The Best & Rarest of all Stereo Gear
Yes, I think I remember that Rappaport preamp from an old TAS magazine. Years ago, I picked up a rare Pilot mono receiver at a yard sale for $35 that must have been a foot tall in a beautiful wood cabinet w/Genelec KT-66's. Sold it untested a few weeks later for like $675. I know the vintage stuff is going for huge dollars these days. Hope you find what you are looking for :) |
HADs: 1. rare early Jeff Korneff 6BQ5 SE int amp - beautiful sounding - owned it for 5+ years 2. one off custom Conn PP6BG6 triode amp - amazing sounding 8 wpc - owned it for 5+ years 3. Custom 6T9 SE int amp - one off beautifully built & looking; resembled Don Garber's Fi amps (please forgive me, I'm so sorry I kicked you to the curb after only a few months, you deserved much better than that) 4. Tannoy D50(635) dual concentric floor standing speakers (traded the PP6BG6 amp for these beauties and later traded these Tannoys for a rare pair of wide baffle Omega Grande 8's) 5. Chateau Reference 1.5's - resembled Wilson Watts using the same drivers as well 6. Proceed PCD-2 - maybe not all that rare, but extremely enjoyable cd player WANTs: RAUNA Tyr 2 in mint condition |
Those were the speakers I heard the first time stepping into a really high end audio store and I'll never forget how great they sounded. You know, when your jaw drops to the ground in amazement. Same thing happened the first time I heard SET amps. So, are you saying the Tyr 2's aren't as great as I remember them to be? That they are flawed and fatiguing because the woofer and tweeter don't integrate that well??? What else did you have in your system at the time? Might it have been other things in your system at the time? I guess I was younger and impressionable too. I remember and still have a glowing review of them partnered with a pair of Berning EA230 amps. |
Anyone remember the Hegeman Hapi 2 preamp? That was one cool little preamp. With the birth of my daughter 21 years ago, I got out of audio for a while and a couple of years later picked up a used Creek 5050 integrated amp. Not too long after, I then went to a used audio show and traded the 5050 for a Hegeman Hapi 2 preamp and Acurus A80 amp. Such a cool looking little preamp, IMO. That same day I also found a musuem quality Proceed PCD2 - another really cool product. Wish I had kept the Proceed. |
I hear you about not remembering what you had for breakfast, as I'm getting to that age too, or maybe I'm there already, as I just realized that I haven't eaten breakfast at all today :) I'm trying to get a handle on your comments. I've read so many audio magazines in my time and still could never understand all those adjectives to describe sound, so just add "midrange coherance" to the list. Yin/Yang, chocolatey, vanilla-ey, palpable presence, etc - it's all Greek to me... So to digress, the Tyr 's were not fatigueing, they were fun to listen to, had incredibe bass and were dynamic...so I guess they were more on the dark end of the scale as opposed to being bright or tilted up? How long did you own your Tyr 2's for (approximately)? I guess for further thoughts on it, I should just re-read the Stereophile review I have stored away, but it's nice to hear first hand from someone who actually owned them. I recently picked up a really interesting, amazing set of speakers (Paisley Research AE-500). Extremely musical, dynamic and also fun to listen to and I can happily live with them should I never find a mint pr of Tyr 2's. They're also probably a much better speaker than the Rauna's, but the Rauna's are definitely cooler though :) |
I agree, the Paisleys are terrific speakers. I think if Celestion or ProAc made them and marketed them at $2-2500, they would sell all day at that price. I'd be very lucky to come across another pair of Raunas at a reasonable price. If it's meant to be, it will be meant to be. In the meantime, I'm more than happy with the Paisleys. |
I recently saw a pair of Symdex speakers in the local Phila area on CL for $50. They could have been the Sigmas, I'm not sure of the exact model as Symdex's are quite rare. I quickly contacted the seller that I wanted them and can pick them up anytime, but alas, they were gone - just not meant to be I guess. |
Several months ago I picked up another rarity of a British integrated amp, a Ditton Elan DI-260 made by Celestion. It's a very beefy and transparent sounding 60 wpc line level integrated that sounds great and has very nice build quality. Not much on the net about this one except for some pictures. Soon I'll be consolidating my bedroom system to have less boxes and will be selling the Ditton, Sumo Charlie tuner and Music Fidelity X-LP phono stage in lieu of a 1 box receiver as the bedroom system is really just background listening anyway. I have something rare in mind for a 2 channel receiver but let me know what else I should consider in a rare analog or digital receiver (analog preferably)....thanks :) |
Anyone ever own the Streets Electronic 950 amp or a Wingate amp? Those looked awesome. I once heard a Wingate at a high end show, but the rep was this young kid who believed everyone wanted to hear it at ear splitting levels and wouldn't turn it down. Right now, I'm kind of digging on these rare 70's-80's turntables, maybe not so rare, just old :) |
I wish I was able to give likes to these comments :) Currently I'm using a pretty rare British integrated amp, the shoe boxed sized Onix OA 20/2, which I've heard was the poor mans Naim Nait II. It's in perfect condition and very enjoyable. This is my second Onix int amp, the other one being the OA21s, a 50 wpc linestage int amp. This one is 30 wpc with a phono stage. Both are extremely smooth sounding. |
Here's a few more very rare items. Yamaha TC-800 GL Mario Bellini designed cassette deck http://www.ebay.com/itm/Serviced-Yamaha-TC-800GL-Vintage-Mario-Bellini-800-Cassette-Deck/25303656783... Nobis DM-7 bookshelf speakers http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nobis-DM-7-Bookshelf-Speakers-Hi-Fi-Stereo-Rare-USA-Oak-Wood-Audiophile-Rare... Wintec R1120 Receiver http://www.ebay.com/itm/VERY-RARE-WINTEC-R1120-Monster-Vintage-Receiver-Made-In-Japan-MINT-Condition... Please post your favorite rarities. |
Well Viridian, I finally picked up a pair of Rauna Tyr II’s !!! Cosmetically in terrible shape, but I’m going to restore them. Every pair I’ve seen for sale in the last few years needs new foam grill cloth and the tops need refinishing too. Interesting sounding, not as great as my recollection of 30 years ago, but then again, I’m not listening to them now with the same gear that I originally heard them with. Currently, I have them playing with a Tandberg 3012 int amp and when I heard them years ago, I heard them with a B&K ST140 and Hafler or Counterpoint preamp. While the Tandberg and B&K are both mosfet amps, the Tandberg is much beefier sounding than the ST140. So, I’ll be looking to make a change from the Tandberg so as to relive that stereo audition that I had heard many years ago. They are certainly fun to listen to; my ear is quite not used to them yet as I’ve been listening to a pair of ADS L400’s with the Tandberg. Nothing quite like the sound of these concrete speakers! Definite keepers as I now want to look for some different mosfet separates or a tube int amp to pair them with. |
