Luxman R-1050 receiver 1977-1980

Nakamichi OMS-7 cd player 1985

It has been awhile, but I have to write, I've  something to say...
I intended to review my Luxman R-1050 receiver by itself,  but I have to add the Nakamichi OM-7 CD player since they are a match made in Japan.  I tied the knot between them with Kimber Kables.  Speakers are Braun L1030's, connected with bulk speaker cable stamped with what appear to be its name "clear signal."  It was left over from my in wall surround sound install.  It's 14g, in a yellow sheath, and I added some Monster pin connectors.  For something basically generic, it is really quite good sounding.

Then I tried some Monster THX cable, both cable sets did great.  The reviews with vinyl are with the THX cables.

Luxman's R-1050 receiver is growing on me, I prefer a little more flash, a little modern fun.  But I am appreciating the classic beauty more each time I listen. The flashiest thing about the receiver would be the power meter display's red lights moving left to right.  There are 6 lights per channel, they each light up individually and stay lit as the power output increases and each turns off accordingly as the output declines.  Kind of eye catching, kind of flashy, like I say, its growing on me.  I adjusted the meters to hover about 2/3 of the way for the sound levels I usually listen at.

Luxman R-1050

She has 55 true watts for each of two channels at 8 Ohms, and considerable dynamic headroom. Yes, she has more than a pretty face.  When I want my music loud, very loud, she puts out.  I am not left wanting.

Luxmans R-1050's classic wood-look finish
These pretty ladies placed a quartet or the entire orchestra right there in front of me, and I was there.  They kept me smiling, it was nice, very nice.  She has two phono inputs, but I used a CD source for my listening tests because I wanted to try a variety of recordings with a minimum of fuss, and my turntable is not out of the shop yet.  I like the quality of the Nakamichi OMS-7, the solid feel of the controls, and the look of the unit.  It looks like it would go nicely next to the Nakamichi Dragon.  The Nakamichi OMS-7 is a solid, heavy unit, just like the Luxman R-1050.  And the beauty goes deep...

     Nakamichi OMS-7 another gift from Japan 

Single loader

This combination of components is Vintage by my definition.  The 70's and 80's produced this equipment, and when I listen through it, it makes me wish I was there.  It was an era when even small towns had an audio store or two.   I miss all those little shops, and the big ones too!  I miss the the sound rooms, show room floors full of individual complete systems, and the substantial amount of time a sales person would spend with you.  It is hard to find now.

Music from any era just blooms with this equipment, well, the good recordings do.  The OMS-7 will reproduce them well, not with exaggeration, not even implied emphasis.  She is pretty faithful to the recording, good recordings sound good, great sound great, and the not so good recordings are pretty obvious.   

The R-1050 has bass, treble, and balance controls, a subsonic/low filter, high filter, loudness button, and can accommodate two pair of speakers.  I would prefer she had a direct button to bypass tone and balance control circuits, but I have a feeling that the already great sound would be hard to improve on by doing so, but maybe it could.  I listened with bass and treble controls set to flat.  And I kept the loudness, and filter buttons settings on off.  

I enjoyed some CD's beginning with Supertramp's Crime of the Century, an A&M release.  Near the end of this posting I compare this CD to the MFSL LP version.  First the CD, voices are clear, shimmering detail is apparent, I hear things I may not have noticed before.  Staging is wide, moderate in height, very deep, and rock solid.  Dynamic passages were dramatic enough, but the opening notes of bloody well right only made me jump a little, gets me every time, but not as much this time.  That is the only criticism I can come up with for the musicality of these Luxury items.  I played back the opening notes with a little more volume and it helped, it got me a little more, but I felt less surprised than I felt I should be.

The Ames Quartet on the Dorian Sampler II CD was so beautiful, emotions welled up within, it sounded better than I ever heard it before.  And I have heard it alot, on quite a few fine pieces of equipment.  The piano was especially right, I have had difficulty finding the right combination of equipment to reproduce piano, this combo gets it right.  

I tried an easy listenin' hint of jazz CD album of Renee Olstead, some tracks are great examples of fine audio recording.  Awesome experience, lovely singing, vibrant instrumentation, and I feel like this equipment reveals all.  No disappointment.  I have heard this album countless times at work through headphones using an Aiwa portable CD player.  The detail through the Luxman, Nakamichi, Braun, and Kimbre Kable ensemble revealed things I never noticed before, they sounded lively, au natural.  The deep notes were well rounded, nicely forceful, and the highs were high.  The full mid-range was equally well presented.

