I used to have Klipsch Heresy loudspeakers that I bought in 1978 that my son in law and daughter now use in their system. I still have a Revox B251 integrated amplifier that I don't use in my current system. I now use a NAD M22 Amplifier and M51 DAC driving Klipsch Forte IV loudspeakers. My first system was a Fischer receiver and Jensen speakers!
'Envy' 😆 Well you know back when Sidney Harman bought back his company in the early 1980s that stuff was still made by Hitachi who were reckoned the best. Sony V-FET had been unreliable, they'd last just a year. I remember the harman receiver that Grant has but it wasn't thought as good as the single heat-sink version. The double heat-sink one had an awesome, spacious sound and really, was overpowered for the size of Grant's room. The PM660 amplifier was for BIG spaces but the PM650 was better, it had a more dynamic sound. Later harman/kardon was not so great after Sidney passed on.
An audiophile passionate of the sound of classic rock with a love and collector of lots and lots of vintage gear. Grant definitely has the bug! Way to go!
Wow that is what you call a audio collection! I think Grant found his groove ( no pun intended) from an early age. Some familiar and not so familiar items. Thankyou for taking the time Grant and Steve.
The one thing I'd offer top of page to help buyers is that the T-403 tuner has the same paper specifications as the Radio Shack, Realistic STA-2000 and I remember asking the Radio Shack guy, was their TM-1001 tuner as good as the 2000? So he's replied that the 2000 was a lot more expensive and it's an awesome receiver, tuner and amplifier but ... the harman/kardon A 402, you know it could if serviced, be better if hooked to the original JBL L100 Century, but these need the Al-Ni-Co magnets recharged and in the US, we used to be able to get all that done but maybe not still. Times have changed.
My own audio journey parallels Grant's in many ways. I started out with Genesis Physics speakers and Pioneer and later Harmon-Kardon electronics. It is great to see Genesis Physics speakers getting some love today, since I was a big fan back in the day. I later moved on to Arcam. It is sad to see Harmon-Kardon being turned into a "lifestyle" brand today.
All the massive hifi brands had to go into lifestyle products to survive. The Harman Kardon products are a bit, for sure. But Harman own JBL, Studer, Allen & heath, Arcam, Revel, so they still make all levels of equipment.
To: @armanddimeo6575, Harmon Kardon a lifestyle brand?! "Aw naw man!! " I can see now that its no wonder they couldn't fix the cd player/recorder I purchased years ago. I eventually had to junk it( At least I took it to a place that recycles electronics and not a landfill!!). The thought of High End audio being a disposable commodity in a landfill just highly unsettled me! I won't be buying anything from HK again. So unfortunate.
Grant is incredible. That is an amazing collection. His place looks like a high end audio museum. Plus, he’s got some head of hair for someone collecting turntables since the 70s.
I can hear everyone who saw this video chanting Grant! Grant! Grant! :) ..and nice collection of Grateful Dead Dave’s Picks! Now I want to hear all his Grateful Dead stories, too!
It makes me so happy to see people in their element -- and enjoying it! What a gorgeous collection Grant has, and thanks for presenting it. I share Grant's passion for multiple set-ups (cartridges, turntables, amps, speakers, DACs) which you can swap to fit your mood. And I also share his enthusiasm for HK. Mine is for the receivers of the '70s -- the X30 series up to the 670, all strikingly clean (in looks and sound) and handsomely designed like no other manufacturer's equipment. I'd long dismissed '80s and '90s gear (most of it black boxes) as ugly and lackluster, but some of Grant's HK stuff has turned my head around!
This was a fun visit. Big thanks to Grant for allowing us to see. Steve I still own my HK 3480 receiver and matching HD990 CD player. You actually reviewed the receiver way back in the day for Stereophile, and you liked it! It still sounds great. That Harmon Kardon sound is fantastic. It's my legacy system in a third room still working well. Greg
You know with cassettes there's a low quality resistor on the tape heads and we replaced it with a wire-wound and that amplified up a much clearer sound. But getting components today is pricey, we used to get them for what was considered a HUGE price, but under a dollar and Radio Shack wanted about $13 for two ordinary resistors but beautifully packaged and presented. So if Grant didn't buy Radio Shack back in the day ... there was probably a feeling that their stuff was beautiful but like their resistors, overpriced. In fact their stuff was the best but it was just so pricey, we had to buy other brands, unless you were rich, you couldn't buy Radio Shack stuff unless on hire purchase and they were evil once they had you on the books. So the Shack got a bad name.
Those Thorens 124's gorgeous ! dig the cartridge collection also. I still have some American made BIC bookshelf speakers from the early 90's that still sound great! Greetings from Australia!
I have had a Harmon Kardon AVR-120 receiver for nearly 25 years! It still works beautifully and I use it daily to power my modest home theater speaker system.
Dear Grant, I spent many years with an HK AVR8000 flagship and then later an HK AVR4700 in command of the system. They were both cherished. I have always loved the Harmon-Kardon brand and their equipment. They seem to now have transitioned into the "audio gear for people who do not like audio gear" end of the market trying to compete with Sonos and the like. Such a shame.
