Retro-Tech: SAE Mk6 FM Tuner - My Vintage HiFi holy grail
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- The SAE Mark 6 Tuner is the HiFi component I never thought I'd be able to own, but after years of searching I finally managed to buy one. In this video I'll show you what makes it special to me.
EXPAND for more...READ THIS TEXT BOX - for repeated comments
If you want to check if there are currently any Scope Tuners for sale on eBay - try a link below.
UK: goo.gl/FPDJo0
US: goo.gl/Tlq3o1
DE: goo.gl/9WA256
...and of course you can always buy a Kaossilator Pro from Amazon amzn.to/2bEP18X (UK) or amzn.to/2bEHtIc (US)
Four years ago I made a video about the Kaossilator 2 - here it is • Hands on demo of the K...
CORRECTIONS;
03:32 75 ohms
11:45 Beat It (see 11:10)
FURTHER INFO
Things re-posted multiple times in the comments
ODD FREQUENCIES
US radio frequencies step in odd numbers .1.3.5 etc in other countries the standards are different....the UK for example radio stations can use any digit...e.g. 95.1 & 102.0 ...loads written about this in the comments. NOTE.....THE TUNER IS ANALOG...BUT THE DISPLAY IS DIGITAL...so what this means is that as I'm turning the dial it picks up all the frequencies...e.g. 98.1, 98.2, 98.3, 98.4...however the display only changes when it reaches .1,.3,.5, so whilst the display can't show 102.4, I can tune it in perfectly, it's at the top of 102.3 or the bottom of 102.5 ...it's an analogue tuning dial....so there are no problems using this at all, none, not one...nada...it works very very well thanks.
CAPACITORS
Capacitor replacement - discussed to death in the comments ...read through them if you find capacitor chat interesting. :-/
VISUAL OSCILLOSCOPE MUSIC
There are demos you can play on oscilloscopes - most notably by Jerobeam Fenderson....yes I've tried them and they work.
My associated blog entry: goo.gl/RDM4Tr
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Cheers mate. Chances are very good that I am the person that originally tested and aligned your MK 6. I worked at SAE in the early seventies, and was the only technician working on the MK 6. I worked for Ed Miller, who designed the MK 6 for SAE. He also, previously designed the tuners for Sherwood, that, at the time were built in Chicago, Illinois.
I own the later version of this tuner, sans the o-scope, the 8000.
Anyway, small world. Enjoy your MK 6
Thanks for helping to bring this unusual, weird and very cool piece of tech to the world!
The tuning mechanism is often placed SIDEWAYS in receivers that use plate tuners.
@@adrienperie6119 Possibly for mechanical protection? If you turned the knob hard into a stop, the belt would slip before damage is done?
Maybe for vibration isolation?
Those are my two best guesses.
@@Jademyheart LMAO sounds like someone is jealous. How can this channel be false? I'm pretty sure Matt doesn't give a monkeys that you've unsubscribed anyway.
How freaking amazing is the internet...
The oscilloscope feels alive. It's possibly one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
@Wesley Pierce Yup no one cares. A: That's a crime. B: The people who watch these videos are well adjusted and have trusting relationships.
There's something really magical about hearing an old piece of equipment play music 40 years later. Like it's a time traveller- the people who made it never could have imagined the music we'd have today.
brokenSCART Totally x It's magical owning it now x Made to be overhauled and loved for life x 😀
The puppet segment cracked me up. Great timing in the cuts 👍.
Wow, this thing is BEAUTIFUL. I can really appreciate the level of attention that went into a piece of craftsmanship like this.
You managed to create a 3-D rectangular box on an oscilloscope! Well done. I have never seen that before.
It is actually being used as an XY vector scope, so you can draw any vector image you want if you are clever enough to encode the left and right audio channel amplitudes correctly.
I thought it was pretty, and very surprising that it was possible. I imagined that more complex electronics would be necessary to make a complex shape like that.
Square waves 😎
@@buddyclem7328 It's just a specially designed audio signal. You can get software to make such signals, as well as premade audio files, online, and connect your computer's audio output to any oscilloscope that has an X/Y mode. (Note: This doesn't mean such signals will _look good_ on any oscilloscope that has an X/Y mode.)
