Music lovers, stereos ... what are some of you doing?

[kelt65]

My big problem is that my speakers are just too damn big, and all those wires. I never much cared about it when I was renting, but now with many small rooms placing them and making them fit into any decor will be difficult. I see they now have completely wireless systems (like Sonos) that apparently actually sound good. I doubt they compare to even a medium range stereo set with a pair of large floorstanders and a pair of bookshelves and a center, but it's possible they're good enough with a subwoofer. Are any of you using these unobtrusive hifi rigs in your old houses? How do you like them?

[Nicholas]

Well kelletim,

I have 6 big speakers, bass, mid and treble in separate boxes, a hybrid system of my own creation. Along with an old Technics amp, this combination would lift the roof of our previous home at half volume and no distortion. I have the huge vinyl collection, and it was always fun to blast Lee Michael's "Stormy Monday".

We also did those little speakers that they now have for our flat screen TV and DVD movie player, not wireless though, and I did hide the wires in creative ways. They would also blast and boom, especially with the way they make movies today with all the explosions or the "make you jump" sounds for the scary movies. They do sound great.

Right now we have all packed away, probably not going to hook them up anytime soon, our living room is small, I can hear the TV just fine, although my wife says I am going deaf.....(probably from blasting Stormy Monday)

[Jeepnstein]

I'm really suffering from that. We have a huge old wire smoking Yamaha system up on the sleeping porch that is not nearly set up correctly. And our system hooked to our main TV is an outright joke. I'd love to have some small and relatively unobtrusive way to distribute music throughout the house as well as have it serve up a home theater setup.

I'm a musician. I love music. But I hardly ever listen to it at home because I don't have a proper stereo system. Our old house does lots of things well but it doesn't lend itself to listening to music, or playing it with friends for that matter. I'm saving my nickles and dimes for a Bose PA system that should help but even that has limitations.

[phil]

wardrobes are a good way to hide stuff. I collect old radios so often I will just strategically tuck the speakers in with the old radios which occupy the majority of most every room. Yea you can put new speakers in old speaker cases like from the 20's where the radio and the speaker were separate entities. but that's more sacrilegious than Vinyl windows sometimes I do come across radios that are only partly complete and I often think of just restoring them enough to hide my speakers inside. I won't destroy antiques to do this.

another thing I can do with my old radios is to broadcast the signal from an MP3 player to my old radios. That way I can choose what I am listening to but still get the warm sound of an old tube radio.
http://www.sstran.com/

I can appreciate a good modern sound system but most often I just want a little background music and there is just nothing new that approaches the sound of an old tube radio. another option is to play FM through a tube radio that has that feature. the European radios from about 1965 or so have FM and a nice sound to them. (electrostatic speakers) Any old radio needs some work to sound right , new capacitors at minimum.

[SkipW]

I used to have a very good system that was always on...then I got married

Due to the 'esthetics' of a massive stereo system and speakers, I now get by with several sets of small 2way and 3way speakers placed strategically around the house which I wired to my last remaining Marantz amp which has only an iPod for input. All wires are run in the crawl space an the speakers are painted to match the room they are in.

While it will not knock down the house as my old systems used to, it is great for background music or, when I am alone in the house...a bit of good old rock and roll!

[Eperot]

My KLH Model 20's and 1973 Pioneer SX receiver are front and center...behold their brushed aluminum and walnut magnificence!

[jharkin]

Loving all things old (not just houses) I have quite a big vintage sytem build up around a '62 McIntosh tube amp I restored. tube preamp, 80s tuner, nice glass platter belt drive turntable. And I built a set of DIY 3 way floorstanders with 10" woofers for it.

When we lived in apartments it was no big thing to have the wires strun all over and the gear out on display. Now the setup hides in a built in cabinet next to the fireplace and the speakers try to hide as impromptu lamp tables next to chairs in the living room. My wife in all honesty would rather it just go away, and even I have to admit that it just doesnt look right in a room that is otherwise attempting to look C. 1820ish.

Someday if we move to a larger house it and have a dedicated movie room or I havea big shop it may move there.... But there is just something about listening to a record through big speakers you just cant get through a table top system.

For background music though, pretty much anything will do. Just dont expect to get real full range sound or a well defined stereo soundstage out of those Bose and like all in one systems. In spite of their marketing hype, the laws of physics say its impossible for tiny speakers to make deep base. Their engineers trick your ear by using a peaky eq curve to boost the midrange/mid base very loud to make you think you are hearing a fuller range.

[phil]

'62 McIntosh tube amp I restored
Wow! Now that sounds like a nice bit of gear..Those things are very sought after, as I am sure you know.

[Casey]

I had one of those Telefunken console hi-fi stereos made in 1961 (like ME!) but after getting it repaired once in 1996, (it needed the amps re-capped) I found the shop that had done that work was no longer fin business when it needed another bunch of work done (the rectifier) so I sold it for the same amount I paid for it to a very enthusiastic person. I have a 70's vintage setup, stored in the attic.I should probably get around to bringing it down and seeing if it still works. I do like listening to the radio, and I have an FM antenna in the attic, and a wire run to the first floor. I really liked the sound of that tube-amp Telefunken.
Casey

[phil]

Radio Phono combo units are not very sought after amongst collectors because once you have 5 of them your spouse will probably knock you over the head for carrying a 6th one home but there are some neat ones.
a few were bar radios like the wunderbar, it had a nice liquer cabinet and radio combined.
most of the older tube radios had tube type diodes, such as the #80 tube. as we went into the 60's there are some later ones with selenium rectifiers. these ones sometimes blow up leaving the room full of smoke. they can be replaced with modern diodes.
any tube radio needs its capacitors replaced, especially the electrolytic ones for the power supply. there are techniques for reforming capacitors and it is sometimes possible. If you have something that hasn't been plugged in in years it is best to replace the electrolytics first. Many older radios use electrodynamic speakers , the coil of wire is used bot as a speaker magnet and as a source of a large voltage drop. powering a adio up and blowing the electrolytics will produce a loud bang and a room full of smoke but the result can be that the speakers field coil shorts and they are harder to find or rewind. so it is bes to replace those electrolytics . also as with that telefunken they used a lot of little paper caps. they are cheap and easy to replace. I restuff the old cardboard tubes with modern capacitors but keep the original tubes for authenticity. recapping a radio is a matter of course but usually once that is done the radio plays without hum and troubles.

the other thing that happens a lot is that especially on older radios , sometimes they used rubber wire, it is under the chassis and you won't see it unless you open the chassis. the rubber turns to much or peanut brittle and fals off. so it is important to inspect the wiring and often it can mean replacing every single wire or putting spagetti over each wire to make it safe again. If it is cloth wiring it is often still serviceable.

I never leave them plugged in or hooked up to the antenna or run them when I am not around, because they can create fires especially if not properly restored.