2 Channel Home Audio Systems - Vintage or Otherwise

Damn... memory lane. I used to have the MX-1000 and also an MX-800u. Miss them both. And you're right about the "lower volumes" comment. It's one of the main reasons why I prefer separate amplification. It isn't always about blasting things to ear-bleed levels. I'm pretty sure I had that same CD player, too. I used to live near Yamaha in Anaheim, CA, and me and my buddy would go their annually for their open box/b-stock sales. Got a lot of great gear there at some crazy discounts!

Love the custom fit with the new cabinet as well. The gear looks great in there, and visually appealing to complement the sound of vinyl!

Speaking of Vinyl, I finally sent my Christmas list to the fam last night. It was like 98% LPs lol.

 

When I was young and single and stationed in Korea, I bought a Yamaha C-80, pair of M-80s and used these to drive four JBL-100 studio monitors. Later in life, wife was no longer impressed with volume of our living room occupied by stereo equipment. Went through several iterations of ever smaller speakers and now I have Sonos in family room and and Alexa in the other rooms and only stream. My old ears have a bit of presbycusis and tinnitus so I’m not sure I could hear the difference if I still had audiophile worthy equipment. Memories…

 

Crazy!
AZBoatHauler sent me on a quest to read the thread about your C-Dory (I'm a Pacific City OR Doryman - 1974 Harvey Dory 20', aka: Frayed Knot).

Still haven't got there because I saw your Kappa 7 midrange pic and am easily distracted by all things 'audiophile.' The good ol' equipment is mostly tucked away in nooks 'round my place... and it ain't right!

I know Infinity when I see it... Have them in several of my vehicles, though my Tundra has yet to experience the pleasure. What I've always loved about any Infinity is the crystal clean and crisp highs. You hear sounds that are not present with other speakers. It's been a while since I just sat and listened for the sheer pleasure of it. Should do that again soon.

Anyway, my Infinity story includes a rare find on Craigslist about 6 or 7 years ago (perhaps a little more). I was lazily browsing current availability of Carvers when I found these:
Infinity Crescendo CS3008 towers with Emit-R ribbon tweeters (in the original cardboard boxes). I dickered a bit but he knew I'd leave with them.
They were local, within 10 miles of me and had been in storage for several years. He said his dad was a public speaker and bought them new (surely at Circuit City) in about 1989 - about the same time as you got your Kappa 7's. When I got them home, thorough analysis revealed they needed new foam surrounds (perhaps too long in the attic) and one of the Emit-R tweeters had collected some iron filings which shorted the ribbon driver. I like tinkering with stuff and when all was fixed to my satisfaction -- found a pair of tweeters for $150 on ebay and the foam repair kit was about $100 -- I was about $600 deep.
All considered, that's a bargain - about half of one speaker new.

I plugged them into the Pioneer VSX-9700S I bought new in about 1989 also, and found a spot near center stage. Could use some more power as you've noted, to tighten up the bass. But, they are exemplary!

My turntable is junk comparatively, although I inherited a bunch of 80's LP's and 45's when a neighbor I hardly knew passed suddenly and his mother's estate sale didn't off 'em. I'll never forget this neighbor I didn't really know, because David's collection is expansive, including: Cars, Kool & the Gang, Earl Scruggs, Doobie Brothers (they're in the nude when you flip open the cover), Poco, Billy Joel, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Allman Brothers, etc. I also keep my eye out for choice vinyl at Goodwill, flea markets, etc.

There's not a single song on my phone, although I have taken to copying and converting many of my CD's to MP3-Pro files, which I will sometimes listen to in the Tundra for convenience and - at this point - to avoid scratching my original CD's. Funny how even these are now considered nostalgic by many. I see the disbelief when I tell folk you really can hear the difference if you take the time to listen with a discerning ear.

All this reminds me, I need to find replacement mid-range cones for my Advent Maestro speakers tucked in a dark corner of the back closet with a matching pair of Advent bookshelf speakers - I just noted they also need new foam surrounds. I'm torn between the good old RCA amps with Dolby Pro-Logic and the convenience of recent HDMI / digital plug n' play technology. Recently realized there are converters available.

Enough of this... I'm gon'na go read a Dory Thread!

 

Hey Taco, I had that same Yamaha receiver. I bought it around 2000. It is a great receiver for the price and you got it at a great price. I just replaced it in December. I got a Yamaha RX-V6A. I upgraded all my sound with a new TV and new speakers (Klipsch RP-6000 F), Klipsch Center Speaker (RP-450C) and Klipsch R-41SA Reference Series Dolby Atmos. I love the Klipsch sound. Some people do and some people don't. LOL. Now I have to get one of my turntables working. I have not played my records in years. That is sad. When I hooked up my new gear in December, I connected my old Sony cassette player. I used to record my records to cassette so I could play them in my truck (the old days.) I was surprised how good those old cassettes sounded. I wonder how my old 8 tracks sound. I still have some. LOL.

 

Damn, the ol VSX-9700S! That was my first AVR and foray into home theater late 80s. Lots of memories with that model!

Yeah I miss Dolby Pro-Logic. While I listen to mostly 2-channel music (mostly vinyl and FLAC rips for anything I don't have to have on vinyl), there were times with my prior AVRs/processors when I would engage Pro-Logic with music (particularly classical and jazz/big band) as it tended to balance out the sound without sounding too much like a DSP effect. I upgraded to Yamaha's last preamp/processor a few years ago (CX-A5200), and for as much as that thing can do, they dropped Pro-Logic entirely in favor of the latest Dolby Surround decoding. Great for movies, but not the same with music. It still has multi-channel analog inputs at least (which looks like has also now been dropped with the current Aventage line), but it's rare that I even pop on an SACD anymore as I've pretty much gone back to strictly 2-channel after Pro-Logic was dropped.

 

A little late here but, I hope you got all the LP's you were looking to get. I'd say 99% of what I listen to is vinyl. I added a WIIM Pro streamer to my system awhile ago and I rarely use the thing. While it does actually sound pretty good I find myself skipping thru songs a lot vs an album, where I'll listen to the entire side.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the MX-1000 CX-1000 combo, especially the MX.

Man, I love those Kappa's. I'm sure there's something WAY better out there but I have no idea what I would ever replace them with. Definitely keepers.

YES! Get that turntable working and start spinning those old LP's! I just find the whole process of playing LP's very relaxing.

The Yamaha RX-V receiver is works pretty good for what we use it for but if I find a cheap Yamaha A-Sx01 integrated amp that RX-V will be outta here with a quickness. Hate all the features I don't use, trying to get to settings that I might occasionally use, having to navigate menu's to change something that should be simple, the tiny text that I can't see from my recliner, etc, etc..... I just need something simple.

I do use the Pro-Logic on the RX-V to get the simulated center channel when watching TV/Movies and it actually works pretty good. Although, we actually watch very little TV/Movies so, straight 2 channel would be just fine. I do stream Spotify thru the Roku quite a bit and use just the "stereo" mode on the RX-V when doing that.