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The Best & Rarest of all Stereo Gear

When it comes to stereo gear, to me, besides sound and build quality/reliability, the next thing I look for is how rare it is. There is just something about very rare, one-off, stereo gear that makes it very enticing to find and acquire. Over the years, I've been lucky enough to have found some rare gear and there's still others items that I'd like to find.

Recently, in my local CL, there was a very rare pair of Symdex speakers available for $50 that retailed at over $2200. When I inquired about them, they were gone. There is very little on the net about these speakers and later was lucky enough to have found a pair of Paisley Research AE-500 speakers. The Paisleys are amazing & are really giving my Omega Grande 8's a run for their money.

How about the Wingate 2000a amp? In 30 years, I've never seen one of these beauties for sale. Does anyone remember the EJ Jordan shoe box sized amp and preamp?

Please share if you are fortunate enough to have owned any ultra rare gear or if you are looking to acquire something unusual. (I'll share my own list of rare acquisitions and wants in a follow up post. I didn't want to make this initial post too lengthy).

Look forward to hearing your responses, thanks for reading,
Lou

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lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes OP
414 posts
 
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
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Lou, I had a pair of Tyr 2s back in the day. I was younger, and more impressionable, then. Bought them based on J. Gordon's review. Amazing, and I don't say that lightly, bass. Tight, deep, just incredible. People would look for the subwoofer or were just dumbfounded. I felt that the tweeter and woofer never integrated causing the midrange to lack any kind of coherence. But they were fun.
lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes OP
414 posts
 
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.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Lou, no I didn't say fatigueing, that was not it. It was just a lack of midrange coherance. I bought them new so it was many moons ago and I am at the age where I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning.

I am not sure what electronics I was running at the time, but my guess is either an Adcom GFP555/GFA535 or PS 4H//B&K ST-140.

After all, every speaker is flawed, it's all a matter of what flaws we can live with. In a world of gutless little speakers, the Tyr 2 had real impact and scale. Please post back when you get your pair.
lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes OP
414 posts
 
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 :)
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