Any audiophiles here?

[Kevin]

You guys have cars, trucks, motorcycles, and planes covered, but does anybody here really get into audio equipment?

I was just at a thrift store and they had a pair of speakers there. I saw the Pioneer label on the back and the cabinets are very pretty, with this wood lattice on the front. I figured worse case scenario is I could buy some replacement speakers and put them in the cabinet. The wood is in excellent to like new condition. Each one must weigh at least 40 pounds if not more.

I get home and they are Pioneer CS-99 speakers from the 1970's. On E-bay they are being sold for around $1000 a pair. Apparently these are some long sought after speakers from back in the day. Made in Japan.

They are too heavy for me to even think about selling. Besides I want to hook them up and hear what I've been missing all my life.

Has anyone heard of these speakers?

The set I've been wanting for years is a set of Klipsch Heritage Heresy Speakers. They are made in the USA, but unfortunately cost a very pretty penny indeed. I think these Pioneer CS-99 speakers might be a good substitute.

 

[wwb]

Yup.... went fully digital about 15 years ago. Sold a load of vinyl and a B&O turntable, bought CDs to replace the vinyl (for the ones I hadn't already bought). Driving a pair of AR3 speakers (re-coned about 15 years ago) with an ADCOM GFA-545 II power amp and an ADCOM GTP-450 preamp. About a lifetime ago, I had an AKAI reel-to-reel tape deck and a Kenwood integrated amp... then came cassettes, and then came CDs (rip 'em to MP3 and burn a couple discs for the truck when the truck had a disc player. Now, all the MP3 files are on a jump drive that plugs into the truck.

Do you have any idea how much music fits onto a 32 gig drive in MP3 format?

 

[frankenfab]

I wouldn't call myself an audiophile, but I do have a Denon receiver. Running 7.2 configuration, about to be 7.3, with all Klipsch speakers.

My brother got me a 15" Klipsch sub for my birthday. It's a game changer. I was running a 10" and a 12". Just running the 15" and 10" at the moment.

 

[ndcowboy]

Just bought two Electro-Voice ZLX-12BT speakers. They run about $450 each. I bought them for use in our newly started auction company, but the first thing I did was hook them up to music. I can shake the windows in my house. Unreal.

 

[Kevin]

Thanks you guys, man, I shouldn’t have asked! Now I get the urge to update some old equipment I’ve had forever.

I’ve got a pretty nice Yahama receiver, the problem is they simply will last forever. BUT, they don’t have the newer type connections. For Christmas I bought a sound bar for the tv. And it’s got a new ARC type connector. I’m not sure of the details, but they are supposed to be an improvement on HDMI, but just for sound, not video. I think.

Anyway, I’m looking at new receivers last night and the bigger models all have the ARC connector. But in the stereo world, bigger usually means more expensive.

Anyway, thanks again. It’s interesting to read the about different technology and what some of ya’ll have.

 

[Rick Courtright]

I get home and they are Pioneer CS-99 speakers from the 1970's. On E-bay they are being sold for around $1000 a pair. Apparently these are some long sought after speakers from back in the day. Made in Japan.

It's been well over 40 years since I was associated with such equipment. We sold a lot of Pioneer gear back then so a couple of pairs of those speakers probably went thru the door to good homes. I'd have never guessed back then how some components would become so valuable.

Rick C

 

[Acorn]

As a younger man I wanted to get decent audio gear but didn’t have the money. Now, I have more money but also developed tinnitus so I think quality is sort of pointless.
I am thinking about making a set of flat panel speakers for cheap money.
https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=flat+panel+speakers
They may be good enough for my tin ears.

 

[protoolman]

Definitely a good score on the Pioneers. I have in storage a set of later Pioneers that I love. Huge interest out there in the older stuff these days. Vinyl records are now the big thing again. You can set up a vintage stereo with some new Bluetooth devices that plug into the old input jacks and it will allow you to play songs off Spotify on your phone for instance too.
I'm sitting here listening to music on my refurbished Sony MDR V6 studio monitor headphones right now. Love all the vintage and some newer audio stuff!

