What is the worst vintage component you've ever owned?

SteveFord · « **on:** 10 Nov 2012, 12:08 pm »

We've got the good, we've got the ugly but where's the bad?
What vintage audio component have you owned which was just a laughably bad wretched pile?
My vote goes for a Dynaca SCA-80 which I purchased new and it spent most of it's life going back and forth to Dynaco until I finally sold it off in disgust.
From their advertising campaign:

"The SCA-80Q has been designed to be used under normal conditions without special safety precautions, just as if it were a high grade tube amplifier. There are no circuit breakers, speaker fuses, or other resettable devices to impede the use of the SCA-80Q under any reasonable conditions of use or abuse. This is achieved by using novel circuits (on which patents are pending) which automatically and instantly protect the amplifier.
By turning it into a doorstop - ed. note
The components in the SCA-80Q are of the highest quality to protect against failure, both now and for many years in the future. The transistors have been selected for minimum noise and distortion in sustained use. All parts are used conservatively with close tolerances to assure proper operation, and all four etched circuit modules in the kit have been pretested under actual use conditions to ensure that every unit, after assembly, will meet the specifications normally associated with laboratory prototypes".

The sharp eyed reader will notice that they didn't specify functioning production pieces but instead meet the specifications associated with laboratory prototypes.
I do remember it sounding nice on the few occasions when it was actually working.
Here's a photo of the old girl taking a nap which is what mine excelled at:

More than a few people have been puzzled over the rats nest which lurks within:

The company ceased operations shortly after this beauty came out.

hdspeakerman · « **Reply #1 on:** 10 Nov 2012, 12:27 pm »

+1 I never did get mine working. howard

WGH · « **Reply #2 on:** 10 Nov 2012, 01:47 pm »

I built both the SCA-80 and the matching FM-3.

I guess I was lucky because both units worked flawlessly.

Except the FM-3 station tuning drifted as the unit warmed up, I eventually got tired of the constant re-tuning and replaced both units with a Yamaha receiver.

Wayne

dB Cooper · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 Nov 2012, 04:23 am »

Quote from: SteveFord on 10 Nov 2012, 12:08 pm

The company ceased operations shortly after this beauty came out.

Actually, the SCA-80 was introduced in 1969 and remained in production until Dynaco closed up shop in 1980.
Mine was very reliable but I did send it to Dyna once for a mysterious intermittent noise (sounded like a long fart for want of a better description). I still have it but it has Van Alstine circuits in it (all the old Dyna circuits ripped out in favor of their own).

Sounds like you definitely had a lemon. I had a friend that bought a late production unit that somehow cleared factory QC with the non-ventilated version of the top cover (the version used in the much cooler running preamps). Fortunately he called me up to ask about it before it had a chance to burn to a crisp.

Brett Buck · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 Nov 2012, 08:15 am »

Quote from: WGH on 10 Nov 2012, 01:47 pm

Except the FM-3 station tuning drifted as the unit warmed up, I eventually got tired of the constant re-tuning and replaced both units with a Yamaha receiver.

Mine is absolutely dead nuts steady. Run it for hours, never moves, put it in the storage unit, wait several years, get it back out, turn it on, still smack on where I left it.

Brett

SteveFord · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 Nov 2012, 11:14 am »

I stand corrected.
The company ceased operations shortly after they made my unit.
Maybe I bankrupted them with the warranty claims, ha, ha.
I can laugh about it now but at the time I wasn't too happy with the way it kept croaking on me once every other month.
I sold that off and bought a 60W Kenwood integrated which was as reliable as a doorknob.

JohnR · « **Reply #6 on:** 12 Nov 2012, 11:27 am »

I'm not sure which is the worst one ever, but I think it was probably one of the ones I bought during my vintage frenzy a while back, which didn't work

I had a few of those, they were sold before I had time to fix them.

Not to ruffle any feathers, as I know the Citation II is highly thought-of, but I bought three of them and never got one working properly.

dB Cooper · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 Nov 2012, 01:42 pm »

Quote from: SteveFord on 12 Nov 2012, 11:14 am

I stand corrected.
The company ceased operations shortly after they made my unit.
Maybe I bankrupted them with the warranty claims, ha, ha.
I can laugh about it now but at the time I wasn't too happy with the way it kept croaking on me once every other month.
I sold that off and bought a 60W Kenwood integrated which was as reliable as a doorknob.

