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Looking for opinions on components for a vintage tube system and 90's solid state

I've enjoyed reading audiogon for some time and would now like to seek some wisdom from the members. I'm trying to put together two separate systems - a vintage late 50's tube system and an early 90's solid state one.

For the tube system I have a pair of original early JBL C34 speakers and a pair of Marantz Model 5 amps, but no preamp and no turntable. 

For the 90's SS system, I have a Levinson 23.5 amplifier and a 25S phono preamp, and am looking for a 26S preamp. I have no turntable or speakers for this system. I am interested in playing only vinyl or reel to reel tape for both systems.

I'd love to hear thoughts on an appropriate preamp and turntable for the tube system. I suppose a Marantz 7 (or pair of Model 1's if I get lucky or rich) would be obvious choices for the preamp. Or perhaps I could use the Levinson 26S/25S for both systems? For the turntable I am thinking a Garrard 301 or Thorens TD-124 would be a good match, but I know nothing about tonearms and moving coil cartridges for these.

For the 90s SS system, I thinking British monitor speakers like ProAc or perhaps LS3/5As would be a good match. I am clueless as to the best turntable/tonearm/cartridge setup.

I'd love to hear opinions on all the above as well as an appropriate open reel player that would be suitable for both systems. Thanks in advance for your responses!     
ausernamethathasntbeentaken
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glennewdick
1,629 posts
 

I went through the whole Garrard 301 Build last year and have not regretted it at all. I went from a oracle Delphi mk 4 and the Garrard has much more PRAT and musicality. worth every penny. I did the 301 with a custom bamboo plinth and Jelco 750l 12" tone arm. its a great combo and imo better then the vintage SME's a lot of people use not to mention less money. The new Jelco arms are even better. pictures on my profile if you want a peek. there is so many carts out there that is a topic many will give you suggestions just remember you will need to match the cart and arm together for compliance. other then that it was not a hard or nor frustrating experience well worth the time and cost ( total my turntable system cost me about $4k and time of course).

Tube pre's from the 50's I'm not too sure, I would consider looking to the 70's as you will find more available with some of the better names available by then.


I'm not that up to speed on the SS vintage stuff other then some of the stuff from the 70's - 80's

I've owned ProAc speakers ( response 2.5) and they are very musical and have good base for their size. they also image very well.


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almarg
9,670 posts
 
During the 1990s I owned the Marantz 1s, 2s, 7, 9s, and two different 10Bs. For roughly a decade prior to and subsequent to that I owned a Mark Levinson ML-1 preamp. My favorite combination of all of those components was the ML-1 + Marantz 2s, with the 2s operated in triode mode (which I believe is very similarly rated in terms of power capability to the 5s, when both are operated in triode mode).

The 1s and 7 were also quite good, but I preferred the ML-1 by a slight margin. Its built-in phono stage, btw, was excellent, at least when used with moving magnet cartridges. I used the well regarded Grace F-9E Ruby for most of that decade, and I never tried the ML-1’s plug-in boards that provide it with LOMC capability.

The ca. 18 watt triode mode capability of the 2s, btw, together with the 90 db/1 watt/1 meter/7 ohm speakers I was using at the time, was sufficient for most but not quite all of my recordings. Exceptions were classical symphonic recordings having particularly wide dynamic range, such as some of those from Telarc, Sheffield Labs, and Reference Recordings. Bass drum whacks on some of those recordings could cause the power tubes to visibly arc.  Ultra-linear mode provided about 3 db more power, of course, but I found to be significantly less preferable sonically.

Hope that helps. Regards,

-- Al
irish_tim
55 posts
 
A CJ Premier 16 preamp and any McCormack amp would be superb.  
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