Cool Old Kit You Never Heard Of

Sometimes see someone mention a bit of kit I had no idea about so I look it up to see what it looks like. Thought we could have a thread to post up such items.

Here's the first - Mitsubishi DA-R20 receiver. 60 WPC. Came out in 1980.

https://i.ibb.co/W4jPBqRk/OIP.jpg

Full look at one plus a teardown here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9xziBEV_R8

Lots of details here:

https://classicreceivers.com/mitsubishi-da-r20

No idea if this was ever available in UK, we did get some Mitsubishi here in the 1980s.

$560 new so that would be $2100 today. Not cheap but not crazy money given the build quality.

That is certainly very cool, and I too have never heard of it - I was aware Mitsubishi made Hi-Fi, but no idea on its provenance. I can just imagine the tuning knob would have a lovely feel. (Phnarr, phnarr.)

JVC M-7050 Power Amplifier - another one you never see at least in this country:

https://i.ibb.co/VWsBJnGR/JVC-M-7050-1.jpg

From 1979. 150 WPC into 8 ohm and super-fast slew rate because that was important back in the day.

Combine with the SEA-70 EQ unit for that 'American Psycho' look with (arguably) better equipment:

https://i.ibb.co/1tq990xp/jvc-victor...-133379907.jpg

Obviously don't stack other stuff on top of your power amp in 'real life.'

Not forgetting the Yamaha 7000 series of kit. Regardless of how it sounds (excellent in fact), I just like the clean uncluttered looks.

And talking of looks, any gear that uses italic script for the control legends is an aesthetic no-no for me. (However I'll make an exception for 'Accuphase', but only because it's the name of the brand.)

Came across this about a month ago.

Just a plethora of uber cool vintage kit lovingly loved, but at a price.

Some pretty rare long gone stateside brands in there.

Check it out and the website for prices.

https://youtube.com/@skyfiaudio?si=MDE3v8yoE52-IoUn

Shame this shop isn't just down the road.

Well at least they showed the Mark Levinson preamp that I use. :eyebrows:

The only other piece of kit that would interest me was the Marantz 7 preamp, and the one they showed was in impeccable condition! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barry

Not forgetting the Yamaha 7000 series of kit. Regardless of how it sounds (excellent in fact), I just like the clean uncluttered looks.

And talking of looks, any gear that uses italic script for the control legends is an aesthetic no-no for me. (However I'll make an exception for 'Accuphase', but only because it's the name of the brand.)

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I'm not keen on the use of extra bold fonts either. Vintage Marantz is guilty of both.

https://hifivintage.co.uk/wp-content...4270-front.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barry

Well at least they showed the Mark Levinson preamp that I use. :eyebrows:

The only other piece of kit that would interest me was the Marantz 7 preamp, and the one they showed was in impeccable condition! :)

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Keep looking, Barry. That shop is insane.

Well, maybe not. But show me a UK equivalent that gets close.

There isn't one.

Try one of the shop tour videos at any given date.

I have to confess I did skip some of the preamps that were of no interest to me, but agree we have nothing like that shop in the UK. The only shop that can perhaps come close was a shop in Tokyo I visited many years ago.

I did note there were other shop tour videos. Is there one for vintage speakers?

I don't know but their current inventory is here: https://skyfiaudio.com/en-gb/collect...ker-collection

Including a pair of Apogee Full Range.