Copper
Audio anthropology
World Music
Written by Frank Doris From the Museum of the Hard to Believe: a 1970s ADC Accutrac 4000, featuring computerized playback of any track, even in random order! The 4000 had...
Blue In Green
A Sansui 2000x receiver, made from around 1971 to 1975. Delivering 30 watts per channel, these older receivers used to be looked down upon by high-enders, but have gained cachet...
Listening With Dog's Ears
Written by Frank Doris They don’t make ’em like this anymore: an early Garrard AT6 turntable (thanks Ken Kessler for identifying this model). Another view of the AT6. Photos...
Eico Eico
An Eico HF-81 integrated amplifier. With restoration, this unassuming circa 1960s component can sound excellent. Eico HF-81 rear view showing its EL84 output tubes, generating a mighty 14 watts...
Plug and Play
Written by Frank Doris Revox PR 99 Mk II reel-to-reel deck, introduced in 1980. Talk about functional elegance! Revox made it easy to adjust the left and right channel...
She Had a Hat
Written by Frank Doris Classic elegance: a circa 1960s KLH Model 24 loudspeaker, from The Audio Classics Collection. The KLH Model 24 with the grille off. Why bother making...
Nothing Short of a Miracle
Written by Frank Doris Burmester Model 001 CD player. As a component that’s almost 20 years old, we’ll call it vintage now. It was a landmark upon its release, with...
Ambient Music
The Luxman L3 integrated amplifier, sporting one of the coolest logos of all time. Howard Kneller paid $395 for it at New York’s Harvey Electronics in the 1970s, quite a...
Crowning Achievements
A Fisher 440-T receiver circa 1964. By this time, transistors were starting to supersede tubes, and this 40 watt-per-channel model is the first Fisher transistor receiver. It’s known for having...
Take Me to the Pilot
Look at this beauty! Toshiba AM radio, 1955. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Masaki Ikeda (talk). A late 1950s or early 1960s Pilot Radio Corp. SA-232 stereo amplifier. These were high-quality amps...
Trust the Experts
“The sound that inspired a generation”: an original pair of McIntosh tube 350-watt monoblock amplifiers, circa 1968 – 1971. This amp was famously used at the 1969 Woodstock festival. ...
X Marks the Sweet Spot
Elegant simplicity: the legendary Fi X amplifier, designed by the late Don Garber. It delivers three watts per channel via a pair of 2A3 tubes. This is one of Garber’s...
Something for Everyone
Make that more than 100 years. 1975 ad for the imaginatively-named Garrard Zero Tracking Error Tonearm. When it comes to vinyl playback, everyone’s got an angle. Ken Kessler: in...
Spring Is in the Airwaves
A pair of ultra-rare circa 1970s KA/Kustom Acoustics loudspeakers, model number unknown, spotted at Angry Mom Records in Ithaca, NY. KA was based in Chicago and is not to be...
Timeless Elegance
A stunning Philips GA 312 turntable, circa late 1970s. People were wowed by its touch-sensitive illuminated controls. Close up of the GA 312. The light-up controls are the three buttons...
45 Degrees of Separation
A rare pair of Sequerra Model TI MK. II ribbon tweeters, circa 1980s? Designed and made by Dick Sequerra, they connect to a system's main loudspeakers to provide extended high-frequency...
On Our Radar
Quad ESL-57 electrostatic loudspeaker. it's missing its stands, but otherwise intact. One of the all-time greatest loudspeakers ever created; some would say, the greatest. ESL-57, rear view. From The Audio...
Reeling 'Em In
Simple design, good sound: A Dynaco Mark III mono power amplifier, in Dynakit kit version. Introduced in 1957, Dynaco was known to some as the "poor man's Mcintosh." Rear and...
Adventureland
No needles to change, and glorious new purity of tone…how did they do it? Philco ad, 1940s. This system was purchased by reader Keith Wooten new in 1977 at...
Our Heads Are Spinning
Fit for a King (Marilyn King of the King Sisters, that is): the Roberts 990 stereo tape recorder. Courtesy of the Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording. Recording engineer and TEC...
Rotating Staar
In keeping with our Issue 150 theme, the mighty Audio Research D-150 stereo power amplifier. It's one of the all-time classics of tube amplifier design. introduced in 1975, it delivers...
Portable Audio, 1960s-Style
A classic AR-XA turntable, circa 1960s. As Ivan Berger noted in his article in Issue 105, hundreds of thousands were sold. Photo by Howard Kneller, from The Audio Classics Collection....
On the Case
We couldn’t find any information on this Telefunken Musikkoffer (music case) ad (from the 1950s or 1960s?), but it was too cool to pass up. And it sounds even better...
One Speed Is All You Need
Detail of the front panel of a 1970s MAC-1900 receiver, made by McIntosh. Who needs surround sound when you've got switching options like these? MAC-1900, rear view. For a look...
Praiseworthy Achievement
A stunning Harman Kardon Citation II B power amplifier. Designed by Stu Hageman and introduced in 1959, it’s considered by many to be one of the greatest Golden Age amplifiers....