Some cool gear there. All in a NYC apartment. I know what kind of limitations such a space presents having lived in one for a dozen years or so mostly in the '80s. I have a ton of vintage gear as well. But, I'm in a house with a basement, attic, four bedrooms and an office/storage area. So gear in the basement, in the living room and in my office. And closets, lol. My wife is learning how to play piano so she has portable pianos, upright pianos, metronomes and lights an recording equipment in a couple of rooms. It's a moveable warehouse that we live in, sort of. I don't do turntables much. Only have three, a Dual, a Technics and an old RatShack Lab series. Not really a vinyl guy though I have a small collection. Mostly CDs-lots of CD players around and a couple cassette decks-nothing special there. And speakers! Lots and lots of speakers-mostly vintage. Advents, KLH, EPI, Boston Acoustics, Dynacos, ADS, JBLS, classic Polk, etc. It's a disease, I know! My wife puts up with me, but then again, she practices hours and hours a day. The same piece over and over again. It doesn't bother me as I came of age with Phil Glass in the '80s. Repetive music, NO PROBLEM! Been there done that!
Wow! So cool! I was worried about me having two systems and a partial three in the making, not anymore, love it! This is excellent video, so so good. Got some good information from it and enjoyment, thanks Steve!
Just came across this and nice to see another HK guy...I bought my first A402 / T403 amp/tuner combo back in 1977 and am still using it. I saw a photo of the same in Grant's collection - but didn't hear him mention it. I also have a PM645 / TU 910 combo bought in the 80s, a 430 twin-power receiver and a 330i receiver. Harman Kardon just had it's own design philosophy, and it's clear Grant still appreciates the wide bandwidth/high current approach which allowed their stuff to punch way above their wattage class. Great interview and share! 👍
And I also had the Grabo reference. I forgot the model number, but they cost me 700 and let me tell you the headphone jack in the fmj was amazed did not need no headphones amp
I still have a pair of HK-775 mono blocks I bought new, way back when I sold hifi. And our company was, I believe, the first dealer for Genesis. Pretty good speaker line. Sold a bunch.
Thanks to you Steve and Grant, really interesting Video, very appreciated it. Nice collection of good turntables and other things. I like this much. 😊👌
Pretty darn cool. I completely understand because I'm kind of doing the same.... 😂😂. Haven't sold any of my gear in the last 25 years. Nowadays I'm having fun trying modern DACs with vintage/old gear.
Fantastic! I thought I was bad for having two systems. Wow, would love to listen and compare the sound of the different systems. Fabulous. Though I don't envy dusting and cleaning everything in there. PS, I'm gonna hazard a guess here and say, I doubt that he is married? ;-) Or that is his man-cave apartment, separate from the marital home?
Back in 2000 I had an arcam FMJ . With the b&w 804 nautilus that was my first ever audio file system. I had the power amp that I used for the woofers, and they’re integrated amp for the mid and high
I can relate to Grant, he is a kindred spirit. I only have 4 turntables and still lamenting the only one I ever sold. My wife thinks I have enough gear now, so in retirement I’m just enjoying what I have along with the music.
Grant? I guess that now you've retired it's time to be thinking about funerals. (Actually when you both croak, there will be a load of stuff being sold at low prices by a wife eager to free up the space.) We all need to look out for these death estate bargains, even although some might unwittingly infect us with a demon. Of course Australians aren't superstitious, I'm only half joking.
I had the B&W cdm 1nt for several years. I loved them . Unfortunately , that system died a terrible death- amp and speakers destroyed. I refer to this part of my audiophile journey as pre- smoke and post smoke. I do not remember how the 1nts sounded. I do remember that I loved B&W as a company and thought the 1nts looked cool.
Harman bought Arcam back in late 2000's. I think all the FMJ series were made under Harman ownership. Not used much anymore, but I love my A60, T21, A85 and cd72.
So cool to hear someone liking Harmon Kardon! They were the investor owners of Infinity Speakers through the late 80s and 90s, financing the best of the golden age of that company. As the founders moved on, fans of the speakers derided “HK” as bringing down the brand with their more commercial management practices. People forget there never would have been a classic line of Infinity Speakers without their support.
Well my HK CDR20 was derided but my reconditioned one has been making awesome cdrs. That unit with dual decks and an awesome remote and even an awesome instruction manual has been great. The Infinity Kappa 8s are imho the best speakers ever. Ever. But driving them takes Bryston 7bsst2. Even a 4bsst couldn't do it but close. I have 2 prs kappa 7s and spare polydomes nos from hk.
It's cool to see someone collect a certain brand of gear. Even long after they came out. I have been doing this as well but have went sideways thanks to a growing number of headphones. If I had more space I would have multiple speakers and systems. Both modern and vintage or a combination. Still may pull the trigger on a vintage set of klipshes or tektons or some high efficiency speaker to play with low wattage diy class a elson pass amps. Hope to see more in house visits of folks systems in New York. Or have folks sharing their system in a interview of themselves they send to you. You seem to have done this in the past ? Thanks Steve!
