Skylabs is a brick and mortar store located in West Des Moines, Iowa. We specialize in vintage electronics and vinyl records.
We do not sell our stereo equipment on-line. Honestly, we would have no reason for a physical store if we did and we prefer doing business the "vintage" way.
Also, we do not accept repairs sent in to us. All repairs must be brought into the shop in-person. Again, the truth of it is, we do not have the staff to handle anything other than what is brought in locally.
Hope you understand, and hope you stop in if you are ever in the West Des Moines area!
Thank you for watching and your interest in Skylabs!
well that teaches me that from now on I'll have to watch the entire video before I comment, or was I surprised when you pulled out those Karns! friend of mine I worked with had a pair and I went over one day, listened to them and like you said, the highs just weren't gettin' it on - so I had this idea to move the Tweeter to the front where the port was, and move the port to the back where the Tweeter is, and he had enough scrap shelving laying around that we were able to make it happen and oh yeah made all the difference in the world he was like a kid in a candy store, just very amazed that he now liked them so much.
I think mostly the Bose hatred comes from their single driver series - trying to do everything from low bass to super-twerter highs from a single (or multiple) 5". 🤮 These older Bose designs which used an actual woofer and tweeter are much more beloved, the 501 being the first home stereo speaker that ever blew my mind when I was 14 and literally went cross-country over the hill from our Bay area home just to find out where the deep, rich, pounding base was coming from - a party several blocks away - and that's where I was first introduced to 501s in 1974. ...and on those Baby Advents, those tweeters are basically poop, but I did to mine was order up a pair of CTS phenolic ring paper cones and then did a simple 6dB crossover with a 1ufd non-polarized mylar (or polystyrene) capacitor, and well it's just amazingly better sounding, much more open, present, and just more "Alive". The CTS it's the only phenolic ring tweeter I like, and I've tried the MGM and several other brands and they all sound worse than poop, however CTS did a really good job on designing theirs, and you'll find them in some older Altec and Electro Voice large bookshelf speakers that sound *_very_* nice. I also replaced all 4 of my Bose 301 tweeters with a single forward-firing CTS Phenolic Ring tweeter and now they actually image decently - lol.
I absolutely hate B and O equipment. In my teens, my high school bought a turntable amp and speakers. After the first amplifier burn out they got it fixed. I said to my teacher that they were lemons. Here endeth the lesson!
I still have a Gerard tuenable. Also a dual charterrible that I had when I was in the Air Force. Still haven't still working good. With my Miranda's amplifier. And bo's speakers.
A lady gaga makeup crew add for Pfizer played before this video. I noted that one of her makeup crew looks like Sylvester of the weather girls. Why would I care? - I simply don't think I'm going anywhere if I don't have the support of Sylvester. I can't live with a retro stereo because I am completely spoiled on making Sound Blaster sound like BOSE systems costing much more. Sylvester is part of the reason. The other reasons are Tom Scholz and Vigo Mortenson, which means Buckethead. Shawn Lane involvement.
What am I looking for??? Here's what. MAXIMUM INVOLVEMENT ENJOYMENT. What kind of music? All kinds. What volume level? Whatever strikes my fancy at the moment? How many watts? As many as is necessary so I don't feel wanting or suffering speaker distortion. What size room? Today my chamber may be small, but tomorrow may be larger so let's cover all bases. How much should I spend? That's not a consideration the seller or vendor needs to to worry about. I'll make that determination exclusively with my financial advisor. How should I buy my gear from? Anyone that's not abrasive, arrogant, smug, presumptuous, condescending, shorton time/temper or had an agenda steered towards the hard sell. When should I buy? When I'm good and ready, AND hint: definitely not on your timetable, or when the storefronts mortgage is due. "I'm not happy with you as a customer wasting my time". Too bad, do sad, close the shop and sell insurance policies instead.....