Diana Krall's CD "When I look in your eyes" kept me saying "wow!"  Made me a fan.  The recordings are varied in tonality, many are emphasized in the upper range, not quite neutral enough for my preference, and they all seemed a little bass shy.  But the piano sounded quite good, cymbals, extensive drum feathering, and acoustic guitar done mostly with jazz styling's were all quite nuanced wonderfully.  If I was shopping for a sound system between stores back in the 80's, and this stereo with this album were demo'd I am certain I would keep coming back.  But, I would probably have waited until I could afford it, and am pretty sure it would've stayed on my bucket list awhile.  I am pragmatic enough to settle for less than first choice when it comes to stereo systems.  My mom would often tell me that I had champagne tastes on a beer budget, which was her way of telling me that I was largely on my own when it came to stereo shopping, so I should set my goals for the achievable.  My mom was awesome, she helped me appreciate classical music by taking me to concerts when I was a kid.  She often had public radio on playing classical music during drives to school, and yes, we commuted about 45 minutes each way, so I had some great exposure.  Not against my will either, I guess classical is in my genes, my grand dad was a moderately accomplished violinist and I hear he sang some opera too.  I remember getting to "fiddle around" with his violin when I was a kid.

Another disc from EMI I tried was Nigel Kennedy with the Berliner Philharmoniker "Vivaldi II".   The opening track bloomed large in front of me, an experience that is rare and wonderful.  The music is large and beautiful on this equipment.

Thorens TD-165 is out of the shop

Now for the Phono Section, it has room for two turntables, the cartridge is a Shure M97HE, the turntable is a Thorens TD-165 with a cable I got off e-Bay, sounds great!  I grounded it nicely, does ok for awhile without grounding but really it does need grounding.  I was surprised that the sound stage was so wide open, and with airy ambiance.  Quiet passages were very quiet without extraneous sound.  I tried Bob Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" LP which I decided is a poor choice for a system test, the nasal quality of the singing is Dylanesque, and for me is  not really appreciated.  The system did fine, but I did not feel the need to hear it again, not a short coming for the system though, it just played back what I gave it to play.  

Then the ultimate test, Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain." on a double set LP of his "Greateest Hits & some that will be" release.   When the emotion is captured then I know this is right.  I was nearly there, I don't like to cry, and I was fighting it, so I think this receiver's phono stage is good enough.  Dynamics are spot on, nothing over or under stated.  It is quite neutral but lively when called for.  So, if judgment must be made, it is not disappointing, and it gets the job done.  I probably played it back 6 times, it just feels good.

Next I tried Supertramp's Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab  release, "Crime of the Century" on well played vinyl.  The depth of sound stage seemed even deeper, and perhaps wider than on CD.  Dynamics were a little less surprising on bloody well right...  Some aspects were more enjoyed on vinyl, specifically the tonal range was smoother, read nearly tube-like, and more notably the ambiant voices and such were clearer.  But overall the improved dynamics on cd contributed to an even more satisfying experience. 

I should put the Luxman R-1050 up against the more rare Concept 5.5 receiver's phono section as it is truly awesome, or later Luxmans like the RX102.  The Concept 5.5 is very tough competition.  But I am optimistic this Luxman will fare somewhat favorably.

Luxman RX-103 Receiver

                           Luxman RX-103 receiver

                                      Something to Smile about.


The RX receiver line was a bold departure from the more traditional, sedate, Luxman designs with predominantly champagne color schemes. Luxman's designers had been following a gently artistic retro feel for the range of its components, and this fit nicely in the high end audio salons where Luxman could only be found. It had long established a distinguished reputation for quality in sound, quality in construction, and aesthetically pleasing consistent designs.

Then Luxman seems to have found some balls when designing the RX line, and altered course to embrace the burgeoning "yuppy" market.  Boldly adopting a more glamorous, modernistic appearance, the look of the 80's. The  RX line left a long established design tradition of conservatively elegant though bland designs. Released  exclusively to the American market in 1982 and only to higher-end audio salons, it's modernistic even flashy features were met with mixed emotion. Traditional Luxman aficionado's were concerned that significant changes in appearance could signal unwelcome changes in sound and quality.  I would agree that the RX series did adjust the punch (attack) a little, thus accommodating New Wave's theme. But considerable heritage remained in its Duo-Beta genes. Panache did not compromise sound or build quality.

