I know we have a few threads going specifically about vinyl and record players, but I wanted to get one going that serves as a catch-all for ALL things Home Audio. This can be for home stereo components, home theater stuff, and everything in between.
One of the reasons I wanted to start this one was from a recent acquisition. I have been looking for a cassette deck to add to my office hi-fi stack for a while, and if you have tried finding a working cassette deck in the past few years, you've probably found that 90% of them out there don't work due to stretched or broken belts. I bought a bag of belts online a few months back and have been waiting for a decent deck to come along, knowing it would need repair. That brings me to yesterday: I happened to be in one of my favorite record stores and noticed a couple of Pioneer cassette decks behind the counter. Owner of the store said he just pulled them from storage, and if they worked, they were $30/ea. Well, neither one worked. So he gave me one for free!
It's a Pioneer CT-W103, which is an entry level, basic unit from 1994 that was likely packaged with a complete system. It matches my Kenwood from 1995 pretty well aesthetically. While I'd like a full logic unit eventually, an entry level Pioneer for free is not something I was going to pass up.
So, I decided to crack it open today.
5 screws and you can access everything.
Since this is a basic unit, it has one motor that runs both decks in the middle of the mechanism. Not only were the belts broken, they had decomposed into this black tar goop, which was all over everything! I cleaned that up the best I could.
After popping some new belts on, I confirmed the motor and all the gears/pulleys did their thing.
And after much trial and error with finding the right size belts, we have a working cassette deck! The left side works fine, but I think I need to crack it open and find another belt for the other side that's a little smaller, as it plays a little slow. I tested it out with a few cassettes, and it sounds as good as cassettes sound. I still have all of my tapes from back in the day, and I can't wait to revisit some old favorites. Sounds like 1987 in here!
Quick update on the Pioneer cassette deck:
One of the belts I used was too long, causing it to bind up and slow down the left side mechanism and jam up the right mechanism. I swapped to a smaller belt, and all is good! Thing sounds pretty great (for a cassette deck) and now plays at the proper speed on both sides. Been having a ton of fun going back into my old cassettes and cranking stuff I haven't heard in years.
Good job, can't beat that for free!
I haven't had a good system for a while but am looking at trying to set something up soon. I have the components, just need the space and time. However, I do have a nice "library" sounds setup (small speakers, CD player, and receiver) that I should take pics of; it looks cool.
I've started building audio stuff. Sounds swanky, but it's really easy with kits from websites. I don't know how to select components, but I know how to solder and do woodworky things.
So rewarding.
I made this bluetooth speaker for Hot for Teacher for Christmas this year
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Is that from Parts Express? I'm thinking about making this cool "giraffe" themed box that came with some tasty scotch in it into a bluetooth speaker. They have a similar kit with two 4" drivers, the amplifier and batteries. I did some measuring and just to be sure made up the speaker support board to be sure it would fit. The box cover has holes in it so I can use it as a grille. If it's Parts Express curious on how the kit was? Thanks!
My home theater uses C-notes for the main F/R. Those were fun to build too.
In reply to 11GTCS :
It was Parts Express. I was hesitant with that BT kit because of the reviews. The cuts aren't great. Fortunately I keep a radial arm saw set up with a dado stack so I could fix it easily. The rabbets aren't very accurate.
The rest of the kit is lovely. I used some laminated maple for the top and bottom, and ultrasuede for the body. I strongly suggest getting a second battery holder and batteries. It's not short-lived with just one battery board, but I can leave it on for 48 hours on a single charge with the double. There is also debate about sound quality and having the second battery board in parallel which doubles the amp capacity.
Edit to add: Sound quality is excellent given that it's small drivers. As you can expect, the dB drop off quickly below about 100Hz, but you can still here a tone sweep down to 30Hz. 50-60Hz is about it's practical limit, which I think is pretty impressive for the small enclosure and tiny drivers. Overall volume is great for home or office, but it might struggle a bit at a party with a lot of people talking.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Awesome, thanks. I'll be ordering their "large ammo box" kit and adapting it to the "giraffe" box. The two full range 4" drivers will just fit inside the box, the amp / battery stack looks similar to what you have and will fit between the two speakers with room to spare. Sound quality probably won't be quite as good as yours but the reviews on the ammo box kit are decent. It should look pretty cool when complete.
