Vintage Heathkit AR-14 solid-state stereo receiver
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- Опубликовано: 18 мар 2017
- Sold as a kit by Heathkit in the late '60s and early '70s -- as shown on page 18 of the 1971 Heathkit catalog: www.americanradiohistory.com/A...
Also featured in the video are my Kenwood LSK-02K speakers, Panasonic RS-608D cassette deck and Realistic TM-152 AM Stereo tuner. 
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This is a real memory trip for me. In the early 70's I bought both the tuner and amplifier kits to work alongside the Wharfdale speakers, also bought in kit form. To compliment the system I hooked my Lenco 75 turntable to this with remarkable results for the time.
Now I rely totally on Spotify, progress no, convenience yes. Thank you for sharing this detailed presentation.
I built an AA-15 in 1971 and an AJ-15 tuner in 1972. I just found the AA-15 assembly manual online. Looking back, I'm amazed I had the stamina (at 18) to put all the hundreds of pieces in the right place and solder them correctly. The first time I turned it on, I thought I saw smoke... but that was just my imagination. I had never heard real Hi-Fi before I built this.
The AR-15 was the premier Heathkit receiver and was top rated by Consumer Reports sometime in the 1970s. I have repaired a few of them. They also offered separates (AA-15 Amp and AJ-15 Tuner) The shining specification on these models was excellent FM sensitivity and selectivity. While I did not personally own any of the Heath audio products, I built about 150 of their kits for myself and others. I built test equipment, weather instruments, computers, and even a 25 inch television that I used for 27 years. I miss Heath and Heathkit very much.
I was a big Heath builder. Seriously, I must have built over 100 of their kits. I still have my old scope, volt meters, etc. I built the 23” color Tv back in 1998 (actually meant to type 1968). I’ll never forget; 23 tubes, three transistors and one IC.
@@melgross
Are you sure you built this in1998? I built the 25 inch Heathkit GR-371MX in 1972 and it was all solid state except for the picture tube and the high voltage rectifier. Perhaps you built it in 1968.
@@swinde yeah, that was a typo. I meant to type 1968. I didn’t notice that when I read it. I’m going to change it. Thanks.
Oh man, you are bringing back my memories. I owned one of these for several years before gifting it to a friend, for his birthday. There was something really special about that amp. Thank you.
I really love the way the tuner needle is behind the scale display, looks very elegant.
My dad built one of those, and it still works. Quite a tank.
I bought one at the salvage sale on Hilltop Road. I had many more Heathkits than anyone I know and hired in the factory in 1978 after assembling big numbers of products over many years starting out as a pre-teen.
My dad built one of these in the early seventies, and I played it as a teen all the way through the late 80s. Good times.
I have the AR-15. It has a "black magic" glass plate that is solid black when turned off and illuminates the tuner and control labels in green. It's a little step up from the AR-14 with a few more hidden phase controls and does 50wpc. The AR-15 I have is dated 1968.
I use to "tin" the ends of the wire for the speakers so not to have any stray strands touch the other terminal. Great video as always!
Also crimping terminal lugs to the ends of the wires kept them from shorting together and made a more solid connection as soldered ends would tend to flatten out and work loose over a period of time.
I have the amplifier only version of this. I bought mine as a kit when it first came out. It still works. These days I use it for music in a shop of mine. I bought it with the metal cabinet, because I was not flush with cash at that age, you put a terminal on the wires before connecting them. The power cord was perfectly adequate for the low power these units had.
I had the FM tuner only version. I miss it.
I bet it sounds better than any crappy built "modern" stereo ! modern stereos don't even have treble and bass controls anymore.
Eh, I doubt it. Not that one. And plenty of modern stereos have bass/treble controls.
Let's be Realistic. There's plenty of decent vintage audio gear out there, but today's top end stuff DOES sound better than yesterday's top end stuff.
@@richardcline1337 Buy a McIntosh integrated stereo amp and tell me it's "worse" than a given vintage integrated amplifier.
@@richardcline1337 Do you understand why your statement doesn't make sense or do I have to explain it?
