Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners My Quest continues. . .

I want to talk about something coming from an old fogey's perspective. Years ago I had a 40 watt/channel Technics stereo receiver which I really liked. I think I've been looking for its equal in an AVR ever since. Well, I've had a Pioneer, Yamaha, and a Denon. I believe all three of them have their own limitations. I know most of you are probably sick and tired of me saying this, but I preferred the 2 channel performance of the Yamaha over the other 2, but none of them has reached the lofty heights I have been searching for all these years. I'm afraid I will never find this beast, because it doesn't exist. I know I should stop my search, but the urge I have is to press on until I find the grail or die trying.

Yamaha was recomended to me, when I first started to look for a avr......it's controls are very similar to the old stereo receivers. I am glad I got the Yamaha, I have really enjoyed all that good, clean power.

One thing I noticed right away, when I was "researching" avr's prior to my buying........was the thd factor. For some reason, the "new" amps were pushing nearly, 1% thd. (in many cases).
I ended up spending more than I was going to originally, to get the 0.02 thd the Yamaha avr I have, has.

The truly scarry thing....especially for those of us slowly(or NOT so slowly)packing on the years, is the understood loss of hearing which may make the grail unobtainable.....(insert uncontrollable sobbing "here")

The other problem may be in the memory of the sound from an older set of speakers which may have "colored" your memory.(I have exactly that with a number of Chet Atkins CDs that I purchassed reciently to replace some favorite vinyl lost due to flooding. The CDs don't sound right thru my main system, but sound good on my Brand "X" speakers in the diningroom. The reason seems to be that I was used to the sound of the old albums thru a rather inexpensive record player with speaker ears that didn't, I'm sure, reproduce an accurate sound, but one which I became very "used to" over the years that I listened to it as a kid. Seems to be a strong Memory of what's "Right")

So from one old fogey to another, we may be just SOL

Bummer.
Rich.





...one thing is sure....until science perfects cloning and accurate brain recording and data transfer...we WILL die trying

How about a nice, vintage stereo integrated amp from Ebay?

If it's the sound you are looking for maybe you need to try Harman Kardon.

Sounds like you need to try one of these from Outlaw, designed for old fogies who like 2 channel.

In reply to:

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The reason seems to be that I was used to the sound of the old albums thru a rather inexpensive record player with speaker ears that didn't, I'm sure, reproduce an accurate sound, but one which I became very "used to" over the years that I listened to it as a kid.

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I wonder if that old record player you used to listen to had a tube amp in it. Quite some time ago, I remember getting some old record players from my school. I cannabailzed them for the amp sections (all tube) to make a really ugly but very nice sounding integrated stereo amp. The record player speakers were very poor but once hooked up to some half-decent speakers, the amps really sounded great (aside from the crackly potentiometers).

There are not too many semi-conductor type amps that I like. One of the early Adcoms (GFA-535II) had a sound that was close to "tube-like". I did not like their large amps as much, however.

Rich,

You could be right about everything. It could simply be my faded memory playing tricks on me, it could have been the old inefficient speakers, etc, etc. But, what I miss most of all are the needles. And the lights. There ought to be needles and lights. When the black faced monsters first appeared, I remember thinking to myself, WHAT THE??? is this. No lights, no needles.

I have a 30 year old Fisher receiver if you're interested. Plenty of needles and lights, they all work too

I had a cheapo Fisher back in the '80s, it was one of the early black monsters. blah.