Edit: I just noticed a relevant Techmoan video in the suggestions on the right: ruclips.net/video/ZaTuFB5QXHo/видео.html
You are actually seeing the dissonant chord made of square waves. Makes sense when you think he hooked RCA left and right to the Horizontal/Vertical inputs . Looks like you could use it as a real o-scope with some help from a triangle wave to set the timing
Wow thats the most unnecessary bling in any piece of seventies hifi i've ever seen. Love it love it love it, and the price. Gobsmacked. Thanks Techmoan for finding it.
Ps now you've found the holy grail, where next?????
just buy an oscilloscope on a yard sale and hook it up...
My cat loved your demonstration of the sounds of the scope. It actually woke him up and he sat in front of me through the entire demonstration.
That's cute.
The odd frequency numbers appear, because this is an US-receiver. They have their Band partitioned in that way.
Same in Australia.
the oscilloscope patterns are known as lissajous figures if anyone is wondering
KingNast Thanks 😊
I think EVERYONE was wondering!
J/K thanks for the info
It's works just like my 1949 RCA oscilloscope. Bare bones simple.
Techmoan I would personally like to thank you for putting your time into your videos, it is a preservation and a digital museum of the technologies that we have lived with in our lives, a time capsule of the nostalgia that we experience when thinking back in our lives.
Keep up the great work I absolutely love your videos, they are not only fundamental but also very educational of how the technology worked during its time and especially when you open up each machine to demonstrate how they work internally, its baffling and a masterpiece at the sametime.
Anyway that's enough of me, I better continue binge watching for my personal knowledge.
Divine!
RegularCars what are you doing around these parts
Oh oh, here comes the Cadillac Cimarron owner with his retro "T H I N G S"
What time of the night/morning were you watching this? lol
Holy crap, RCR commenting on a Techmoan video? That's not a crossover I'd have expected to see.
This tuner is not Regular :)
I think this is my favourite puppet appearance...
FREE ERECTIONS!
Very nice video. However there's one more thing to that FM tuner, other than not tuning the frequencies with an even decimal. In FM, there is a thing, called pre-emphasis, which means that certain (mid to high) frequencies are boosted to achieve a better signal to noise ratio. The time constant for the FM pre-emphasis is 75uS in the USA and 50uS in Europe (and the rest of the World). This means that the FM tuners imported from the USA will sound a bit dull (lacking in high frequencies) when receiving signals broadcast with equipment set to European standards. (likewise, an European FM tuner would sound harsh when picking up US stations)
I know a guy in Hungary, who's nickname is Tunerman, as high quality FM tuners (like your SAE) and other high-end stuff are his work and hobby. He could modify your unit to have the correct pre-emphasis, and most likely "unlock" all the decimals, so you can tune in to 104.0 and others as well.
By the way, I've got a Revox B260 FM tuner from 1987, which I love to bits. It's a very sensitive receiver, and a very good sounding one, too. If its pro brother, the Studer A764 (which has exactly the same tuner inside, with a bit more features for broadcasters) was good enough for the BBC to monitor the broadcast quality, and also as a relay receiver, it has to be good enough for me :) (likewise with the Studer A807 reel to reel, and the Beyerdynamic DT-770 headphones)
As it is an analog tuner with a piggybacked digital frequency counter display, there is nothing preventing tuning in the even decimal stations, it is only the display that is limited in what increments it shows. Most likely the frequency counter is properly recording the even decimals as the odd-only rule was most likely implemented by mapping the 0 and 1 outputs to the "1" digit, 2 and 3 outputs to the "3" digit, etc. as that is a trivial way to achieve such results, in which case you would just have to cut the bridging traces, add the required driver transistors, and run the additional lines out to the Nixie tube (or a similar such workaround)...but why bother since the display limitation does not prevent you from tuning in such channels as-is.
AttilaSVK Thanks for explaining the differences between American and British FM standards. I had not heard of pre-emphasis before. As an American, that's probably why I like Japanese equipment, as they usually followed all US standards in broadcast, audio, and video, in order to simplify exports. In my Subaru car stereo, the volume goes up to 33, I assume, because of the Asian preference for odd numbers. I guess the odd FM frequencies go along with that too.
Interesting to learn something I didn't know about FM receivers, AttilaSVK!
7:16 Also just so people are aware - In USA there are no stations which are even numbers. All the stations in USA promote an odd numbered frequency. It's why old American radios will often skip even frequencies.
This guy radios
Your channel inspired me to put together some sort of HIFI setup. I managed to get a early 90s Pioneer amp for $10 and found some speakers!
From reading other comments it seems like you're not alone...a few people have told me similar things, which is fun to hear.
