July 17Jul 17 comment_970894 How about speaker model porn? A famous 1970s live rig from some jam band or other. Report
August 11Aug 11 comment_971362 Let's talk about Frankie, baby!In the early 1960s, Frank Sinatra commissioned a home hi fi that was an impressive mix of studio gear and high end consumer kit. The heart of it was a modified McIntosh C-22 preamp. It had one input that was three channel, made specifically for an Ampex correction: a Presto 800 open reel tape deck (visible behind Frank.)Studio recordings in those days were primarily three channel, with the center being for the lead vocals. Final mixes were almost always mono, of course. Sinatra liked to take home the day's recordings from the studio and see what he thought of them that evening. An artist taking home the actual multitrack masters might sound insane, but it was Old Blue Eyes in the 60s. Though visibly impressive, the three units below the Presto are just VU meters. The tuner below the C22 is a Fisher R200.Below the Fisher at the bottom are a trio of tape head preamps made specifically for the Presto. Of course the tape transport, VU meters and preamps are all studio gear, not generally used by (or available to) the public.There were three power amps for the speakers, housed in a different room. Presumably they were Mac tube monoblocks, but there is basically no info out there. Similarly, there is no reliable info on the make/model of the speakers themselves. I've seen Altec-Lansing and JBL floated as likely brands. There was also a huge "Rek-O-Kut" turntable system that could both play back records and cut acetate disks(!) It had its own dedicated space. What the unit lacked in sex appeal, it made up in physical stature.Even a stock C22 has complex mono/stereo routing. (I oughta know, I've owned two of them since 1999 ...for reasons I cannot entirely explain.) Frank's custom unit was modified, but I don't know to what extent. Based on my research there is conjecture that the television output was wired into the C22. Frank was an early pioneer in the world of home theater.In the bedroom, Frank had a high end Grundig all-in-one system.I can neither confirm nor deny if Nancy Reagan ever got to hear a tune or two on that Grundig.Thank you for coming to my TED talk, now help yourself to a pack of smokes on the way out. Edited August 11Aug 11 by Knuckledragger Report
August 22Aug 22 comment_971526 In the cat's defense, there was no more practical way to get on top of the speaker. Report
21 minutes ago21 min comment_971685 Interesting bit of history here: Edited 16 minutes ago16 min by Knuckledragger Report
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