SHOUTOUT AT THE KLIPSCH CORRAL

[thebes]

It was coming on High Noon on a late summer day. The green growth of spring had long since given way to high summer and the foliage was brown, shriveled by the light from a blood red Sun.

I was making my morning rounds and had stopped to chat for a moment with Miss Amy. I had been sweet on Miss Amy back when we both were young, but had lost out to a fellow by the first name of Paul who ran a ranch just outside of town. Still liked to talk to her, though, and spend a moment with the warmth of her easy smile and look into her aggie eyes.

Our visit was cut short, however, by the sudden appearance of the town drunk, man by the name of Henry Watkins. Short feller carrying a limp from a Minnie Ball hed taken back in the 60s. They say hed seen too much during that late unpleasantness and had taken to drink to dull the sadness.

Sheriff, he said, youd a better come quick because the Receiver Gang just rode into town and theyve got a couple of boys from the Amplifier Gang with them. Theyre at the Klipsch Corral and got trouble written all over them.

Oh Sheriff, whatever will you do! exclaimed Miss Amy with just the beginning tremor of fear in her voice. Should I run over to the jail and fetch your deputies?

Wouldnt be no point to it Mam, I replied, both of em arent in town today. Deputy Garys over in the next county taking delivery on a fancy new player piano he bought for his Missus. Also, you may recall that this is the time of the year Deputy Larry heads back east to listen to some of that fancy pants orchestral music.

I guess Ill just have to mosey on over there and send them boys on their way.

Ill tell you honestly folks my heart skipped a beat when Miss Amy looked me directly in the eyes and said in a soft low voice, I now its your job Thebes, but you be sure to come back to us, because I for one, would miss you dearly.

Well I headed on over to the Corral, whistling a tune from a couple of strummers from down Mexico way by the name of Willie and Lobo.

There they were, standing and lounging around the Corral in seeming indifference to my presence. Gotten to know them well since coming to this place and a nastier bunch of desperadoes youd ever seen. Theyd earned their spurs in the 70s and 80s and were one tough bunch of hombres.

There was Pioneer Pete, a muscular fella, a stubby character by the name of Marantz, a French dandy who called himself Setton, a youngster called NEC, a Chinaman known as Sansui and an interesting looking character I had never seen before.

Except for Sansui, who was decked out in basic black, they all wore shiny spurs and silver buttons on their clothes. Guess they thought sun reflecting off the metal would blind an opponent, but it was High Noon and they had no advantage there. They were in the pay of the Solid State Ranch, owned by a raspy, grating voiced fellow by the name of Parrot whod been muscling in on, and running off the tube ranchers that had settled these parts.

Pioneer Pete was the leader and made the first move. We stood there blazing away at each other until my guns ran dry. As the smoke cleared away and I went to reload I noticed only one was left standing. It was the stranger.

I said to him, I dont know who you are fella, but are you sure that this is your fight.

My names Panny Sonic he said, and I think youre right. Rode with these fellers cause I needed the money, but I kinda like the tube ranchers here abouts and if ya arnt a mindin I think Id a like to stay awile.

You strike me as an honest man, I replied, so lets head on over to the Khorn Saloon for a little red eye

Well, we left that blood soaked Coral and on the way to the Saloon we stopped by to see the towns undertaker, Neo. To order up some pine boxes and send a few more desperate souls to a lonely grave up on Heresy Hill. As we left Neos I turned to Panny and said yur in for a rare treat, Lillie Von Stoups singing tonight and I hear shes going to play Im Tired, its a great song.

______________________

Ok here are the details. These are all 1970s and 1980s Stereo War era SS receivers and /or amps tested with KG 3.5s and 5.2s over a period of several weeks using a variety of musical styles. Im going to rate them in reference to my Denon 2802, a recent production model considered to be mid-fi. I did not reference to tubes because ones being rebuilt by Craig and the other also needs some work

Panasonic SA-5500. Receiver. Circa 1970s? Wattage: unknown would guess about 30. The winner by a mile. Very warm, detailed and wonderful to listen too. More like a tube amp than SS and cost me only about $12. A real surprise to me and my favorite amongst these fellows. Like it better than my Denon.

Marantz 2015 Receiver. This is a baby Marantz, the smallest of the 2000 series 20 or 30 watts but still puts out a strong sound with excellent details, imaging a surprisingly good soundstage. Very warm, my second choice amongst this group.

Pioneer SX 750 Receiver. 50watts/channel. Built 1977-79 Powerful clean sound with a nice soundstage and imaging. Would rate it even with or slightly better than the Denon

Setton RS220 Receiver. I think 80 watts; Very nice, effortless power, detail and staging. Near or at the Denon

Sansui 5000 Receiver. 80 watts; Effortless power, good soundstage and imaging but harsh with Klipsch. Not a good matchup but probably would be very good with other speakers.

