Audioless Winnipeg Group!

From a vintage turntable point of view, I personally think Technics (primarily their direct drive models) are some of the best built vintage turntables available. They have excellent motors (even their slim line p-mount turntables are very good), well made, and extremely easy to service. For the most parts, they do not require much, some oil as per the service manual and simple cleaning and adjustments of the controls. Some negatives of these series of turntables are the hinges, well not really the hinges, they are robust. It is the plastic tabs on the dustcover that insert to the hinges. Those tend to break. There are remedies all over Audiokarma if you're looking for some. Another sore stop is the mat. The Technics mats are generally great mats but, for some off reason I've noticed they become hard (frisbee hard) and start to leech out oil which makes cleaning an awful mess. Thankfully, this Technics SL-D2 was in great condition. But, needed a few items. The mat had s...

One of the last series of speakers that were made by Mirage that were available in Canada (or at least in Winnipeg). I originally bought these for my parents however, they never used them and even left them here in Winnipeg when they moved out of province! I've only listened to these speakers maybe a handful of times and once at Visions Electronics. When they were being demonstrated for a sale I was very impressed on how beautiful they sounded. I was running them with a Crown D-75 power amplifier and Belles preamplifier. They were very immersive sounding, I guess the "omni" part were correct, while they were not as direct sounding or a sharp sounding as other speakers they were excellent for what they were designed for. This was one of the reason why I bought them in the first place, for my parents to use them in a home theater setup. Truth be told, I do have a soft spot for API speakers, even though this was made during the Gentec era. I love Canadian speakers, per...

Akai AP-D2 is a direct drive turntable of the very late 1970s and early 1980s, usually the straight tone arm is general sign to "age" a turntable. I've had many Akai before and definitely had my fair share of AP-D2s and they are solid tables. Easy to use and more importantly quite easy to service. It is a 2-speed direct drive turntable with automatic return with a "servo lock" which locks in the speed, therefore this guy does not have adjustable speeds pots. Overall, it is a solid direct drive turntable. This one was equipped with an Audio Technica AT-3400 (probably originally a rebadged version of the Audio Technica) and a new aftermarket Jico stylus was installed. Sounds great! This is really a no-frills direct drive turntable with basic features but, that's all you need to make music! This guy was in excellent condition. And, now found a new home!      

This turntable was made during the late 1970s and comes with all the basic features you would expect from a mid line Japanese belt drive turntable. It is semi-automatic, so it has an automatic return mechanism, reject, 2 speeds, antiskate and cue feature. Surprisingly, it does have some heft to it. It is well made for what it is. There are some information off vinylengine.com if you wish to see the brochure. It does have good specifications, unlike modern day entry level belt drive turntables. It does have some nice metal hinges that I tend to prefer of the plastic ones that break, so that is quite the bonus. This turntable has been gone through by us. It needed a bit of love but, it's running beautifully. It has a new belt and new RCA plugs. It comes with a rebranded Audio Technica AT-3711 cartridge (Akai PC-90), which is a conical but, sounds great. It's also in good shape. This would make a great entry level turntable for someone looking to get into vinyl.     ...

For those who are affected the Covid-19 virus our thoughts are with you through these difficult times. Stay safe, keep calm and keep washing your hands. On a lighter note, at least if we have to stay indoors we have our music!

I've owned Crown amplifiers and still own a D75 in my main setup. All I have to say is I love Crown amplifiers. I think they are some of the best hidden gems out there. Let's start with some basic specifications. You can easily find a more thorough list online. Crown D60 Specifications: Power output: 35 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo) Frequency response: 5Hz to 100kHz Total harmonic distortion: 0.05% Damping factor: 400 Gain: 26.3 dB Input sensitivity: 0.75V Crown D45 Specifications: Power output: 25 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo), 95W into 8Ω (mono) Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz Total harmonic distortion: 0.05% Damping factor: 400 Gain: 20.6 dB Input sensitivity: 0.8V IOC® (Input/Output Comparator) alerts of any distortion that exceeds 0.05% to provide proof of distortion-free performance. Signal presence indicators verify the presence of amplifier output. Finding information on the D60 is a bit hard as the unit is older but, for the most part ...