A Friendly Helpful WARNING For 'Vintage' Stereo $hopper$... I notice a lot of 'old junk' is grabbing insanely high prices. This is unfortunate because people are WA$TING $ on stuff that SOUNDS MUCH WORSE than relatively cheap 'modern' items. I want to help people avoid the 'inefficiency' of all that financial 'misdirection'. I've been the audio business many years & have directly compared many things curious to see which sound like what & beat this or that. For example, Marantz 2230 receivers (pictured) are selling for over $500 on Fleabay & elsewhere & have a 'warm' sound & not much power.

 

 

For the 'Marantz $ound', you can emulate this 'dirty blanket over everything' vibe they have by running any typical 'piece of krap' modern receiver through lots of really thin speaker wire &/or a transformer &/or level pads (resistors) & stuff 2 get the damping factor really weak ~ kind of a 'tube' vibe, but not as pleasant when distorted because has more odd order harmonics & bla bla than tubes. Another way (if you have many speakers) is to run several of them in series = same effect. It's basically the sound of a lack of control over the drivers = 'loose'. I have fun emulating this sort of effect by running different stuff through a Niles 'SVL' series 'Autoformer' (transformer-based 'load box') volume control for 'tubification' of the sound (to make it sound similar to a 'tube'-based amplifier driving things) ~;-D

 

 

As another example, Kenwood KR9600 receivers are going for over $1,000, which is even more ridiculous because although they sound quite clean & solid & 'modern' ~ I would describe it as 'diamonds' type of sparkly sound ~ neither of these receivers sound nearly as good as a random 'PA' style 'Pro' amp like for example the much-mocked Behringer EP2500.

Here are a couple links to articles about the Marantz & Kenwood:
https://classicreceivers.com/marantz-2230

https://classicreceivers.com/kenwood-kr-9600

What a cool site! =:-o

 

 

Essentially the same amp (circuit layout & even shared components) also go by other names like:
Behringer EP4000 = so POWERfully 'Euro' (built by WHITE people who 'care' about quality... so goes the 'idea'), from deep in the heart of CHINA, kind of like 'Carlo Robelli' basses?  U know, all those 'Italian Artisans' there in KOREA LOL  Aaah 'Marketing' =/

 

Pyle PEA6000 = really a 450 watt per channel amp at 8 ohms,  like the rest of the 'clones' listed here.  NOTE: Unlike the Pyle Pro PEA6000, the 'PEA4000' model is NOT like the Behringer EP4000 (which is the same as the EP2500, just with a bigger 'number' claimed).  That's there to get 'name confusion' going on, which ($ometime$) gets more $ 4 less product.  No, the PEA4000 is basically like the Behringer EP1500 because of it's smaller transformer (which supplies the current).  The toroid in there even literally says 'EP1500' on it, along with other Behringer guts = hence the 'Cheeseball' factor of products like that = fancy numbers with much lower 'real world' power (but STILL WAY more than 'Old Junk' receivers! =)  Sifting through rampant FRAUD is nothing uncommon in 'ampland' LOL!!  It reminds me of all the meaningless confusing names they give to computer CPUs these days ~ come on.  The only way 2 find out what's what is 2 go 2 'passmark' & check the RESULTS LOL

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

6 kilowatts?! ... yea' tell me another 1 HAHAHA  Oh please =P  Reminds me of little PC speakers claiming '20-20Khz', but really it's more like '700-13Khz', & all over the map fake-sounding trash... but there is an ADVANTAGE 2 this nonsense = they go used DIRT CHEAP because people perceive it all as such an underhanded & pathetic joke!  Their 'embarrassment' is your bargain.  Just hide it away or maybe paint over the labeling to 'shield the shame' as U enjoy their CHEAP YET GLORIOUS SOUND QUALITY! ~;D  I'm just kidding... nobody but fat old gross 'hippy' type guys ever even care what your 'rack amp' brand is LOL  All the gals will still lurve U & flock 2 U non stop (OK maybe not)...

 

 

I think I get the joke though, like Micro$oft chanting "Window Sex Pee" all over the place (Windows XP = identical SOUND), smirking as they go... here it is a 'Big Pea' = like it's 6000 watts, but in 'Pea-Land'... where munchkins boogie down! =:-o  2 us humans it's actually 450 watts per channel HAHA  Or what's that the English say?  "Taking The Piss"? = Joking around.  "Hey man, the '6000 ~ we're just foolin' HAHA... just wait 4 our new '3,000 watt USB coffee cup speaker', with flat response from DC to light!" (right =))  As 4 'legit amps',  here's yet another 'QSC clone' with Behringer-style guts = the DAP PRO Mission '1500'

 

Or the  mighty mighty QSC RMX2450 ~ mamma of them all?  EYEDUNNO'

 

or old versions of the Tapco Juice J2500 (even BETTER sounding! =)

Of this list above, the QSC is slightly better than the Behringers (bit larger transformer for more current) & the Tapco 'no name' (a Mackie sub-brand) is the best, with bigger caps & transformer, but not by much. The newer Tapco ruined the sound by routing the audio nearer the transformer so avoid those. I uploaded some photo exmaples of the good ones...

