Ur wonna dem audio files, ain’t yas?

When I think “audiophile”, I think the under-bridge dwelling trolls on the Audiokarma forums who periodically pop their heads up with killer answers to impossible questions. You know, the ones who have forgotten more about vintage audio than I’ve forgotten while on Heineken. These (mostly) gentlemen are the true audiophiles—to them, I tip my pork-pie hat.

Full Disclosure: I’m just some guy with a nifty vintage audio story by way of a groovy legacy. I just love music. Everything I’ve learned about silver-era Pioneer gear has been from someone else, via numerous rounds of trial and error, or by some nearly horrible accident (usually while on Heineken).

It’s for this reason that it still catches me off guard when someone accuses me of being—in this particular case—an “audio file”.

Hence, I was caught off guard when I was recently tapped for some advice. Some person I’d never met asked an acquaintance of mine if he [acquaintance] knew anyone who knew anyone who wanted a pair of prized speakers he’d [some person I’d never met] had in storage since the late ’80s. As a bonus, they [speakers] were stored in a climate controlled location—important in these frosty/muggy parts—in the original boxes. And this point is key, since few ’70s-era speaker boxes ever survived the day the speakers were unboxed. No one in the ’70s ever envisioned a day four decades later when anyone would covet the cardboard boxes that originally encased their speakers. More importantly, they never envisioned said speakers surviving 40 years.

My acquaintance, who toils mainly in the realm of high-end home theater, didn’t know anyone. He did, however, know me. And thanks to my Insta feed, he posited that I may know a thing or two.

He’d been duped.

Unfortunately, about these particular speakers, I knew exactly nothing other than JBL made some sweet speakers. Start peppering me with JBL model numbers, and I’m lost after L100.

Also unfortunately, as a reformed Buddhist, I’m impelled to always try and help my fellow space travelers—no matter what. I mean, if you reach out, I HAVE to respond. This is just how IT works. So, after a very brief email introduction, I dove in headfirst.

None of this is particularly interesting—I realize this. And my intent on sharing this is not for entertainment. Instead, this is a cautionary tale for the rest of you would-be audio files out there.

Just say (I don’t) “No.”

I wrestled with altering the email transaction that ensued. Ultimately, I decided to naught. To protect the innocent, names have been changed (to my college roommates and friends). Since I’m guilty, my name appears as it originally did.

Here it is, in all of it’s gory…I mean glory…

Sent: Tuesday, November 9, 2021 7:19 PM
From: Matt Schloss
To: Eric Neudecker
Subject: Audio File Referral
Hi Eric, do you have a referral for me?
Sincerely,
Matt Schloss

Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2021 2:19 PM
From: Eric Neudecker
To: Matt Schloss
Cc: blake@blakedonley.com
Subject: Re: Audio File Referral
Thanks for the reminder – I did hear back from Blake Donley who I copied onto this email. Blake meet Matt, Matt meet Blake. Matt has some vintage JBL speakers he needs advice on.

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2021 6:22 AM
From: Matt Schloss
To: Blake Donley
Subject: Re: Audio File Referral
Hello Blake,
Good morning. As noted below, Eric Neudecker had mentioned to me that you have knowledge of the vintage stereo equipment world and that you may be able to provide me with someone who may have interest or the best way to divest of my vintage JBL 4315 Studio Monitors. See attached files.

I’m almost 71 years old and I purchased these speakers back in the “Day”, about 1979, when I was a bit wild, to say the least. The speakers have been stored in their original boxes since about 1989 and I’m finally getting around to finding the best source and simplest way to sell them. Over the years I have seen these devices sell for large amounts on Ebay.

I would appreciate speaking with you and or receiving your advice and thoughts. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Matt Schloss

Here is where I made my colossal mistake. I assumed people actually read emails. This is not true. No one reads anything anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2021 8:21 AM
From: Blake Donley
To: Matt Schloss
Subject: Re: Audio File Referral
Hey Matt,
Very cool that you are the original owner and you still have the original boxes! I don’t know much about JBL speakers specifically, I do know of their legendary status in the pantheon of vintage speakers.

While I appreciate Eric offering me as an “expert”, I deal exclusively in vintage Pioneer stereo equipment. I’ve amassed quite the collection over the years, so all of my “audiophile” knowledge comes via wheeling and dealing in Pioneer stuff.

That said, the places that you think to use as a gauge for determining the value of these speakers are actually the ones most folks use for that purpose (and to sell).

eBay is probably the best place to get an idea of value, as it remains the world’s largest marketplace. The vast majority of vintage gear changes hands on eBay.

Reverb.com is another that trends toward higher-end (and higher-priced) gear. I’ve personally never purchased anything on Reverb, but it’s a fun place to window shop.

Finally, https://www.usaudiomart.com is another one. I’ve never used it, however.

Honestly, for something like these speakers, Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist Minneapolis are probably the best place to sell.

Luckily, the Twin Cities is a very robust vintage audio market due to the rich history of consumer electronics start-ups. Shaak Electronics, which would later become Best Buy, DLK Speakers, which is now Midwest Speaker, and the Needle Doctor, were all operating simultaneously for nearly a decade. All were considered pioneers of sorts in their unique arenas. As a result, there are still “old audio guys” all over the place up here that appreciate high-end gear like your speakers. Let’s just say, you’ll have a much easier time selling these up here than many other cities.

As far as value, it’s really about finding the right person willing to pay what you want to get. But, you probably already knew that.

Right now, someone has a pair on Reverb for $4,499: https://reverb.com/item/33961919-jbl-4315-pair-studio-monitor-speakers

A pair recently sold on eBay for $2,450, but it looks like they’ve been relisted: Jbl 4315 Studio Monitors Consecutive Serial numbers | eBay

That said, I’d be very wary of selling these where any manner of shipping is involved. Plus, eBay (not sure about Reverb) takes 13% right off the top for your full sales & shipping price. I’d guess Reverb is similar. You can even try Etsy, but I don’t believe much vintage gear changes hands there, and their commission is similar.

If I were you, I’d first unpack these beauties and test them out. Mach sure the surrounds are in tact (no refoaming needed) and make sure each driver is producing sound. The first thing a buyer will do is to put his ear to each of the woofers and tweeters.

If everything checks out, take 10 really great photos (good lighting is key). Facebook Marketplace only allows 10 photos (CL allows 24).

List these on both Minneapolis Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. In the description mention “Cross posted”. This adds a titch of urgency. Neither FB or CL take any commission, and you can demand a cash-only transaction. If you take an electronic payment (Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, etc) ONLY do this at the time of sale while the buyer is there with you.

OfferUp.com is another for free listing local classifieds. It gets much less traffic than FB or CL, but it never hurts to list there since it’s free. I’ve purchased an item or two from OfferUp.

You can always do an eBay listing and offer local pickup only. By doing this, you’ll get global exposure, rather than just local exposure. The problem is that if you sell them via eBay, you lose 13% of the final sale price. I once listed a pair of Pioneer HPM-100s on FB, CL and eBay (local pickup). Unfortunately, they sold to a dude in Duluth on eBay. So rather than getting $600 cash, I ended up with $522.

The reason I’d avoid shipping these, is that invariably something goes awry when you ship speakers. I could tell you a million stories. And even if you pay FedEx or UPS to “professionally” package them, they tend to do a haphazard job. You are much better off if you package them yourself (if shipping them is something you want to venture).

Plus, in today’s “supply chain” challenged climate, shipping is going to be steep. I sell a lot on eBay and shipping between USPS/UPS/FedEx varies more wildly than the daily changes in the stock market or gasoline. You can always build the shipping into the price (or change a steep shipping fee), but this just makes the overall package more expensive for the buyer, and you pay the 13% commission on both the sales price and the shipping fee.

Ultimately, it would be tragic if these were damaged in transit.

A third option is to call Midwest Speaker (they are in Roseville). Ask them if they do consignment. I think on a pair of these, they might. But again, you are going to make less than if you sell them yourself. But, if you don’t want the hassle, these dudes are THE BEST! I’ve used them numerous times for repairs. They are all very cool and willing to chat about speakers. If you find your speakers need any manner of repair before you list them, do not hesitate to take them to Midwest Speaker!

If I were you, I’d cross-post these on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and OfferUp–all have Twin CIties specific marketplaces. Since someone has set the current top market price of $4,500 (a company in Madison, WI who listed on Reverb), I’d undercut them by at least $250. Typically if I wanted say, $4,000 for these, I’d list them for $4,250 and hope to negotiate no lower than $4,000 (or something like that).
There is no sense in listing them more than $4,500, as any potential buyer could easily drive to Madison to but the pair off Reverb.