I still have my fathers early 80's HiFi set up that I mostly use for my vinyl collection. I was born in 1990 but I love that clean look of brushed metal, random knobs and bouncing LED displays. My house is this wonderful mix of old and new electronics all working together. We are redoing large amount of remodeling and I am trying to plan out of large neo-retro electronics rack as a center point of the room. Those paddle leaf switch are gorgeous and must be super satisfying to flip.
I recently thought of breaking up and selling my collection of Hi-Fi equipment that's only about 15 years old...after giving it a listen, I just couldn't do it!
I forgot how much that iconography/scripting looked like Marantz, even the knobs. In college , late 70s, I’d ride my bike to all the local hi fi shops. One shop had SAE, so cool. Thxs for the video! Heh.. I had to run your inflation calculator here in Mar 2024: “8,093
Adjusted for inflation, $1,050 in 1971 is equal to $8,093 in 2024.
Annual inflation over this period was 3.93%.”
i can't understand why this video would get any dislikes. it's very informative, this dude has a great and easy to listen to voice, and there are plenty of photos. what's not to like??
You can please some of the people part of the time but you can NEVER please all of the people all of the time. I believe that is a proven fact. Find me a video with NO thumbs down and I'll thumbs-down it immediately, just to keep said fact proven.
his voice islike a slightly higher pitched version of the sadly missed john peel, which i like alot :)
I cannot claim that it's an original thought but, I swear that if a RUclips video cured cancer and deposited £1m into your bank account just for watching it, some wanker would still dislike it.
Joshua Rosen True 😊
"BIG SELECTION. FREE ERECTION"
Enough for many.
Before I started watching your channel I never realized how much i need nixie tubes and oscilloscope visualizer in my life.
Omg the internals are so beautiful.
That is simply beautiful, inside and out. I've never seen anything like it, Nixie tubes and an oscilloscope in a tuner!
As an electronics engineer, I can vouch for the build quality and layout. Stuff back then was often very untidy with dodgy electrolytics and shoddy wiring. This has been designed with love and attention to detail. The extensive screening with metal cans is very impressive.
Sunday 09/04 : the techmoan closed his youtube channel after acquiring his ultimate collection masterpiece.
Lovely to see this SAE battleship tuner. This is becoming the finest channel on RUclips for people who are interested in vintage audio and technology.
awesome video review - I love the oscilloscope - bring it back to modern equipment!!
If anyone is wondering, the song at 6:10 is Dangerous by Rumer. Took me ages to figure it out.
Awesome, as usual. In the US, FM channels are separated by 0.2MHz starting at 87.9MHz. The SAE appears to have an infinitely variable analog tuner. I'm surprised it won't pick stations in-between the 0.2MHz spacing, even if the Nixie display doesn't report the correct frequency.
@@gotham61 THATS RIGHT
The insides of Tektronix oscilloscopes of the vintage era were also beautifully laid out inside. I wonder if any of these engineers had that background.
The visulalizer is soo cool
A work of art. I don't remember seeing one of these back in the 70's. I do t blame ya for buying it. It is beautiful.
Fond of nixie-tubes? You should've seen some of the fuel station pumps I saw back in the day... especially the swivel-headed Citco model!
I remember seeing them on Mobil pumps.
Yes, so do I.
A great piece of craftsmanship. It shows what the U.S. once had as far as technical and manufacturing prowess. Good find. Great presentation as always.
So, here is the deal with the MPX out. MPX was not "a 4 channel system"; it actually stands for Multiplex and is most commonly used today to provide FM Stereo, though the name can apply to any time you have additional sub-carriers with an FM signal. The FCC had settled on a standard stereo system long before this unit was made; but there had been no decision made on whose system was going to be used for quad. (FM Stereo originally at 14 different competing systems). The MPX out basically sends a copy (unfiltered demodulated baseband or some kind of IF; don't know the details about every piece of vintage tuner gear) of the FM signal that could then be processed by an MPX receiver. This allowed one to buy this tuner now, and not have it become "obsolete" when FM-Quad was standarized; you'd just plug in the quad adaptor and off you went.
