Monday, October 22, 2007

Only in Japan!

So it’s a long expensive trip and all the equipment is 120 volts but hey, we get a lot of traffic from the USA so this post might just send some people over the edge.



I received a phone call a few weeks ago on Sunday morning from an Australian living in Japan who had ‘found’ a recycling centre a couple of hours outside Tokyo specialising in Electronic equipment. Well we had a couple of conversations about this mother lode of vintage audio equipment but I think the distance and the 120 volt issue makes it all a bit too hard. However our Tokyo correspondent was kind enough to email me some shots from the recycling depot and has given me permission to use them on our news page so here it is; the mountain of equipment sitting just outside Tokyo looking for a home. Sadly it looks like mostly late 70s Sony but I spotted some nice Yamaha pieces in the stacks.



Well I think this looks like it’s our first news letter this year for which I apologise; it’s been a hectic and crazy year. I have finally put my new photography portfolio(s) together and with any luck, next year will see me with more time to dedicate to Vintage Audio .Com .Au.

Of course I am not writing the news letter just to show you a mountain of equipment none of us can buy. Bob has been busy as usual and has come up with some pretty impressive pieces that deserve singling out.

The stand out piece is the Yamaha CT 7000 Tuner. This is the silver face model and it is in near mint condition. I am yet to hear it (it’s my turn this week) but Bob assures me that its not just 10 or 20 or 50% better than any tuner he has ever listened to. Apparently it looks (and sounds) like this tuner belongs to a whole other species!

Full Specs and Pictures at the Vintage Knob

FM Tuner Info Review you need to scroll down a bit.

It seems like the boys at FM Tuner Info mostly agree with a stellar review that names the CT 7000 as arguably the best analogue tuner ever made. I have seen inside the box and its fully shielded everywhere, so there is not a lot to see really but it’s very shinny (very full) and it looks great.

Better than Kenwood, Better than Sansui! Don’t write to me if this upsets you, please send your emails to FM Tuner Info.

I will have CT 7000 page up next week but if you want to buy it NOW just drop me a line. The price is $1800.00.

New in Stock,
Otari MX 5050 BQ MK II, 4 channel. This seems to be a fairly rare version of the MX 5050. Its in near mint condition, I will be doing my best to have a page with photos up by the end of the week.

Tascam Professional Open Reel, we now have 42b & 32b units back in stock.
Tascam cassette, 122 MKII & 112 in stock. Professional decks, Bob tells me the Tascam 122 sold for around $7000 new.

For those who enjoy open reel recorders I found a site tonight dedicated to open reel machines used in movies, with the movie they appeared in,
http://juanjorodriguez.eresmas.net/r2rinmovies/r2rmovies.htm

And of course we have the Harmon Kardon PM 665 TOL circa 1987, yes a bit late for us I know but a fine piece of equipment. Funnily enough my Yamaha CD player died last week and I have been running the Denon CD player with this unit and it has changed the sound completely! Sounds like I am going to be contradicting my ‘Is it your amp or is it your CD player’ post. Well they are both from the digital era so it may just make sense. I will try to get my review of the PM 665 updated to more closely reflect this development.

Cheers from Bob & Kent.

1 Comments:

Blogger tony smyth said...

This is a long shot as that post was a long time ago but here goes. Any chance you have the phone number and adress of that place as I live in Tokyo and am looking for a Pioneer A400 or A0400X to replce my curent NAD amp which just blew a channel.

Thanks
Tony

7:31 pm  

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