Lord of the Systems. The one true stereo system to rule all stereo systems. This guy is the anthesis of the obsolete concept of a true sound that all system designers and hifi enthusiast forever chase. And good for him!
Thorens had its own arm, the TP14 which was the most common. The SME 3009 were very common upgrades (especially when people wanted to run V15 carts). Very traditional folks love to mount Ortofon SPUs on the machine - I have one of these as well. There is a thriving aftermarket for parts - idler wheels, springs, bushings, motor controllers, etc. It's a great retro turntable with awesome drive.
I found the SME 3009 tonearm, which had the, or one of the lowest effective masses of all tonearms in its day (a mere 5.5 gramms of effective tonearm mass) & very hard to interface a M.C. cartridge onto, except M.C.s of the highest compliance rating. The older split-weight version of the SME 3009, as seen on this guy's Thorens had an extra 1 or 2 gramms of effective mass & was slightly easier to find the highest compliance, or most springiest cantilever M.C. cart' to match. I only found the Denon 301 M.C. to suit it best without that "fuff fuff fuff" constant added sound typical of tonearm / cart' compliance mismatches. The Denon 103 was the opposite of the 301 as it had a high compliance cantilever that would never suit the low mass of the SME 3001 tonearm that was made in the day when the lowest possible effective mass of tonearms was seen as the route to audio nirvana, trouble was, it was a belief that only suited high compliance M.M. cartridges. There must have been other M.C.s to suit the 3009 but I only found 1 & personally knew of no other M.C. cartridge that suited the SME 3009 'improved' or 3009 "split-weight" tonearm, other than that (springy' enough) high compliance Denon 301 M.C. cart' (not the fairly low compliance Denon 103 M.C. ..it was like those 2 Denon M.C. model numbers showed their opposite compliance factors. High compliance is not typical of M.C. cart' design but Denon did make that one which floored all M.M. carts I used or tried on the 3009 series, tho it came out many years after the 2 SME 3009 variations.
One of your best episodes, Steve. Jack, who’s amazingly humble and self-effacing, sorta represents everything that’s good about being an audio enthusiast.
Awesome interview and a great variety of interesting vintage gear. I love that young people like Jack and Devon Turnbull are running with the high fidelity torch!
Absolutely love what he's done. If I was his friend his wife would hate me cause I would be bringing records by to listen to all the time. Where can I get one of those t shirts
Very nice setup. Love the Thorens and those 4722 Altec xformers. Jack is also a tube lover and I can very much understand that. A great way to go with MC carts. I just really love the sound of transformers and standard tube phono stage vs. higher gain phono stages with op-amps or JFETs doing the heavy lifting. Jack has some interesting tastes and I can relate to more of what he said than most. There are so many different "genres" of sound that come from a time or a method of amplification, or a specific piece of nostalgic gear. These are the things that I find the most captivating in the hobby and tend to hang on to. Great videos, Steve! I really enjoyed them.
Thanks for the videos. Very cool guy and setup. Love that he connected with his Dad and then kept it going. Great to hear that his wife gets it too and is supportive. Hope they keep it going!
I use the beef stew analogy. There are a lot of good beef stew, most cultures have their version of it, and they're all good, all different and all enjoyable in their own way. Just like our systems. :)
Good ideas on the Altec upgrades.. Crowe on the ported bassbin design, and Turnbull for the multicell repro horns.. Get some design consultation on the crossover from Crowe while you are at it..
The D.I.Y. audio tinkering tribe is more likeable than the critical criticker measurement tribes of high fidelity. At the core we are tool builders who want to be hands on involved in our passion. I think some hifi camps are more content with the experience than other tribes. One of the things I like about vintage authentic period correct audio reproduction is the distance effect, often times I do want to be engulfed by audio, if that makes sense
Curious about the speakers are they time aligned? I get the impression they aren't though they must be adjusted in some fashion. I'd suggest if he hadn't considered it to line his new cabinet with No Rez...
Love the color-coded crossover wires through the port. LOL. Whatever works. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder always. Does he know if Altec used poly or electrolytic capacitors in their crossovers? Would they need replacement over time? Hate that he can't get the output tubes he likes for a decent price. Ugh. Maybe later.