Steve never mentioned Grant's ... now this is BIG ... black harman/kardon PM655 amplifer, these were still the old manufacturer from the 1980s but Grant says at 3:25 that harman were great the entire 80s and the entire 90s but ... harman weren't so great in the 90s and the old-style quality PM655 was relaunched as the hk6600 that came without the phono capacitance trim pot seen above the volume control on the right of Grant's example. I'd say the 1990s harman hk series are bad news. The old PM range is best, very different under the lid. It seemed to me that the later hk amplifier series excelled only with polypropylene cone woofers that were in vogue back then. If you have polypropylene woofers, I'd recommend the hk6500 or hk6600 but these have only one heat-sink, a lesson learned from the old PM660/ PM650 days, that a single heat-sink gave a more dynamic sound.
Collecting audio gear is another hobby then listening to music. Personally I always tend to upgrade and go for audio upgrades that really are better and not different. I had special audio gear before that I thought I would keep but in the end it ends up standing still at my attic and basically age while standing still. Then I always came to the conclusion that it is better to sell it so I have some money and other people can enjoy.
Outstanding as always Steve! I want to party with Grant as I also have 5 systems in my living room. But, that's as close as I can get. His collection is simply amazing and a true audio time capsule. Thank you & keep up the great work.
Steve, I ended up pulling the trigger on the 805 D3’s that were available locally. Definitely the right choice… Wow! Big difference between my 705 S2’s. Which jumpers do you prefer when auditioning and reviewing speakers? I’m using Nordost Red Dawn cables and Nordost standard jumpers today. I love the Red Dawn cables. I don’t know if I should upgrade my jumpers. Any thoughts?
@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac makes sense for review purposes. Setting reviews aside. Which jumpers would you recommend to a friend to check out? I sincerely appreciate your time and expertise.
To be honest, I'm going to give a somewhat different opinion. There isn't very much of this equipment that I would have purchased over the course of my lifetime but that's just me. I have plenty of rock recordings but where is the jazz or blues or classical or any other type of music to listen to?I wish Grant well with all of these components but the bigger question is WHY? I like the Technics TT, , PS Audio, that beautiful headphone amplifier and all of the Arcam gear. I took a very different path with my purchases and I certainly didn't keep much of the equipment unfortunately. I sold Conrad Johnson, JBL, Koetsu, Threshold, Nakamichi, Hafler, Dalquist, Stax, a rebuilt Stereo 70, Acoustic Research, Mark Levinson Acoustat, Infinity, Audio Research, and a bunch more of this type of equipment which is very different than what Grant accumulated.
He’s a hardcore rocker. Not all of us can deviate into the other areas. I’m my twilight days, I tend to gravitate towards soundtracks, chess, and Go (your basic crashing bore in modern day parlance).
@@shitmandood sounds close minded to me. Balance is everything in a person's life and I believe in the old phrase "Use your mind as if it was a parachute, it works a whole lot better when it's open".
@@scottyo64That’s kind of what I was thinking sir. To the OP. I think he’s a man who knows what he wants, and goes out and gets it. He’s not you, and you’re not him. There’s nothing wrong with him for doing it his way, and there’s nothing wrong with you doing things your way. But for some reason. You seem to have a problem with this man spending his own hard earned, in whatever it is that he wants. The only one with a problem here is you. Not Grant. It’s a shame you’ll most likely not see it that way yourself. But that’s what’s going on here. You’re being intolerant of him for whatever reason, and trying to push your insecurities onto him through psychological projection. Grant’s just fine sir. But you. You could probably do with some therapy. And the only reason I know this, is because of therapy. It works. You should real try it. ✌️
Recently I was at a high-end audio shop doing a listening test of some speakers, and a cute femme d'un certain age, obviously a store customer, came into the room, and when she heard that I wanted to listen to a cut of the Dead (in this case, from Live/Dead) she said, "yeah, let's listen to the Dead, I like the Dead." I found that encouraging for our hobby (and as a middle-aged Deadhead aware of the band's predominantly-male following).
He’s probably got the same issue I have. No other room to store them in, because everything is all full up already. And yes you’re right IMHO. They do effect the sound unfortunately. But fortunately. It’s not that bad, and since they’re not directly touching each other. And he probably pulls out the one he’s listening to ATM. I doubt it’s making a huge difference. But yes for the maximum performance of any particular system. This would not be a good idea. But in the real world, like his apt/my condo, things are rarely ideal. And you just have to make due, and be careful where you make your compromises. ✌️
There’s some old TV ads on here from them I’ve seen fairly recently too. I only heard of them in the past decade, or so. In our area (Providence RI basically) it was Tech HiFi growing up. And we had some other ones come later. But they were the kings. Was Korvettes a full department store with a music section? Or more of an electronics store. Like a Circuit City type of place. Or stereo only, like Tech HiFi was? ✌️
@@daveyurkovich9459 That’s awesome! Never worked there. But bought a lot there when I was a teenager. Mostly during their big once a year George Washington’s Birthday Sale. Always got at least one, or two big items (cassette deck, EQ, speakers, receiver, TT, etc.). And stacks of blank cassettes on sale too. And I also used to love drooling over their cool full color catalogs the rest of the year.✌️
Empirically that's a thin assumption. Sure, the fellow has a LOT of gear, so perhaps some hoarding is involved, but many mainstream folks have extensive collections of something- books, clothes, china, etc. He seems quite enthusiastic about it and appears to genuinely enjoy his hobby, which is adaptive. Here's an idea- turn the mirror back on yourself, and with the help of a couple of psychologically-minded and forthright acquaintances, do a rigorous self-assessment- which would include your propensity for carrying out blunt anonymous character hits on people, BTW. Ahhh, the anonymity of the internet- which sure breeds heroic commentators such as yourself!