The same thing was done on many earlier FM tuners prior to the standardizing of Stereo and was also called "MPX out"; and in theory, a 4-channel FM quad adaptor would have plugged up to an old Mono FM tuner's MPX out and produced quad. But Quad never really took off and while a system was standardized by the FCC; it was never really used. FM MPX these days (at least in the US) consists of FM modulated main program from 0 to 15 khz; the stereo pilot tone at 19 khz, a double side-band amplitude modulated carrier supressed "difference" signal at 38khz, RDS at 57khz, and in the US there are two additional NarrowFM modulated carriers available at 67khz and 92khz. Stereo, BTW; is produced using the mid/side matrix, also called sum/difference matrix. The mid/sum of the audio is sent as the main FM program; and the difference signal is matrixed in to recover discreet left and right. The amplitude modulation of the difference is why Stereo tends to be noisier.
the only thing I get is that you don't care for properly writing the symbol of the unit "hertz" - named after Hertz - which is Hz as in 92 kHz.
Ahh, when a Multiplex was a stereo component and not a series of movie theaters.
@@GPCTM, back when FM stereo was invented "hertz" was abbreviated "cps", as in "92 kilocycles".
I know what a cycle per second is (it's an hertz! (named after Hertz - I add this to show the difference between the name of the unit, a noun, small caps, and the name of the gentleman, a proper name, uppercase)).
But I'm just talking about the "khz" in the comment... so, I don't really know what to say to your "interesting fact"... Thank you? :-)
@@GPCTM I'll take the thank you, thank you! I totally got (and agree with) your point about the correct orthography for "hertz" and "Hz". I was just having a bit of fun by pointing out that using the SI term "hertz" is a bit of an anachronism for sufficiently old Hi-Fi gear.
Best regards!
I absolutely fell in love with this lovely piece of vintage tech! I have to have one once in my lifetime!
I could watch the oscilloscope dancing and the tubes glowing for hours!
Big thanks for showing this! :)
The skit at the end had me laughing so hard my jaw hurt and tears rolled down my cheeks. Hilarious.
I realise this video is years old, but I've only just seen it. What an incredible bit of kit. The quality of the internals is fantastic.
Apologies if it's been pointed out already, I did scroll down a bit to see but couldn't find any comments regarding it. I noticed at 12:59 there is a bit of what looks like discoluration of the board at the bottom. Below the larger yellow rectangular resistors there looks to be a small dark brown coloured resistor and this is where the discoluration I'm referring to is. This might indicate that resistor is getting too hot. Keep an eye on that, it will probably fail at some point if that's the case.
There's also a bit of a burn mark at the top of the single white rectangular resistor just above that (the one in between the green capacitors and the larger silver capacitors) where it connects to the board.
I've tried to explain that as simply as I could. Apologies once again if it's already been pointed out and/or fixed.
Laughing my as of at the radio spot at the end... Funny! :)
Absolutely beautiful, elegant piece of equipment.. inside and out.
The phrase "they don't make them like they used to" very much applies here.
I could watch the oscilloscope for hours.
This is the most awesome tuner I've seen. I've only saw 1 in person. It's a marvel, and it was futuristic, even in lates 80s.
I'm suprised you didn't mention the granddaddy of all ocilloscope-equipped audio devices, the Marantz 10B tuner. It doesn't have Nixie tubes, but is in a class by itself. it's all tubes, but for one lonely transistor used in the scope circuit. The next scope-equipped device by Marantz was the Model 18 receiver, followed by the model 19.
Thanks for the great review, very informative.
Grew up with an audiophile father and had a McIntosh MR78, Mcintosh C28 Pre-amp with MC 250's as amps, Altec A 7 'Legacy Voice of the Theater speakers in one room and University's 8 Classic 3way Highend Horn Loaded Speakers in another room. Dad always wanted the Sequerra model 1 FM tuner with a set of Klipschorn loudspeaker's but never was able to acquire a set because of the cost but I REALLY enjoy your vintage reviews, keep them coming!
That is so very sexy. I did not even know Nixies were used in high end audio equipment. You truly have the best audio setup in the world as it has Nixies and Oscilloscope tubes in it. I have been tempted to hook my scope up to my audio setup, however I am a little space constrained. Does not help the scope I would use for it has died.
Lol
+Maxx Fordham Text generally looks better if high emphasis nouns are capitalised.
In German all Nouns are capitalized.
+Maxx Fordham Comic books always use all caps for dialog; do you have an opinion on that? If they can arbitrarily use all caps for every comic book ever sold, why can't a RUclips commenter arbitrarily use caps for emphasis? You are a nitpicker.