Luxman RX-103

What distinguishes the RX line visually from Luxman's preceding distinguished model "R" line including...
R-1120 @120watts/ch
R-1070 @75 watts/ch
R-1050 @55 watts/ch
and later distinguished models...
R117 @160 watts/ch
R115 @70 watts/ch
...was the brushed aluminum "suck face" servo controlled front panel, and the eye candy controls.  The RX series was Luxman's first foray into LCD displays for wattage meters and tuners.  Luxman had emphasized a tradition of classic simplicity for a lifetime. Now it was showcasing new technologies, embracing change, and this terrified it's more traditional high end clientele whose maxim in life seemed to be "boring is good."  But, new-traditionalists took to Luxman's face-lift gladly.   The RX line was a hit!

Oooh!  Pretty pretty lights!

I too was impressed with the large, colorfully illumined rectangular buttons when the RX line appeared.  Pretty pretty!  Regrettably I could not afford an RX component at the time.  That fascination with RX eye candy stuck with me for 30 years, so this receiver line stayed on my bucket list, more for the lights than the also cool "suck face". The RX-102 was the first RX I heard, loved it so much that I was thrilled when I could get a RX-103.  While I really love the pretty pretty lights, I have I am embarrassed a bit to admit I also have an affinity for the "suck face" too, but truly the lights have "it."

"Suck Face"

Does the RX line need to sound good when it looks so good?  No, it doesn't, it looks so good to me, that I would leave it in my line up just to look at it, well, maybe, but fortunately there is more to the RX line than its pretty face.  Yes, I am a sucker for a pretty face, but before you judge me harshly for my shallowness, or dismiss the RX line as just another pretty face, please "hear me out".

I still enjoy my Luxman R-1050, but this review is for the RX-103.  

I listened to CD's for this review on my NAD 5330 CD player, Braun L1030 speakers, and Monster 12 Gage speaker cables terminated and Monster interconnects.

I listened mostly to Supertramp's "Crime of the century" an A&M Records release on CD, for this review.  Also listened to a number of DEVO CD's, and a few of EMI's classical releases.  I hope to review the phono section of the RX-103 later when I have re-calibrated my turntable.

Wow, I have fulfilled another of my life goals!  Really!  Some splainin' first.

Back in 1981, my high school biology class took a field trip to Lake Tahoe and surrounding eco-systems.  On the way up Hwy 80 we stopped in Truckee or maybe Colfax, and while classmates were eating lunch I walked over to an audio shop. The shop had a nice sound room and when the proprietor asked if I would like to hear something, of course I said yes, so he put on a MFSL LP of Supertramp's "Crime of the Century."   The speakers were Braun L1030's powered by a Phillips Amp and Preamp, and either a Linn or SOTA turntable but not quite able to recall which.  But what I was sure about was the musical memory derived from that experience, and it was a life goal to reproduce that again.

We have arrived!  I have the Brauns now, and instead of the sedate Phillips duo I have the spirited Luxman RX-103.  I wish I had a Linn or SOTA, but for now, I have the NAD 5330 and the A&M CD release of Supertramp's Crime of the Centrury.  Such a deal!  The RX-103 had been warming up with classical music, and some 80's country albums while I went about my various activities.  When I was ready for serious listening, I put in Supertramp, turned it up, cued track two, and quickly assumed the listening position.

Bloody well right!  Wow!  The dynamics, solid attack, and musical punch put a big smile on my face.  The music was clear, it was spatial, the band was there, they arrived and set up in my living room, each where they belonged.  The sound stage wrapped widely around me.  The lead voice originated about 5 feet high front and center.  Despite considerable volume approaching the level of harmful, it just made my smile bigger... I was having a nostalgic flashback.  And it felt good.  I was there in that sound room, 35 years ago in Truckee.  Another life goal well met.

I listened to the whole album, and played much of it again, then I listened to 3 DEVO albums at embarrassingly loud volume levels.  It was glorious.  I had to ask myself, "but will classical sound good too?"  It did, in fact, the classical discs sounded better than I expected, melodic, cheerfully warm, and fully dynamic. This is the way it is supposed to be.  High highs, low lows, and a fabulous mid range.  Luxman anticipated the New Wave of  musical needs for the 80's and beyond, loving it.
Now I have to find a remote for the receiver, yes, it can be remote controlled.

I might try other speakers, but for now, the Braun's with this receiver are what I was looking for.