Nah, a lot of ppl collect stuff. I’ve got a relative that through the decades turned a garage into a room to hold this massive comic collection. It looks exactly like a comic book store. Except none of it is for sale. It’d probably take someone 10-20 years to read all of it. And he eventually fell years behind in the reading due to work and other priorities. I think he finally quit collecting them recently.
@@maxhirsch7035 Relax dude I'm having a bit of fun gee wizz, spare me the Jordan Peterson rant. I'm holding up the mirror to all of us, we're all mentally ill. Audiophiles chase something that's unobtainable if thats not completely bonkers i don't know what is. Record collectors spend their lives chasing "the holy grail" that they can stream for a few cents. I'm no exception, just pointing it out when I see it. Owning 40+ cartridges dozens of turntables and having 5 systems in an apartment is a little whacky. Why is everyone so bloody serious online? Everyone seems like they're out to find something they disagree with and argue about it, it's really boring
@@crazyprayingmantis5596 Yes, we're all mentally ill to some extent, me as well, true, true. I'll cop to be whacky about audio, with just about anyone, no problem. I just think, given that the subject of the video may well read the comments here, that it's a bit socially tone-deaf/nasty to express what you did in that manner. Maybe he laughs it off, or maybe he experiences as hurtful. I was a bit struck by how your comment might come across to its target. Why risk hurting someone's feelings like that when so little otherwise is at stake? If it were in private, or if it were in relation to a public figure, for whom such comments presumably go with the media territory well, that's a different context. But if you were to read a comment like that about yourself online, you might find it hurtful, and while everyone's absolutely, perfectly free to say what they like, freedom allows us to also choose to actually not to say callous things about other people just for laughs or whatever you call it. So why not make a different choice, if someone else's feelings might matter to you? I actually find casual callousness in the online world pretty boring by now. BTW, I've watched a few snippets of Peterson, and his rants are not to my liking, he's a self-important nut. While I'm a nut, too, I'm fairly in touch with my own lack of importance.
Why is it I get the feeling that Grant is not currently married.
Why do I get the feeling he is the happiest man in NYC
Grant seems a really great guy, i enjoyed the tour from my seat in London, thanks!
This guy is cool! A true Old School New Yorker. Gotta love him. Thank you guys for showing Grant's collection!
I used to have Klipsch Heresy loudspeakers that I bought in 1978 that my son in law and daughter now use in their system. I still have a Revox B251 integrated amplifier that I don't use in my current system. I now use a NAD M22 Amplifier and M51 DAC driving Klipsch Forte IV loudspeakers. My first system was a Fischer receiver and Jensen speakers!
Grant I envy you for keeping all your gear. It's like a little museum. Very Nice.
'Envy' 😆 Well you know back when Sidney Harman bought back his company in the early 1980s that stuff was still made by Hitachi who were reckoned the best. Sony V-FET had been unreliable, they'd last just a year. I remember the harman receiver that Grant has but it wasn't thought as good as the single heat-sink version. The double heat-sink one had an awesome, spacious sound and really, was overpowered for the size of Grant's room. The PM660 amplifier was for BIG spaces but the PM650 was better, it had a more dynamic sound. Later harman/kardon was not so great after Sidney passed on.
Phew!
I'm glad I'm not the only bloke who hoards hifi.
Thanks for showing us your collection and for sharing your memories.
Wow now I wish I kept my dual turn table and dynaco speakers!!
An audiophile passionate of the sound of classic rock with a love and collector of lots and lots of vintage gear. Grant definitely has the bug! Way to go!
Wow that is what you call a audio collection! I think Grant found his groove ( no pun intended) from an early age. Some familiar and not so familiar items. Thankyou for taking the time Grant and Steve.
The one thing I'd offer top of page to help buyers is that the T-403 tuner has the same paper specifications as the Radio Shack, Realistic STA-2000 and I remember asking the Radio Shack guy, was their TM-1001 tuner as good as the 2000? So he's replied that the 2000 was a lot more expensive and it's an awesome receiver, tuner and amplifier but ... the harman/kardon A 402, you know it could if serviced, be better if hooked to the original JBL L100 Century, but these need the Al-Ni-Co magnets recharged and in the US, we used to be able to get all that done but maybe not still. Times have changed.
My own audio journey parallels Grant's in many ways. I started out with Genesis Physics speakers and Pioneer and later Harmon-Kardon electronics. It is great to see Genesis Physics speakers getting some love today, since I was a big fan back in the day. I later moved on to Arcam. It is sad to see Harmon-Kardon being turned into a "lifestyle" brand today.
All the massive hifi brands had to go into lifestyle products to survive. The Harman Kardon products are a bit, for sure. But Harman own JBL, Studer, Allen & heath, Arcam, Revel, so they still make all levels of equipment.