+Maxx Fordham Hey, this is a alright vid on comic book fonts.
www.vox.com/2016/9/2/12760504/where-the-comic-book-font-came-from
Well done Techmoan, another excellent piece.
In the late 60s I added two tiny bulb holders with torch bulbs, wired to the back of each speaker, put a prismatic crystal in front of each and in a darkened room blew my and companions brains with ‘strobe’ effect rhythmic flashing lights controlled by the music, “wow man, dig the lights’”
I’m going to have to get one of those SAEs!
10:29 you made a bridge Connecting past with the future. that was something cool to watch.
now i can say i'm watching music :)
Positive vibrations will surely appear through such a wonderful piece of vintage hifi...very good signal
looks like someone changed out some Capacitors after all those years, you basically have to change them all ;), but if it works there is nothing to say but they will be a problem in the future :)
Everything will be a problem in the future....that's why I'm trying to enjoy now, as much as possible.
right too. But rarely something else fails, i have equipment that is working since the 1970 and it was used heavily before i had it, and some new caps and is as new. Thats the good thing, old equipment is often so easy to fix.
I'll keep that in mind.
Yeah, it was definitely repaired before.
Yep and replace them with probably cheap ones laying around. Writing on board is also his works. Not manufacturer. I agree that would be good idea to check them all with meter. (ESR, capacity). It is too nice to let it not work at full potencial.
What a lovely bit of kit! With my first wage packet in 1988 I bought a Kenwood spectrum analyser / eq with dual fluorescent displays that look awesome when listening. Still got it today and it still works!
Two things...
1.) I have a scope in my Marantz 4400. According to the user manual, you're supposed to adjust the brightness so that the dot is "barely visible" when there is no signal present. This is to help prevent phosphor burn. If you turn the brightness of the scope up too high, the focus goes soft. So, find something towards the lower end to save that tube because they are rare and don't let it sit too long without anything going through it.
2.) To see a scope in 4-channel mode, here's a video that I made of my scope with Dolby Pro-Logic II music - so you can run it from your PC into home theater and watch the scope do its thing. ruclips.net/video/1d69FnsCA6k/видео.html
I am enjoying watching the videos from the past technology and it is educational lessons. The past technology and today's technology has changed so much but i enjoy past hifi unit with their looks etc. Many thanks Parma
Always feels weird when playing modern music on old HIFI stuff
I find it kinda funny, listening to Young Thug on speakers that are 20 years older than he is. But they get their fair share of classical and jazz and other, more tasteful, music.
It seemed perfectly natural when I was running a 1960s reciever into 80s electrostatic headphones if only because I was listening to black metal
***** Just watched it lol. I'd seen the ones with Daft Punk, but that's even more hilarious. Mind you, those big old JBLs will do much better on modern music than most of the modern speakers since they're so big and efficient.
Just noticed your name! Still waiting for vids? A while back I was thinking of doing some vintage gear ones, also got plenty of other audio project ideas and stuff... But I find it hard to get stuff done.
What about modern EDM on a 1935 cathedral radio? :-)
MrOpenGL Got a video of that?
So much detail in the board they actually care so much they wanted to build the best product and they knew if people where going to open them they want everything organized and straight
Immediately I realized I want one of everything shown here.
This is the most beautiful piece of hi fi equipment i've ever seen.
The 1970's really were the future. Even now.
Back in the 70s, I worked for the company that imported SAE, but we started with the black ranges, which I don't feel were as well made as the earlier silver/gold range. We had issues with the amplifiers (up to 400 watts per channel in real life) destroying their capacitors, so we had to source more robust versions. Not sure if this was a problem caused by the changes to the power supply to cater for 240 volt. But this immediately reminded me of the Sequerra tuner, which, at the time of which I am speaking, sold for £10,000 in the UK. It was the most expensive hi-fi component full-stop for some time.
12:10 SURPRISED the belt has not given out since it is a 40 year old machine.!!!!
You’re right about the high quality construction. The first clue is the glass fibre PCBs, almost unheard of in consumer grade Hi Fi gear back then. I don’t think it’s common even now. The VFO is well screened in its own box, and the construction is modular, using high grade components. There’s a very nice looking FM IF amp and demodulator PCB I’d expect to see in high end pro receivers. The shield around the CRT is to prevent stray magnetic fields affecting the electrostatically deflected beam. All CRT scopes I’ve seen have them, and older colour CRT TVs had them. They are made of an alloy called mu metal. If they get knocked enough, they lose some of their shielding properties.