If you take my advice, be prepared for all manner of insane offers. Within days, you’ll probably receive a number of offers for $2,000. It is inevitable. You’ll also get a number of offers from scammers to PayPal you more than your listing price if you will “hold them for their shipping agent”. Obviously, ignore these (and any PayPal offer where the person is not willing to meet you in-person).

These probably won’t sell quickly (unless you are willing to take $2,000), as there just aren’t that many folks shopping for $4,000 speakers at any given time. Hell, it took me three months to sell my HPM-100s, and I was only asking $600.

Over time, you’ll get an idea of the market price here in the twin cities based on the offers you receive. And maybe the market is $3,500? Or, $2,750? I honestly don’t know–there is just not a lot of precedent to go off of at this time.

If you want an actual expert opinion, you can go to AudioKarma.org. Sign up for a free account. Find the section for valuation of JBL speakers. And post a few photos asking for a best guess on value. Only the most snooty of the pretentious audiophiles hang out on AudioKarma. You’ll likely get some opinions rather quickly. You may or may not be happy with said opinions.

This appears to be the right section to post that question ( Home Forums > AudioKarma Audio Marketplace > Dollars and Sense): https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/good-price-for-jbl-4315.495208/

All it’s missing is a horn! But then even at that price they’re less than half the price of most any other 43xx 4-way system. And they’ve been hovering around that price for many years, never gaining the respect of their “horny” big brothers.

Please note that this thread is from 2013, so prices have undoubtedly appreciated in the near decade since. But it gives you an idea of where you could garner a few “expert” opinions on the market value of these (if you are so inclined).

That’s my best advice for you. I hope you get what you want for these beauties.

Good luck!

Predictably, Matt read none of this. He actually wanted no advice. He wanted two things, well actually one: a cash offer. In lieu of that, he wanted someone to consign these for him. He never wanted to sell them himself.

I received this in response…

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2021 8:21 AM
From: Matt Schloss
To: Blake Donley
Subject: Re: Audio File Referral
Hey Blake,
Thanks for getting back to me. Do you know if there’s a local venue that sells equipment like this on consignment?

LOF’ingL!!! Stupid Buddhism!!!

Anyway, if you are an audio file like me, just enjoy your groovy gear. Don’t start an Insta account to collect those dopamine hits. I promise you, it’s not worth it. If you are in the hobby for Insta likes, just become an Insta model—it’s waaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper (and potentially more profitable).

Otherwise, rock on!

—
Copyright © 2021 – ∞ Blake Charles Donley

Journey, Evolution

This is an excerpt from my forthcoming novel Finding Fidelity...

Radio Ga Ga

It went without saying that my father and I rarely spoke on our respective birthdays. In fact, if we sent cards at all, they were always tardy. Although, I think he held the current record at 16 days belated, I regularly mailed his card a week late. To the best of my recollection, I was probably just out of college the last time there was actually money in a birthday card from Leo. And I stopped slipping gift cards into his birthday cards a decade back. Hence, a week after my 38th birthday, I was a bit surprised to get a phone call from him requesting that I stop over when I had the chance.

When I arrived, my father told me he had something to show me in the workshop. As we spelunked into the confined space, I could see a pair of large speakers on either side of the workbench at the far end. Due to the narrow aspect of the room, I could not tell if there was anything between the somewhat familiar speakers. As he stepped aside, I saw the shiny silver Pioneer SX-780 receiver and the Pioneer PL-400 turntable of my youth situated between the Marantz 33/330 3-way sonic towers. 

“Is this your original system from the Valentine lake house?” I asked.

“You bet!” he beamed. 

I began my interrogation, “You hung onto it all these years? Seriously? Where the hell was it?”

“I had it under the stairwell ever since I moved to this place. I stumbled across it a month back when I was looking for some folding chairs.”

“Jeez! That’s unbelievable!” I exclaimed with exuberance the belied my disbelief. 

At this, the old man allowed a rare smile to advance across his lips. He continued, “Did you know that the world’s biggest and best turntable shop is right here in your own backyard? I took the record player into Jerry Raskin’s place, and they fixed it right up. They had to replace the cartridge and needle. It was $75, but I’ll split the cost with you—happy birthday!”

“You’re giving it all to me?” The shock I had experienced when I first saw the Hi-Fi artifacts was quickly transforming into unbridled joy at the prospect of owning them.

“Hey, why not? What the hell am I going to do with will all this?” He was still beaming at my enthusiasm.

I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but a question had been smoldering ever since Leo stepped aside to reveal these family treasures.

“I don’t suppose your record collection was under the stairs?” 

Leo hesitated, his jubilant expression instantly transformed into one of regret. 

“You know…just before I moved, I traded all of them to a guy at the antique mall for store credit. I didn’t want to lug them to this place. I wish I had kept them now, but at the time, I never thought anyone would listen to them again,” he lamented.

“No worries. The fact that you kept the stereo all these years is still pretty unbelievable,” I reassured him.

“Well, let’s load it up—shall we?” Leo proposed with a hit of encouragement in his voice and a bounce in his step.

Up until this point, there had been a half-dozen watershed moments in my lifetime. Each had a unique soundtrack. Leo was now responsible for a third of them.

Unbeknownst to him, what he likely assumed would be a bit of a lark, was a magnanimous gesture of incalculable significance. I had neither considered the HiFi system of my youth for at least twenty-five years, nor had I listened to an LP in that time. In fact, I was on my fifth iPod, which was somewhere in glove compartment of my car on that fateful evening. What he couldn’t have imagined when he dug the dusty HiFi setup out from under his stairwell, is that he would spawn a musical renaissance amid the tumult of a divorce and mid-life crisis.

The music would allay much of the future pain and angst set to haunt me. For as I struggled to define who I was going to be downstream from that dreaded milestone birthday, I began to pursue, collect, and most importantly, hear music for the first time in a long time. There is nothing so powerful as music to breathe life into long dormant memories. There is nothing so powerful as music to heal the weary soul.  And there is nothing so powerful as music to ignite a little hope.

I thanked him profusely, wrote him a check for $32.50, and sped home to hook it all up to hear it once again. Seeing these relics, possessing these relics, induced a flood of memories as I drove home. The first wave involved the unlikely duo of Bruce Springsteen and Casey Kasem. I recalled struggling to assimilate into the awkward mass of pubescent humanity meandering the hallways of my middle school, and the song and story from which I would forge the emotional armor that protected me. Every Sunday, I listened to Casey count them down on the big silver stereo. I did this religiously in those days. For me, more than any pastor at any church preaching any sermon, Casey sold salvation on a weekly basis for the cost of a couple dozen commercial breaks.  

Although this is presented as fiction, the events are mostly non-fiction. Here are the various photos of what that magnanimous gesture yielded…in other words, this is v1.0…

But like most HiFi enthusiasts, I couldn’t help myself any more than I could stop myself (or even slow myself down). So, for a decade, I’ve been chasing silver era Pioneer stereo gear all over the greater Minneapolis St. Paul area. I’ve met dozens of interesting folks, I’ve exchanged as much gear as cash, but most importantly, I’ve had the time of my life.

As much as music has given me, the fantastical gear upon which I’ve come to rely as that all-important conduit between the media and music has become family. Dudes name their cars, boats, etc… My assemblage of muscular vintage HiFi gear is my “Wall of Sound”. Yea, I know Phil Spector has dibs, but I doubt my co-option would bother him much at this point.

I was recently pondering how I got from the events described in my forthcoming novel to the today. It got me to excavating: I dredged up a dormant FB account, I mined the photo hard drive on my desk, I gazed back at my ill-illustrious Insta career. Eventually, I uncovered snapshots of each major release of “my main rig” along this journey (obviously I have other rigs). And although the old man’s gear is not part of the current line-up, it’s stacked safely in the bedroom of my 15-year-old daughter—the next generation of musical super fan.

It’s in the DNA.