 

[Biggfoot44]

My Dad was an audiophile since before there was stereo , and he designed and built a lot of his early equipment ( electronic engineer ) .

Way over my head , but I do have greater than average appreciation for good sound .

Alas , my tastes and reference points are frozen at the Golden Age of audio equipment , the late '70s to early '80s . Perfected Solid State Analog , before everything went digital .

I had a brief phase a couple of years ago to persue recording , mixing , DAW , etc , and took a cpl of classes . But eventually threw in the towel due to my computer illiteracy .

But among the splinters of knowledge that stuck , was how terrible the MP3 format , makes CD's seem advanced by comparison ( or my favorite blast from the past , CR 02 tape ) .

 

[Kevin]

Bigfoot44:
I hear ya on the solid state electronics. I do appreciate the older sounds as well. Older vinyl records etc.

As for the MP3’s, it the compression ya know. Lots of streaming services really compress their music. But a few stream at higher quality. One, and I forget the name will stream music at CD quality.

We use Amazon Unlimited. They have a high quality system that really is higher quality than other music. It costs a little bit more, but we’ll worth it. I can listen to a song on the radio, then immediately find the same song on Amazon, and the quality is so much better.

I’m going to hook up the Pioneer speakers this afternoon. I’ll report back how the quality is. I had to order one of those Bluetooth connectors for my receiver. I don’t have a CD player any longer.

 

[wwb]

Yeah, the MP3 compression makes some sacrifices, but in my truck, I defy you to tell the difference. Even with a half-decent system in the truck, the engine noise, the wind noise, and the road noise (big ugly B F Goodrich all-terrain T/A tires) pretty much take care of the finer points of the sound. CD vs. vinyl....CD sounds a bit harsh, but there's not that much difference, and with a 7-band equalizer it's all but gone. And the convenience of CDs.... don't need white gloves to handle them, don't need to run a dust bug on the turntable, don't need to clean the stylus......

 

[graygun]

Maybe on the low end....

My first rcvr was a Kenwood 5150 which I bought at the Long Binh PX in Jan of 71. I bought an AR turntable and AR 4X spkrs when I got home. I left this at my sister's home in MD and she sold that residence over 20 yrs ago.

I bought a Technics stereo rcvr in the 90s along with a cd deck and dual cassette of the same name. Bought two speakers by Ohm.

I now have two Yamaha 5.1 rcvrs : HTR-5250 and RX-V655,bought years apart. The 5250 is idle.

Spkrs: Ohm (front),JBL (rear),KLH center and a Velodyne sub woofer.

 

[Kevin]

I now have two Yamaha 5.1 rcvrs : HTR-5250 and RX-V655,bought years apart. The 5250 is idle.

Yamaha receivers are awesome and they do indeed last forever.

By the way, I hooked up the speakers over the weekend. The sound is very mellow with a lot of bass. They are perfect for jazz or other similar music. But I like them a lot.

The Bluetooth connector I bought to stream music from my phone to the older Yahama receiver works very nice, and set up was simple.

 

[JPGLSG1234]

Maybe one you gentlemen might be able to answer a question for me. I have a Yamaha RX-396 amp hard wired to ADVENT and BOSE speakers in each room throughout the house. I did this 23 years ago when having the house built. The first Sony, no baloney, flat screen had little round jacks in the back that hooked up just great, my world was complete I could access all kinds on music through the TV. The latest and greatest Sony TV has no such access. I later installed a high dollar sound bar via Bluetooth connected which it seems to un-connect on a regular basis, but that's another story. The folks at best buys told me I'd have to go with the new and improved wireless remote speakers if I wanted sound throughout. I could buy new guns for what they cost.

Anyway is there some sort of devise that I can plug the output/input for the audio portion of the amp into that will get me access through the new TV hard wire or not from the device to power up all these speakers.

 

[graygun]

Sounds like they were RCA stereo jacks...red and white. You may find some type of back-converting connector but IDK. Check online souces and forums or if there's a true audio equipment store near you.

RCA is too far back for new TVs to go.