NEC A420E Integrated Amplifier. Its a lightweight toy. All the sound is mostly in front without much depth, but crisp, clear sound.

[Thoriated_Tiger]

You... bas-tahd!

You, dear sir, owe me for one coke-soaked monitor.

I have a Pio 650 and a 780, both are 30wpc. I found 'em a little underwhelming in comparo with my tube rig. Not offensive or bad-sounding, mind you.. just a little.. I dunno. Like taking a fresh razor and dulling it a bit -- it's 99.9% there, but that .1% is missed badly.

They're both gainfully employed, the 780 in my office driving a pair of infinity RS1000 (teeny tiny li'l things from the late 80's), the 650 is in the server room driving a pair of big ole Sansuis with blown tweets (gulp)

Still, thse old Pios flatten any 'modern' mass-market receiver I've had in the last 10 years!

[Soundthought]

Wow.....

huh.

Wow.

How cool.

Very creative, my friend.

I have most of the silver faced gear that came out between 68' thru 80' and I have to admit....it all sounds pretty darn good.----to a certain degree.

Granted, there are definately some lemons out there.

No doubt.

Buyer beware....

It isn't like that old gear is bad, mind you.

It really comes down to the respective tolerance of the internal components of the gear in question.

It is an undeniable fact that most ceramic disk capacitors dry up and eventually fail over time.

Some faster than others.

Though, the big issue really becomes a matter of whether or not the specified gear is operating within spec or not.

Unless your savvy to the internal architecture of the gear your sampling, you'll never really know for sure if it's relaying info within the given specs on which it was created.

Distortion can be hard to spot if you haven't heard the specific piece in question while it's operating within it's proposed specs.

Many differing topologies can distort in various ways.

Not all are bad......

Though...most aren't good. FWIW

Anyway....Great story.

Enjoy your vintage gear.

I sure as heck do.

Regards,

John.

[scriven]

Great story Sheriff!

(Nice review too!)

[Audio Flynn]

very fun review

I have never heard an old Panasonic.

I like allot of their products.

[garymd]

Similiar to how I feel about the tenant who rented my family room for 25 years. His name was Ken Wood. Ken was kicked out in favor of the new tenant, Scott. I allow Ken to live in a large box in my basement because he paid rent on time with nice crisp bills for those 25 years and I'm also a bit nostalgic. I actually miss him every once in a while. Scott is a bit more detail oriented however. Keeps the place a bit cleaner and is comfortable with the decor. I believe he will stick around for quite some time.

[Schurkey]

I have a soft spot in my head for the late '70's JVC JR-S series. I bought a JR-S501 in '79, and picked up a '201 off of eBay about a year ago. Good bass, reasonable (but not Aragon-like) current delivery. "Sounds" good to me. The 501 is retired, at least until I find someone who can attend to it's needs. The '201 is the Tunemaster for the garage. Nothing like an engine overhaul with decent music to set the pace.

Danged fine recievers, even if my '501 has been spastic for a few years. I'd pay real money to have it fixed, but the local repair shop has had it twice ($100 each time) and can't find the problem.

Anyone else have one of these old gems??

[Zeke_in_KC]

Just a personal note on the Sansui in the test. I use a G9000DB (160W +160W) with Cornwalls remaining fully aware that it is overkill. I have heard tales -- completely believable from equitable sources -- of harshness at certain frequencies using similar combinations. My receiver was recently re-capped along with having the DC-offset (a prime indicator of distortion and harshness) evaluated and squared away: I have perceived no harshness. With similar service, it is possible the noticable harshness in the tested Sansui unit could be reduced or eradicated.

This is not to be a Sansui apologist but, rather, to indicate that ANY vintage solid state amplifier is likely to be improved with requisite modern day care. At this point, a 1985 receiver model is nearly twenty years old!

Thanks,

[kenratboy]

Is that a Fisher on the bottom right side? Looks like the one my dad has. It is labeled at 300 WPC peak (they are not kidding ), and it seems really nice. I can get the model number off it.

[thebes]

Thanks guys. It's funny but I never realized SS amps needed the type of going over routinely associated with tubes. Oh boy, there goes some more money!

Shoud have put this in earlier but the picture is as follow, from top left to bottom: Mr. Panny Sonic, the Chinaman Sansui, the Frog, Msr. Setton

From right top to bottom: Marantz, NEC and Pioneer Pete.

I have a low end Technics that I actually bought hoping to pull some parts for the Panny but they aren't comptabile. (Technics is a Panasonic brand) Unfortunately the Technics weighs about a pound and gives you about as much power.

[artto]