Anytime I hear of Heathkit, I think of the HERO and HERO Jr. and that makes me happy. :)
For those that are into it, most of the vintage reel-to-reel recorders of that era had wooden cabinets or at least wooden end panels, TEAC brand for example. And nobody would dare buy those el-cheapo speakers with simulated wood vinyl coatings in the day. The best sounding speakers had real wood cabinetry.
I had a Sony TC-355, couldn't afford a Revox A77 at the time.
The TC-355 was a great machine. I had one for years. I later got a Revox A77 which I still have and it still works fine. (From 1974.)
11:51 - And just like that, a VWestlife video transports me back to when I was a 4-year-old. I still love belting that theme song out when I hear it on the radio.
Great review of these older pieces of
audio equipment. I built mostly healthkit amateur equipment and first
EICO amateur morse code transmitter,
Model #720, 75 watts and crystal
frequency control, and then the #730
modulator for AM modulation to add
to the #720 transmitter. In 1962. All
tubes then. I also built the EICO fm
tuner, with a green tuning eye on the
dial, with an input for a Multiplex (Stereo), Adapter, to be added when
stereo would be adopted on FM, in
those days.
Those 70's era stereos were nice. I have several items by Heathkit that I put together years ago, that are still working today. I also have a Audio & RF signal generators by Heathkit. And you were correct, some of the RF section of the RF signal generator were pre-assembled (tuning coils, tuning capacitors, chokes, etc.).
This makes me appreciate the Technics SA-80 I found at the thrift store even more. It's officially rated at 12w per channel but you'd never know it, it cranks.
Great video and awesome find though. I've never seen a Heathkit in the wild and would have picked it up just as you did.
12w of true RMS can be quite powerful especially if your speaker efficiency is really good. A lot of old Altec Lansing horn based speakers used in theaters back in the 40s-50s could get ridiculously loud with a few watts of power.
A Bass Reflex speaker such as the Altec Lansings were, can get very loud with a few watts of power, hooking them upper to a much bigger amp just gave more headroom before clipping. To get a hear change in sound volume(3db) requires doubling the wattage, to make something twice as loud(10db) requires an increase power of 10x
I was a great fan of Heathkit in my younger days! Put together an FM/AM receiver (can't remember the model nr.), a color TV (which I wish was still in my possession), a WIRED remote control for same TV, a shortwave radio and a couple other small electronic objects. Before attempting the color TV I put together a black and white Transvision TV with great picture AND sound! Needless to say I learned how to solder connections and did a fairly good job on all my projects if I must say so myself.
Cool. Always neat to see what you find out there. Most of the thrift stores are picked over around here. I have found some speakers on occasion, but that's about it.
This video reminded me to set my DVR to record Broadchurch, so thank you.
Heathkit! Awesome. I have a Heathkit all in one computer I need to work on one of these days.
This is my new favourite channel to watch hung-over.
Yes new video!
I had the same receiver but it was integral in a Compact Stereo System, AD-27a. With a more efficient speaker it could get quite loud. I built it in 1975 and it still works. The specs were pretty good for its design and cost, the early AR-14s did have to have a couple of capacitors added to the Amp board to control an oscillation.
You can use spade connector on your speaker wire to eliminate the risk of a short due to a stray strand
You have the BEST thrift store - you've found all kinds of WINs! Thanks for the great videos, really enjoy this stuff!
I keep trying to think of where in New Jersey he could be since I lived there for eight years and didn't have many great thrift stores near me. He's stumbled onto a gold mine.
You THINK it was modded recently but really you found a time traveler's deck, he went in the future to get LEDs for his stereo. It's so obvious if you look at all the signs and clues.
As always, I love your videos, seems that we like the same stuff!
Great video!
LGR WHERE U AT?!
devjock ikr he would go crazy over this
Cool setup there.
I love the extremely wide stereo range, that just sounds amazing. Also, that's a very good sounding radio overall. I have to say I disagree on one thing though, I personally think screw terminals are the best. Spade connectors make a very solid connection and there's no risk of shorting. I'd just go ahead and soler some on both ends of a cable.
inb4 like 9 bullshit copyright strikes. I love the videos keep doing what you do!
