..my ascension of the audio ladder back in the old days

es347

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
1,577
35
970
Midwest fly over state..
The journey started back in 1969 when I worked at RCA Consumer Electronics prior to my senior year at Purdue (BSEE 1970). This was the plant where they built the last of the RCA console stereos and what a summer it was for an electrical engineering student. They let us work thru their summer inventory shutdown and as I recall a lot a time was spent in the listening room where they had the capability of switching between all the various console models. Included was the "reference" system and what a system it was: Klipschorns driven by McIntosh electronics with a Thorens TT and Shure V15 cart....pure heaven. Anyway the hook was sent so by the end of the summer I had ordered a Dynaco ST120 and PAT4 preamp along with a pr. of AR-2ax speakers. The front end was a Dual TT my brother had brought home from the Navy. I fitted the TT with a Shure M91E cart. The amps were kits and I had them assembled and working a handful of days. Great sound for something less than $300. Fast forward to 1978...more kits this time...a Hafler DH200 amp and DH101 pre driving a pair of Braun monitors. The Brauns are long gone but I still own the Haflers along with a 2nd DH200 I bought from a friend back then. Unlike mine it was factory wired but I have never heard a nickels worth of difference.

I'm dragging you thru all this history because I thought you may find it interesting that these 37 year old amps still sound great and are in 9/10 condition...I am extremely anal when it comes to my audio gear. A few years ago I updated the RCA input jacks on the 200s along with the speaker jacks. I also installed a IEC PC jacks so I could run detachable cords. My tech has gone thru both power amps and cleaned up some of the solder joints and given both a big thumbs up. I have included photos of a jury rigged system I recently tested on my workbench to see how they sounded nowadays. I had them driving a pristine pair of Acoustic Energy Aegis 1s with el cheapo cabling and I was shocked...sickened perhaps, at how good it sounded. I'll be the first to admit that my 67 year old ears may not be quite what they were 37 years ago but I'll be d***ed if you can't get remarkable sound for not so much. Anyhow check out the photos for a trip down Hafler lane. I hope you enjoy the trek!







 

kach22i

WBF Founding Member
Apr 21, 2010
1,591
210
1,635
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.kachadoorian.com
Anyway the hook was sent so by the end of the summer I had ordered a Dynaco ST120 and PAT4 preamp along with a pr. of AR-2ax speakers. The front end was a Dual TT my brother had brought home from the Navy. I fitted the TT with a Shure M91E cart.

I still listen to my Dynaco ST-120A, but the PAT-3 need restoration.

Dual TT, probably not the same model you picked up back in the day.

Yep, that old stuff still gets the job done.
 

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