"I don't ever wanna feeeeeeel... like I did that kshhh"
Too late. I was briefly entertained. RHCP now owns 100% of this video forever.
Every time I tune back in you've got something even cooler than last time. As you noted, they spared no expense on this precious - almost surprised with the ultra clean chassis layout that they didn't choose show it off with a cane metal or perforated top cover.
The CRT shield is probably Mu metal, and more than likely is there to shield the CRT from the receiver instead of the other way around.
Went looking for a schematic (unsuccessfully so far). The American FM band spacing suggests possibly a synthesizer (unlikely) or at least dedicated readout large scale integration IC (LC72xx) which may have a jumper or unused selection pin. As usual, a wonderful look up the lasses skirt t to be sure .. but some of the real goodies are under that box behind the display.
Digital readout wasn't right off of the reservation in 1970 - I seem to recall the ARRL handbook covering am LED(!) home brew even a few years previous, but I sure am curious as to how they've implemented it here.
As always, thanks for the video.
FYI: the o-scope on this thing is operating in X-Y mode, probably using a channel for each axis.
Correct; in X-Y mode (Lissajou mode) a signal on only the left channel will produce a straightline horizontal deflection. A signal on only the right channel will produce straightline vertical. A pure mono signal at equal levels on both channels will split the difference, giving you a 45-degree straightline. It get interesting with stereo program material when the instantaneous differences between the left and right cause the deflection to dance all over the screen. The more stereo separation in the program material, the greater the deviations from the 45-degree mono reference. If you play the Synchronicity album from 1983, you don't see much deviation from the 45-degree baseline. Put on Dark Side of The Moon from 1973 however, and it will pretty much fill the screen. Much more interesting not only visually but especially aurally.
what a freggin' beautiful machine. It is my holy grail now as well. I'd put some transparant fiberglass covers on on the top and bottom. Just beautiful. It's a peace of art. Thank you so much for showing us. I'd love a part two with interviews of the people that worked at this company and some more background info.
OMG! When you opened it up, I about passed out. That's electrical engineering of the highest caliber. Thanks for the inside look. It's a beauty period, but the guts rival anything Playboy ever published...if you're into that sort of thing. ;)
Wow.. Just wow.. That machine is amazing.. These pure analogue machines do add some taste into the songs of modern times.. Just awesome.
Hey Mr. Moan, the reason the visualizer looks all scratchy is because the machine is using the L and R channels as the X and Y axes and without a constant you just get what looks like noise unless there is specific interplay between the waveforms in the L and R channels (like you demonstrated with the synth). If you'd like a traditional oscilloscope display for music on that device, drive one of the sound channels into the vertical input, and instead of more sound use a constant sine or triangle wave on the horizontal input (heck you could even use the kaospad again). That'll scan the beam back and forth in a uniform way and look really cool. Try different frequencies of the carrier wave to get different tightness and legibility. I really hope you make a supplementary clip if this works for you!
The L vs R oscilloscope is very much intended to be a display for music (or any other broadcast or recorded audio). Engineers use it as a tool keep an eye on the signal's mono compatibility. The more the scope looks like a straight line from lower left to upper right, the closer the L and R signals are. If the scope shows a straight line running on the OTHER diagonal, then L and R have the same signal 180 degrees out of phase and will sum to a mono signal of complete silence.
I stumbled onto this channel a few weeks ago and I just can't get enough of it. I LOVE IT! Hell, I liken this to a slightly more digestible version of "How its Made". Absolutely love it, don't change a thing!
4:58 When you switch it on I said "OH MY GOD!"
I grew up in the 70's and I was into stereos during that decade. This video brings back the memories of me collecting component brochures and reading them over and over. Even though I could never afford any of them.
$1050!!!! My parents bought their 3 bedroom semi-detached house in Birmingham that year for £3,800. The build is amazing, you wouldn't expect it to be cheap of course.
Are you wearing a Hewlett Packard HP-01 calculator watch? Just looking at your wrist but can't make it out.
Yes
arent those insanely expensive and hard to find? wtf
yes
+Techmoan would be great if you could make a (short) vid on that :D If there is enough to talk about obviously ;)
Techmoan haha i agree vid please!
Oh this is gorgeous. I love oscilloscopes so much as well.
omg I have to have one of these!!
Wow, you DO have the most varied and interesting components I have ever seen! This was by far the most interesting video so far with a LOT of info. Thanks for sharing!