I'm late to the party . . . This receiver was an amazing 1968(!) value at $130 including the wood case. The FM tuner did the job even in the hilly SF Bay Area. The 10-watt RMS into 8 ohms amp section drove my inefficient KLH Model 17s to lease-breaking volumes. Fun stuff!
I built the table top version of this radio. Amplifier was lower wattage. Plus I also built a compact techie with tunable with the same electronics. All basically the same as the ar14
Man, I wish we had thrift stores like yours around here!!
Awesome tape deck I remember seeing this in my chior room hooked up to an amp
Epicly great!
You’re not meant to wrap wire around those screws, they’re meant to terminate in a metal U shaped connector which the screw tightens. 👍
Cool old radio. Heathkit made all kinds of electronics kits. I have a Heathkit Geiger counter in my collection.
I have a montgomery ward woodgrain 8 track player with a built in amp and am/fm stereo tuner in it
i think LGR would like this
shango066 would like it too but mostly to say what things are in it
Exactly why I came down to the comments :P
I just wanted to write the same thing xD
Yeah, would look good with his woodgrain pc
Not to cast aspersions but..... :-o
Interesting review, of course Heathkit products were also available already built, for a price premium, as an alternative to kit form. Also speakers tended to be more efficient in those days (late 1960's) and output power was less important because of this but as you know things changed in the next few years and power outputs soared as a result :-)
Westlife, don't turn it on, TAKE IT APAAHT!
EEVblog fans here I see!
Bravo... i found ur video when looking for info on analog cassette to digital conversion.. then i found this ;-) My brother & i had HeathKit HAM Radio transmitter in our HAM days /mid-70s, this is a close find! Keep ur the gr8 work, especially reviews/tips dealing w/ classic/vintage 70s/80s audio gear ! (btw nice to hear Billy_Jean then Bennie & the Jets/Elton_John !
My dad put together some Heathkits, mostly test instruments like oscilloscope, signal generator and tracer. Friend put together a large Heathkit color TV, he said it was complicated but better than anything available at the time. I had a Heathkit timing gun and dwell meter. Also put together a tuner, preamp and power amp from Dynaco - a poor man's McIntosh. Wish they didn't go out of business.
The phase control is really cool
1marcelfilms Jij ook hier?
neen
I had this one when i was a kid in the 70's (my dad did assembled it)
the phase control is used to reinsert the subcarrier in proper phase with the 38Khz signal modulated with L-R. This would then effect the stereo separation. Iknow this for i had the AD-27 stereo system which was the same as the Ar-14 except it was in a cabinet which included a BSR Mac Donald 500A turntable.
We need a look inside.
Oh wow. Thats A nice stereo
akai actually made a cd player with wood sides and that was from around 1990. very high end for the time it was the cd-93b which had the wood panel sides and it was an early optical and coax digital out on it as well as the normal rca out.
WOW! I can imagine at that time, if there were ever catalogs that would promote for people to build their own audio systems! Making people smarter plus, they would be able to fix it themselves if something on them broke. Nowadays, stereos lost what America once knew existed, with the imports of other countries and the cheap CHINA PRIDE! I got to admit, Nice wood grain setup! More and more components towards the end of the video! Awesome!!!
In the mid 1970s, High fidelity component manufacturers commonly left the AM band off their components because of the very poor fidelity of AM broadcasts at the time.
Actually AM broadcasts back in the '70s and '80s could have an audio bandwidth just as wide as FM -- at least in North America.
AM broadcast of the period from 1950 to 1990 normally had a bandwidth of 40-5000Hz which does not qualify for high fidelity while FM broadcast were generally capable of 30-15000Hz. Also AM receivers were subject to very annoying static from any electrical activity in the atmosphere while FM receivers were unaffected. From the mid 1950s until the mid 1970s most quality high fidelity manufacturers simply omitted the AM band on their receivers and tuners.
