Designing a home stereo system - 1960s style.

[NutmegCT]

If you happen to win the lottery, and have unlimited funds ... what equipment (manufacturer/model) would you put together for a top of the line (1960s) component home stereo system?

Speaker system
Turntable
Amp and pre-amp
Receiver/Tuner
Tape deck
etc.

Not a commercial wood cabinet pre-assembled console - a home-made component system.

Let the debates begin!
Tom M.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Hooboi! Don't remember any model numbers, but as for brands:

Speaker system - Klipsch
Turntable - Thorens
Amp/Receiver/Tuner - Roberts or McIntosh
Reel to reel - Roberts/Akai

 

[waltesefalcon]

Very similar to what I already have. McIntosh MAC 1700 reciever (I know I'd be better off with separate components but this is so much easier) this would be powering a pair of Acoustic Research AR-3s, my turntable would be a Thorens TD124 with a BTD 12 tonearm turntable, and lastly I'd run a Telefunken reel to reel, though I'm not sure which model.

 

[JPSmit]

No idea but,....................yeah baby!

 

[DrEntropy]

My ears have turned to tin (along with some other parts turning into less desirable matter... ). I miss the Roberts four-track reel-to-reel, the Altec-Lansing "Voice of the Theater" speakers, Telefunken & Garrard turntables and the 500W amps and preamps my dad made from scratch. Now settled for Sony stuff; a turntable a pal rescued from a dumpster a couple decades ago (just needed new belts!), a set of their "shelf" speakers, a STR-D917 "multimedia" amp from a yard sale... That one lost a channel a few years ago so I got another of the same from Ebay, cheap.

My "money no object" efforts would go toward my very own LBC specialty shop!

 

[YakkoWarner]

I don't know a lot of the exact model numbers, but I think I'd have to be at least partially trusting of what my grandfather had in that time period because he was one of those people who would research heavily and then buy the best because he only intended to buy it once. The fact that he was also a professional musician helps too.

Amps: Definately go with McIntosh tube monoblocks - I know they made 30 watt units but I am pretty sure they did 60 watt units as well. If $$ is no object than get the 60's and have a factory McIntosh service center to go over them with a fine tooth comb.

Preamp: I'd go with either a Pilot or Fisher preamp. If $$ was really no object get all the caps and resistors renewed, especially in the phono stages since that is always the hardest thing to get really clean.

Tape Deck: I'd go with Ampex like what the broadcast stations use. Built like a Sherman tank.

Turntable: I'd get a fully rebuilt and cleaned up Rek-O-Cut (which is what my grandfather had, its also what a lot of broadcasters used when they had D.J.s who played actual records). Not sure which cartridge I'd load it with, it would depend on matching with the preamp.

Speakers: My grandfather had some custom built-in AR units, but I'm a sucker for the already mentioned Voice Of the Theatre stacks from Altec. Efficient and designed to put big sound into a theatre with tube amps (my favorite vintage move theatre in Virginia had them and 30-40 watts would fill that 1500 seater), I can't see how you'd go wrong (other than the size of them).

Tuner/receiver: Toss up - Fisher made some nice ones, but I'd also be intrigued by a Grundig. I recall my grandfather having some sort of external multiplex decoder because he bought the tuner prior to FM stereo broadcast being standardized, do not recall the manufacturer of that.

And the most important component - a properly sized and configured listening room, with appropriate electrical power. The best gear in the world isn't going to help if you're trying to use a broom closet as a listening space.

 

[NutmegCT]

" ... a properly sized and configured listening room, with appropriate electrical power. The best gear in the world isn't going to help if you're trying to use a broom closet as a listening space."

My LR is 20 ft x 30 ft. Wood floor and ceiling, plaster walls, two 3x5 windows. First (ground) floor; basement below, second floor above. What would you recommend for configuration?

 

[John Turney]

I used to have the Altec-Lansing speakers. Great sound. I had a Teac reel-to-reel too. I don't remember the rest of the equipment, had to give them up.

