Vintage Procom PR-400 Receiver

 My blog has been very quite as of late as I have not really found to much cool gear worth bringing home, most of the time it is the black plastic stuff that is everywhere on the market.

I did come across this super cool Procom PR-400 which is a Rotel SX-200 made between 1970-1972. These are made in Japan for Charles W. Pointon, most likely an OE brand under their own name. From my internet sleuthing Charles Pointon brought in Gerrard turntables into Canada.

This little monster in rated at 10WPC so nothing to upset the neighbours, and I like the low powered type amps.

It has a Sherwood/Marantz look to it and build quality, made in Japan. 

The bulbs are burnt out, the pots needed cleaning and the nice wood veneer case needs a bit of a redo with sand paper and a wood stain.

Not much information on the Procom series but lots if you Google Rotel from this era. I look forward to getting to listen to this at some point.

A/D/S B8 Monitor Speakers

Locally, this pair of A/D/S B8 Monitors was listed and the price came down to a level that I like to buy really good speakers at.

This pair is in exceptional condition, with an eight inch woofer and the famous Braun dome tweeters. These are similar to a pair of A/D/S L520's from the late 70's early 80s' only slightly smaller in the cabinet size, I would probably say they are the modern equivalent of the Braun L500. I have had a pair of the A/D/S in the past including the L420's and the smaller L300C.

 

 

These A/D/S Monitors are super smooth as expected with nice rich bass tones and very open it the mids and highs, of course I am running this on a 4 watt tube amp and the sound is fantastic. These really remind me of a pair of NAD Model 20's I had many years back, very similar sound.

I did come across a pair of A/D/S L8E Monitors many years back and one tweeter was shot so I ended up parting the other tweeter out and saving the woofers, I am happy to come across this pair of similar speakers.

These are amazing 8 inch two way speakers and I think they may be sticking around for awhile.

Speakerholic, Google Ads and Seva Canada

There has been a slight change in the looks of my blog as Google has threatened me with de-monetization of my blog without pointing out what I was doing that was in violation of their policies.

 

In reality, I use Google Ads with their preferred layout in the back end of blogspot, the crazy thing is this ad revenue amounts to about $100.00/year or $0.30/day. Somewhere, someone has decided that I am in violation of something without pointing out what this is. It is kinda like someone telling you that you broke the law and they do not cite which law it is.

All I can think is it cost Google more money to flag my blog than I will ever get paid, I guess some new intern or employee needs to meet a quota of violations and my blog just happens to be one that day.

The $100/year this blog generated went to my favourite charity Seva Canada, where they can do cataract operations in Nepal for $50.00 per eye, and over 90% of the funds are used on the ground.

 I have added a link in this post and in the column on the top right if you feel inclined to help out the less fortunate.

I thank everyone for their support of this blog and the emails I get in regards to your own personal HiFi journey's.

BTW I never really did like the Google ads on my blog and I think it looks cooler now that they are off the site, so I thank you Google for whatever your notice was about, this site is too cool for your ads.

If you do make a donation, let me know in the comment section.

 

Akai SW-7ii Speakers

 Another super cool speaker presented itself to me yesterday, the Akai SW7-ii speakers. These little gems from 1980 are super rare to find and pack a huge punch, they are great for tube amps as near field monitors.

Rated at 92db at 1 watt, they work exceptionally well with a single ended tube amp, which I am running them with. These speakers measure 9 inches high and about 5.75 inches wide and 5 inches deep with a 4.5 inch woofer and 1 inch dome tweeter, they do not do bass very deep but they are smooth throughout the mids and highs.

The white cone looks like the same as a Yamaha NS-10 where they cut a flat white paper cone curl and glue the edge together. I have had other Akai speakers that use Foster drivers, but I am not sure if these are Foster drivers.

They have a super cool look to them with the wire mesh and silver ring and they are mirror imaged, something that you do not see much in such a small speaker. I opened them up and added more insulation and the woofers have huge magnets.

 

There is little information on these on the internet and from what I see on the market the still command a decent premium and for good reason. The midrange vocals are crystal clear and they are super efficient so you get to hear everything.

Akai does not get very much acclaim in the vintage audio world and I have had a few of their products grace my blog, these speakers I think will be around for a bit in my collection, I really like what I am hearing from these Mini Speakers that pack a huge punch.

Super sweet little speakers.......

Sept, 7th.....A little update, I have been running these little speakers in a near field setting with a Single Ended tube amp and these speakers disappear, the sound stage is phenomenal, not deep on the bass but they are super smooth in the mids and highs. These are incredible little high efficiency speakers, I would love to match them with a sub woofer.

Paradigm Mini MK2 Speakers

A speaker that is always welcome into my collection is the Paradigm Mini Mk2. This little gem of High Fidelity is the second generation of the Paradigm 3SE Mini that I have had many pairs of in the past.

This little speaker sound way larger than its' size and I am happy to have another pair of these.

 

This pair of Paradigms are in pretty good condition for their age and the foam surrounds are in great condition, almost as if they have been refoamed already. 

I can not say enough about these little speakers besides they need to be auditioned to hear how good these speakers are. I originally bought a pair of these in the late 80's and sold them, I always regretted selling them back then and I am always happy to re experience these speakers.

Rotel RA-820 Amplifier

On my audio journey, in the early days I went through many Japanese amplifiers and receivers, including a Sansui (not the sought after versions), a JVC, then I bough a Harmon/Kardon (HK330i) receiver, finally bringing me to a Rotel AR-840BX that I bought in 1985.

I came across this little gem, a Rotel RA-820, from early 1980's. This was from a time of hi quality amplifiers for less money, and this amp competed against the NAD 3020, which has it's own cult following. There is a little history on the early Rotel series here.

Rated at 25 watts per channel and very much a minimalist amplifier that does not get in the way of the sound. Like the NAD and my earlier 840-BX these Rotels punch way above the rated watts per channel when turned up, lots of head room, easily doubling their rated RMS per channel.

This unit I picked up is in awesome condition from a guy downsizing his audio system. 

I currently have this running with the Dynaco A25's and this is a great combination for Hi-Fi. I always like the low watt entry level units, that are less complicated and offer great value. This Rotel was a great score and rare to come across in such great condtion.

Dynaco A25 Speakers

My keen eye spotted a local pair of Dynaco A25 speakers offered up locally with no labels on the ad, I recognized them by the backs of the speakers.

Back in 2017 I had a pair of Dynaco A25's and in 2016 I had a pair of Dynaco A35's and now I get this great pair of 25's to listen to again.

 

 

 This pair of A25's are in great shape with all corners square and the grills in perfect condition. The usual sanding and re oiling to cabinets will be in order. I currently have these hooked to my 2 watt tube amp in my office and I am loving them. 

The bass is better than the KLH Model 17's I have, on par with Advents that I have had in the past. I may replace the crossover cap with a new Solen one.

I am happy to have these speakers again and I think they will be sticking around for awhile.

November 11th update, I have replaces the original capacitor with a Solen polypropylene cap and sanded the cabinets, a coating of Circa 1850 Terra Nova Naturoil has brought the cabinets back to their glory.

The water stain is going to stay in one speaker and the small scratches have been smoothed out pretty good in the other.