That's true for stations in Europe, but in the USA, wideband audio has been the norm for AM stations. For example, this 1966 recording on an AM station has audio response all the way up to 15 kHz: ruclips.net/video/NbWtKCqauAQ/видео.html
In fact, high-fidelity AM radio in the USA dates all the way back to 1932, which the government authorized some AM stations to transmit with a 10 kHz audio bandwidth: www.theradiohistorian.org/Apex/Apex1.htm
All you need is built in 8 track :)
Oh man that's a beautiful receiver! The only real downside is the fact that it only has one AUX input (besides the phono input)... but hey, that's what audio switchers are for. The lack of AM is odd too, considering most music was on AM at that time... but hey, if I found this, It'd be perfect since I use my TM-152 for AM anyway. I'm sure that if the dial lights were replaced, it was probably recapped too, so you're probably not going to have to do any work on this thing for a couple decades at least. You could probably put a yellow filter on the LEDs, or some kind of light bulb paint. Also, as for wood grained CD players, I actually have seen some from the 1980s... with a silver face too. What was even cooler is that the CDs loaded vertically, a lot like a cassette deck. I saw them from time to time in used electronics stores, pawn shops, etc... in the late '90s when that sort of style was considered horrifyingly outdated, and everyone wanted that ugly cheap looking matte grey finish.
$19.99 at Goodwill, a good price? I’m arguing with myself about it, really want it. Don’t need it right now, will be good for my vintage connection.
Heathkit is cool, I have a Heathkit EPROM eraser made of metal and it cost me the same on ebay that those chinese plastic hunks o junk cost. still has original bulb.
i would assume they could give a little better quality parts being a homebuilt kit but that is just a guess on my part.
I lived threw this era and some how missed the FM phase control. Interesting
how do you get such perfect programming when you tune on I want to listen to that programming all day long
I have so much I could say, but having that now white elephant RS stereo AM tuner is a trip! Are there any AM stereo stations out there today? DXing on AM broadcast. Brings back childhood memories. Nice job. Oh...I did build, and still have a Heathkit AA-15, an amp only unit, but with more power. They had a sister model with the tuner too. Called AR-15. My dad bought me the AA-15 to build when I was around 13 years old (1967). It cost $170.00 then! The AR-15 was around $259.00+. Big bucks. The AA-15 was rated @ 65 watts/channel RMS.
Yes, there are still some stations broadcasting in AM Stereo, such as 890 WLS in Chicago.
i do have a woodgrain kyocera cd player from 1986
Kyocera's DA-610 CD player would get you close, with its woodgrain sides and silver face, *if* you can find one.
With all the refinements to FM broadcasting since this unit was made, would that phase control matter as much today?
If my information is correct, that unit was probably factory assembled by Heath. The difference is said to be in the serial number tags: factory built units say "Heath" and kit built units say "Heathkit".
These days with almost all stations (at least in major markets) using digital audio processors and stereo generators, the phase control really doesn't need to be adjusted. But back in the day of vacuum tube stereo generators that tended to drift, it was more important to have a phase adjustment (either manual or automatic, via PLL).
I have one of those
This was a Solid State tuner, a simpler design that did not have a Phase Locked Loop circuit.
Woodgrain call to LGR. Woodgasm.
They had an integrated version I almost went for, thought it would be easier to assemble
I found a single CD deck that had a wooden outer case, but the only eBay sale I saw was like $910. Just a bit steep for an aesthetic thing.
Radio Shack is done 4
Yep! Tandy has somehow managed to make another prime example of just what a bunch of LOSERS are running that company (Tandy). EVERYTHING they touch turns to crap and shuts down. Thankfully, Allied Radio Electronics managed to break away from Tandy and was bought out by another company, British based Electrocomponents PLC, that knows what it is doing. How many remember the old Knightkit and Knight line of products from the 60's and 70's? I just retired a little over five years ago and we were still buying Allied Radio parts. Even when Radio Shack was selling fairly high end audio equipment they were always manufactured by other companies and sold under the Realistic or similar label. I know they had a great sounding stereo receiver that was identical tot he Pioneer series of the time. Their reel-to-reel recorders were usually made by TEAC and sold under the Realistic brand. Then Tandy somehow managed to shove their heads even farther up their anal cavity and started pushing cell phones and less of the things that made them what they were although Radio Shack was ORIGINALLY an electronics parts company.