Wow Steve, this is really weird... I also "upgraded" my SCA-80 for a 60WPC Kenwood. Only thing is, I had almost no trouble with the SCA-80... and then the Kenwood picked up the nearby college FM station (about 1/4 mi away, 5kW) almost as well as my tuner did.
Bizarre

SteveFord · « **Reply #8 on:** 12 Nov 2012, 02:20 pm »

It gets even stranger - now we're both on Audio Circle!

Somebody is outside my window whistling the X Files theme song. Where's my bucket of water?

I know what happened next - the Kenwood was sold to finance a brand new The Carver Receiver - it had just come out and was on the cover of Audio or Stereo Review and I just had to have it! That was a good piece until I finally smoked it's guts.
It was a cold, rainy night, the tree branches brushed the window sill like some foul creature seeking entrance, there was no other recourse but to crank the Carver so I manfully gave the volume knob a sharp twist to the right when suddenly:

Poof! Silence.
Oops.

Darn those pesky 4 Ohm Magnepans, they done destroyed my stereo. Woe is me, etc.

rooze · « **Reply #9 on:** 12 Nov 2012, 02:33 pm »

Leak Varislope Preamp- a piece of junk. However, the mint Stereo 20 power amp that I snagged with it was/is an absolute gem. Built around 1957, it really highlights the fact that analog amp design hasn't progressed much in the last 55 years

dynaflo · « **Reply #10 on:** 12 Nov 2012, 03:17 pm »

Bogen DB 240 receiver. What a mess that was. Around 1970 model.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #11 on:** 13 Nov 2012, 02:32 am »

APT/Holman preamp. Sounded like garbage. Holman's Advent 300 receiver was a great overachiever so I figured what the hell....his next incarnation must be BETTER, right??

What the hell it turned out to be, tho

dB Cooper · « **Reply #12 on:** 13 Nov 2012, 02:33 am »

Quote from: SteveFord on 12 Nov 2012, 02:20 pm

It gets even stranger - now we're both on Audio Circle!

medium jim · « **Reply #13 on:** 13 Nov 2012, 02:54 am »

I had a Nikko receiver that I bought new from Pacific Stereo back in 1974. Don't recall the model, it was 30wpc. It was my bedroom stereo and actually sounded decent, especially with a pair of Radio Shack Minimus 7 speakers that I bought several years later...The original speakers were some wannabees that I bought at a swap meet...they were like JBL L100's but with a Piezo Tweeter.

I had my Pioneer TT and a Shure cartridge. That was my first system that I bought with my own money. It was the start of the sickness.

Looking back, the Nikko was pretty wimpy.

Jim

thunderbrick · « **Reply #14 on:** 13 Nov 2012, 04:17 am »

I briefly owned a Nakamichi 630 preamp/tuner that sounded gawd-awful! Took it back to the dealer who said it tested just fine. Not sure what I did with it. Later I had a Phase Linear DRS 200 amp, whose bass control was roughly similar to kicking a fresh pile of cow dung. Soggy and messy.

glynnw · « **Reply #15 on:** 13 Nov 2012, 04:38 am »

Years ago I bought new a Garrard click and pop remover for vinyl - made all kinds of weird electronic keening sounds - absolutely dreadful.

kevin360 · « **Reply #16 on:** 13 Nov 2012, 04:41 am »

Does this qualify? I bought a pair of each in '81/'82.

There were plenty of other early '80s purchases that were somewhat ill-advised. I had an SAE processor that eliminated surface noise - the cure was worse than the problem. I bought a stack of dbx gear - remember how a 3bx would 'breathe'? At one time, I think I had as many as six different signal processors in a tape loop. What was I thinking? I'm sure I wasn't alone.

Actually, my expectations were lower with my gear throughout the '70s, but I had a Kenwood KA-701 in the latter half of the '70s and I loved it (with a pair of Large Advents).

SteveFord · « **Reply #17 on:** 14 Nov 2012, 01:12 am »

It's funny you should post that as my last thought before falling asleep last night was about buying a Carver M400t cube.
I always wanted one but then today I remembered that if anything goes wrong you have to disassemble the whole thing, reassemble and then test it.

won ton on · « **Reply #18 on:** 14 Nov 2012, 02:00 am »

mid 80's Nad tuner,2 minutes after the warranty was up the display crapped out. also being digital you couldn't tune a station in unlike the Marantz receiver i had in the 70's which was a far superior. still have it stuffed away in the basement somewhere although i don't know why

SteveFord · « **Reply #19 on:** 14 Nov 2012, 03:00 am »

I'll go along with the NAD tuner; I bought one of those (2120?) and it was just terrible. I popped the cover and inside of the box it was 90% air which explained a lot.
Back to eBay it went.
I do use an NAD integrated with some Stax headphones and that works out really well but that tuner, ach.