When Canada's Wonderland (amusement park) upgraded their P.A. system they had over 100 Altec 604's for sale $100. each! I didn't buy any of them... stupid me.
Altec grey, not Devon grey. Nice gear. IMO the Altec19 is one of the finest turnkey speakers ever made. I've been using Altec since the 1970s--A7s, A7-500s, A5s, 9844s, Model 19s, 605s and many DIY combos with Altec, JBL, EV, McCauley, Radian and Edgar gear. I now use 604Es.
Wow, that's one humongously complex question. I've no idea how Steve would answer it, I'm sure it wouldn't be a quick yes or no, far from it, I bet. Until I noticed he had, in fact answered it.
Some, (far from all) stereo systems, i.m.o. let you judge a man's character to some degree but far more than a quick chat or a guess. This guy, I like him, I think it's 70/30% on, thst I'd get on with him very well
it´s really nice but i´m sick of tube amplifiers today i only use integrated ones who are already very good sounding but still have my grandfathers system in mono with two speakers that create a effect, that seems the sound is coming from everywhere but the two closets(speakers)and having a big colection of reels and records in mono,i think abbey road was the first album in strereo not that wasn´t available at the time but it seems they didn´t like the stereo 4 tracks image so only the last as the red and blue compilation that i have are already converted to stereo 4-track recording, kind of funny stereo, at home i had already a 4 and later a 6 track recording system having a older studer and a later another studer with 24 or might be a studer but modern one , from 77 . Speakers were altec lansing then JBL and yamaha for monitorizing the table ,i have two are from ampex and tascam mixing tables but later in 87 i tried a DAT recorder and impressed by it but using it as analog not a 70´s digital table but analogue and the 1000 from nakamichi was the cassette recorder allthough people used to listen 8-track cartridges that i had a pioneer cartridge deck and cassettes only started to appear in general in late 70´s i myself had a cassette deck because my 74 car(datsun GT) came with a cassette player to whom i recorded sony and basf cassettes, the microphones are incredible good because either than being fixed they are the same as in 1972, and reproduce a perfect sound ,shure but not sure, if kids weren´t happy with the recordings they would have stoped anoying me but happy to know kids from my grandgrandsons generation and they are really interested they talk for hours with me
@@mazdef2001 Model 19 is a really boring, pedestrian speaker, its very "old guy audio forum" and has one of the worst horns Altec made. Also the tweeter he added is not "klipsch"
i think what kind of music the person is listening to should be mentioned. if people like classical their approach to audio equipment is different than most, etc , etc
in reality perfection is seeked but somehow you always find a diferent type of sound in other equipments and not that expensive but this mostly in the 70´s, after was easy to find a better equipment but always a brand with alternative functions that are also very good as the speakers one can have 5 pairs of speakers and find other five that makes your system sounds not better but diferent somehow,one of the brands that surprised me the most was philips in the 70´s it´s sound is so clear that one as to have it already having a very expensive and close to perfection sound ,this not only my opinion ,since a young teenager friends and school colegues and later working buddies would go to my house and say ,when i have the money please tell me what to buy so i can have a good sound as you have in your home, so i guess not only me but since i received friends or others in my house they would be amazed by the sound of my system ,and my father bought the best available since i know myself and today i have several systems displayed in my home and also part of the garage where i have my cheaper system but enough to make my still alive friends to be surprised ,as i worked and created the first FM station in my region which is the biggest in my country, Portugal and for 35 years also worked as a dj and still today i record demos for kids that have bands with interesting sound ,makes me work and know people in their late teen years or early 20´s till late 80´s(age refered)this because my father built at home in 1970 a recording studio that was been improved through the years, today i have more than i need a huge colection of hi-fi devices since late 50´s till today being the older ones from my grandfather and grandmother from my mother side and they sound amazing ,the tube amplifiers i have also some huge speakers that look more like furniture with almost 2 meters high all in worked wood with the grills made of very nice wood and cloth behind only having in my older system in mono 70 watts at 8 ohms or a bit more at 4 ohms r.m.s.,this is also a very nice and interesting system. I don´t call myself an audiophile because makes me remenber rich kids who had the best expensive systems but in reality was rare to conect them while i since i remenber listened to music everyday of my life so i´m a hi-fi enthusiast and have seen your videos because you´re a truthfull person not just like others who say they have a lot of knowledge but in reality their turntables are very bad and they seem to not understand what they are talking about, but promoting their sponsers devices
Lord of the Systems. The one true stereo system to rule all stereo systems. This guy is the anthesis of the obsolete concept of a true sound that all system designers and hifi enthusiast forever chase. And good for him!