I can say that the Overnight Sensations kit from Parts Express is also top-notch. Son #1 is still enjoying these for his bedroom speakers while off to school. Impressive sound from a small package.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I would love to do a side-by-side comparison of the overnites and the c-notes. I mostly went with the c-notes for cost reasons and I prefer MDF enclosures, although it doesn't really make much difference when the panel resonance is so different from the audio range it's producing. Bigger deal on subs, not a big deal on bookshelf speakers.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I would love to do a side-by-side comparison of the overnites and the c-notes. I mostly went with the c-notes for cost reasons and I prefer MDF enclosures, although it doesn't really make much difference when the panel resonance is so different from the audio range it's producing. Bigger deal on subs, not a big deal on bookshelf speakers.
And where is your sub? 
Relevant. We're looking at a new place tomorrow and if it works out I'll have a dedicated music room for all my things. Right now my home audio setup is several pairs of different headphones.
VolvoHeretic said:Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I would love to do a side-by-side comparison of the overnites and the c-notes. I mostly went with the c-notes for cost reasons and I prefer MDF enclosures, although it doesn't really make much difference when the panel resonance is so different from the audio range it's producing. Bigger deal on subs, not a big deal on bookshelf speakers.
And where is your sub?
Hiding right here. 300W 8" with a passive radiator.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Good job.
The best home audio speakers I've ever used are the ancient Shure Vocal Master columns. They aren't meant for home audio but I do love them.
I do need to add a sub to them though
These are my library speakers:
ampex model 815 speakers; I blew the original drivers and re-drivered them with modern stuff and they sound great. Driven by this:
which a tenant left behind when they moved out. The cd player skipped horribly; disassembling it and cleaning the laser took care of that. The whole thing is quite vintage looking and sounds fantastic. Perfect for a quiet listening environment like our home library.
Resurrecting an old thread...
Since I moved into my newly renovated house last year, I've been low key looking for a different receiver to replace my trusty Kenwood KR-A3060. Since my new "Retro Room" space is a lot bigger, I wanted to run a second set of speakers. The Kenwood is a 50W, 2-channel receiver, and although it sounds good, when adding a 2nd set of speakers, it really suffers to power them both. I really wanted a simple, 2-channel receiver with more power and at a budget price. A tall order, it seems.
After looking for months, I found it. Hiding in a booth in an antique mall I frequent was this:
It's a late 90's-early 00's Onkyo TX-8511 receiver. 2 channels, with 100W per channel. EXACTLY what I was looking for; a simple, powerful receiver. This one was tucked under a table in a stack of other HiFi gear, and super clean. Even came with the original antenna and a seemingly brand new remote. All that was missing was the original box. I got it for over half off what the typical price for a well used one without a remote goes for on Ebay. Hell, the remote and the antenna would cost more than I paid for the whole deal. Score!
So far, I've been VERY impressed with this receiver. Especially impressive is how it sounds with CDs; this receiver is a perfect match for my Denon CD changer, and the sound quality is impeccable. For some reason, my turntable sounds quieter on this receiver, so I'll have to look into what's going on there. Still sounds great, but quieter. Even cassettes sound fantastic.
My full current gear rundown:
Onkyo TX-8511 Receiver
Pioneer CT-W103 Cassette Player
Gemini D.J.Q. 1200 Turntable
Denon DCM-280 5-Disc CD/MP3 Changer
Mirage 250 Speakers (bookshelf speakers as "floor" speakers)
Jamo S801 Speakers (actual bookshelf speakers)
I'd like to swap out the Mirage speakers for a real, actual floor speaker at some point, but these will do for now. I was given these things about 30 years ago by my friend's dad as hand-me-downs when I started putting together my first HiFi rig, and this is the 4th receiver they have been paired with. They are still kicking, and that's incredible!
In my last house I had a Magnepan 5.1 setup with 2.1 kW of power. Loved every second of that.
Now I'm in a different house, no dedicated listening environment. Shortly I'll be building new main speakers, thinking about doing full-range transmission line cabinets. If need be, I'll add a horn-loaded subwoofer in the mix.
Before that I'll be finishing my shed that's being converted to a home office. I'll be 3D printing some speakers, probably a 2.1 system. I'll probably start a build thread for the T-line cabinets as that'll be more of a project.
I love resurrecting the old stuff, nice work on the Pioneer.
In reply to DrBoost :
Thanks! For some reason, I haven't been able to get full speed out of the left side deck, but the right side works great now. It's a very entry-level unit, but free is free and I love the aesthetic of that era, even though some don't. I may upgrade it to a full logic unit down the road.