Hey from Australia. I bought an ONKYO 7.1 surround amplifier which is equipped with "THX" certification. Thanks George. Seriously it is a great amplifier. ONKYO made Quadraphonic units in the 70s with CD 4 discrete sound. WOW. I just sprayed my boxers. It never took off. A lot of people in the business are calling Dolby Atmos the 2020 version of CD 4 discrete. I don't know anyone who is running it unless they have lots of cash. The audio quality these days is great and I can't be bothered adding another 2 channels. In Star Trek First Contact, the audio steering is excellent to the point of why bother with 9.1 surround? All my Blu-ray discs sound phenominal and I had to install a DBX 163 to catch the transients going to the subs. As I'm a young 63, these amplifiers your showing here are just as brilliant as they were when released and after a recap, still sound as good if not better than some crap released today. Cheers. Andrew Collins. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
I've been in the audio game for many many many years, since the early 80's. I've bought MOFI records when they were brand new and while they did/do sound amazing, not all of them do. Example. The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers., that issue is very boomy and muddy, they eq'd the hell out of it. Here is an example of what i am talking about. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-U2aTimzEbFI.htmlsi=rnBbqc-Bf6s6VPn7 This is my youtube channel, I am a tape guy, but take a listen and you will understand what i am talking about weather or not you like tape. Mind you, I have done no eq'ing, this is a direct copy of my MOFI. They have been eq'ing everything since the beginning so whats the big deal if digital is in the chain. Now'a days, when you buy a new pressing of anything on vinyl, the master is digital, they do not master to tape anymore, furthermore, when a recording is mastered, a seperate master has to be done for the LP pressing. Pure analog has not been around since the days of tape, just about everything from the mid 90's up was mastered digital. Tape, contrary to popular belief does not degrade, but unfortunately, when they came out with back coated tape, IE Ampex 456 which most everything was mastered on is no longer in playable condition because of the back coating coming off. These tapes can be salvadged if they are baked, once baked, you can get a beautiful copy, but that master tape is no longer usable. so many of these tapes ended up being trashed because of this. If you take the tape and just load it onto the deck and wind it, it will destroy it unless it is baked first, many people did not know this back then and the ones that did survive were long put into the digital domain many years ago. Me personally, and I've been in sound engineering, production, live sound, audiophile etc. I can't tell if digital was used or not, not if it is done correctly. Just go to my channel and take a listen, i know its youtube and the quality, yadda yadda yadda, but just randomly listen to some selections and comment. I do use the digital domain, sometimes, sometimes i do not, most of my stuff comes right off my turntable, some come from CD, and yes, some i have downloaded the MP3 versions. See if you can tell.
I refuse to lower my standards and do streaming. Its is an empty soulless experience compared to analog. I rarely listen to anything other then vinyl, including in my car, SILENCE IS BETTER THEN THE CRAP ON THE RADIO. i pretty much only listen to music when i at home and i can pay attention to the experience.
WANT THAT AKAI REEL-to-REEL. Is it a GXC-747. Bought one LONG ago (was stolen from me by my wife; so kind of her). NEVER used it, BUT DA*N, it LOOKED GOOD!! BUT... champagne tastes & beer-pocket $ now.
Kevin, You are such a valuable ( and interesting) source of Vintage Stereo information. Your coverage of individual components and complete sets is an excellent guideline for beginners and those of us who love this era of musical replay equipment. Your ‘Skylabs’ videos are a regular part of my internet viewing. I always learn something and enjoy your commentary. Continued success. You fill a much needed position as this field continues to grow. Rich in Charlotte
My understanding the Tape Mon. went to the way side when CD's became popular and tape was falling out of popularity. My 5.1 Kenwood and Onkyo still had tape mon. at the time. was great borrowing your friends albums so you can make cassette for the car to sound like you want. Still have an old Soundcraftsman EQ i started using in the 70's till the early 2010's when i started in home streaming. Now i have a Wimm mini using the 10 band Eq. has 3 saved settings depending on the listening level and quality of the recording. unless you have separates ie: pre-amp / amp not sure how you would loop one in to cover all your sources. i guess you can use some sort a switch bank/ mixer, i know some intergradeds still come with a tape loop.
