EPI 100V speakers complete rebuild

Along with the Marantz SR1000 I picked up last week also came a mint pair of EPI 100V speakers.

This pair was in incredible shape besides the rotted foams, I decided that it was worth spending the $50.00 in decent Solen Caps, 12 gauge speaker wire, proper replacement foams and gold plated banana terminals.

If one speaker that I regularly come across and is worth the effort in re building it is EPI speakers. these speakers are really simple but with a few tweaks sound absolutely amazing.

First off here is the speaker upon arrival.

Here is the parts laid out for the rebuild, I have already glued one edge of the foams to the woofer.

 
The original caps ans whimpy speaker wire. These have to go as this is the weakest part of the system.

The original spring clips were bypassed with new gold plated banana plugs.

Inside I have the new Solen 10uf caps soldered in and ready to go.

Meanwhile I finished the re foam of the woofers using a 50Hz sine tone method with my iPhone and an amp. This will center the woofer without cutting the dust cap off and shimming.

Before I put everything back together more dampening material was added to help with the back wave from the woofer.

Now put everything back together and enjoy the openness and musicality of these amazing speakers.

 

Marantz SR-1000 Receiver

Another vintage and a first for this blog is a Marantz product that arrived today.

The Marantz SR-1000 receiver was at the end of the era for the great Marantz and was still owned by Superscope, some say this was the beginning of the Philips days, this product was on the cusp.

Although the build quality is probably not as high as the 22XX series it still has all the hallmark signatures and styling of the earlier Marantz products.

This unit is rated at 20 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 25 watts per channel at 4 ohms.The power meters peak at 40 WPC 8ohms and 80WPC at 4 ohms.

More on the listening notes to follow.

Included in the purchase was another mint pair of this blogs favorite EPI 100V speakers. These will get the royal treatment including a full internal upgrade to Solen 10uf caps and proper internal wiring to banana plugs and new foam surrounds, the usual for this audiophile.

Update:

This unit has been powering a pair of 4 ohm Braun L1030's and sounds wonderful and is relatively stress free to the half volume level.  This is a very nice sounding 20WPC receiver that would make a great entry level unit for those just getting into vinyl.

The looks are absolutely gorgeous for an entry level unit, ignore what little is said about this unit on other audio sites this receiver is very open and full, the bass, mid range and treble are spot on along with the imaging.

Aurex SA-5000/Toshiba SA-5000 Receiver

This fine Toshiba SA-5000 re branded as Aurex SA-5000 was a recent gem of a find.When I picked it up the guy said a channel cuts in and out.

I opened it up and gave the pots and switches a good blast with De-Oxit and it has been giving me smooth uncoloured sound for a few days now.

Some say that Aurex was up market Toshiba line, I believe it was probably a house brand for a large retailer as there is no difference between the Aurex SA-5000 and the Toshiba SA-5000.

As far as brands go Toshiba was on top of their game in television in the 80's but their audio line is very far under the radar. Toshiba prided itself on quality and it really shows in this receiver.

Aesthetically it is attractive and the 50WPC is warm, detailed and a pleasure to listen to for hours on end.
The sound stage is spot on and works well all my speakers in the collection. What a treat.

Further specs can be found over at HiFi Engine

Bose 301 Speakers

I picked up a trashed pair of original Bose 301 speakers this week, not that I am a Bose fan, I had a few spare drivers to get these in working order again. The tweeters were fine but the woofers were beyond repair.

I had a spare set of EPI 100T/E woofers that I dropped in along with a CTS 2T2 phenolic ring tweeter.

The crossover I left as is as there was a 2.7uf metal polyester film cap with 5% tolerance, I was not going to invest any more money in these speakers.

The end result is they are now cranking pretty good in a store as I donated them for a greater cause. (They were not worth selling).

Mission 700 Leading Edge upgraded again

I usually do not upgrade an already upgraded crossover....but the Mission 700 Leading Edge paired with the Rotel RX-830 receiver sounds pretty damn nice that I thought I would squeeze a bit more clarity out of the system by upping the caps to Solen polypropylene 5% caps.

Also I doubled the acoustic filling in the back of the speaker to take away a the small remnants of boominess, now this system is as clear as a bell. It is all that I have been listening to lately.

Speakerholic's guide to quality vintage speakers

Okay, okay...you are finally buying some vinyl records at $10-$20 a pop and on the "vinyl sounds better" bandwagon, but does it really on that crappy system you bought?

I have had young hipsters tell me how good their Akai speakers sound and I usually say have you heard them against another speaker?......Crickets is usually the answer. I even donated this pair of JVC SK-202 speakers and the young fellows were blown away by how good the sound was.

I gave these speakers away because they are not worth selling. In fact these were the cheapest built speakers that I have come across in  along time.

There are two immediate upgrades you can do to your stereo to get the best sound, the first and best upgrade is the speakers. It is the easiest and most profound upgrade you can make. The second upgrade after you have a decent pair of speakers is the amplifier, a decent amp can compliment a great pair of speakers.

After these two upgrades the laws of diminishing returns start to apply. The next place to spend money may be on the cartridge on your turntable and a good set of speaker wire.

Not all stereo equipment from the 70's and early 80's is golden, there was a lot of crap produced during these times also as major manufactures had some price point systems and rack systems to meet the consumer demands.

So here goes on the type of speakers not to buy..First the JVC SK line as pictured above..Absolute shit.

Here is an example of a pair of Akai speakers that would be at home beside the curb.

Or a pair of Technics.

Here is a pair of Fisher speakers with crappy cone mid range and tweeters, complete with the frequency graph to convince you that they sound smooth.

Any speaker that has a little frequency graph attached to the front or rear baffle is also a pass.

I see lots of this type of speaker being overpriced on Craigslist waiting for unsuspecting buyers to pay too much for their crap because it is now old enough to consider vintage.

So, what does that leave you as a guide as to which speakers are worth the pursuit. Anything that is written on this blog or the Seventies Stereo Blog is a good starting point.

 In fact any Japanese speakers besides a few of the higher end offerings from Pioneer (HPM series), Sony (SS-G sereis), Yamaha (NS higher end 3 way's) are worth seeking out.

I was going to sell a young lad at work a nicely paired Rotel receiver with a recently recapped Mission 700 Leading Edge speakers that I re capped with Solen caps, but no... he had to drive an hour in each direction to buy a BCP (Black Plastic Crap) Technics rack system for $90, because he thought it was good deal and he did not want to spend more that what he paid 5 records for. Funny that you would buy 5 records at $20.00 each yet play them on a crappy stereo that costs $90.00.

So what speakers are meant to be avoided?

Anything from Kenwood, Sansui, Fisher, JVC, Technics, Sanyo, Pioneer (except the HPM series), Sony (except some rare SS-E or SS-G Series)  In fact most Japanese brands should be glossed over with the exception of some 3 way Yamaha's. Glitzy speakers with a frequency graph attached to front are also a indicator of pure crap.

Current Collection

Left to right
 NAD Model 30
Mission 700 Leading Edge
Mission 770 Freedom IV
Camber 2.5
B&W D5
Dual CL390
B&W DM100
Visonik Euro 7's
Angstrom Radix 300

All great speakers......Wow!! What a pleasure.