so much fun. These are the biggest Altecs yet at Seventies Stereo world headquarters, and I'm excited to have them (I've had Fives before, and another pair is coming soon). 

  Altec was very successful marketing it's big, horn loaded home systems, much less with 'bookshelf' speakers. The brand's image in the marketplace was bland and uncool compared to JBL, but these beautiful speakers rock, and the Marantz 1200 drives them perfectly.  Much more soon.

Infamous Canadian Rega 2 Speakers in Utility Cabinets.

The Rega 2s were finished with the ugliest fake fake fake woodgrain vinyl known to man. This pair has been stripped down to the particle board, which has been sanded, oiled and waxed, for a contemporary, scandinavian modernist look that suits the elegant proportions of these speakers well.

Mission 710s at last.

When I got these the original woofers were long gone (replaced with cheap car audio woofers), and after looking high and low, I determined that they're unobtainable. I tried 'upgrading' with woofers from a pair of 770s, and it didn't work (I thought it did at first, because I wanted it to).The woofers were too much for the cabinet volume, and the bass was disappointingly anemic. Frank Fabian at The Speaker Shop recommended a suitable brand new polypropylene cone replacement, which I just installed, and they sound fantastic; beautifully balanced, full and musical, with that magical Mission presence.

  Things will be changing soon at Seventies Stereo. The Mission Argonauts will be leaving this weekend, as will the Rega Kytes. A couple of pairs of Altec Lansings will be arriving soon, as will a Scottish suspended subchassis turntable. Stay tuned.

This is the Sansui AU-217 that just came back.