Cassettes will never sound great, since they are a finicky medium, but the nostalgia factor of listening to all my cassettes from when I was a kid can't be beat.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I would love to do a side-by-side comparison of the overnites and the c-notes. I mostly went with the c-notes for cost reasons and I prefer MDF enclosures, although it doesn't really make much difference when the panel resonance is so different from the audio range it's producing. Bigger deal on subs, not a big deal on bookshelf speakers.
i have MTM overnight sensations for my LCR in my main audio setup powered by a Yamaha receiver. I also have cNotes for my speakers connected to my computer in my office. I purchased them when they were actually $100 but have since added the power board into them.
the C notes sound good, the overnight sensations sound better. They image better and have a very smooth easy sound. The overnight sensations have a higher quality source with a bunch more power but i still prefer their sound.
I also have the executive portable speaker in my kitchen and I soldered on a usb charging port onto it and connected an alexa to it via bluetooth making it a high quality alexa device. It works great, the included subwoofer is small and alexa via bluetooth isn't exactly a world class streamer and with no EQ available in the device the sound comes across as flat, it doesn't sound bad and for simplicity of spotify streaming while i'm making breakfast on a sunday morning its a great solution. It also has enough battery to make music for an entire party out on the deck / in the yard.
Overnight sensations MTM: https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-audio-speaker-kits/overnight-sensations-mtm.html
https://www.parts-express.com/Executive-Portable-Bluetooth-Speaker-Kit-300-7164?quantity=1
lastly i have a set of classix II in my garage which is popwered by a lofi 3116/tube amp combo /w an alexa plugged in via RCA cable. This setup was fun to build but by the time I bought everything I needed for the speakers, the amps, got soembody to 3d print the amp cases, etc. I wish i would have built another executive portable bluetooh speaker. They probably sound better overall but they lack the portability of the battery powered unit.
https://www.parts-express.com/Classix-II-MT-Bookshelf-Speaker-Kit-with-Knock-Down-Cabinet-300-7112?quantity=1&srsltid=AfmBOoqhZXUCAVcItK1H_qbPAO-HHdmeAZwkAxhq8IY-I_eRShLiLgos
the Overnight Sensations are by far my favorite kit, i stained the plywood a brown color and then applied LOTS of coats of poly, sanding, cutting, and polishing the poly to a shine. They sound great, image fantastically, and play loud enough and deep enough to integrate with the oversize 18" subwoofer that my HT has.
This thread just reminded me how mad I still am at Onkyo. I had one of the receivers with the bad TI chip that they recalled about 9-10 years ago. Except they didn't advertise the recall, or get in touch with customers. You had to wait until the unit failed, then contact them to find out there was a recall. Which, for me, was a year after the recall program ended. $1000 unit only lasted 6 years of light use.
Yamaha. Yamaha all the things.
In reply to llysgennad :
Yamaha rocks. I have had a few of their amps / receivers and loved them all. My last one was a modern upscaling HDMI switcher thing and I was a little put off by the distortion at high volumes but it was as advertised. (1% THD at full output, which to me is noticeable.) I loved everything else about it and since listening at high volumes was a rare event it didn't turn me off the thing.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
That unit is only a few years newer than the Pioneer double cassette deck I had as a late teen, early adult. I wouldn't pass on that either.
Yamaha makes great stuff, no matter what it is. Engines, home audio, instruments... doesn't matter. It will be good if their name is on it. Before I scored the Onkyo, I just missed an entire vintage stereo rig new in the boxes on Marketplace for $100. A reseller snagged it almost immediately and has been selling components for over $100 each. And even that is a bargain.
A few months ago, I passed on a Yamaha receiver at a Savers that was also in the box. It was a newer one that had Bluetooth and a phono stage, but even though it was newer and in the box, it seemingly had 50 years worth of gross gunk covering the whole thing. I passed on it at $70.
dculberson said:In reply to llysgennad :
Yamaha rocks. I have had a few of their amps / receivers and loved them all. My last one was a modern upscaling HDMI switcher thing and I was a little put off by the distortion at high volumes but it was as advertised. (1% THD at full output, which to me is noticeable.) I loved everything else about it and since listening at high volumes was a rare event it didn't turn me off the thing.
The brand that has failed me the most often is Pioneer. I have had 2 pioneer receivers go bad, one Onkyo died but it did so after nearly 15 years. Yamaha's have lasted the longest, my first stereo receiver I gave to an old roommate when the pioneer that they had died (and was my fault) so I gave him the Yamaha in trade, it still works over 20 years later and I still think he uses it in his garage.
the last time I needed a stereo i just went on accessories4less, picked out the cheapest unit that met my needs (5 channels, auto EQ, and eARC) and it was $250. While I like home audio and I pride myself on good audio, the reality is that a $250 receiver with $1000 worth of speakers sounds good enough when well setup that it isn't worth spending thousands more.
The rule of diminishing returns is very present in home audio equipment and value diminishes VERY quickly relative to the cost of the gear.
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