Can someone explain to me why certain tones played on the osciolscobe display cubic boxes?
basically how the oscilloscope is setup is that one channels amplitude controlls x axis and the other one controlls the y. My guess is that for the boxes it's some kind of sawtooth wave on both cannels (it sounds sawtoothy at least), the diagonal part is created by the sloped flank and then the the fall back down creates the horizontal and vertical lines. Im not certain though, but there is software, that can creat audio to display certain things on oscillosocpes, or look up Jerobeam Fenderson, he does a lot of this stuff and even made an album that visualizes itself, he also has some explenations how some stuff is created
Because the dots on the cube are quite intensive (and to achieve that, both audio channels have to stay at the same amplitude for a bit), I would say, that it mainly contains some rectangle waveforms.
Its (most likely) setup to show left vs right channels on the scope (L = vert, R = horizontal). The patterns traced are then representing (instantaneous) amplitude differences between the 2 channels. A mono FM channel where L = R will then trace a diagonal line as seen in the video (the channel relationship is _in phase_ with each other). When the test signals were injected, they were stereo and so the patterns were showing the phase differences between the 2 channels. Hot spots on the output show a constellation of points where the 2 channels are at a constant amplitude and phase with each other. The size of each constellation show some modulation (probably the wave-shape) at these points which gives you that synthesized sound.
Hope this makes some sense... Cheers.
- Eddy
(additional) if interested, the curved patterns are referred to as _Lissajous_ loops (or curves). Very popular in 60's - 70's SciFi movies as a prop.
- Eddy
Deathlok67 If I understand correctly, the edges of the box is the beam moving from constellation to constellation, it's not in the audio signal..
Definitely know some folks who do lots of audio work in cinema who would probably love to have some SAE equipment in their studios. Their components look absolutely magnificent! It really does make you wish manufacturers today would put that much effort into their machines.
Not to mention, that display face is gorgeous and timeless.
"I really like my music to have some kind of visual effect"
You would *adore* ProjectM, it's like a digital version of the Atari Video Music (which I'm surprised you haven't featured on here) on several drugs that weren't around then the Atari Video Music came out.
This device really makes wish SAE was still around, even though I could never afford their gear.
But it has to be said, that stuff is actually sexy.
...aaaaand then that "free erection" advert comes in...
ProjectM is fantastic
odd, i could've sworn i remember watching a video where he looks at one of those, but searching 'atari' yields no results now.
maybe it got made private? or maybe i'm thinking of someone else.
That's awesome. Didn't knew it. Thanks!
Ben Heck Show, Episode 220?
Ahh yes, projectM. plug in for Winamp? but i remember it most from my xbox modding days, XBMC! I wonder if it is still in Kodi (current name of the XBMC project)
We share a love for this design aesthetic and I very much enjoy your Hi-Fi component videos. Thank you! James in Glendale, Arizona, USA.
That is some hardcore audio porn. Wow.
Free erection!
OH MAN!!! IT'S TRUTH. XD
I remember seeing one of these up and running back around 1981, when I was twelve years old or so. You are right, the oscilloscope view would have originally been considerably sharper and brighter. It's very cool to be able to identify this old device I remember from my childhood!
ok you NEED to play some visual music by Jerombeam Fenderson through this. He's on youtube and makes incredible music that paints unbelievable pictures on oscilloscopes. just do it. you won't be dissappointed.
Like you, I'm far from expert in electronics but also like you, I've seen a few and that is one of the most beatifully manufactured piece of electronics I've ever seen. Those switches look as though they will never need replacement and the assembly has had so much thought put into it. I think you're right, it's unlikely that any modern equipment will be built to that standard.
15:30 why is no one else here commenting about Solid Sheds?
I am guessing that it has something to do with erections. 🤔
Granted I don't know how it was used exactly, but let's say you had your outside pole mounted antenna with a rotor. There was a way to use the oscilloscope to help you rotate the antenna into the best positioning to reduce multi-path so you got the best signal for a particular station's broadcasting antenna for your particular geography. Now that's taking FM listening to a serious level indeed. Thanks for these very fun videos of some really amazing old gear.
OMG that thing is SICK!
This is one of the Best youtube Channels. It's Christmas Time and i now normally would spend my Time with watching some Great Films, but this is more interresting
That is one sexy tuner, damn.