Without further adieu, I present an evolution of my adventures in HiFi…

v2.0

• Pioneer PL-400 Turntable
• Pioneer SX-780 Receiver
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer CT-300 Cassette Deck
• Marantz 30/330 Speakers

v3.0

• Pioneer PL-400 Turntable
• Pioneer SX-780 Receiver
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer CT-300 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer SG-9500 10-Band Graphic EQ
• Marantz 30/330 Speakers

v4.0

• Pioneer PL-400 Turntable
• Pioneer SX-780 Receiver
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer CT-300 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer CT-F900 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer SG-9500 10-Band Graphic EQ
• Marantz 30/330 Speakers

v5.0

• Pioneer PL-400 Turntable
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer SA-9500 Integrated Amplifier
• Pioneer TX-9500 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer SG-9500 10-Band Graphic EQ
• Pioneer CT-300 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer CT-F900 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer CS-503 Speakers

v6.0

• Pioneer PL-560 Turntable
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer RG-2 Dynamic Expander
• Pioneer SG-9500 10-Band Graphic EQ
• Pioneer TX-9500 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer SA-9500 Integrated Amplifier
• Pioneer P-D70 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-F900 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer CS-T7000 Speakers

v7.0

• Pioneer PL-560 Turntable
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer RG-2 Dynamic Expander
• Pioneer SR-303 Reverb
• Pioneer SG-9800 12-Band Graphic EQ
• Pioneer SA-9800 Integrated Amplifier
• Pioneer TX-9800 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer P-D70 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-F1250 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer CS-T7000 Speakers
• Pioneer CS-520 Speakers

v8.0

• Pioneer PL-560 Turntable
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer RG-2 Dynamic Expander
• Pioneer SR-303 Reverb
• Pioneer SG-9800 12-Band Graphic EQ
• Pioneer SA-9800 Integrated Amplifier
• Pioneer TX-9800 AM/FM Tune
• Pioneer P-D70 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-F1250 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer HPM-100 (100W) Speakers
• Pioneer HPM-100 (200W) Speakers

v9.0

• Pioneer RT-909 Reel-To-Reel
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer RG-2 Dynamic Expander
• Pioneer SR-303 Reverb
• Pioneer SG-9800 12-Band Graphic EQ
• Pioneer SA-9800 Integrated Amplifier
• Pioneer TX-9800 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer P-D70 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-F1250 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer PL-630 Turntable
• Pioneer PL-560 Turntable
• Pioneer HPM-100 (100W) Speakers
• Pioneer HPM-100 (200W) Speakers

v10.0

• Pioneer RT-909 Reel-To-Reel
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer RG-2 Dynamic Expander
• Pioneer PL-630 Turntable
• Pioneer SR-303 Reverb
• Pioneer PL-570 Turntable
• Pioneer SG-9800 12-Band Graphic EQ
• Pioneer SA-9800 Integrated Amplifier
• Pioneer TX-9800 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer P-D70 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-F1250 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer CT-300 Bluetooth “Tapless Deck”
• Pioneer U-24 Program Selector
• Pioneer TX-D1000 Digital AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer TVX-9500 Stereo TV Tuner
• Pioneer PL-560 Turntable
• Pioneer RH-65 8-Track Tape Deck
• Pioneer HPM-100 Speakers (100W)
• Pioneer HPM-1500 Speakers (250W)
• Pioneer SE-2P Headphones
• Pioneer SE-L20 Headphones
• Pioneer Monitor 10 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-50 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-305 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-L-40 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-L20A Headphones

And so the journey continues as the “Wall of Sound” evolves. Before this accidental hobby captivated my imagination, I had shed all of my physical media. My last act being the donation of 600 CDs to the Great River Regional Library. I’d long since dove headlong into the wave of digital music (I was a Napster early adopter). Before I donated them, I had ripped them all to 160kbs MP3 files arranged meticulously into genres, sub genres, folders, and sub folders.

Today, I’ve come full-circle. My album collection is pushing 6,000…

My compact cassette collection is pushing 1,200…

I’ve somehow acquired nearly 600 8-tracks…

And while it remains the most anemic of all of the formats, I’ve managed to scrape together a couple hundred compact discs (mostly purchased at live shows)…

But it’s cool to be that know-it-all who knew digital was “all that”, and then decided “all that” maybe wasn’t where my heart was all along. As this essay comes to a conclusion, I’m pushing the half-century mark. I’d love to show that little kid jamming to Juice Newton, Dr. Hook, and Beach boys records on his old man’s stereo what those tender moments of musical infatuation would someday yield.

He would’ve never believed me.

—
Copyright © 2021 – ∞ Blake Charles Donley

FOUND: The Missing Link

I’m a member of a single solitary HiFi group on the Bookface almighty: Silver Pioneer. This group, besides discussing and debating strictly Pioneer HiFi gear from the silver era, is strictly easygoing and chill. It’s a rather agreeable community of (mostly) older (mostly) chaps who appreciate the build, the sound, and the eternal charm of vintage ’70s Pioneer HiFi gear.

In the words of the late, great, Kurt Vonnegut, “Communities are crucial…”

Lately, I’ve noticed there seems to be a rush on behalf of auto makers to “reissue” classic muscle cars like the Dodge Charger, Chevrolet Camaro, and Ford Mustang (among others). This is a transparent (and flaccid) attempt to cash in on these iconic brands. Let’s just say that the modern-day versions of these once potent muscle cars are not fooling anyone, save for the poor dupes behind the wheel. That’s how the member’s of the Pioneer Silver group feel about the various eras of HiFi gear that came after the silver era.

Anyway, one fine day a few months back, a Polish chap named Artur posted a psuedo-ad for his little project on our little community’s Facebook page. With the apt moniker of, The Tapeless Deck Project, he retrofits old cassette decks with a specific model of Samsung smartphone (where the tape would normally go). Essentially, this transforms the deck into a streaming media player of sorts. From your own smartphone, you can load digital music files onto the Samsung device inside the deck and thus control it remotely.

After seeing the Pioneer CT-300 conversion he did on the aforementioned Facebook group page, I sent this query to him via his contact form:

I would actually need to procure a “needs new belts” unit from eBay. I don’t have one on hand at the moment. My question is: is there any way to add bluetooth? Essentially, I have the entire Pioneer blue fluoroscan series (SA-9800, CT-F1250, TX-9800, SG-9800, etc…). What I can’t find anywhere is a matching Bluetooth receiver. I understand that the converted deck would have 64GB of internal storage. And that is great, but ultimately, I need the ability to stream to a (matching) silver series fluoroscan component. Converting a CT-F650 (or 600) would do the trick. Thank you for your consideration.

He replied:

I see no problem with installing a Bluetooth receiver inside the deck. I already made such projects 🙂 You may order both Tapeless Deck modification + BT module installation in one machine – or just only BT, as you wish. Please note that I’m located in Poland, Europe, so sending the deck over the ocean may be a bit crazy (and expensive :). My customers from US/Canada usually ask me to find a suitable machine here, on Polish market or they just buy a deck on European eBay and have it shipped directly to me. At the moment I see one “need new belts” Pioneer CT-F650 for about 130 USD – https://allegro.pl/oferta/pioneer-ct-f650-10713085251 It is roughly the equivalent of shipping between the US and Poland, so you can have a deck for free 🙂 Regards, Artur

And that is precisely how these little flights of tickling my fancy begin…

Needless to say, after a few minor adjustments—we actually ended up with another Pioneer CT-300 like the one he featured on the Facebook group page—this beauty is in my basement.

My Pioneer CT-300 tapeless deck is completely crammed with insane mods. Artur removed the cassette heads and such and installed a Samsung device that has 64GB of storage for digital music files. It can be loaded via the home WiFi network. The deck then becomes a digital music player that functions with the normal cassette deck buttons, switches, and knobs.

Additionally, a number of cassette skins/animations are preloaded so that a cassette appears to be playing through the window. There are 30 skins/animations in all. I settled on the Pioneer N1-60 (of course I did).

Finally, he installed a Bluetooth receiver allowing me to stream directly to the deck. The Tape Start switch below the power button is used to switch between the 64GB onboard storage and Bluetooth modes. The little blue light under the counter indicates the deck is in Bluetooth mode and automatically blinks when nothing is paired. The cassette animation works in both modes. The flippin’ fluoroscan meters even function and bounce to the active source! The attention to detail is nothing short of staggering!

A device like this is a true blend of art and (retro) tech.

Of all the pieces of Pioneer gear I’ve been able to acquire, there was never an option for a media streaming box with Bluetooth functionality. In fact, of the “somewhat matching” silvery devices on the market today, none came cheaper than $500 (most were triple that), and none were manufactured by Pioneer. Hence, I did not blink at the $750 USD price tag (which included acquiring a Pioneer CT-300 deck for $130 USD from a Polish auction site). Artur even installed a transformer, so that the deck would run on the standard 120V US electric system.

The dude is a bit of a genius in my book.

There are only a handful of ancillary TOTL Pioneer pieces left for me to acquire (in no particular order):

• SX-3900 Receiver
• H-R100 8-Track Player
• M-25 Power Amplifier
• SD-1100 Stereo Tuning Display
• HPM-200 Speakers

Most of these would be well north of $1,000.