To: @armanddimeo6575, Harmon Kardon a lifestyle brand?! "Aw naw man!! " I can see now that its no wonder they couldn't fix the cd player/recorder I purchased years ago. I eventually had to junk it( At least I took it to a place that recycles electronics and not a landfill!!). The thought of High End audio being a disposable commodity in a landfill just highly unsettled me! I won't be buying anything from HK again. So unfortunate.
To: @peterlarkin672, That's great to know. Whew!!
Grant is incredible. That is an amazing collection. His place looks like a high end audio museum.
Plus, he’s got some head of hair for someone collecting turntables since the 70s.
Me too - all the way from New Zealand. Great viewing. Thanks guys.
I can hear everyone who saw this video chanting Grant! Grant! Grant! :) ..and nice collection of Grateful Dead Dave’s Picks! Now I want to hear all his Grateful Dead stories, too!
Awesome collection! So cool that you were able to keep so many pieces from your early audiophile days. Love the Harman Kardon gear!
Absolutely awesome! Great systems and a wonderful authority!
Awesome. Keep up the great work. More of these, please.
What a great passion. He should be proud and people should appreciate it.
Fine line between collecting and hoarding.
Steve and Grant: Thanks!!!! I really enjoyed this video. Just great!!!
It makes me so happy to see people in their element -- and enjoying it! What a gorgeous collection Grant has, and thanks for presenting it. I share Grant's passion for multiple set-ups (cartridges, turntables, amps, speakers, DACs) which you can swap to fit your mood. And I also share his enthusiasm for HK. Mine is for the receivers of the '70s -- the X30 series up to the 670, all strikingly clean (in looks and sound) and handsomely designed like no other manufacturer's equipment. I'd long dismissed '80s and '90s gear (most of it black boxes) as ugly and lackluster, but some of Grant's HK stuff has turned my head around!
This was a fun visit. Big thanks to Grant for allowing us to see. Steve I still own my HK 3480 receiver and matching HD990 CD player. You actually reviewed the receiver way back in the day for Stereophile, and you liked it! It still sounds great. That Harmon Kardon sound is fantastic. It's my legacy system in a third room still working well. Greg
Love his story, guy loves turntables! I thought I was excessive with 3! I just started getting back into cassettes. Forgot how good they can sound!
You know with cassettes there's a low quality resistor on the tape heads and we replaced it with a wire-wound and that amplified up a much clearer sound. But getting components today is pricey, we used to get them for what was considered a HUGE price, but under a dollar and Radio Shack wanted about $13 for two ordinary resistors but beautifully packaged and presented. So if Grant didn't buy Radio Shack back in the day ... there was probably a feeling that their stuff was beautiful but like their resistors, overpriced. In fact their stuff was the best but it was just so pricey, we had to buy other brands, unless you were rich, you couldn't buy Radio Shack stuff unless on hire purchase and they were evil once they had you on the books. So the Shack got a bad name.
Those Thorens 124's gorgeous ! dig the cartridge collection also. I still have some American made BIC bookshelf speakers from the early 90's that still sound great! Greetings from Australia!
I have had a Harmon Kardon AVR-120 receiver for nearly 25 years! It still works beautifully and I use it daily to power my modest home theater speaker system.
Dear Grant, I spent many years with an HK AVR8000 flagship and then later an HK AVR4700 in command of the system. They were both cherished. I have always loved the Harmon-Kardon brand and their equipment. They seem to now have transitioned into the "audio gear for people who do not like audio gear" end of the market trying to compete with Sonos and the like. Such a shame.
Nice one, Grant. A lifetime's worth of gear and the stories to accompany it.
Some cool gear there. All in a NYC apartment. I know what kind of limitations such a space presents having lived in one for a dozen years or so mostly in the '80s. I have a ton of vintage gear as well. But, I'm in a house with a basement, attic, four bedrooms and an office/storage area. So gear in the basement, in the living room and in my office. And closets, lol. My wife is learning how to play piano so she has portable pianos, upright pianos, metronomes and lights an recording equipment in a couple of rooms. It's a moveable warehouse that we live in, sort of.
I don't do turntables much. Only have three, a Dual, a Technics and an old RatShack Lab series. Not really a vinyl guy though I have a small collection. Mostly CDs-lots of CD players around and a couple cassette decks-nothing special there. And speakers! Lots and lots of speakers-mostly vintage.
Advents, KLH, EPI, Boston Acoustics, Dynacos, ADS, JBLS, classic Polk, etc.
It's a disease, I know! My wife puts up with me, but then again, she practices hours and hours a day. The same piece over and over again. It doesn't bother me as I came of age with Phil Glass in the '80s.
Repetive music, NO PROBLEM! Been there done that!
Wow! So cool! I was worried about me having two systems and a partial three in the making, not anymore, love it! This is excellent video, so so good. Got some good information from it and enjoyment, thanks Steve!
"If it makes you happy, it can't be all bad" - S. Crow.
That was Great to see the HK system get some love. Grew up with a HK 1 and a Theron's TD 160, just sold it to get the 1200G
Grant has shown us today, that we are OK !!
I think HK is under appreciated. The a402 shown right before the T60 turntable is a very nice sounding integrated amplifier.
This is an audiophiliac viewer system of the day on steroids! 😂
Yes it is!