NAD 5330 CD player

The NAD 5330 CD player is a very basic unit.   Rugged looking finish and appearance.   Looks like it was designed for use by the military.  Features are very limited, remote control capability is absent, and digital output is absent.

NAD 5330 on my most stable platform.

Line level out is the only option for unmodified NAD 5330 units.

Including the power button there are a total of 8 front panel buttons.  Notably absent is the "stop" button.  The "pause" button can be used like a "stop" button and is quite large, as is the "play" button but once used you need to hit the "play/scan" button instead of the "pause" to resume playback.   The > < "skip/scan" buttons allow for jumping forward or back to other tracks or can be used in conjunction with the "play/scan" button being pressed at the same time to go forward or backward in quick time.  Kind of awkward to use.   The display allows for options of showing track/index number or track time or the remaining time on the whole disc.  The numbers are larger than average and being LED are brighter than the average LCD or average LED display as well.  I can see them pretty well from across the room in daylight to dim light.  The remaining button allows for a repeat function.

The output is line level only and there is no option for use of external digital audio to analog conversion.  This unit is basic but despite a dearth of fluff, it has a competent sounding on-board DAC. 

How does it track and sound?   The tracking is good, but a small bump is likely to alter the tracking.  Needs a fairly stable platform to reduce risk of tracking error.  There are nearly 30 years on my unit and lack of maintenance is likely to have contributed to one tracking error I noticed out of the blue, just a few seconds of poor tracking but so far there weren't any other tracking errors over quite a few hours of use unless the unit was bumped a little.  It recovered quickly from the one brief episode of mis-tracking, and recovered quickly after a pretty good thumping too!

The sound quality is really quite remarkable!   Staging is as it should be, wide, deep.   Music is full bodied and nuanced better than expected for a fairly low cost CD player.  Not sure which digital processing chip is inside since I have not opened it up but the proof is in the pudding, this unit is not fatiguing or disappointing.  Sometimes less is more and this very basic unit is a good example of that dictum.  Studio ambiance is fairly reproduced.  I enjoyed classical and rock from this unit.

Overall I can comfortably recommend its use.    Keeping the unit next to me is an option to compensate for lack of remote control capability.  It does not make much mechanical sound so should not be a distraction.  If you are like me you will not like the thought of using long interconnect cables or speaker cables.  So keeping the unit close to the main system is preferable even if it means I have to get up every now and then to change discs or whatever.

 NAD 5330 data sheet

  

Concept 5.5 Receiver

A drum roll please...

The one, the only, the first generation of Concept receivers,  a remnant of the golden years ending the 70's and warming up the 80's....

CONCEPT 5.5 

 

Concept 5.5 

Owners Manual with Specs for Concept 5.5 Receiver

The Concept receiver line was an in-house brand at Pacific Stereo adding audiophile quality to the other in-house lines being offered (i.e. Quadraflex and Reference in-house lines).  The first generation Concept receiver's big daddy was the 16.5 which is touted by some as being the finest sounding receiver ever made.  It is worthy of a comment or two being a dual mono design with 165 true watts per channel at 8 Ohms and headroom to spare.  The first of three generations in the Concept line is reported to have been designed by Richard Schramm and believed to have been built by Fostex (Foster Electronics).

This mid-line Concept 5.5 receiver is a quality build with considerable heft to it, a lovely finish and solid controls.  I don't have its big brother to compare it with but will certainly keep watching for a 16.5 to review.  At 55 watts per channel at 8 Ohm loads plus a little headroom the Concept 5.5 is no slouch.  This term "Head room" reminds me of some lyrics from a 10cc song from the same era "Just give me some headroom, just a little bit of head-room.  I need some head-room, just a lil bit of head-room..."  It is a good thing to have.

The Concept line reputedly was not submitted by Pacific Stereo for review to any of the publications which led me to wonder if perhaps Pacific Stereo had something to hide, including in the 5.5 model.   Well it did, but not what you think...

It seems Pacific Stereo had a line of receivers on the floor that really were "too good."  While much of their more expensive and profitable equipment was quite good, this line was good enough to steal sales from the more profitable lines.  Well, that is the way the story goes, but I wanted to hear for myself...

I spent two days listening to the Concept 5.5 receiver using a different set of speakers and speaker cables each day.   But I stuck to the same NAD 5330 CD player with line level outputs and the same pair of interconnect RCA's each day.  I also used the same Thorens TD-165 turntable each day, more to follow on the components and interconnects.  For consistency I used the same media each day.