But for now, the “Wall of Sound” truly takes up an entire north wall of my region of the basement…

Let me introduce the band, again…the lineup (top to bottom, left to right, sorta). Speakers and headphones will be listed at the end.

• Pioneer RT-909 Reel-To-Reel
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer RG-2 Dynamic Expander
• Pioneer PL-630 Turntable
• Pioneer SR-303 Reverb
• Pioneer PL-570 Turntable
• Pioneer SG-9800 12-Band Graphic EQ
• Pioneer SA-9800 Integrated Amplifier
• Pioneer TX-9800 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer P-D70 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-F1250 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer CT-300 Bluetooth “Tapless Deck”
• Pioneer U-24 Program Selector
• Pioneer TX-D1000 Digital AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer TVX-9500 Stereo TV Tuner
• Pioneer PL-560 Turntable
• Pioneer RH-65 8-Track Tape Deck
• Pioneer HPM-100 Speakers (100W)
• Pioneer HPM-1500 Speakers (250W)
• Pioneer SE-2P Headphones
• Pioneer SE-L20 Headphones
• Pioneer Monitor 10 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-50 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-305 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-L-40 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-L20A Headphones

This vision quest (favorite soundtrack) was kicked off waaaay back on my 39th birthday when my old man gave me the vintage Pioneer system I listened to as a kid (SX-780 receiver + PL-400 turntable). I had no idea he’d kept that gear all those years. Today, a decade later, this affliction has been one of the great joys of this lifetime. If history is any indication, that will never change.

Cheers!

—
Copyright © 2021 – ∞ Blake Charles Donley

How To Hook Up a Pioneer SA-9800 + RG-2 + SR-303 + SG-9800 + CT-F1250

DISCLAIMER: I AM NEITHER AN AUDIO TECHNICIAN, ENGINEER, NOR ‘PHILE. NONE OF THIS ADVICE IS MY “PROFESSIONAL” ANALYSIS, RECOMMENDATION, OR OPINION. I AM JUST A GUY WHO LIKES VINTAGE AUDIO GEAR BECAUSE IT CONJURES FEELINGS OF GREAT NOSTALGIA. WHAT FOLLOWS IS THINGS AND STUFF I’VE LEARNED IN THE 10 YEARS SINCE MY OLD MAN SURPRISED THE SHIT OUT OF ME BY GIVING ME—HOW DID HE STILL HAVE IT AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS???—HIS ORIGINAL PIONEER RECEIVER AND TURNTABLE. QUITE CLEARLY THERE ARE GAZILLIONS OF MORE AUDIO SAVVY (MOSTLY) DUDES LURKING IN EVERY CORNER OF THE AUDIOKARMA (AK) FORUMS. IF YOU WANT EXPERT—BORDERING ON SNOBBISH ELITIST—ADVICE, I VIGOROUSLY RECOMMEND YOU READ NO FURTHER AND GO THERE NOW!

YOU’VE BEEN WARNED…CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN PERIL…

Back when I was a young lad of 39 and had just become the steward of my father’s Pioneer SX-780 receiver, PL-400 turntable, and some random Technics cassette deck, which I promptly flipped, I was suddenly faced with a dilemma:

How do you hook dis shit up?!

Honestly, connecting a turntable to a receiver or amp is not rocket science (just don’t forget to hook up the ground wire). And the definitive YouTube vid on that process has been done 16,728 times. I won’t bore you with the details, but that’s why it’s missing from the forthcoming diagram to which I’ll allude a dozen more times before I actually plop the damn thing on this blog post. I have a pair of turntables: a Pioneer PL-630, and a PL-560 hooked up to my basement rig. When you (eventually) look at the diagram, those TTs are hooked up to PHONO1 (PL-630) and PHONO2 (PL-560) on the back of the SA-9800 integrated amplifier.

OK, back to my story. I went a bit bananas after my father shocked the hell out of me a decade ago. I figured he’d tossed out the stereo of my youth when he moved. I was 39 when he gave it to me. I had likely last listened to it when I was 10. It was a bit of a mind-blow to have him produce it and give it to me nearly 30 years down the road.

Since that fateful day, I’ve acquired a number of rigs and a condition known as “audiophilitis”. This malady causes the sufferer to continuously purchase, rotate, and sell various vintage audio components. Let me introduce the current line-up(s):

This is the one I’ve been assembling and reassembling for a decade. The task was a labor of endless love and countless dollars. It’s been in this state for just over two years with the acquisition of the pièce de ré·sis·tance, the crowning achievement: the RT-909. It features all of Pioneer’s top of the line (TOTL) fluoroscan units from the 1978-80 time period along with Pioneer’s TOTL turntable from that era: the PL-630.

The basement rig (a.k.a. “The Wall of Sound” or “The Altar“)…

Top to Bottom…

• Pioneer RT-909 Reel-To-Reel
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer RG-2 Dynamic Expander
• Pioneer PL-630 Turntable
• Pioneer SR-303 Reverb
• Pioneer PL-560 Turntable
• Pioneer SG-9800 12-Band Graphic Equalizer
• Pioneer SA-9800 Integrated Amplifier (100 WPC)
• Pioneer TX-9800 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer P-D70 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-F1250 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer HPM-100 Speakers (100W)
• Pioneer HPM-1500 Speakers (250W)
• Pioneer SE-305 Headphones
• Pioneer SE-2P Headphones
• Pioneer SE-L-20A Headphones
• Pioneer SE-L-40 Headphones

Then, there are the ancillary pieces right next door…

Top to Bottom…

• The “Little Bear” Bluetooth Receiver
• Pioneer U-24 Program Selector
• Pioneer TVX-9500 Stereo TV Tuner
• Pioneer RH-65 8-Track Tape Deck

Just last fall, I became aware of a wondrous thing called the Pioneer Progression IV system which came out just before Christmas 1985. It was Pioneer’s first foray into a “shelf stereo”. Because 13-year-old me would have thought he’d died and ascended if one of these was under the tree, I (obviously) had to track down all of the components.

The other basement rig (a.k.a. “The Teen Dream Machine“)…

Top to bottom..

• Pioneer SG-X700 7-Band Graphic Equalizer
• Pioneer F-X700 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer A-X900 Amplifier (75 WPC)
• Pioneer P-DX700 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-X700W Dual Cassette Deck
• Pioneer PL-X300 Front-Load Turntable
• Pioneer S-700X Speakers (90W)
• Koss HV/1 Headphones
• PIONEER CU-X700 Remote Control

Because it’s too arduous to pull any of the other rigs in the house apart to test new components or troubleshoot “tricky” ones, I’ve assembled a makeshift audio workstation, which can be easily accessed from the area under the stairs. I wanted a Pioneer stack from my college era for this purpose. I now have one.

Another basement rig (a.k.a. “Da Blaque Plague“)…

Top to bottom…

• Pioneer RA-J5000 Compact Stereo Cabinet
• Pioneer PL-990 Turntable
• Pioneer GR-555 Graphic 7-Band Equalizer (coming soon)
• Pioneer VSX-453 AM/FM Receiver (100 WPC)
• Pioneer PD-F904 100-CD Jukebox
• Pioneer CT-W530R Dual Cassette Deck
• Pioneer HPM-40 Speakers (40W)

Then, there is the more classy main level rig for quiet dinners, rip-roaring cocktail parties, and everything in between. It took nearly four years to track down the dueling pairs of Pioneer CS-22A’s—the only Pioneer CS Series speakers that fit into the cabinet.

The main level rig (a.k.a. “Gatsby“)…

Top to bottom…

• Pioneer PL-530 Turntable
• Pioneer TX-7800 AM/FM Tuner
• Pioneer SA-7800 Amplifier (65 WPC)
• Pioneer CT-F1250 Cassette Deck
• CS-22A Speakers (2 sets 10-40W)

Then there’s the rig that started it all. By the time the old man gave me his stereo a decade back, I’d long since converted my entire (500) CD collection to MP3 and donated it to the public library. In those digital days, I didn’t have a record, cassette, or CD to my name—LOL!

My Daughter’s bedroom rig (a.k.a. “The Old Man’s Rig“)…

Top to bottom…

• Pioneer PL-400 Turntable
• Pioneer DT-400 Digital Timer
• Pioneer SX-780 AM/FM Receiver (45 WPC)
• Pioneer CT-F900 Cassette Deck
• Pioneer HPM-60 Speakers (60W)
• Pioneer SE-2P Headphones

Then there’s the garage rig (aka “Cooter“)…

This is a Panasonic SE-3280 AM/FM Stereo Music Center (AM/FM, 8-Track, Turntable). Four matching Panasonic SB-207 Speakers (36W) pump out the sound for those long afternoons of pulling weeds or tearing apart components and cleaning pots with Deoxit on the workbench.