You paid $35 for that Daft Punk album too...I'd rather have the Heathkit.
If you think that's a lot of woodgrain you should see the kitchen in my apartment!
i had a cassette deck like that but it'd screw tapes up within seconds, tried everything i could think of to repair it, but no go...only thing i couldnt change was the pinch roller as it was no longer available...
I would like to buy the AR 14 if you are willing to sell. I built mine in 1970 and it kept me happy all the way through College. Only FM counted in those days. Took me two months to fix all the cold welds.
reel to reel is what I connected to my AR-14 no cassette at that time
Wow! I haven’t seen a stand alone AM tuner! In your opinion does pick stations better than an integrated AM/FM tuners?
Not chrome, but brushed aluminum.
most cassettes tapes play fine it just depends on content, i mean most of your metal/rock cassettes will be kncakered from years of use in the ol 90's camero but some play fine as there great hardly played or were played once then put onto a cheaper cassette to wear that out,
the only ones that are problmatic are the ones with sponge heads, mostly the small grey ones the bigger yellow ones are fine but the lil ones they don't last they might get though 10 mins ish before they start to sound bad, like there is no head on the tape
We had one like this when I was growing up in the 1970s and 80s, except ours was a LEAK 2000 and it sounded amazing! It was used with some Wharfedale Denton 2 speakers. My dad worked at the place where the speakers were made in Idle, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England (it is no longer there). select45rpm.com/pages/hifi/hifi-sold/LEAK2000.html and
www.radiomuseum.org/r/wharfedale_denton_2.html
Wharfedale Dovedales rule good 'ol Mr Briggs!
Is it the fully automatic or the semi? If so, do you have a permit for it?
I have a GE alarm clock radio from 1990, it has fake woodgrain plastic on polyester.
I had an AR-14 when I was in high school in the 1970s in north central Iowa. I found that if I turned the FM dial as far to the left as it would go, I could pickup the sound of television channel 6. Anyone else have this experience?
Found a Teac TX 300 at the local thrift store the other day. As old as me (1979) but looks like its new.. Got it really cheap because of the shutdown of the FM band here in Norway but i can still use it as the cable provider i have still carry analog FM through the cable box using RF connectors. Not sure how long it will last though.. Hopefully a while longer as this late 70s kit is just too damn nice to be put out of service just yet.. Left bulb is dead and the right one needs a light slap to the side to get working again. Quite impressed they lasted all these years considering how hot these are running.. Will convert it to LED when i can find some that has that warm lamp glow. Do you have any information what these went for back in 79? Cant find much on the net regarding it..
Do you think they are going to use the FM spectrum for anything cool or open it up for public ham?
Cant really see that happening when most of the world including Sweden has abandoned DAB/DAB+ and will continue their FM broadcasting.. Hopefully some pirate stations might appear.. Who knows. As it is now there is still activity on the FM band with local stations and some other nationwide stations who are not under NRK. The local stations will probably still be here but all the other ones will most likely disappear during this year.
Something tells me i will be stuck with christian local radio on this Teac.. Oh joy...
A little bit of an update. Its now April 25th and all stations are off the air except two local ones. Quite the bizzare feeling driving through the city and the fm radio just keeps scanning without hitting anything. The two local ones are abit farther away so you need to be high in the terrain to catch them.. Strangely the cable company are still transmitting just about every channel over analog coax.. So im sure these are digital stations that they are rebroadcasting analog.. Hopefully for years to come ;)
I have those exact speakers but theyre branded pioneer and only rated 35w
did you clean the tone and volume pots? no scratchy static I would expect for the age and open back design.
No, I did not clean the pots.
I love diy
HealthKit was kit based electronic store in the Midwest 1940’s-1990’s ?
I'm a little confused by that "Phase" Control for Stereo.