Great conversation! I would like to hear Grant talk about his cartridge collection. Stay a little longer next time.
Just came across this and nice to see another HK guy...I bought my first A402 / T403 amp/tuner combo back in 1977 and am still using it. I saw a photo of the same in Grant's collection - but didn't hear him mention it. I also have a PM645 / TU 910 combo bought in the 80s, a 430 twin-power receiver and a 330i receiver. Harman Kardon just had it's own design philosophy, and it's clear Grant still appreciates the wide bandwidth/high current approach which allowed their stuff to punch way above their wattage class. Great interview and share! 👍
And I also had the Grabo reference. I forgot the model number, but they cost me 700 and let me tell you the headphone jack in the fmj was amazed did not need no headphones amp
Love this. Thank you. Cameron is one cool dude.
No talk about the Rhea we glimpsed? That's a fine phono stage!
WOW! Nice stuff.
At 20 my first amp was also a Harmon/Kardon amp.
2:02
BIC 981. I have this turntable and I gotta say, once you clean off the old grease, it's a decent performer. "Bullet-proof" too.
I still have a pair of HK-775 mono blocks I bought new, way back when I sold hifi. And our company was, I believe, the first dealer for Genesis. Pretty good speaker line. Sold a bunch.
Amazing collection and great that Grant hang onto most of his gear from his past But boy! I sure wouldn't want to dust it all the time 😅
Thanks to you Steve and Grant, really interesting Video, very appreciated it. Nice collection of good turntables and other things. I like this much. 😊👌
Wow this was the best so far...!!! Real every day people..
This is basically how I know I am not an audiophile. I love my system, I love music but I just can never relate to this level of obsession.
Fantastic, and thanks so much for watching the video!
Great setup
Pretty darn cool. I completely understand because I'm kind of doing the same.... 😂😂. Haven't sold any of my gear in the last 25 years. Nowadays I'm having fun trying modern DACs with vintage/old gear.
Fantastic! I thought I was bad for having two systems. Wow, would love to listen and compare the sound of the different systems. Fabulous. Though I don't envy dusting and cleaning everything in there.
PS, I'm gonna hazard a guess here and say, I doubt that he is married? ;-)
Or that is his man-cave apartment, separate from the marital home?
Boy, and I thought I had a problem.....I'm going to show this to my wife for sure.
Nice.
I do wish you could have asked him (Grant) how the Neighbors reacted! ;)
Love this!
If I was living alone (with more money), this is what my place would look like. :)
These are my people!!!
Back in 2000 I had an arcam FMJ . With the b&w 804 nautilus that was my first ever audio file system. I had the power amp that I used for the woofers, and they’re integrated amp for the mid and high
Going to make my wife watch this video and then ask her whether she still believes me buying a new DAC is unreasonable!
Radio Sideboard?
I can relate to Grant, he is a kindred spirit. I only have 4 turntables and still lamenting the only one I ever sold. My wife thinks I have enough gear now, so in retirement I’m just enjoying what I have along with the music.
Grant? I guess that now you've retired it's time to be thinking about funerals. (Actually when you both croak, there will be a load of stuff being sold at low prices by a wife eager to free up the space.) We all need to look out for these death estate bargains, even although some might unwittingly infect us with a demon. Of course Australians aren't superstitious, I'm only half joking.
I had the B&W cdm 1nt for several years. I loved them . Unfortunately , that system died a terrible death- amp and speakers destroyed. I refer to this part of my audiophile journey as pre- smoke and post smoke. I do not remember how the 1nts sounded. I do remember that I loved B&W as a company and thought the 1nts looked cool.
Harman bought Arcam back in late 2000's. I think all the FMJ series were made under Harman ownership. Not used much anymore, but I love my A60, T21, A85 and cd72.
Uhm wow...and I thought I had a lot of gear, this guy takes the whole cake!
Lovely stuff!!!
Great stuff
Brilliant
So cool to hear someone liking Harmon Kardon! They were the investor owners of Infinity Speakers through the late 80s and 90s, financing the best of the golden age of that company. As the founders moved on, fans of the speakers derided “HK” as bringing down the brand with their more commercial management practices. People forget there never would have been a classic line of Infinity Speakers without their support.
Well my HK CDR20 was derided but my reconditioned one has been making awesome cdrs. That unit with dual decks and an awesome remote and even an awesome instruction manual has been great. The Infinity Kappa 8s are imho the best speakers ever. Ever. But driving them takes Bryston 7bsst2. Even a 4bsst couldn't do it but close. I have 2 prs kappa 7s and spare polydomes nos from hk.
Love to see the Dave’s picks cds
And I thought I had a lot of gear ...
Nice
WOW…. Maybe he’s the REAL Audiophiliac 🤩
Just kidding Steve 😁
Do you have the Lene Dee record of him on the piano?
I see a Harman Kardon 402a.............what a great sounding amp and beautifull too....