Anyway, those are my credentials. That’s all I got. So, take the following information/advice with a shitload of salt grains.

I often post photos of my stereo altars on my Instagram feed. I received a comment on my latest post from one @jjuniorrssobrall. Just as I once was, he was baffled as to how to hook up numerous “sound altering” components to an amp or receiver. He saw my photo and, as he has nearly the same setup, begged for help (in Spanish). Needless to say my three years of high school Spanish are buried too deeply in my subconscious—thank you Google Translate!

I truly felt his pain. I once asked this very same question on the AK Forums and was promptly referred to this thread, which apparently answers all questions, except it doesn’t. I was sent these two diagrams by one kindly soul. They are quite helpful, but are far from the complete wiring diagram for my ludicrous basement rig.

Essentially, this is the visual representation of what everyone was debating in the aforementioned AK Forum thread. I took the first approach. I call it the “sound loop”. Maybe others call it that as well. Some call it a “tape loop”. It’s a loop, regardless of what the hell you call it.

I sent these to @jjuniorrssobrall, and while he seemed appreciative (in Spanish), he begged me to provide detail of how I hooked up my main basement rig. He then sent me a photo of his stack, which was nearly identical to mine.

I thought about this. a lot. There is a line in the Lori KcKenna tune “Humble and Kind”—popularized by Tim McGraw—that goes like this:

Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you
When you get where you’re going don’t forget turn back around
And help the next one in line
Always stay humble and kind

Humble and Kind, Lori McKenna

I’ve been a fan of Lori’s for as long as I’ve had this hobby. My wife and I saw Lori at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville on 10/13/2014 long before she was famous. We didn’t have advanced tickets, so we got there three hours early and drank beers from the service station a block away and waited. We were #7 & #8 in line. Needless to say, we got in!

At that time, she was just a traveling singer songwriter trying to sell a few tunes and make a little money. She closed the Bluebird show with “Humble and Kind”—it was her encore tune and not on the setlist. It was the first time I’d ever heard it, as it had never appeared on any of her albums at that point.

And that last verse it pretty heavy, poignant.

When I got a series of follow-up DMs from @jjuniorrssobrall desperate for assistance, and I remembered how desperate (and frustrated) I once was, I decided that doing a full schematic for my basement rig was my Karmatic duty.

Without further adieu, I present: How To Hook Up Pioneer a SA-9800 + RG-2 + SR-303 + SG-9800 + CT-F1250…

I can’t technically explain how this works, but it does. The “loop” utilizes the Tape 1 component—the CT-F1250 in my case—as a switch to turn on or off all of the sound altering components. This is done by simply pressing the Tape/Source (Monitor) button on the deck and appropriately flipping the Tape Monitor & Duplicate switches on the SA-9800. Obviously, you need a tape deck with a Monitor button for this to work.

Additionally, you can switch off each sound altering component separately on the component with the respective on/off switch. I’ll explain all that in detail, as it took me forever to get everything switched/dialed properly. The basement rig is truly teenager-proof, parent-proof, and spouse-proof. I’m the only one who can even turn the damn thing on—ha!

While the RT-909 is not theoretically part of the loop, it is part of the duplicate metering display process. In other words, if you engage the loop, and you want to watch the RT-909 meters bounce in time with all of the other meters, you have to do a couple of things. Hence, I’ll include it.

I won’t include the Tuner, CD Player, or the turntables. They are not part of the loop, and you don’t need to do anything with them specifically. I’ll describe three scenarios and how the components should look in each one.

Scenario #1 – Listening to the turntable, tuner, or AUX (CD player, in my case)…

SA-9800

On the amp, the only thing you need to do to engage the sound loop is to set the Tape Monitor switch to: 1 — by doing this, you are engaging whatever is plugged into the Tape 1 inputs on the rear of the amp, which in this case is our sound loop.

Setting the Tape Monitor switch to: Off disengages the sound loop, but allows the meters to keep bouncing along with the beat.

Switching the Tape Monitor switch between 1 and Off allows to you hear the impact of all of the sound altering components on whatever noise is emanating from your speakers.

Audiophile rule: Always set the Tape Monitor switch to: Off when listening to your turntable. Anyone who would dare alter the sound of a record is a neophytic barbarian noob and does not deserve to even hear records, at all, ever—dammit!

My rule: It’s your ear, it’s your gear, do whatever sounds good to you—I’m not here to judge.

CT-F1250

First off, the Monitor toggle button has two states: Tape and Source.

• Generally speaking, you want it toggled to Tape when, not surprisingly, you are listening to a cassette.
• Generally speaking, you want it toggled to Source all other times, including when you want to hear the sound loop.

Next, there are two important volume knobs: Input/Line and Output.

• The one labelled: Output controls the volume of the output of the deck when you have the Monitor button toggled to Tape.
• The one labelled: Input/Line controls the volume of the output of the deck when you have the Monitor button toggled to Source.

If you are listening to a cassette:

• Make sure the Monitor button toggled to Tape.
• Make sure the Output knob is not turned all the way down. I’m not going to discuss what it should be set at—it definitely should not be set at 0. It does default to 6—you’ll feel a sort of click at 6—but there are plenty of discussions about this in the AK forums. If you want to waste hours of your life, read through them. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

If you are listening to…say…the tuner and want to hear the sound loop:

• Make sure the Monitor button toggled to Source.
• Make sure the Input/Line knob is not turned all the way down. I’m not going to discuss what it should be set at—it definitely should not be set at 0. Unlike the Output knob, it has no default, but there are plenty of discussions about this in the AK forums. If you want to waste hours of your life, read through them. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

RG-2

First off, the RG-2 needs to be on.

The Tape Monitor button has to be engaged (red light). On any of the sound altering components, toggling this button off will break the entire loop.

The Processor button can be toggled on or off depending on whether or not you want the RG-2 active in the loop. Toggling it off will not break the loop, it will simply take the RG-2 out of the loop.

The Input Level knob has to be set to something for the loop to function. Turning it all the way down will kill the loop. I generally set mine to 3.5, but you can experiment to your heart’s content.

SR-303

First off, the SR-303 needs to be on.

The Tape Monitor button has to be engaged (red light). On any of the sound altering components, toggling this button off will break the entire loop.

The Reverberation button can be toggled on or off depending on whether or not you want the SR-303 active in the loop. Toggling it off will not break the loop, it will simply take the SR-303 out of the loop. Sadly, it will also dim the super groovy cosmic display.

The Reverb Time and Depth knobs can be adjusted for maximum or minimum reverb. They also affect the super groovy cosmic display.

SG-9800

First off, the SG-9800 needs to be on.

The Tape Monitor button has to be engaged (red light). On any of the sound altering components, toggling this button off will break the entire loop.

The Equalizer button can be toggled on or off depending on whether or not you want the SG-9800 active in the loop. Toggling it off will not break the loop, it will simply take the SG-9800 out of the loop. Sadly, it will also dim the super groovy slider lights.

RT-909

First off, the RT-909 can be on or off, it only matters whether or not you want to see the bouncing meters. If you do, it needs to be on.

The Monitor toggle button has two states: Tape and Source. You need it set to Source if you want to see the meters undulate to the sound emanating from your speakers.

Scenario #2 – Listening to a cassette…

Everything above is the same except:

• On the SA-9800, the Tape Monitor switch needs to be set to: 1
• On the SA-9800, the Tape Duplicate switch needs to be set to: 1>2
• On the CT-F1250, the Monitor button needs to be toggled to: Tape
• On the RT-909, the Monitor button needs to be toggled to: Source

By doing this, all of the sound altering components will be in play, and the meters on the RT-909 will bounce in time with whatever cassette you are rolling on the CF-F1250.

Scenario #3 – Listening to a reel-to-reel tape…

Everything above is the same except:

• On the SA-9800, the Tape Monitor switch needs to be set to: 2
• On the SA-9800, the Tape Duplicate switch needs to be set to: 2>1
• On the RT-909, the Monitor button needs to be toggled to: Tape
• On the CT-F1250, the Monitor button needs to be toggled to: Source

By doing this, all of the sound altering components will be in play, and the meters on the CF-F1250 will bounce in time with whatever cassette you are rolling on the RT-909.

Also, on the RT-909, make sure the Output knob is turned to something other than 0.