Wow ... engulfed by the swamp that is Vintage Audio! Fascination with the 1960s Audio scene before it became a universally popular pursuit.
It’s all about the hunt that budget permits.
I love the set up/presentation of his gear and books!
Love the Reddy Killowatt t shirt!!! That was the mascot of Interstate Power Company in Dubuque, Iowa when I was a lad.
Great interview Steve.
Whoa! You got Jack Black on the show! Awesome!
Love the TD124. Uber Vintage classic. Nice plinth.
This is one of the best interviews I've seen here. Nice job, everyone.
Thorens had its own arm, the TP14 which was the most common. The SME 3009 were very common upgrades (especially when people wanted to run V15 carts). Very traditional folks love to mount Ortofon SPUs on the machine - I have one of these as well. There is a thriving aftermarket for parts - idler wheels, springs, bushings, motor controllers, etc. It's a great retro turntable with awesome drive.
I found the SME 3009 tonearm, which had the, or one of the lowest effective masses of all tonearms in its day (a mere 5.5 gramms of effective tonearm mass) & very hard to interface a M.C. cartridge onto, except M.C.s of the highest compliance rating. The older split-weight version of the SME 3009, as seen on this guy's Thorens had an extra 1 or 2 gramms of effective mass & was slightly easier to find the highest compliance, or most springiest cantilever M.C. cart' to match. I only found the Denon 301 M.C. to suit it best without that "fuff fuff fuff" constant added sound typical of tonearm / cart' compliance mismatches. The Denon 103 was the opposite of the 301 as it had a high compliance cantilever that would never suit the low mass of the SME 3001 tonearm that was made in the day when the lowest possible effective mass of tonearms was seen as the route to audio nirvana, trouble was, it was a belief that only suited high compliance M.M. cartridges. There must have been other M.C.s to suit the 3009 but I only found 1 & personally knew of no other M.C. cartridge that suited the SME 3009 'improved' or 3009 "split-weight" tonearm, other than that (springy' enough) high compliance Denon 301 M.C. cart' (not the fairly low compliance Denon 103 M.C. ..it was like those 2 Denon M.C. model numbers showed their opposite compliance factors. High compliance is not typical of M.C. cart' design but Denon did make that one which floored all M.M. carts I used or tried on the 3009 series, tho it came out many years after the 2 SME 3009 variations.
Totally agree with him. I’m a proud audiophile too. Nothing wrong with admitting it
Joseph Crowe is really making a name for himself.
Wow, what a wonderful setup
Fantastic episode and great inspiration in the DIY category. He is love for it is well-researched and genuine.
One of your best episodes, Steve. Jack, who’s amazingly humble and self-effacing, sorta represents everything that’s good about being an audio enthusiast.
Awesome interview and a great variety of interesting vintage gear. I love that young people like Jack and Devon Turnbull are running with the high fidelity torch!
Absolutely love what he's done. If I was his friend his wife would hate me cause I would be bringing records by to listen to all the time. Where can I get one of those t shirts
Love the interview! Jack seems like a cool dude. I love the mix of old and new and just having fun with electronics and sound.
i loved this video!!! jack cracks some good jokes and has a great setup. awesome and thanks both for sharing
Wow, wonderful to see such a great ambassador for youthful expression, great show Steve. Thanks so much.
What fun watching this episode! Thank you!
Awesome. Put a smile on my face.
This was a great 2-part series Steve! Keep the content coming!
What a treat, thanks for sharing
Very nice setup. Love the Thorens and those 4722 Altec xformers. Jack is also a tube lover and I can very much understand that. A great way to go with MC carts. I just really love the sound of transformers and standard tube phono stage vs. higher gain phono stages with op-amps or JFETs doing the heavy lifting. Jack has some interesting tastes and I can relate to more of what he said than most. There are so many different "genres" of sound that come from a time or a method of amplification, or a specific piece of nostalgic gear. These are the things that I find the most captivating in the hobby and tend to hang on to. Great videos, Steve! I really enjoyed them.