The interconnect from CD player to Receiver was a 3 foot pair I got off e-Bay. They are touted as thick silver plated military spec stranded wire to gold plated RCA "NEUTRIK REAN" connectors.  They seem to be of small quantity manufacture.  I wanted to try them out, and I have to say they are much more revealing and robust sounding across the audible spectrum than I expected.  They are dressed in white and kind of stiff, a little different but not bad looking.  I have many other "audiophile" cables I have opinions about and thought it would be prudent to give this review a fresh start.

Decent sound from these interconnects from "Cablebuyer" on e-Bay.

The phono source is a vintage Thorens TD-165 with stock tonearm and head-shell and stock cartridge cable connectors (some day will try some Litz head-shell wire).  The cartridge is a Shure M97-HE moving magnet with about 40 careful hours on it.  The Thorens TD-165 cable had been damaged in storage so was replaced with another e-Bay item of seemingly small quantity manufacture. An 3 foot pair of cables touting "silver metal Neutrik Rean gold plated RCA connectors" on Synapse audiophile cable by Belkin.  Silver solder was stated to be by Cardas, another e-Bay item.

The Thorens rubber platter pad (try saying that three times real fast) has been replaced with felt.  There was nothing wrong with the Thorens pad, I just don't like the look of it and wanted to try felt.  The belt has also recently been replaced.  I have "finer" high end turntable options but I wanted to try out the new phono cable on my Thorens TD-165 and try the new felt pad.

Thorens TD-165 Turntable  is on the hearth.  Turns out to be a very stable platform.  Day 2 of listening was with Vandersteen 1's on either side connected with MITerminator 4 cables by MIT.

Day 1 of listening was with DCM-17 bookshelf speakers and short lengths of Monster Cable 10 gauge Duraflex terminated with Monster Pins.

How does the Concept 5.5 receiver sound?

First, the phono section.  I listened to Bob Dylans "Slow Train Coming" on LP and Willie Nelsons cut "Blue eyes crying in the rain" on the "Greatest Hits and some that will be" double LP.  I auditioned a few other cuts by Willie but I was really just after the emotional impact the system would elicit from "Blue eyes crying in the rain."  Emotional impact for me is more profound with quality sound and is a good measure of how well the original sound is getting through.  It gets hard to convey with words what something sounds like, but if the emotional satisfaction meter is moving toward tears I know it is sounding good.  If it sounds good it  feels good.

By the way I always hear less surface noise and fewer pops after using Discwasher SC2 fluid on their wood handled brush fibers.  Just sayin'...

Day 1 ended with listenin' to LP's through the DCM 17's (hardly reference quality but a  better than average sound from inexpensive small speakers. ;)  I was disappointed when Blue eyes crying in the rain did not move my meter toward tears.   It sounded pretty sweet and comfortably warm, melodic, neatly musical but something was missing.   The feel that comes perhaps from a little more presence, room ambiance, and who knows what else just wasn't there.  

So I tried it again the second day listening this time with Vandersteens.  I put the needle to the Vinyl at track #3 "Blue eyes crying in the rain" and "it" was there.   I was thrilled when my eyes began to express how I was feeling.   Wow, it was nice.  So I stuck to the Vandersteens for the rest of the Phono sections review.   It made me feel good, and it sounded great too!  Instruments stayed where they belonged, front to back staging was perfect, side to side and top to bottom.   Soft cymbals shimmered sweetly and audibly, vocal warmth was moving.   I kept having to force out of my head the words that kept coming back..."this must be what tubes sound like."  I have a couple of Tube Amps but no Phono Tube Pre-Amplifiers yet.  I found myself wanting to pull the cover off of the Concept 5.5 to see if it really was all Solid State.   I decided against it because I knew it was supposed to be Solid State, and really it did not matter because whether the phono section sounded like it was tube or not was irrelavant, it seemed to me that this is what Tubes are supposed to sound like!

Bob Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" LP sounded great with both the DCM's and the Vandersteens.   In fact I caught myself looking over my shoulder several times to see if something unexpected was there, I kept hearing things wide of the sound stage I never heard before.   It felt like with the DCM's the full expanse of the soundstage was present.   Top to bottom, front to back and side to side.  Side to side seemed to have no boundaries as it kept extending beyond reason.

