RE: My first exposure to "high end" audio

Posted by Michael Samra (D) on June 27, 2016 at 11:55:19

In Reply to: My first exposure to "high end" audio posted by M3 lover on June 27, 2016 at 10:15:11:

Well once he played some music even my uneducated ears told me this was something very different than anything I'd experienced before. My little Steelman portable AM/record player was suddenly woefully inadequate.

I can imagine..My story was a little more simple..In 1976 I was just out of high school in the summer before I had gone off to college,I had an ad in the paper for fixing TVs. This guy had called me to fix a Magnavox color TV that couldn't get the flesh tones.This particular gentleman used to fix TVs on the side like many did in those days but he was having a horrible time with this set.
When I got there,he had these huge Klipshhorn speakers playing that were custom built with EV drivers and it was powered by a Knight KB-85 tube amp,driven by a modded Dynaco Pat 5 preamp and a nice Thorens turntable and when I hearD this system,I had absolutely NO INTEREST in working on that TV.This man was my audio and electronics mentor and he was maintenance director at the big hospitals in our town. He told me this KB85 amp was 30 watts per channel and then I thought,let me go get my receiver which was 45 wpc.Once we hooked my Realistic STA-200 up,I realized then and there what a POS it was.LOL.
From then on we became close friends as he was like a dad to me and I inherited most of his audio gear and sold the modern stuff for his wife.
We had several different systems thru the years but I still have the original KB85 that started it all for me..
We did end up fixing the Magnavox color tv..It turned out to be leaky pin diodes in the Chroma demox.

I want to ask you..You mentioned seeing Mac gear with blue lights and meters in 1960..Were you referring to a tuner or did they maybe have a separate add on power meter display? I wasn't aware Mac had any metered amps in the tube days.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Mcintosh Early Days. - Michael Samra 01:16:44 06/27/16 (32)

all women, am reminded how )90% who work in CD manufacturing are women... - Cleantimestream 02:39:06 06/29/16 (2)

Sexism? - ph5y 14:27:22 07/01/16 (1)

err, NO... there are distinct differences between men and women BEYOND anatomical function.~nT - Cleantimestream 07:33:11 07/02/16 (0)

Early days of diversity in the workplace... - Neil49 08:52:06 06/28/16 (0)

Frank McIntosh's house in Scottsdale - airtime 19:24:01 06/27/16 (2)

Frank may have made more money on that house than selling stereos - airtime 08:04:36 06/28/16 (0)

RE: Frank McIntosh's house in Scottsdale - Michael Samra 22:03:15 06/27/16 (0)

My first exposure to "high end" audio - M3 lover 10:15:11 06/27/16 (4)

RE: My first exposure to "high end" audio - Michael Samra 11:55:19 06/27/16 (3)

RE: blue lights and meters . . . - M3 lover 12:19:53 06/27/16 (2)

RE: blue lights and meters . . . - Michael Samra 18:01:40 06/27/16 (1)

RE: blue lights and meters . . . - Crazy Dave 09:40:46 06/28/16 (0)

Only two things come to mind - airtime 06:32:23 06/27/16 (2)

RE: Only two things come to mind - BillH 07:21:23 06/28/16 (0)

RE: Only two things come to mind - Hornlover 08:36:33 06/27/16 (0)

Mac went back further than that - mhardy6647 05:17:49 06/27/16 (14)

You're right. - briggs 16:41:25 06/27/16 (1)

RE: You're right. - Michael Samra 18:05:34 06/27/16 (0)

Of course Mac goes back further than the picture - Michael Samra 07:49:07 06/27/16 (11)

Now, I had heard the MACS recruited Old maids for the war - manerac 19:47:10 07/03/16 (1)

RE: Now, I had heard the MACS recruited Old maids for the war - Crazy Dave 11:03:14 07/08/16 (0)

"I wanted to show the ladies that built the stuff." - E-Stat 06:36:59 06/28/16 (8)

RE: "I wanted to show the ladies that built the stuff." - Michael Samra 14:08:54 07/01/16 (7)

RE: "I wanted to show the ladies that built the stuff." - E-Stat 14:33:59 07/01/16 (6)

I've said it for years - 1973shovel 14:59:32 07/01/16 (5)

RE: I've said it for years - BillH 05:19:57 07/03/16 (0)

I was absolutely amazed - E-Stat 15:28:21 07/01/16 (3)

I went to that dealership on my last trip to Vegas - 1973shovel 16:20:36 07/01/16 (2)

RE: I went to that dealership on my last trip to Vegas - E-Stat 10:04:26 07/02/16 (1)

RE: "Perfect for the dentist rider's lady" - 1973shovel 18:03:48 07/02/16 (0)

RE: Mcintosh Early Days. - rosendds@frontiernet.net 03:48:09 06/27/16 (1)

RE: Mcintosh Early Days. - Michael Samra 18:10:13 06/27/16 (0)

Follow Ups

RE: My first exposure to "high end" audio - Michael Samra 11:55:19 06/27/16 (3)

RE: blue lights and meters . . . - M3 lover 12:19:53 06/27/16 (2)

RE: blue lights and meters . . . - Michael Samra 18:01:40 06/27/16 (1)

RE: blue lights and meters . . . - Crazy Dave 09:40:46 06/28/16 (0)

RE: My first exposure to "high end" audio

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