Really, that’s all there is to it! Once you have the dozen (or so) switches and knobs dialed in properly, it all lights up like the Eiffel Tower on Christmas Eve…

—
© 2020 – ∞ B. Charles Donley

Saving My Heart For You

Out of the blue, I received the following message via FB Messenger…

I get it that no one reads this blog. I mean, I have access to the stats, so I know that NO ONE reads this blog.

However, if you are one of the one who does, you know how vital cassettes were to my survival in this particular lifetime, especially during my middle school/high school epoch. Therefore, an offer like this indeed registered on my personal Richter Scale.

The stellar human, total dude, and polymathic stud—he’s possessed of mad wood working skillz, he’s woke on podcasts, he has total nostalgia recall capabilities, and he’s hella gracious—who made the offer, just happens to live in the other neighborhood I periodically inhabit. You see, I split my time betwen Minneapolis (where my kids live) and Atlanta (where my wife lives). Trust me, you’ll understand it after I write my magnum opus and accept my academy award for “Best Adapted Screenplay”. But for now, just go with it as a “different” normal.

Anyway, being offered a two Nike shoe boxes and a Case Logic 15-cassette caddy overflowing with cassettes is not an unheard of experience for someone like me: an “audiophile” who covets all recorded music mediums (save 78s and Edison Phonograph Cylinders—gotta draw the line somewhere). But to be offered this volume and caliber of  recorded music on compact cassette tapes, which incidentally are “Better Than You Don’t Remember“, was a straight thrill—I ain’t gonna lie!

Full disclosure: when I get an offer like this, I’m torn. On one hand, I obviously want a well-curated compact cassette collection from the late ’80s—duh! On the other hand, I know what it would mean to me if I still had my own collection rather than hawking it at Down in the Valley in the early ’90s, only to turn around, literally, and buy copious amounts of used Eagles, Bob Seger, and (The) Who CDs with the proceeds.

My total dude southern neighbor assured me that “getting back into cassettes” was not on his radar, or his kids’ radars, or the radars of anyone with whom he was aware, related to, or casually associated…except me!

Yay me!

On a sunny March afternoon in ATL—sun in MSP in March is as rare as an OG cassette copy of Sublime’s Jah Won’t Pay the Bills on Skunk Records—my wifey and I swung by and picked up the magnetically coated polyester-type plastic film booty. It was a kick—I ain’t gonna lie!

Needless to say, the Pioneer mothership soundwall is located in a basement rumpus room in MSP, not in the unfinished basement storage zone in ATL.

And my big bad TOTL Pioneer CT-F1250 was exactly 1,117 miles away from the two boxes of tapes and one Case Logic caddy that I was cradling in my arms. Hence, I was going to have to endure the tedious yet familiar two hour and two minute return flight from ATL > MSP before I could hear the majestic notes of someone else’s teenage dreams.

Upon arriving back home from my trip home, I carefully unpacked all of the jewels and dropped them strategically in the open slots of one of the myriad wall-mounted Napa Valley Box Co. wooden cassette caddys that adorn my basement walls.

Tape by tape, I rolled my way through my neighbor’s teen epoch. In the process, I picked up a decent amount of music knowledge, such as…

Roger Waters’ Radio K.A.O.S. has been short shrift’d by AllMusic.

As I’ve always suspected, John Hiatt has one of those so-distinct vocal styles.

.38 Special was indeed special!

Anyway, I can’t adequately describe how delightful my trip through my latest acquisition has been. As my idol Bruce Springsteen once said…

“There is nothing so satisfying as busting the plastic seal on a new cassette, cracking open the case, and inhaling that new cassette smell.”

Actually, it was I who said that. And, older tapes present a completely wonderfully different bouquet—like that new record smell vs. an older mustier gem.

As I perused the cache of old-new stock tapes, I was struck by something.

Important.

Crucial, actually.

Among us diggers, there is a thing commonly referred to as: “record Karma”. It’s a pretty simple concept that takes a bit of time to explain and is best understood via example. I’ll give a first-hand account form my own experience, as only a first-hand experience can be accounted…

There is a Goodwill a scant three miles from our MSP home. Without getting mired in the intricacies of my custody arrangement, I see my kids every other weekend (and other days during the week). On my weekends, my daughter and I usually hit as many thrift stores as we can, and we hit ’em hard! We are ninja-like in our dismantling of any given outlet, and we know each store’s strengths and weaknesses.

On one particular trip to our local Goodwill, I ran across a freshly donated collection of AOR standards hastily crammed into the makeshift LP rack—actually a repurposed magazine rack—at the rear corner of the store. We’re talking High Infidelity, Against the Wind, On the Border, and so on, and etc…

Normally, despite previously owning at least a half-dozen different copies of each of these LPs at any given point since my 2009 vinyl Renaissance sparked my thrifting Odyssey, I’d snap them up for any number of rational (and irrational) reasons. Mainly, I’d snap them up strictly on principle. But, on that particular day, I was struck by the need to contribute to, rather than draw from, the well of record Karma.

I left that vein of vinyl gold and platinum—every LP in the run had been certified gold or platinum (many times over in some cases)—in that rickety white metal magazine rack for the next teenager, hipster, or oldster to discover. I wanted those records, but someone else likely needed ’em. I hope whomever needed ’em got ’em.

To my simplistic way of thinking, I believe that if you stack up enough of these displays of restraint, grace, and gratitude, really cool shit like your neighbor gifting you like 75 cassettes happens.

That’s what I’m going with anyway.

Thanks Matt! Your tapes will be graciously absorbed into my collection of 900+ cassettes and live to roll another day…many other days in some cases (like that Warren Zevon tape).

—
© 2020 – ∞ B. Charles Donley

Pioneer’s Guide to HiFi Excellence

Building The Perfect Beast

Building the Perfect Beast is the second studio solo album by Don Henley, the lead vocalist and drummer for the Eagles. The album was released on 19 November 1984 on the Geffen label.
– Wikipedia

My affinity for Mr. Henley is well-documented. And so I felt that it was apropos to code-name this little endeavor: “Operation Perfect Beast”. You see, ever since we purchased a home back in the autumn of 2013, I’ve nursed this incoherent vision of the perfect music appreciation room. I’ve seen thousands of digital silver-gelatins featuring fantastic altars to the Gods of recorded music. Much of this renewed interest in vintage audio (mine included) has come on the heels of the vinyl revival. More than jealousy, envy or even mild hatred, these snapshots spurred me to eschew my incoherence and actualize the opaque schematic in my mind.

We finally moved into our new-to-us home this June after an endless renovation. Long before (and ever since) the move-in day, I’ve been frantically putting each thing that clutters our lives into its ideal newest final resting place. Afflicted with Precision Arrangement Syndrome (PAS)–I’m incapable of simply putting stuff away. Instead, I incessantly jockey, jostle and jell the artifacts of a lifetime into some illusory paragon known only to me. This often requires numerous iterations to complete depending on the primary task-at-hand and each accompanying sub-task-at-hand. My wife finds this ailment baffling, as does practically everyone else.

With the stuff that necessarily comprises a home, like cookware, software and underwear, this is not a particularly difficult process. Sure, it can be arduous, but not-so-much difficult. However, when it came to the space that would be my music appreciation chamber, my “man cave” (a term I loathe), my Rumpus Room, the PAS metastasized. I can recall numerous moments staring out into the landfill occupying my garage stalls and thinking…It’s out there somewhere – that thing I need. I wonder if I’ll ever find it? Shit, who cares if I ever find it at this point? It’ll turn up someday; it has to. The garage can’t stay like this forever. Fuck it–I see some vodka in the corner.

I’ve probably spent more time locating, constructing, arranging the various components of this solitary 12′ x 10′ x 7′ x 6′ (it’s L-shaped) room than all others in the house combined, squared. Throughout all of the iterations, I always knew that I had to build a custom stereo rack. And yet, I also knew I needed to listen to my music like yesterday–dammit! Hence, I just threw the old rack into the new room and proclaimed: “That’s good for now!”

On or about August 9th, Rumpus Room v1.0 looked like this in pano mode…

And while the trusty old (hacked/modified) gray metal tempered glass rack was surely functional (after I dealt with the uneven floor issue), I still could not abide the impostor occupying the space where my dream rack was meant to stand. I did my best to ignore this uncomfortable, disappointing and glaring anomaly in an otherwise ecclesiastical sonic arcade.