I have a 1971 Pioneer SX2500, a 1971 Telefunken Concertino 101, a 1967 Philips Capella-Tonmeister.
All of them are Hi-Fi FM Stereo Receivers and don't have that Control... ?
Then either they have PLL (Phase Locked Loop) or the phase is set via an internal adjustment.
Okay, now I've learned something new.
Thank's for the quick Reply!
I don't quite understeand the appeal of music over the radio, but that's a very nice setup!
Well during the the 60s, 70s, 80s, and into the 90s music was delivered to a lot of people. CDs weren't commont to cars until the mid 90s and Bluetooth/USB in autos is less than 10 yrs old. Personally I can't understand why some one would pay money to hear a Song, without actually having a Record, Tape, or CD of it
I have a FM tube tuner with not so good reception but once locked into a station the music is just incredible. I mean sound quantity and separation were better than vinyls or CDs to my ears. I know it's crazy since FM is limited within 50-15,000 Hz and the original station broadcast source at the time was either vinyls or cassette tapes and shouldn't sound better than the original tracks. The closest thing to it was my reel to reel deck on retail pre recorded tape at 7 1/2 ips. And I'm not fond of tube equipment, everything else I have is solid state. Strange. Anyway, all the commercials and terrible music today ruined the experience, don't listen to radios other talk shows.
vwlf you didn't completely lose your mind over dat wood grain, you are no lgr ;)
Whats going on with your radio station. Is it still on the air
Yes.
I had acoustic research speakers
You're not sposed to use bare wire. Before banana plugs, TRS connectors, and Speakon connectors. Most speaker wires had Y connectors on the ends. You can still buy Y connectors and make your own old-timey speaker cables.
www.amazon.com/Antrader-Degree-Speaker-Connector-Plated/dp/B07DD67TBR
Why didn't you test the phono input?
11:51 Joey Scarbury!
You pull out the Phase control and adjust it 7:35 to the QUIETEST point, not the loudest.
What do you mean when you say woodgrain?
Is this really recorded via the camera mic?
The stereo image is so wide!
Yes, this video was all recorded using my camcorder's internal stereo microphone.
1970 was still the 60's.
Mark Chas No it's in the 70s
You're right - technically, 1970 was the last year of the 1960s. (There is no year 0 A.D. (C.E.)., so decades 'technically' start at 1, e.g. 1-10 or 1971-1980). Most people don't recognize this though, and it's really not worth arguing about, lol.
I think shortly after that unit was made there was some kind of government regulation that said ALL home tuners had to have both FM and AM. Probably to prevent people from abandoning AM for its inferior sound??
There has never been such a regulation for radios. You're thinking of the regulation that all television tuners must have both VHF and UHF.
Yes, thanks for refreshing my memory. Now that I think of it, what a waste of money and resources over the years of analog TV broadcasting where millions of TVs had the UHF tuner and it was never used!
Tuners with both AM and FM were around since the 1950s. And the early units were designed so the AM and FM tuners could be tuned separately, for stereo simulcasts in the days before multiplex stereo FM, where the left channel was on an AM station and the right was on an FM partner. I had a 1960 Bell tuner and matching amp that could receive AM mono, simulcast stereo, FM mono, and, with an optional adapter, FM multiplex stereo. Later, in the 1960s, manufacturers started cutting costs by combining AM and FM tuning into a single knob.
Manufacturers solved the VHF/UHF TV tuner resource problem in the mid 1970s when they developed frequency synthesis tuning, with a button or rotary dial position for every VHF channel from 2 to 13, and 3 or 4 extra buttons or positions the user could tune in to any UHF stations that were in the area. I still have a TV and two VCRs with tuners like that. Then came digital tuners with numerical keypads, onscreen display and TV/cable switches.
Doug, I had totally forgotten about that AM/FM setup for early FM stereo. I had an early Sherwood reciever that had that combination and it was very frustrating if the weather was the least bit bad because the stations were always cutting in and out.
No AFC switch?
pritty much anything from 69 ish to about 84 ish is going to have woodgrain so its bound to be 70's if it has woodgrain