Show us your hi-fi

I have an Aiwa high-end 3-head Dolby C cassette deck buried in the basement somewhere. It needs a whole bottle of contact cleaner (it sat, unused, in my system for almost a decade)
 
So I found an Optonica SA-5605 on eBay for $80 shipped... it's 85 watts per channel, os under $1 a wat isn't bad at all. I got it here and checked it out... it did fine in the DC offset test... the controls need some deoxit but they're not terrible yet.

First impression: HOLY SHIT this thing is HUGE! I'll probably take it apart and clean the pots and stuff tomorrow... but I put it in my system tonight so I could put it through its paces. My ears hurt now. :D In reality, while the 270 watts from the Pioneer SX-1980 sounds impressive, the 85 this thing puts out is all the vintage power nearly anyone will need.

The tape deck on top is the standard stereo component width, to give you an idea of how wide this receiver is.
 
looks like the bigger brother of my SA-5205.

HPIM0886.jpg
 
It is the bigger brother... it's two models up the line. that's why I tried to tell you about it in the shoutbox, but I think you might have missed it.
The 5905 is the top of the line model with 120-125 watts per channel... mine's second from top with 85 watts... then there's the 5405 with 65 watts and the the 5205 has 45 watts... I think the 25-watt model is the 5105. Someone sent me a bunch of scans from the Optonica brochure.

Optonica was an attempt by Sharp to get into the hi-fi game. The problem is Sharp didn't really establish the brand identity to compete with Pioneer, Marantz, Sansui, etc. They called it "the rare receiver" and it turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I got it for $80 shipped... the equivalent Marantz, the 2285, would go for $500 or more. Optonica is probably the best bang for the buck on eBay right now... when stuff shows up. So it's rare and a good deal.
 
How are you able to find digital radio frequencies using an analog tuner?
 
I dunno about digital, but they pick up regular FM signals beautifully.

45 watts, eh. IIRC my speakers are 93 dB efficient. Volume goes up to 40. Rarely take it past 8. Back when I had my ridiculously efficient BIC speakers, I usually kept it on 5 or 6.
 
could you re-state the question as to be clear? I don't know if you're talking about some sort of digital radio stuff... ir if you don't know how to tune 98.9 on a tuner like mine or like Altron's. At your age, you can't expect me to believe you've never used an analog tuner with signal and strength meters.
 
Truthfully, I've never owned an analog tuner receiver...except on a boom box. However, I was being facetious in my original question.
 
Ah... well, yeah, there are meters to help you find where the center of the channel and the highest signal strength are.
 
I've got an older Panasonic 5.1 system. Can't find pics of it anywhere on-line. Guess I'll have to break out me camera...
 
Yeah, I've never needed the meter. It's a big and heavy knob, but it glides really nice, so you can get very precise. I look at the needle until I'm about where my station should be, then play with the knob until I find the best sounding position.
 
Hell, with the satellite radio handy, I haven't even bothered to hook up the FM antenna. Of course, there's a guy a block away with either a giant antenna or a pirate radio station... in any case, almost the entire FM spectrum at my house is interfered with by some sort of church radio. Hymns, sermons, etc. For some reason, it affects good tuners in component stereos the most, but it doesn't seem to affect cheap radios.

I don't even turn on the tuner (my Optonica has a separate power switch for the tuner section).
 
When I had/replace my collection, I have no need for radio unless it's talk radio. I could/can flip to any classic rock station available and there might be one song an hour I don't own on CD. I once counted 21 songs in a row on one station during a long drive that I had on CD. IIRC, the streak was broken by Eddie Money.
 
That's why I enjoy having the satellite radio so much... especially the Vault. I've heard a lot of songs on there I didn't know from artists I did know.
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
Inky, for the love of all things holy, get thee to thine nearest mass merchandiser post haste and drop fifty of your American dollars on a cabinet! Concrete blocks are not an option.
Click to expand...

Happy now?

My record collection outgrew the space I had, so I needed to create more space. Lori telling me the table was ghetto and needed to go had nothing to do with it.

A cabinet like Sharky's was out of the question. The receiver is 21 5/8 inches wide.
 
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