Who the hell has disliked this video? One of the most interesting videos on youtube I have seen in a while.
redX111t
Someone with no taste obviously 😊
Tuners skipping even numbers is just how radio works in America. You mean to tell me there are stations that broadcast on, say, 92.2 in the UK??
Ah thanks for the info. Didn't get the reason from the video, or I missed it...
I mean, there are different FM standards between countries, so it's possible.
"You mean to tell me there are stations that broadcast on, say, 92.2 in the UK??"
Yes. We use all the scale over here. Our local BBC radio station is on 95.4 for example.
And my 1990s digital tuner goes up by increments of 0.05MHz in FM, so it's possible for me to tune into 97.15MHz for example, even though there's no reason for me to be able to do that.
Huh. Learn something new every day.
Even in the Netherlands we have 92.2 :)
I always enjoy your reviews. Being a person who lived the 1970's and 80's music, this reminded me of gadgets either I had or saw at Hi-Fi stereo shops and wished I had $ for. Cheers.
In the US there is no FM channels on any even numbers and digital radios can't connect to them
For more info
www.epanorama.net/documents/radio/radio_differences.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcast_band
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_broadcasting
The second link requires close attention. Don't go there unless you are willing to let your head explode. The third is about the rare dab tuners.
By far the most amazing hifi kit i've seen! Oscilloscope produces an amazing visual effect.
8:29 gem 106
Very nice video. I've been an SAE fan since that tuner came out, but as you mentioned the price made it out of reach for a 20 year old earning $2.00 US per hour. I started collecting 'scope tuners beginning with a Marantz Model 120 in 1972, which I still have boxed. I progressed to a Marantz 150, a much better tuner with a larger 'scope, in 1977. I followed the digital craze of the '80s and set aside my Marantz but I always looked for a Mark VI when I had the chance. Finally, with the advent of ebay, I was able to obtain a Mark VI along with a Mark IX and Mark IIB for a combined $625 in 2001, all of them well worn but fully functional. Since then I've obtained a few more Marantz 'scope tuners, Models 20B, 2110 and arguably THEIR holy grail, a 2130. Many consider it better than their legendary Model 10B tube tuner (tough tempted, I just can't see spending $2-4000 on one). My Mark VI is, and will always remain, my favorite tuner.
8:34 capital fm
What a beautiful piece of craftsmanship! I've seen Marantz components with oscilloscopes before but never heard of SAE. That thing looks like it's assembled by hand, probably one of the reason it was so expensive back then.
oscilloscope intessity should alway be as low as possible, otherwise you take de risk of burning que phosphorescent layer, decreasing significantly the life of it
It's 45 years old....
For its age it looks really well made some of the underside capacitors and resistors are better then the ones now.
Though must warn you some of the resistors you have in there are starting to show there age.
Might want to look into that since those and your fuse (black with a white stripe.), if they support higher then 30 volts you need to get them replaced sometime in the future.
+Techmoan It looks great! I'm just sharing with you some advice for it to last 45 years more without damaging de Screen. In the time of CRT oscilloscopes this was a golden rule to preserve the screen. keep intensity as low as possible
In the manual it says it auto-blanks when left with no audio in order to protect the tube. However I'm looking for a replacement tube as this one is a bit soft and quite dim. I know the model number, it's just a matter of finding one....no rush.
Some of those capacitors look rough, having someone check and replace them might help
This is so unbelievably cool, once I'm out of school, and with a good job, I'm building a hifi setup
3:27
bottom right
"4 CHAN MPX OUT"
"4 CHAN"
why im noticing this out
I have an old Toshiba tuner from around 1978/1979 with analogue meters. Still works fine
LOL...Better known as Scientific Audio EXPLOSIONS...famous story from my shop is about a salesman demoing a piece of SAE gear, which started smoking, so accordingly he lit up a cigarette to masquerade the smoke coming from the unit. This brand is pretty much regarded as junk by audiophiles and techies alike, but to each his own lol.
Are you kidding me? Have you ever been on Audiokarma? SAE is regarded as one of the top brands of the 70s, next to Marantz and Mc
Absolutely awesome piece of equiment! It's impressive how old tech sometimes look so much more interesting than today's boring LCD displays!
Thats because it was made in USA! All that great old gear was built like it was going into space. In otherwords built to last.
12voltvids Here here 😊😊😊
12voltvids I love your channel 💜
SAE made some fantastic Hifi gear back in the 70's and 80's, the workmanship looks first rate. All in all it's a beautiful piece of gear that will probably work fine for four more decades.