Great video. Love the turntable!
Warm / dialed in source components > passive pre > simple mid-powered amplification > high efficiency speakers. Great, great setup.
Thanks for the videos. Very cool guy and setup. Love that he connected with his Dad and then kept it going. Great to hear that his wife gets it too and is supportive. Hope they keep it going!
I would have liked to have seen more of Jack’s lovely fireplace.
I use the beef stew analogy. There are a lot of good beef stew, most cultures have their version of it, and they're all good, all different and all enjoyable in their own way. Just like our systems. :)
Thank you Steve for providing this interesting huhh, ohh, huahh sound response track.
This guy's great!
LOVE the shirt
Cool gear.....nice, personable guy. 👍👍🍺🍺
I agree. Everyone’s ear is different. One must go for the sound that speaks to them.
Great interview
Good ideas on the Altec upgrades.. Crowe on the ported bassbin design, and Turnbull for the multicell repro horns.. Get some design consultation on the crossover from Crowe while you are at it..
Yes! DIY forever - great stories and great systems... get more bang
for your audiophile buck! (and better sound) : )
Super interesting. Thanks Jack and Steve! BTW I can't be the only one who's interested in the bookshelf/record shelf. Is that also DIY?
i am glad he did tip the hat a little to Klipsch
Wonderful. 😊
I had a pair of 601s. The tweeters are so delicate. Are yours still working?
Awesome collection and a beautiful home.
The D.I.Y. audio tinkering tribe is more likeable than the critical criticker measurement tribes of high fidelity. At the core we are tool builders who want to be hands on involved in our passion. I think some hifi camps are more content with the experience than other tribes. One of the things I like about vintage authentic period correct audio reproduction is the distance effect, often times I do want to be engulfed by audio, if that makes sense
The speaker rebuild sounds like a replacement of just about everything. Seems like the only the crossover wasn't mentioned.
Awesome video. Nice equipment...and shelves too! What shelving system is that?
I am an unserious audiophile. Got lucky. Came across Fisher Stereo 500 (1959). AND pair of mint Empire Speakers...nobody I know has better sound.
Curious about the speakers are they time aligned? I get the impression they aren't though they must be adjusted in some fashion. I'd suggest if he hadn't considered it to line his new cabinet with No Rez...
I love the book shelving system in the background, what is it?
I own some Altec A7's. Most consumers do not understand or have not experienced a true high efficiency speaker.
Love the color-coded crossover wires through the port. LOL. Whatever works. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder always. Does he know if Altec used poly or electrolytic capacitors in their crossovers? Would they need replacement over time? Hate that he can't get the output tubes he likes for a decent price. Ugh. Maybe later.
I bet Herb would enjoy educating this young man on some western electric and altec history! Nice job, Steve!
Jack mentioned that Devon was working on a new/revision Ed Altec horn named 529a, so are they a take on the famous Altec 329a?
Would have liked to see all the drivers voicecoils time-aligned
Super nice guy, great system, fine looking house!
i like the ready kilowatt shirt where did he get it?
It was driving me crazy. What actor does he look like?! Bingo! Philip Seymour Hoffman!
That Actor TOTALLY sceeved me out. Completely creepy. I couldn't stand seeing him without getting the he-be-ge-bees. icky. spit. yuck.
When Canada's Wonderland (amusement park) upgraded their P.A. system they had over 100 Altec 604's for sale $100. each! I didn't buy any of them... stupid me.
Altec grey, not Devon grey. Nice gear. IMO the Altec19 is one of the finest turnkey speakers ever made. I've been using Altec since the 1970s--A7s, A7-500s, A5s, 9844s, Model 19s, 605s and many DIY combos with Altec, JBL, EV, McCauley, Radian and Edgar gear. I now use 604Es.
Model 18 even better than Model 19! Doesn’t go as low but much better imaging.
Wow.
is great transient responsewhat makes speakers sound good ?
Yes, among other things! It's all very subjective.
Wow, that's one humongously complex question. I've no idea how Steve would answer it, I'm sure it wouldn't be a quick yes or no, far from it, I bet. Until I noticed he had, in fact answered it.