One remarkable aspect of this Concept 5.5 receiver's Phono section is its deep and robust range of low frequency reproduction and natural timbre of vocal ranges.  It felt like nothing was missing, especially with the Vandersteens on the upper range.  The DCM's paired with this receiver seemed to be much larger and deeper than they are.  I could not make sense out of how much bass those small boxes were producing.  Both sets of speakers revealed the dramatic dynamics this phono section can muster, and articulate the finer nuances too!  The DCM's seemed to be missing something from the upper ranges that the Vandersteens had, but I cant put into words just what it is.   The DCM's seemed to have plenty of highs, but I could not very easily tell the size of the recording studio when listening through the DCM's.  The Vandersteens seemed to put me there.  In other words, the Concept 5.5 reproduces what is there and reveals the limitations of the equipment attached to it quite well.  

Using the NAD 5330 CD player to hear Pink Floyds "Dark Side of the Moon" and The Eagles "Hotel California" was a pleasure with both sets of speakers.  Using the Concept 5.5 line level tape input I was catching nuances that I never heard before, especially on the Dark Side of the Moon.  I had not heard the Eagles for a long while, and I finished the CD feeling that I should not have waited so long.   It was a wonderfully nostalgic trip down memory lane, and by the way, the trip never sounded so good!

Dorian's CD Sampler tracks 12, 15, and 16 are my standards for review.  Track 12 is a string quartet with piano and the DCM's seemed to produce a bit of a sketchy piano though they handled the lower strings and higher string sections convincingly.  The Vandersteens made the piano sound like it should and plucked strings were clear and well placed with the Concept 5.5 receiver.  The strings with nuance and all were a dream.   Track 15 is a duet with orchestra.  Sounded perhaps better than I ever heard it, and I have heard it many times with many different vintage systems.  The female vocalist was warmer and not lacking presence, and the same for the male vocalist whose bass notes seemed filled out more than I have heard before.   Strings were feathered in places I never noticed before.  Track 16 is a Choral arrangement by J. S. Bach with full orchestra and fanfare trumpets.  The hall sounds were clearer, the choir more neatly arranged side to side and front to back than I have heard before, and the dynamics were dramatic but less painful and better balanced than usual, again I had to wonder is it Tube or is it Solid State?

I listened with Tone Defeat setting on, or in other units lingo, the term used most often is "direct".  Loudness was set to off, high filter off, and just in case I accidentally turned the controls on, I set them to flat. I also tried but could not tell if there was a audible difference between speaker set A or B, did not try C but there is a option for a third set of speakers.  

If I choose to use tone controls with tone defeat set to off then I get access to the unique tone controls allowing the levels of bass and mid-bass and the levels of upper mid and high range to be adjusted.  It looks like there are only two controls namely bass and treble but at the base of each is an additional control. 

There is a pre-amplifer out feature on the back, allowing for another amp to be used, I don't have much use for it though since this receiver's amplifier is more than good enough.  But the option is there to add a more powerful amp should someone feel the need.   I did not feel the need.   It was fine, and I like my music loud enough to worry about what the neighbors will think.   Maybe I should have tried some less efficient speakers, but I am content with the two sets I tried.

I love Vintage Audio Equipment and want to share my pleasure with you.  I own more than my fair share of Vintage Audio and I find it gives me immense enjoyment.   So to assuage my guilt for hogging so much of it I will share what I can here with you.

In coming months I will add commentary, pictures, and reviews on equipment I own.

My hope is you will travel down memory lane back to the enjoyment you once knew, and perhaps kindle a desire to relive that enjoyment again.  If nostalgia flames anew, I hope this blog will help refresh your memories of your equipment and instill a desire to restore it for use.   Also, if you were like me, there was quite a bit you wanted but for various reasons you did not get it.   Higher priorities for your finite supply of money and space, etc.

I am semi-retired now, and have discovered again what I was neglecting.   The pleasure that can be found in Audio equipment, tinkering and experimenting with it, and just plain experiencing it.

Much of what was too expensive when I was young is now quite affordable.  Also, the kids have moved out and I can listen to what I want at the volume levels I enjoy most.  No toddlers at the moment to poke in the speaker bubbles or pull the cables and toggle the switches which in the past necessitated placing the equipment in storage or its sale.  I am not quite sure how to protect the equipment from grand kids on the way, I guess I will have to keep vigil because I am unwilling to give it up again. Until then, it is for now "no worries".

Hope you enjoy the trip with me down memory lane.