Meanwhile, back in July, amid dueling 5x eBay bucks promotions and PayPal Credit no-interest deals, I purchased 100 1/2″ steel floor flanges. In case you haven’t priced these out at a big-box hardware establishment, they are about $5 each. Thankfully, I found a bulk dealer on eBay that was offering them at a considerable discount. I had to strike fast, as there were only a pair of 50-flange lots remaining costing less than half of the big-box price-tag. I took a photo, not only as inspiration, but also to remind me I had just dropped $170 on 50 lbs. of steel that was decaying somewhere on my garage floor. Now, I had to build that rack; I had committed to it, at least financially…

Meanwhile, in a desperate attempt to find the penultimate rack for my Pioneer Silver Stereo components and save myself weekends of painstaking construction, I Googled hundreds (possibly thousands) of pre-fab racks. I perused racks of every shape, size and dimension. As I evaluated rack after rack in full LCD color, the same issues persisted:

1. I wanted each component on a separate shelf
2. The height of each component varies
3. Therefore, I need numerous infinitely adjustable shelves

You’d think such a rack exists, right? Well…it does if, like most sane individuals, you have four components + one turntable. If instead you are slightly less sane and have eight components + a pair of turntables, the prospects shrink considerably. It’s like a minivan that works great until the fifth kid is born…and then you’re looking at a minibus. I promise you—with one exception, I was not going to spend $600 + shipping on a rack I could not first see in-person—no such rack exists.

OK, I’m kinda not telling the whole truth. If you are willing to compromise and purchase a modular horizontal rack system, you have plenty of options for an 8×2 component system. Here’s an example…

All long, I wanted a wall—nay a monolith—of sound. I had little interest in a pony wall of sound. Thus, it was settled: I would build the wall! Only there was no chance “of course Mama’s gonna help build the wall” or daddy, or anyone else for that matter.

So for starters, I constructed a miniature prototype. Surprisingly, it seemed like a plausible design—I was gonna build the bitch!

 

Over the past few weekends, my kids have endured countless trips to big box hardware establishments, hours of me in the garage and countless profanities floating through the air. But at least the project was well underway, and there was certainly no turning back. My daughter lent me her bear “Bubbles” for moral support. His assistance in that capacity was incalculable. Bubbles has a unique talent: he can sit on anything and not fall over. This was key to his ability to offer me moral support from numerous locations throughout the garage and basement.

This was not an easy project (to be brutally honest). In fact, if I had to do it all over again, I’d buy the two racks from Target, screw them together and take up quilttng. But last night, the build was (mercifully) complete. I swear this rack weighs 150 lbs. I managed to lug it down the stairs without assistance. I was beyond determined to get this thing hooked up and the minor detail of getting it down the stairs all by myself was sure as hell not going to be my Waterloo. 13 stairs and a gallon of sweat later, I had the thing in my Rumpus Room. I loaded each component into its allotted space, and spun it around to meticulously hook everything to everything else.

About three hours, much splicing, some shimming and a lot of cussing later, I had it level and lit. My dream rack was alive!

The journey of 1,000 steps is on or about 998. Sure, there are a few accouterments in the Rumpus Room that could be painted to look more ravishing. Yea, the floor could use an additional coat of concrete paint to make its sheen shine. And yup, I need to file a few LPs currently residing in crates on the floor. But I shot a new panoramic this evening of the Rumpus Room v2.0. It gave me pause…then, bliss.

In case you are curious, Part 1 – The first notes to pour over the wall of sound were from the Sturgill Simpson masterpiece “Turtles All the Way Down“ – on vinyl, of course. It was fucking fantastic…!

In case you are curious, Part 2 – allow me to introduce the band (right side to top to bottom):

• Dual 1019 Turntable / Record Changer (da Beast)
• Pioneer PL-560 Quartz-PLL Full-Automatic Turntable (da Plow)
• Pioneer DT-500 Audio Digital Timer
• Pioneer RG-2 Dynamic Processor
• Pioneer SR-303 Reverberation Amplifier
• Pioneer SG-9800 12-Band Graphic Equalizer
• Pioneer SA-9800 Stereo Amplifier (da Heart)
• Pioneer TX-9800 Quartz Locked Stereo Tuner
• Pioneer P-D070 CD Player
• Pioneer CT-F1250 Stereo Cassette Tape Deck
• Pioneer CS-T7000 210W 8Ω Speakers
• Pioneer CS-520 60W 8Ω Speakers

—
© 2015 – ∞ B. Charles Donley

 

Pioneer Stereo Serial Number Date Codes

A Pioneer CT-F1250, A Rebuild, A Saga

Blake Donley
Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 2:06 PM
To: Tim

Hello Tim!

I was referred to you from the fellas at Pacific Stereo.

I have a CT-F1250 that was finally diagnosed by a local vintage audio repair shop as having a bad motor. My local shop tried to replace it with one that would fit and found it was not a perfect fit. I know these motors can be rebuilt, but I am not confident enough to undertake that task in a DIY manner. Do you offer any type of service in regards to CT-F1250 motor rebuild or replacement? If so, do you accept units shipped to you (I’m in Minneapolis). If so, what’s a ballpark on the cost of such an undertaking? Thanks for your time.

~~BlaKe~~
Tim
Thu, Jul 7, 2016 at 11:33 PM
To: Blake Donley

Yes, I can repair or replace that motor if you ship the unit to Music Technology.

To do that repair would be about $250 .

The cost could be more if it needs new belts (3), new pinch rollers or an idler tire.

Also, the heads in theses decks often have some wear and that means it may not be 100% as far as specs. New heads are not available. The record calibration system on this deck is not well designed so if you want to record on this deck, it’s best for me to set the deck up internally for a tape so you don’t need to use the cal system.

-Tim
Blake Donley
Wednesday, July 06, 2016 3:06 PM
To: Tim

Tim –

10,000 thank you’s for your reply!

So I had this deck serviced three separate times by the same techs up here at Alex Audio & Video. I believe they replaced belts and rollers and rebuilt the idler. That said, you come highly recommended, so I trust your judgement.

Basically, I want this baby as close to new/spec as possible for a 40-year-old deck. As long as you give me a head’s up as to what the repair and cost will be after you give it the once-over, I’ll be happy to have you work on it.

I will likely never record on this system, so no heroic measures are needed along those lines.

My next questions is: so how does the process work? Do I just mail you the deck, you assess it and send me an estimate? I’m cool with whatever your preferred approach. Just let me know.

This deck is the sound-loop anchor of a stack of Pioneer silver I’ve been collecting for six years. Plus I have over 400 cassettes that I can’t currently play. I really just want is serviced and serviced by someone that knows what they’re doing. I’m quite excited you will work on it.

Thanks!
Tim
Fri, Jul 8, 2016 at 9:32 PM
To: Blake Donley

You just mail it in with a $75 deposit check. That 75 gets applied to the repair bill once the deck is finished.

And as I mentioned, that deck will very likely have a fair amount of head wear, so it won’t be “like a new deck” when I’m done.. It will sound decent, however, and be reliable As long as you are ok with that. New heads are not available.

Pack it well! No hard styrofoam or peanuts. Lots of soft padding.

-Tim
Blake Donley
Sat, Jul 9, 2016 at 10:11 PM
To: Tim

Sounds most excellent.

It’ll be in the mail Monday morning.

Thanks Tim!!!
Blake Donley
Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 12:49 PM
To: Tim

The unit shipped today UPS Ground; they said Friday it will arrive. I told them no Styrofoam. It is insured in case they goof up the shipping. There is a $75 check enclosed along with a printout of the page with your instructions.

If you needed to officially enter my information as a customer, it is as follows:

Blake Donley
…
…
…
…
…

Just let me know the grand total for getting her back to fightin’ condition—thanks Tim!
Tim
Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 7:21 PM
To: Blake Donley
Sounds good. I’ll keep an eye out for it.

-Tim
Tim
Wed, Aug 3, 2016 at 9:53 PM
To: Blake Donley

Estimated total is $530 with an estimated balance due of $455 (since you already paid 75).

-new reel motor
-2 new pinch rollers (they are 100% shot)
-3 new belts (they are the wrong size)
-repair tape guides (deck is damaging tapes)
-you would have to buy the belts from Marrs for $30 (not included in estimate)
-playback only

Let me know if you want to proceed.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Wed, Aug 3, 2016 at 10:41 PM
To: Tim

So if I buy the belts would I have them shipped to you?
Tim
Wed, Aug 3, 2016 at 11:01 PM
To: Blake Donley

Correct. Have the belts shipped to the shop.

-Tim
Blake Donley
Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 8:25 AM
To: Tim

Sounds like a plan. If you can get me the info on which belts to purchase and the website where I am to purchase them, the rest sounds good. I am already invested in getting this deck to work, so let’s do it.
Tim
Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 6:43 PM
To: Blake Donley

Go here:

http://www.marrscommunications.com/pioneer-supreme-cassette-belts-10-year-guarantee

Now in the box that says “brand/model” enter Pioneer CT-F1250 and then hit “buy”

Hopefully they can ship direct to my shop. Perhaps email them first about that.

