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Best vintage Sound Design or Emerson with Klipsch?


Klipschguy

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34 minutes ago, Klipschguy said:

What is the best/recommended  vintage Sound Design or Emerson gear to use with the big Klipsch Heritage?

Think you could put both of those both one over the other on a low level of the Totem pole...

Unless there is a particular product related to audio in mind.

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1 hour ago, Klipschguy said:

What is the best/recommended  vintage Sound Design or Emerson gear to use with the big Klipsch Heritage?

If you have one they would be with a try. Many people use vintage receivers, and they do well. Just not a lot of talk of those two brands on here.

You have a 20 year anniversary on here in less than 2 weeks.

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I am joking, of course (no offense to these "economy brands" intended - they had their price point and market).  I just remember this stuff from the 70s and 80s in discount stores.  The components had many knobs and buttons, but weighed almost nothing.  No exaggeration, a 3' tower speaker would tip the scales at 10 or 15 pounds.  I thought about these economy brands being treated as "high end audiophile gear" today and it for some reason it just tickled my funny bone.  Life needs a little humor sometimes.

 

PS: I particularly like some of the vintage Japanese receivers from the 70s & 80s from companies like Pioneer, Yamaha, NAD, Harmon Kardon, etc. 

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41 minutes ago, Ceptorman said:

If you have one they would be with a try. Many people use vintage receivers, and they do well. Just not a lot of talk of those two brands on here.

You have a 20 year anniversary on here in less than 2 weeks.

Yes, I have helped and been helped by some very knowledgeable people on this forum for many years.  Truly, the broad based expertise on this forum is not only inspiring but a testament to Klipsch speakers and the people they attract to their enduring, quality products.  I heard my first Klipsch/McIntosh combination about 40 years ago; although young, I was not  only indelibly impressed, but hooked.  Thank you to Klipsch, & the forum members.

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Just now, billybob said:

And no major disrespect as the 2 brands mentioned have had their place.

Emerson for instance made televisions rather well at a highly competitive price.

Agree; the TV VCR stuff wasn't bad, the audio components though...not too great.   I remember when Emerson bought out Fisher audio, Fisher was never the same. 

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45 minutes ago, garyrc said:

My parents had an Emerson console radio, c. 1937, that looked a little like this.

 

image.jpeg.b574f553c60c9a893792f0af1dec9d65.jpeg

 

I think it would look good perched on top of a Klipschorn.

I have a 1939 Philco console I restored that does not look too dissimilar - it performs very well. Interestingly, the old Philco says “Melissa, Christmas 1938” written in pencil on the vacuum tube ID tag inside. I’m sure they listened to WWII broadcasts during the war. 
 

Emerson consoles were not considered top of the line in the day, but were good units. Emerson has a rich, American history dating back to the 1920s, but sometime in the early 1970s they began importing CHEAP radios, stereos, etc eventually  becoming the Emerson Radio Corporation, which was a mere shadow of their former self.
 

My original reference was to the cheap stuff from the 70s and 80s; it was ubiquitous in discount stores (even drug stores) at the time. 

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1 hour ago, Klipschguy said:

I’m sure they listened to WWII broadcasts during the war. 

 

As a child, I remember hearing Korean war broadcasts over our Emerson.  I was especially interested in the cannon [artillery] fire.  Kids had plastic Bazookas that fired ping pong balls. 

The Emerson was open backed.  When the HiFi craze started in about 1952 or so* I got my parent's permission to use the Emerson's  (12"??) speaker and cabinet as the speaker as my fledgling HiFi speaker (I didn't have the real thing yet, which a few years later was a JBL D130).  I moved that Emerson all around the living room.  Can you guess where it sounded best?  The corner. 

 

*pre-Stereo, solidly mono, except reel to reel tape, a crazy Cook double cartridge record playing system and certain movies in CinemaScope, 70mm Todd-AO, etc.

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7 hours ago, Klipschguy said:

What is the best/recommended  vintage Sound Design or Emerson gear to use with the big Klipsch Heritage?

Oh no, the best would have to be a Lloyds receiver with integrated 8-track and turntable, my very first stereo, Christmas 1970.  If I still had it, I would definitely use it to power my K-horns.

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Funny story about Emerson.

Did not have much as a kid but my Parents surprised me one Christmas with an Emerson all in one stereo from Ames department store which included an Am Fm tuner an 8-track player and a record player with two speakers. I was happy beyond belief. One of my fondest memories.

As crazy as it sounds, it was my gateway into this life long love of music and all things audio.

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2 hours ago, SonicSeeker said:

Looked like this.

 

That's just about like my old Lloyds.  Of course I was just kidding about using something like that on K-horns, but I did hook it up once to a pair of Cerwin Vega speakers and it cranked them pretty good.

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7 hours ago, SonicSeeker said:

Funny story about Emerson.

Did not have much as a kid but my Parents surprised me one Christmas with an Emerson all in one stereo from Ames department store which included an Am Fm tuner an 8-track player and a record player with two speakers. I was happy beyond belief. One of my fondest memories.

As crazy as it sounds, it was my gateway into this life long love of music and all things audio.

I started out in audio with an all-in-one turntable am/fm Panasonic receiver with chrome slide controls (I sit here and smile just thinking about it). It also had a pair of 2 way sealed speakers with 6” woofers that came as part of the package; it actually sounded pretty good (except for the transistor hiss at volume during quiet passages). 

 

I remember when my Dad lost a channel in his Heathkit AR-15 receiver he built. He asked to borrow my Panasonic unit to drive his Bozak 302s until he had time to fix it; I was pleased and honored with his decision, although I was without my tunes for a couple of weeks. 
 

Well, on reflection, I guess any unit (cheap or expensive) that captures our hearts giving us a lifetime of love and appreciation for music is worthy of respect. I start this day with a smile and new found wisdom. Cheers!

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