With any of these 'modern pro' amps the sound is much more powerful & clear & realistic for a nice 'you-are-there' vibe to everything =) This is not a 'claim' or 'assertion', but an absolutely factual & verifiable result. For example, I have directly compared the Behringer EP2500 with the receivers pictured, back-and-fourth, A/B style for accurate comparison with the same speakers & other 'eliminated variables' ~ all 'scienfickey' ... that is not 2 imply the superiority of the Behringer's sound wasn't MASSIVELY OBVIOUS either way LOL

If U want 2 go fully 'next level' about it, most of the 'non-digital' amps from 'Crest' (a Peavey-acquired brand) sound better than any of them, inducing 'elite' pro brands like 'Crown' & most really expensive 'audiophile' home stuff. Peavey makes great tube preamps for guitar too, like the 'Rockmaster' rack mount = a topic 4 another day =) As with Behringer it's not ALL of their products that amaze, just SOME of them. Digital amps can be a lot lighter & more efficient but they do not sound as clear & the bass is not as rigidly thunderous & 'sledgehammer-like'. Generally speaking physically heavier amps sound better because bigger inductors & caps to store the current & voltage for transient peaks =)

The Crest 10001 for instance have over 1,000 watts per channel (8 ohm stereo), weigh 136 pounds & can be bought for under $2,000. Or you could get a couple used Pyle PEA6000 amps at $80 (eighty dollars) each, spending $160 for essentially the same thing (900 watts per channel at 8 ohms, & even clearer sound with their more modern hi-fi guts). BTW: Bridging the Crests gives even more power (15,000 at 2 ohms) = but sounds less clear, but hey 30 kilowatts stereo for $4,000 is a 'bargain' really. You're not '$pending' $$$. You're '$aving' it HAHA All U need is a fancier power feed 2 your house LOL

 

Seriously though, just get 1 'Crest Boat Anchor', or really... 450 per channel via the 'Pyle Garbage' is plenty 4 most things. Beats the hell out of spending over $1,000 on a Kenwood KR9600 with only 160 watts per channel & the Pyle PEA6000 (same amp as Behringer EP2500 / EP4000) sound even more clear at the same volume levels. So I just saved U $920 while simultaneously improving your sound = YAAAY! =D

Now of course '$nobs' will mock U 4 owning N E thing 'Pyle' so maybe keep it a $ecret & get a fake fancy looking empty metal box & say the sound is coming from that & make up a silly name like 'Audio Maximus Centaur Mark III' or something HAHA = "Woo 'Audio Maximus'... Tell me all about it!" =)) HEY it's just an empty box with no inputs or outputs, so NO DISTORTION! ~;)

Also note that 'Modern Garbage' is often WAAAY less expensive than 'Old Garbage', like 1/5 or 1/10 the price in many cases. There is a bit of fan noise with 'PA' amps but you don't hear it when stuff is playing & there are ways to eliminate it by adding 'slow down' circuits or just replacing the fans with quieter.  U can of course also place the amps farther away from the listening area or behind other objects to quiet them. There are no 'bragging rights' with this 'ugly cut rate rack stuff' so U may as well hide them right? LOL!!

The same goes for speakers. I design and sell fancy SOUNDING speakers, but they don't look as cool as the expensive stuff. It's a matter of taste. You can spend the price of a car & get some Sonus Faber towers or whatever that sound excellent and look like fashion artwork, but still don't surpass what I do that only costs me $300 to build. Mine use big cardboard concrete form tubes so can't flex, so the result is less cabinet coloration than even the most thick fancy heavy expensive 'box' desingns, & the 'tweaks' go on from there.  With a Pyle 'Cheesemaster' rack amp or even 'mass-fi' dregs they sound really AWESOME!  Hell U can even run them off little amps from tiny PC speakers & they go surprisingly loud & lively (contrary 2 what seems 'intuitive', the larger a speaker is, typically the LESS power it requires to reach the same volume level as a smaller one, PLUS bigger speakers can play much cleaner & louder when desired.  =8^)

 

 

If you are curious about this or any other 'Audio Advisor' type stuff or know somebody who is, maybe get in touch with me for more ideas =)  My E-Mail is 'balkanguy at live dot com'.

 

 

I think if U R after something pretty 2 C, instead of getting overpriced 'retro' stereo gear or something, get the best value for SOUND QUALITY & 4 visual fun have a look at some pretty gal or artwork yes? I uploaded some examples =8^D The chick even sings 2... tho' I don't speak Turkish (Umut Akyurek). Google 'Akyurek Soylemem' if curious.