If there is a enough of the plastic tab left that it can stick into the slot of the hinge, you can drill a small hole in the hinge and keep it in place with a screw. You just have to remember to take the screws out before trying to rip the cover off 🙂
What about Rotel, NAD, Toshiba, Sony, Technics, Kenwood, NAIM, Dual, Braun, Philips, Akai, JVC, Hitachi, Denon, Luxman? Not good, or so good ppl don't wanna part with them so you won't find any second hand?
I literally stepped up from PL 530 to a PL 550 to finally my PL 570 however my return tone arm is starting to act up and I’m getting stressed. I have my Dual 1229 directly next to my PL 570 and don’t want it to ever change. Suggestions?
Thanks for sharing your experience with both technologies. I personally prefer DD turntables but I acknowledge that a good belt driven TT has some serious arguments soundwise
This video is so helpful! Thank you!! Questions- if I have two subwoofers do I send left and right audio to both or one give one sub left one sub right like speakers?
Ed is spot on. It's all about the music! Build the best system you can afford on your budget that sounds good to your ears & enjoy it! God knows as a buyer, selling & trader of vintage electronics for almost 20 years I finally realized that it was time to say enough's enough. I'm quite content now & never think about my system at all other than basic upkeep.
The comparator was brilliant. I remember switching back and for in the dealer. It was a lot easier than waiting for the little man to swap. You would forget what you had just heard.
Working in hi fi I sold a zillion Kenwood 4070's - their 40 watt receiver. Very few warranty returns. 40 WPC and with a decent turntable and maybe a pair of Advents. Maybe other models didn't work well but that 4070 drove the large or even the smaller Advents to a nice real level with very little obvious distortion.
The only real difference between analog and digital music reproduction is the "noise floor". Digital has almost no noise. People who maintain that analog and or "tube" equipment sounds "warmer" or "better" are full of it. I guarantee if they can tell the difference blinded , it is only because digital has less or no noise.
Ridiculous though I be, looking behind you at :27, I find the (two?) Marantz with turquoise LEDs has too evenly spaced knobs--too orderly!; the purplish complexity of the (Yahama?) left grabs my eye, while the green of the (Harmon Kardon?) near the top is a vexing colour. These are the important factors, you see. I wish I knew more about it. You have a fascinating world right there.
Love your delivery. You're for real and honest, know your stuff. I'm 65 and a nostalgic Canadian and I sometimes look for 'the look' more than the best gear. The Seventies were my youth and I well recall the beautiful silver-fronted receivers with solid toggle buttons and clicky selector switches. I've mentioned my onkyo TX-18 previously and I've been wrongly over-proud of it. Now i'm older I can't read a damn thing on the black front and I want to read where I'm at. One of these may be what I'm looking for. I just took the top case off the TX-18 and used a paintbrush to disturb the decades of dust with a vacuum cleaner suctioning nearby, and now have sprayed Deoxit D5 to try and make the tape monitor button stop skipping out the R or L speaker when I'm recording. But I do want a beauty from the golden era. Afraid to buy eBay lest it not work on arrival, but guess I'll chance it. Thankx.
This may be my rant. Loved this discussion. I don't own any pricy equipment. Dynaco preamp and 200w amp, Paradigm tower speakers, Dual 1229, Sony CDP690, and (some my judge but I refuse to take it out) An SAE parametric equalizer. But, Like in this VLOG, I usually turn on my desktop, listen to you tube with an Altec Lansing speakers\powered bass that I bought for a daughter about 15 yrs ago. (SO GLAD she said she didn't want it) Thanks guys!
I bought a 9090 no DB while in the Navy in 1975 in Japan but it was a US version. I bought it on base. I had it for 30 years. When things went to 7.1 channels and so on I went to Pioneer Elite and gave the Sansui to my son. Got divorced and asked him what happened to the Sansui when I visited his own home. He threw it away I almost died.