Raw Power
1977 Klipsch Decorator loudspeaker, companion to the one featured in Issue 140. It was a less-expensive version of a finished model. The speakers feature a Richard Modaferri-modified Infinite Slope Crossover. The backs...
Diamonds and Rust
Point taken: yes, you could get a Grado XTE+1 cartridge for $19.95 in the 1970s ("the free nickel bag of high-end audio," as my late friend Bob Reina called it),...
Big Macs
More rarities from The Audio Classics Collection: a pair and a spare of McIntosh MC 3500 hybrid mono power amps, atop a pair of McIntosh ML4C loudspeakers. Not only were...
Amped Up
Art Dudley's personal, well-worn copy of The Tube Amp Book, Volume 3 by Aspen Pittman, 1991. The page with the schematic for the Fender Bassman Model 5F6-A (introduced in 1958...
Swept Away
The Klipschorn Decorator Birch was a less-expensive unfinished version of the loudspeaker. They could be veneered or painted. This one has a Richard Modafferi-modified crossover and it’s next to some...
Big Mac
A MAC Audio Company MAC-1900 receiver. Made by McIntosh in the 1970s at a time when Frank McIntosh would not put his name on a receiver. Photo courtesy of Howard...
Phone-ing It In
And he continues to animate the party…the Continental 401 tape recorder, that is! 1960s Philips ad. Harman Kardon Citation II B stereo power amplifier, circa 1960s. Photo courtesy of...
Vertical Integration
Courtesy of Paul's Posts reader Joseph Pickel: “My grandmother worked for Victor Talking Machines in Camden, New Jersey. Throughout the years, she had saved a few ads and I thought...
The Nice Price
The McIntosh CR 4 Satellite System Control. Per Steve Rowell of Audio Classics: no fumbling for the volume buttons; just feel for the knob and turn it! No lost remotes;...
The 8-Track Mind
A shrine to 8-track tape! Taken at The Telegraph record store, New London, Connecticut. Photo by Ray Chelstowski. We can't think of a better Mother's Day gift. Philips ad, 1950s?...
Beam Me Up, Scotty
The chic way to rock out! Circa 1960s ad for the French Teppaz Oscar portable record player. We guess he knew how to turn it on. AKAI ad, 1970s. You...
Lend Me Your Ears
A circa late 19th or early 20th century proto-jukebox. Listeners paid a nickel to hear music through ear tubes. From Sound and Hearing, Life Science Library, 1965. An Audio Classics...
Tale of the Tape
John Seetoo saw this TEAC 4300 tape deck on a Brooklyn street corner, with a note that says, "COVID-19-free – needs a tune up." One person's trash is indeed another...
Speaker Misplacement
In its day the Teac A-3340S was the machine for musicians recording at home or making demos. We hope the photo shoot didn't take too long...that thing is heavy! From...
Pushbutton Paradise
Hi-Fi tone for $99.95, complete with colored vinyl! That’s about $970 in today’s dollars. Motorola ad, 1953. An insanely rare Quarter Horse amplifier. Built from kit plans originally published...
Half-Price Hi-Fi
Half-price high fidelity! No tools required! OK, a few. 1957 ad Courtesy of Ray Chelstowski. With a rig like this, we'd never leave the house. 1948 Admiral ad. Crank it...
We Are the NuTones
And you thought they only made intercoms! 1966 NuTone ad. My parents bought me an RCA Victor Model 1-EMP-2E phonograph when I was a kid. I was able to find...
The Lathe of Heaven
Now that's how to cut a record! Audio Engineering, February 1950. It wasn't a monster hit back in 1964, though Glen Campbell and Leon Russell played on it! Courtesy of...
Changers in the Night
Now that’s what we call holiday gift-giving! Circa 1960s. Does it come with snake oil spindle lubricant? Circa 1950s. We’ll take this over the The Yule Log. And in vintage 1959...
All Kitted Out
Something for everyone for the holidays from Audio Fidelity. From Audio, December 1958. A circa 1964 Harman Kardon FA30XK receiver kit in astounding condition. Courtesy of the Audio Classics collection....
Art Goes on Record
Reel dancing! Mercury “Living Presence” stereo tape, catalog number MDS5-4. Not an easy one to find; this one’s from my collection. Variable-speed cutting: Marie Hippolyte Rose making a record...
Twice the Fun
Twice as much fun as a mono dance party! Stereo Dance Party by Ralph Marterie and His Orchestra, original Mercury reel-to-reel tape, catalog number MS2-13. This book made a lasting impression...
Tube Tester
I’m afraid to even turn this thing on. Jennings Model J-1005 high voltage voltmeter. A true classic and recommended reading for anyone into vacuum tubes. A classic of...
Hittin' the Note
One of the most iconic taglines in advertising history, 1974. We'd bet you guys and gals could tell the difference though! Music makers: vintage strings and picks going back decades....
In My Room
I wish my audio system could do this! From Electronics Made Easy, 1956. I want this. That is all. From Audio, June 1953. Guess he's not getting the gig. From...