AMR used Russian tubes for the clock in DP777 years ago.
Some, (far from all) stereo systems, i.m.o. let you judge a man's character to some degree but far more than a quick chat or a guess. This guy, I like him, I think it's 70/30% on, thst I'd get on with him very well
But no viewer system of the week at the end? 🙂
it´s really nice but i´m sick of tube amplifiers today i only use integrated ones who are already very good sounding but still have my grandfathers system in mono with two speakers that create a effect, that seems the sound is coming from everywhere but the two closets(speakers)and having a big colection of reels and records in mono,i think abbey road was the first album in strereo not that wasn´t available at the time but it seems they didn´t like the stereo 4 tracks image so only the last as the red and blue compilation that i have are already converted to stereo 4-track recording, kind of funny stereo, at home i had already a 4 and later a 6 track recording system having a older studer and a later another studer with 24 or might be a studer but modern one , from 77 . Speakers were altec lansing then JBL and yamaha for monitorizing the table ,i have two are from ampex and tascam mixing tables but later in 87 i tried a DAT recorder and impressed by it but using it as analog not a 70´s digital table but analogue and the 1000 from nakamichi was the cassette recorder allthough people used to listen 8-track cartridges that i had a pioneer cartridge deck and cassettes only started to appear in general in late 70´s i myself had a cassette deck because my 74 car(datsun GT) came with a cassette player to whom i recorded sony and basf cassettes, the microphones are incredible good because either than being fixed they are the same as in 1972, and reproduce a perfect sound ,shure but not sure, if kids weren´t happy with the recordings they would have stoped anoying me but happy to know kids from my grandgrandsons generation and they are really interested they talk for hours with me
Trust fund baby?
Not only does those horns look like an ambulance siren, but the room, that room looks no good to have this equipment in.
Nice gear, terrible room acoustic.
This guy has bad taste
keen to hear how yours differs
@@mazdef2001 Model 19 is a really boring, pedestrian speaker, its very "old guy audio forum" and has one of the worst horns Altec made. Also the tweeter he added is not "klipsch"
Not even interesting.
really keen to hear your take on what is?
i think what kind of music the person is listening to should be mentioned. if people like classical their approach to audio equipment is different than most, etc , etc
in reality perfection is seeked but somehow you always find a diferent type of sound in other equipments and not that expensive but this mostly in the 70´s, after was easy to find a better equipment but always a brand with alternative functions that are also very good as the speakers one can have 5 pairs of speakers and find other five that makes your system sounds not better but diferent somehow,one of the brands that surprised me the most was philips in the 70´s it´s sound is so clear that one as to have it already having a very expensive and close to perfection sound ,this not only my opinion ,since a young teenager friends and school colegues and later working buddies would go to my house and say ,when i have the money please tell me what to buy so i can have a good sound as you have in your home, so i guess not only me but since i received friends or others in my house they would be amazed by the sound of my system ,and my father bought the best available since i know myself and today i have several systems displayed in my home and also part of the garage where i have my cheaper system but enough to make my still alive friends to be surprised ,as i worked and created the first FM station in my region which is the biggest in my country, Portugal and for 35 years also worked as a dj and still today i record demos for kids that have bands with interesting sound ,makes me work and know people in their late teen years or early 20´s till late 80´s(age refered)this because my father built at home in 1970 a recording studio that was been improved through the years, today i have more than i need a huge colection of hi-fi devices since late 50´s till today being the older ones from my grandfather and grandmother from my mother side and they sound amazing ,the tube amplifiers i have also some huge speakers that look more like furniture with almost 2 meters high all in worked wood with the grills made of very nice wood and cloth behind only having in my older system in mono 70 watts at 8 ohms or a bit more at 4 ohms r.m.s.,this is also a very nice and interesting system. I don´t call myself an audiophile because makes me remenber rich kids who had the best expensive systems but in reality was rare to conect them while i since i remenber listened to music everyday of my life so i´m a hi-fi enthusiast and have seen your videos because you´re a truthfull person not just like others who say they have a lot of knowledge but in reality their turntables are very bad and they seem to not understand what they are talking about, but promoting their sponsers devices
That's not a rebuild, it's a replace. So far, everything but the woofer will be new.