-Tim
Blake Donley
Sun, Aug 7, 2016 at 12:21 PM
To: Tim

I ordered them to be shipped to:

… c/o Blake Donley
…
…
…

Hopefully you will receive them this week or next.
Tim
Sun, Aug 7, 2016 at 8:13 PM
To: Blake Donley

Sounds good. I have the new reel motor on order.

-Tim

Tim
Tue, Sep 6, 2016 at 9:19 PM
To: Blake Donley

Still waiting on the belts.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Tue, Sep 6, 2016 at 10:04 PM
To: Tim

I know they were having issues with flooding down there. I’ll ask for a status.
Tim
Tue, Sep 6, 2016 at 10:11 PM
To: Blake Donley

The new reel motor has arrived, but not installed or tested.. I’m going to wait for the belts before I do that.

-Tim
Blake Donley
Tue, Sep 6, 2016 at 10:13 PM
To: Tim

Sounds good. I sent them a request for status. They did update their site to say as of 8/30, orders were taking 7 days. I assume mine got lost in the chaos, but I forwarded them the paypal transaction. Hopefully you’ll get the belts soon.
Tim
Tue, Sep 20, 2016 at 9:53 PM
To: Blake Donley

Have they received payment form you? As in your CC or Paypal has been deducted the cost of the belts.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Tue, Sep 20, 2016 at 10:52 PM
To: Tim

Yep, I paid with PayPal and have the receipt. I have sent them the receipt each time I have inquired (which is not five times). Today I simply asked them to email back and acknowledge the receipt. I have not heard anything as of yet. I’m assuming I won’t until they finish their move.
Blake Donley
Thu, Sep 22, 2016 at 5:42 PM
To: Tim

I finally heard from Marrs today via email. Someone there forward my inquiry to someone else there and copied me. I have not heard from the someone else yet…
Tim
Thu, Sep 22, 2016 at 6:46 PM
To: Blake Donley

If you want to just get your money back, I can install belts from another company. Or you can wait for Marrs. Either works.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Sat, Sep 24, 2016 at 12:41 PM
To: Tim

I’ll wait…for now…only because it took them six weeks to acknowledge the order. Lord knows how long a refund would take…

I’ll let you know when I hear from them–nothing as of yet.
Tim
Sat, Oct 22, 2016 at 9:22 PM
To: Blake Donley

I have the belts from Marrs now. Will proceed with the repair. Perhaps a week to finish it all.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Sun, Oct 23, 2016 at 7:52 AM
To: Tim

Thanks for the update!
Tim
Sun, Oct 23, 2016 at 10:21 PM
To: Blake Donley

BTW, the new reel motor modification works great. You will have the first CTF1250 with a brand-new, higher-quality reel motor installed. It is not NOS (new old stock). The original reel motors were very unreliable and rebulding them often did not work at all or it was something that would eventually fail again. It was not a good-quality motor to begin with.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Mon, Oct 24, 2016 at 7:44 AM
To: Tim

I’m giddy! I have over 800 cassettes just waiting to be heard again. Thanks for all the hard work and patience!
Tim
Mon, Oct 24, 2016 at 7:03 PM
To: Blake Donley

Another first for this 1250 repair is that it will have new Teac pinch rollers. Previous pinch roller options were poor: 1 recover the original rollers at Terry’s. Those did not work well due to the small size. Option 2 was new rollers from Germany. Those are poor quality and super-expensive. These new Teac rollers are very high quality and have a good price.

-Tim

Tim
Mon, Oct 24, 2016 at 11:37 PM
To: Blake Donley

It is done, but I should test run it for two days before you pick it up. I will let you know.

Recommend you keep Dolby off and EQ switch set to STD. This is to compensate for the play head wear issue that I told you about (that all old 1250 decks have). It will give you more highs (treble).

-Tim

Blake Donley
Tue, Oct 25, 2016 at 5:18 PM
To: Tim

Awesome! Thanks for everything!
Tim
Tue, Oct 25, 2016 at 8:56 PM
To: Blake Donley

Also, it depends on which type of tapes you are playing. If they have Dolby B encoding, they may sound better with Dolby off. If they were recorded with CrO2 EQ, they may sound better with STD EQ. Again, this is due to play head wear.

-Tim

Tim
Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 12:52 AM
To: Blake Donley

It’s ready for pickup. See hours below.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 9:47 AM
To: Tim

Thanks Tim!

If you recall (and it’s been forever, so you probably don’t), I shipped the unit into y’all from MN. I will need it shipped back…

Blake Donley
…
…

Just let me know the balance (plus return shipping), and I can call in and pay it.

THanks!
Tim
Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 8:48 PM
To: Blake Donley
Yes. I forgot it was mailed in.

It is packed and ready to go.

Kat will call you for payment.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 2:24 PM
To: Tim
Hey Tim,

I got the deck back today and put it back into the stack. When I went to fire it up, nothing much worked on it. Here is a video of FFWD/RWD/Play

I just hooked up the RCA cables and plugged it in. Was there something else I needed to do?
Tim
Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 9:20 PM
To: Blake Donley

Make sure the tapes are good. If you put a Bic pen in the tape hub and verify that the tape turns freely.

If the tape turns freely, then the deck must have been damaged in shipping. Unfortunately, that happens one or twice a year when we ship things out.

I test ran the deck after repair for about 20 hours with many different tapes and they all played flawlessly, so it was 100% functional when packed.

If your tapes all test good, then ship the deck back. Use a much bigger box with more packing this time. The box and packing you sent the deck in with was marginal.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 9:30 PM
To: Tim

I tried about a two-dozen tapes in hopes it was a bad cassette. All the same…

I too noticed the half-assed packing job. I walked into a UPS store (with the bare deck) and said: “This needs to make to VA w/o a scratch on it. Please pack it carefully.” I paid for them to pack it. What I got back, which I can only assume is what you received and sent back to me, made me ever so sad. I’m going to pack it myself—so much for leaving it to the “professionals” (a pair of college kids on summer break from the looks of them).

I’ll be in the mail on Monday. Thanks!
Tim
Fri, Nov 11, 2016 at 9:40 PM
To: Blake Donley

I found a brake lever was knocked off it’s track. A strong jolt during shipping likely caused this. I have fixed it so that won’t happen again. Deck plays tapes perfectly now.

I want to test run the deck for about 5 days to be sure everthing else is good and stays good.

I will not ship it back to you it that box and packing. I will see if we have a good shippng box for it in our shop

-Tim

Blake Donley
Fri, Nov 11, 2016 at 9:53 PM
To: Tim

Awesome! Thanks so much!
Blake Donley
Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 10:00 AM
To: Tim

Just an FYI. I am leaving for vacation on Tuesday 11/22, and I will be gone for 14 days. If possible, could you ship it in time to arrive on Monday 11/21. I’ll sacrifice a full 5 days of testing for having it arrive before I depart.

Thanks so much!
Tim
Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 8:02 PM
To: Blake Donley

Sorry. Can’t do that. It needs a full 5 day test and then another full bench test before I ship. Also may take a while to find or buy a new shipping box.

I don’t want you to have another defect show up when you get it back. This is a very old deck and they must be checked carefully.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 2:31 PM
To: Tim

OK, I appreciate the diligence. Is it then possible to delay shipment until 11/30? I’m just worried that the unit will be delivered when I am not there and after three attempts they will send it back.

Tim
Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 8:46 PM
To: Blake Donley

Yes, I can delay shipping till 11/30.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 9:55 AM
To: Tim

Thanks!

Tim
Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 8:14 PM
To: Blake Donley

I was test-running the deck and it ate one of my tapes for the first time ever.. It has not repeated that, however. I have run about 12 tapes through it with zero problem. I need to run it some more to find the problem. May take about a week to find the problem because it is very intermittent.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 8:25 PM
To: Tim

Sounds good. Thanks for the update.
Tim
Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 12:22 AM
To: Blake Donley

I could not duplicate the tape-eating incident. I lubed and adjusted some items, but never did see the deck eat a tape again. Played about 20 tapes in a row with no problem at all.

Unit is packed in a new, larger box with better packing.

Re-boxing fee is $60. We will pay for return shipping.

Kat will call you for CC payment very soon.

-Tim

Blake Donley
Saturday, December 23, 2016 9:25 PM
To: Tim

IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can’t thank you enough for everything. So I have a wonky CT-F900…interested?

—
Copyright © 2018 – ∞ Blake Charles Donley

 

Pioneer Electronics Audio Components (1982) Commercial