One of my other hobbies

[Sean Regan]

I've bought another vintage tuner/amp.

It's the same model as the one I bought before the last one. I was a bit disappointed with that, although I did get a 50% refund from the seller on eBay. The stereo light wouldn't come on with the radio and the balance control wasn't working. It just spun, the previous owner must have accidentally stripped the threads.
But apart from that, after I'd cleaned all the sockets it worked well. But I like things to be "right."

This one is working as it should. The stereo light is lit, as it's on an FM station and both meters are working (tuning gang centred and signal strength indicated, although we get crap reception in the Manchester area with an indoor aerial).

I've now five vintage tuner/amps. But can only accommodate two working, as I've at the moment only two sets of speakers, for this and this NAD 2020 in my "office" upstairs.

The other Leak 3400, I'm going to keep as a spare. (I've already got one "spare," this Rotel RX152).

The one I've had for over 15 years, this Leak 2000, I'm going to put on eBay. But not just yet, as there's a few on at the moment, as it's a popular model, they usually sell well. I expect to get back half what I paid for the latest one, not that it's important.

I may put the Rotel, down in the tea-house, but I'll need to get a pair of speakers, they're cheap enough on eBay.


I've just given my two jukebox wall boxes a service. Just a drop of oil in the right places and I gave the selector buttons a spray of switch cleaner.
The coin mechanism detects and rejects the "wrong" coins, so that needs some occasional lubrication.

I've not used it for a while, but one of my iPod Nano's that stores the selections for the three title card magazines I have, has packed up. They are about 20 years old.
So I had to programme a spare one last night. It's a right pain, as you have to create an iTunes playlist of 160 selections and you have to get them in the right order, or you'll get a wrong track when you make a choice.
I do keep the playlists on file, but iTunes can't always find some tracks when you're syncing the iPod, so you have to go looking for them.

I've just bought another spare iPod on eBay. They are a lot more expensive now than they were a few years ago. But there you go.

 

[Ruderunner]

While I'm not much of an audiophile, I also have some vintage equipment. A Dual turntable and Marantz amp from the early 70s. Both still functioning though not currently hooked up. I had to disassembled for awhile when my son had to move back home.

Now that he's hot his own place again I might rectify the situation.

 

[Sean Regan]

I've been sorting out my audio stuff.

I needed to put a "key" on the inside of the cupboard door, to remind me what's what.

A lot of vintage and modern tuner amps, which aren't cheap, don't have as many inputs as does this one. The iPod I've ordered I'll load with the 3000 odd mp3s I have on my laptop, so I can occasionally play any of these through the Leak, rather than "my favourites" in the wall boxes.

You know that draw you've got with all those surplus adapters and leads you've got that you haven't thrown away?
Well, I found a necessary DIN to mini jack plug lead in mine!

At one time I could channel the sound from my TV, the Virgin tuner, the two Humax tuner/recorders, (they will only record Freeview channels. I use them to save favourite films, documentaries and concerts) and the DVD/CD player though which ever tuner/amp I was using, as I had a multi-channel selector box. But since I bought a good soundbar three years ago, (five speakers), it was no longer necessary.

The TV had feet which were too far apart for the little table, so I had to buy a stand for it and some brackets to hold the soundba,r which still needed a bit of "fettling," to mount it under the TV, so it hardly notices.

I did have a VHS player under there too. But I hardly used it. At one time I had a lot of film noir on VHS, but over time, these films have been shown on Freeview, though some still haven't. But a similar size TV in our lounge with another Virgin tuner, has a DVD/CD/ VHS player under it. So I could watch a rare one on that TV, but the quality of the picture on VHS, compared with what we can watch now, is rubbish.

 

[Mike313]

I have nothing to contribute to this thread, I'm afraid, but it reminds me of a pet project I have in my mind.
Like the OP and others, I have some 'separates'. These consist of a tuner/amp, a CD player, a tape deck and a turntable and they are stored away in boxes. What I would like to do is to build a mid-century-modern style stereogram (well, that's what we used to call it). I'd like to build the 'box' myself out of some nicely-grained wood. See the picture for a typical stereogram, I like the look of this one but mine might end up being quite different so as to give access to the various components.

I'd like it to be quite plain, but I would have separate speakers, also self-built in matching wood.
I sometimes look on Youtube to see if someone has done something similar, to get some inspiration

 

[Sean Regan]

There were a lot of these radiograms in the mid-sixties. I think G-plan furniture influenced the designs.

What I would have liked, was a sixties, Magnavox Astro-sonic phonograph (radiogram).
A lot of these, loved and well cared for, by people of my age, end up "free at the kerb" in the USA, as grandchildren who inherit them, don't want them.

 

[Ruderunner]

I did something like that with my components. We had a nice cabinet from a broken projector TV. I gutted it then built shelves to hold the tuner, amp and turntable on one side and then another shelf to hold my record collection.

My woodworking skills are nicely hidden when the cabinet is closed.

 

[tyronee]

Sounds like you're really into the vintage audio scene—I am too! There’s just something special about bringing old gear back to life. I’ve had similar experiences where a unit wasn’t quite right—dodgy stereo lights, wobbly knobs, or signal issues—but with a bit of cleaning and patience, they start performing beautifully. Totally agree, though—when you find one that works as it should straight away, it's a great feeling. That stereo light coming on is always a little victory. By the way, if you're ever taking a break and want something quick to watch, reelshort has some entertaining short stories. You can contact them by reelshort phone number if you need any support.