 

[YakkoWarner]

" ... a properly sized and configured listening room, with appropriate electrical power. The best gear in the world isn't going to help if you're trying to use a broom closet as a listening space."

My LR is 20 ft x 30 ft. Wood floor and ceiling, plaster walls, two 3x5 windows. First (ground) floor; basement below, second floor above. What would you recommend for configuration?

Hmm...tough question without knowing what you have in the way of furnishing and such. I'm not an accoustical engineer or consultant by any means so anyone with real credentials will probably find fault with my answers, but here goes. I'd put the speakers on one of the shorter walls but not all the way to the corners and not tight against the wall (you get some interesting bass effects from corner loading). Hardwood floors and plaster walls/ceilings is a lot of hard surface, you want something to reduce echo. Heavy curtains or decorative wall hangings can go a long way toward breaking up the reflections, on both the side walls and the back wall as well. Cloth covered chairs and sofas can also be useful for reducing echo and breaking up standing waves that cause dead spots or overly live spots. I've used sound absorption material behind speakers to minimize the reflection off the back wall, but some speaker designs actually work better without that depending on how they are ported and such. The flat ceiling is a challenge because most houses don't have enough height to put any kind of panels or shapes up there to break up reflections.

Its also a compromise between what might sound better vs. what might be more aesthetical appealing for your home. I'm sure you use your living room for more than just listening to music/watching movies. Thats why I said if cost was no object I'd wants a dedicated listening room that didn't need to be used for anything else.

The wall and ceiling treatments in a movie theatre are a pretty good example (albeit on a larger scale) of an effective room configuration. Recording studios and performance halls want specific echo and reflection patterns because that is part of what creates the ambient sound on a recording, but that ambience is captured in the recording. The playback space should be fairly "dead" so you hear only what is reproduced on the recording.

 

[NutmegCT]

Yakko - great ideas. Thanks!

Here are two views of the LR, from diagonally opposite corners.

Yep - not exactly Danish Modern! More like Early 19th Century.

 

[YakkoWarner]

Yakko - great ideas. Thanks!

Here are two views of the LR, from diagonally opposite corners.

Thats a really nice room! And a cool vintage console radio on that one wall. Those beams in the ceiling are great feature - they break up what would otherwise be a huge reflective surface. And your back wall has that passthru into what looks like another room above the sofa - that plus the sofa itself are good features to keep from getting a solid echo off the wall. If it were me I'd put the speakers on the wall where the vintage radio is (just move it a little closer to the center and put speakers on either side), and some heavy cloth curtains over the windows on rods so they could be pulled open when not needed. You already have nice area rugs on the floor so thats pretty well taken care of. A heavy tapestry-type wall hanging on that wall where the columns are would probably be helpful too. That brick fireplace is awesome - it will cause some echo but because of its orientation and being toward the back it will mostly reflect into that back wall (hence having a heavy curtain over that window).

What you'd put on the wall behind where the speakers would go (if anything at all) would depend on exact type and placement of the speakers themselves, how tall they are, on floor or on stands, etc...thats a heckuva lot nicer room than mine - I only have 12x16 to work with and it really is just too small for the low frequencies.

 

[NutmegCT]

Yakko - that's good to know about the reflecting vs absorbing qualities. I'd never thought of that until now. And the benefit of the ceiling rafters/joists, again, a surprise to me. Those are the original floor joists of the second floor of the house, which was built around 1730.

That antique radio is a 1930 Atwater-Kent Model 70. Still plays well, altho' being out here in the sticks, the AM signals aren't strong. On top of the radio is my 1929 Western television mechanical system - a Nipkow disk using a 45 hole spinning disk and (originally) a neon bulb and a viewing lens. Picture looks something like:

Back then, a "high resolution" picture had at least 60 holes in the disk. Now that was state of the art!
Thanks.
Tom M.