I thought the man would have had at least one piece of Citation gear as he is such a HK fan, I was waiting for it but it never came 😞
Fun video Steve. Always interesting to see variations in people’s taste and values. I can definitely say though he lost me at “Radio Shack”. 😅
It's cool to see someone collect a certain brand of gear. Even long after they came out. I have been doing this as well but have went sideways thanks to a growing number of headphones. If I had more space I would have multiple speakers and systems. Both modern and vintage or a combination. Still may pull the trigger on a vintage set of klipshes or tektons or some high efficiency speaker to play with low wattage diy class a elson pass amps. Hope to see more in house visits of folks systems in New York. Or have folks sharing their system in a interview of themselves they send to you. You seem to have done this in the past ? Thanks Steve!
Steve never mentioned Grant's ... now this is BIG ... black harman/kardon PM655 amplifer, these were still the old manufacturer from the 1980s but Grant says at 3:25 that harman were great the entire 80s and the entire 90s but ... harman weren't so great in the 90s and the old-style quality PM655 was relaunched as the hk6600 that came without the phono capacitance trim pot seen above the volume control on the right of Grant's example. I'd say the 1990s harman hk series are bad news. The old PM range is best, very different under the lid. It seemed to me that the later hk amplifier series excelled only with polypropylene cone woofers that were in vogue back then. If you have polypropylene woofers, I'd recommend the hk6500 or hk6600 but these have only one heat-sink, a lesson learned from the old PM660/ PM650 days, that a single heat-sink gave a more dynamic sound.
Collecting audio gear is another hobby then listening to music. Personally I always tend to upgrade and go for audio upgrades that really are better and not different. I had special audio gear before that I thought I would keep but in the end it ends up standing still at my attic and basically age while standing still. Then I always came to the conclusion that it is better to sell it so I have some money and other people can enjoy.
Outstanding as always Steve! I want to party with Grant as I also have 5 systems in my living room. But, that's as close as I can get. His collection is simply amazing and a true audio time capsule. Thank you & keep up the great work.
Great stuff! Ich selbst habe über einen Zeitraum von bald 40 Jahren auch eine Menge an HiFi-Equipment gekauft. Leider habe ich nicht alles behalten.
Harmon Kardon - We sound better because we listen better. Great choices!
And I thought my 3 turntables was overkill!!!!
Steve, I ended up pulling the trigger on the 805 D3’s that were available locally. Definitely the right choice… Wow! Big difference between my 705 S2’s. Which jumpers do you prefer when auditioning and reviewing speakers? I’m using Nordost Red Dawn cables and Nordost standard jumpers today. I love the Red Dawn cables. I don’t know if I should upgrade my jumpers. Any thoughts?
The purpose of a review I need to use the stock jumpers.
@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac makes sense for review purposes. Setting reviews aside. Which jumpers would you recommend to a friend to check out? I sincerely appreciate your time and expertise.
ok, I kept waiting and waiting. And yet, Grant didn't say who his therapist was.
That make you feel a little better about yourself friend? Me thinks you could use a wee bit of therapy yourself. Your insecurities are showing. ✌️
I wish I could have kept some of my gear but as I upgrade I have to pick and choose what stays or else my wife does unspeakable things to me 😳
To be honest, I'm going to give a somewhat different opinion. There isn't very much of this equipment that I would have purchased over the course of my lifetime but that's just me. I have plenty of rock recordings but where is the jazz or blues or classical or any other type of music to listen to?I wish Grant well with all of these components but the bigger question is WHY? I like the Technics TT, , PS Audio, that beautiful headphone amplifier and all of the Arcam gear.
I took a very different path with my purchases and I certainly didn't keep much of the equipment unfortunately. I sold Conrad Johnson, JBL, Koetsu, Threshold, Nakamichi, Hafler, Dalquist, Stax, a rebuilt Stereo 70, Acoustic Research, Mark Levinson Acoustat, Infinity, Audio Research, and a bunch more of this type of equipment which is very different than what Grant accumulated.
He’s a hardcore rocker. Not all of us can deviate into the other areas. I’m my twilight days, I tend to gravitate towards soundtracks, chess, and Go (your basic crashing bore in modern day parlance).
Maybe he prefers rock over jazz,blues, and classical. He likes what he likes.
@@shitmandood sounds close minded to me. Balance is everything in a person's life and I believe in the old phrase "Use your mind as if it was a parachute, it works a whole lot better when it's open".
@stimpy1226 you sound closed-minded in not wanting Grant to like what Grant likes.
@@scottyo64That’s kind of what I was thinking sir.
To the OP. I think he’s a man who knows what he wants, and goes out and gets it. He’s not you, and you’re not him. There’s nothing wrong with him for doing it his way, and there’s nothing wrong with you doing things your way.
But for some reason. You seem to have a problem with this man spending his own hard earned, in whatever it is that he wants. The only one with a problem here is you.
Not Grant. It’s a shame you’ll most likely not see it that way yourself. But that’s what’s going on here. You’re being intolerant of him for whatever reason, and trying to push your insecurities onto him through psychological projection.
Grant’s just fine sir. But you. You could probably do with some therapy. And the only reason I know this, is because of therapy. It works. You should real try it. ✌️
This is insanity! But fun!
Loved my Hardon Kardon HK 990 integrated amp ' bought used in 2011 and by 2012 I already blew the right channel out 😥
AKG 246 had them too
I see you have all of Dave's Picks.
Mr. Pete---------->
aging hippie
fascinating...
Could you ask him if any woman come to this room?
Lol, I doubt it!😂
I don't let women in my room either. One listening chair for a reason.
Recently I was at a high-end audio shop doing a listening test of some speakers, and a cute femme d'un certain age, obviously a store customer, came into the room, and when she heard that I wanted to listen to a cut of the Dead (in this case, from Live/Dead) she said, "yeah, let's listen to the Dead, I like the Dead."
I found that encouraging for our hobby (and as a middle-aged Deadhead aware of the band's predominantly-male following).
You should remove old speakers from your room as they are claimed to influence the sound in a negative way.
He’s probably got the same issue I have. No other room to store them in, because everything is all full up already. And yes you’re right IMHO. They do effect the sound unfortunately.
But fortunately. It’s not that bad, and since they’re not directly touching each other. And he probably pulls out the one he’s listening to ATM. I doubt it’s making a huge difference.
But yes for the maximum performance of any particular system. This would not be a good idea. But in the real world, like his apt/my condo, things are rarely ideal. And you just have to make due, and be careful where you make your compromises. ✌️
Korvette they had the best music department
There’s some old TV ads on here from them I’ve seen fairly recently too. I only heard of them in the past decade, or so. In our area (Providence RI basically) it was Tech HiFi growing up. And we had some other ones come later. But they were the kings.
Was Korvettes a full department store with a music section? Or more of an electronics store. Like a Circuit City type of place. Or stereo only, like Tech HiFi was? ✌️
@@amb3cog Korvette was a full Department Store.
I had the pleasure to work at Tech Hifi as well.
@@daveyurkovich9459 Thank you. ✌️
@@daveyurkovich9459 That’s awesome! Never worked there. But bought a lot there when I was a teenager. Mostly during their big once a year George Washington’s Birthday Sale. Always got at least one, or two big items (cassette deck, EQ, speakers, receiver, TT, etc.).
And stacks of blank cassettes on sale too. And I also used to love drooling over their cool full color catalogs the rest of the year.✌️
This is what mental illness looks like kiddies. ☺️
Empirically that's a thin assumption. Sure, the fellow has a LOT of gear, so perhaps some hoarding is involved, but many mainstream folks have extensive collections of something- books, clothes, china, etc. He seems quite enthusiastic about it and appears to genuinely enjoy his hobby, which is adaptive. Here's an idea- turn the mirror back on yourself, and with the help of a couple of psychologically-minded and forthright acquaintances, do a rigorous self-assessment- which would include your propensity for carrying out blunt anonymous character hits on people, BTW.
Ahhh, the anonymity of the internet- which sure breeds heroic commentators such as yourself!
Nah, a lot of ppl collect stuff. I’ve got a relative that through the decades turned a garage into a room to hold this massive comic collection. It looks exactly like a comic book store. Except none of it is for sale. It’d probably take someone 10-20 years to read all of it. And he eventually fell years behind in the reading due to work and other priorities. I think he finally quit collecting them recently.
@@shitmandood
Another example of mental illness
@@maxhirsch7035
Relax dude I'm having a bit of fun gee wizz, spare me the Jordan Peterson rant.
I'm holding up the mirror to all of us, we're all mentally ill.
Audiophiles chase something that's unobtainable if thats not completely bonkers i don't know what is.
Record collectors spend their lives chasing "the holy grail" that they can stream for a few cents.
I'm no exception, just pointing it out when I see it.
Owning 40+ cartridges dozens of turntables and having 5 systems in an apartment is a little whacky.
Why is everyone so bloody serious online?
Everyone seems like they're out to find something they disagree with and argue about it, it's really boring
@@crazyprayingmantis5596 Yes, we're all mentally ill to some extent, me as well, true, true. I'll cop to be whacky about audio, with just about anyone, no problem. I just think, given that the subject of the video may well read the comments here, that it's a bit socially tone-deaf/nasty to express what you did in that manner. Maybe he laughs it off, or maybe he experiences as hurtful. I was a bit struck by how your comment might come across to its target. Why risk hurting someone's feelings like that when so little otherwise is at stake?
If it were in private, or if it were in relation to a public figure, for whom such comments presumably go with the media territory well, that's a different context. But if you were to read a comment like that about yourself online, you might find it hurtful, and while everyone's absolutely, perfectly free to say what they like, freedom allows us to also choose to actually not to say callous things about other people just for laughs or whatever you call it. So why not make a different choice, if someone else's feelings might matter to you? I actually find casual callousness in the online world pretty boring by now. BTW, I've watched a few snippets of Peterson, and his rants are not to my liking, he's a self-important nut. While I'm a nut, too, I'm fairly in touch with my own lack of importance.
Grant must have a very accommodating f wife. All that gear in the living room would drive most wives mad, lol. Nice collection though.
I love audio phile Journey .. we are all on a Journey on this somewhat Flat Earth.. yep js
Can we retire the phrase "audiophile journey" or "audio journey"? So overused it's become annoying.
Audio odessey?
My audio journey is my passion, in the hobby. Audio journey. Passion. The hobby. I only speak in buzzwords. I'll circle back to you on that challenge.
Audio Requiem !
Reggae, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
The journey that never ends...
Matter of taste? I dont find it annoying at all.