While serving in the US Marine Corps and stationed on the Island of Okinawa, I purchased one of the most iconic and epic esoteric stereo systems known to exist. I opted for all Pioneer professional electronics. Beginning with the JA-R2S rack system. The list is extensive. (All Pioneer) RT-707 open reel deck, RT-909 open reel deck, Spec-1 preamplifier, Spec-2 amplifier, SG-9800 graphic EQ, CT-F900 cassette deck, MA-62A disco mixer, SR-303 reverb unit, RG-1 dynamic range expander, DT-400 digital timer, turntable(forget the model). For speakers, I opted for the Sansui SP-X11000 and I bought 4 of them. This was all purchased during the year from Oct. 1978-Nov. 1979. I donated this entire system to my Apostolic church back here in West Virginia, where it was used as a main PA system for over 10 years. Sadly, most of this system went its separate ways over the years. I do still have the rack. My older brother still has one pair of the speakers and the RT-707 open reel deck, but the rest is gone. The Spec-2 amp began to malfunction, so I put in a repair shop, which went out of business and stole the amp. I sold the Spec-1 preamp on eBay to a collector. Most of the rest, ended up in e-waste. But, it was quite a system in its day. Thanks for sharing.
It sounds like a sad ending but they had a good life. Sorry about the Spec II though. I have serviced many of those and they are among the most solid down to earth designs I have worked on. They were THE Pioneer amp to have.
@@InsideOfMyOwnMind the two M6´s mono blocks are also very good, have them with a C1 control amplifier ,still kicking as i also have in perfect condition the spec.-1 and spec-2
Sometimes people inherit homes or do cleanouts of old garages, and the stuff ends up at the Salvation Army or other thrift stores and the people working there don’t know what they are
I used to work for U.S. Pioneer Electronics, Elk Grove Village, IL from early 1976 to early 1979. The rack shown in your video sure looks like an original “Bud” rack. They were sourced from Bud Industries, a manufacturer of electronics racking, such as those for computers. There was no Pioneer identification on the racks themselves, just the decal on the walnut header panel.
At that time, Elton John was a spokesperson for Pioneer, and when he was in Chicago on a concert tour, I remember we had to put together a “Rack”, thoroughly test it, and set it up in his hotel suite. My department (QC) assembled and tested it, but the Marketing Department guys set it up in his hotel room.
Walked into a stereo shop on Bascom Ave. in San Jose (not Pacific Stereo), 1975 or 1976 and saw The Rack. I was awestruck. On it was playing Les Dudek's "Old Judge Jones" on the reel to reel (a fantastically engineered recording BTW). Don't know what speakers were in use but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. That memory is still strong almost 50 years later.
I saw one in real life at JB Branch & Company's 3rd floor sound room in Coldwater, MI. 1979. What a sight to behold! I'm pleased you are going to embark on a full restoration of it. Can't wait to see some videos of the process!
That’s the same one I talked about in the video! The Sound Room at JB Branch! That’s the one the person I got this from used to see when he was younger which is why he bought this one.
Man, you're taking me back! I was born in 1970 and had a very young step dad...9 years younger than my mother who was a total classic rocker in the 70's and into the 80's. I remember going to the "electronics store" around 1978 and falling in love with the Pioneer stuff for whatever reason. (I was totally into audio and used to take apart radios and build my own speakers out of wood and used cardboard boxes to build a prototype first,) We went home that day with a Sansui receiver/amp and a nice set of Becker speakers, IIRC a Technics turntable and later on added a Nakamichi cassette player. I luckily inherited most of it in the early 80's and rocked out into my teens. That set me up to be a lover of music and audio equipment for the rest of my life including a decent stint as a private party and night club DJ and doing sound reinforcement/engineering work. I feel so lucky to have grown up from the 70's into the 90's becoming a young man. Seems like the wheels came off after 9/11. Sigh...
In Louisville Ky, in the early 80s, Bacon's /dept store started selling components by Pioneer. Didn't last long, but as I remember the Bashford Manor Mall store had the two rack system in the store. So impressed with the concept, that I bought two black racks and had a cabinetmaker friend construct the turntable shelf and imbed my two Dual turntables so they were flush with the top. Teak formica covered it. I did have a Pioneer RT 1050 H reel, which I made rack ears for, but my components were Dynaco. I built a stereo 400. I had just started weekends at a local radio station, which further peaked my interest in racks. these days, I got nearly ten racks of equipment. Needless to say, they make sense, and I was an early fan. Thanks for posting this! PS....I have pics of mine, all be they poleroids, I DO have them.
Lenny, I see that you have a picture of a Technics RS 1500 US. I gave your store one when the store was located in Parkville. It needed a take up reel motor. Today, you can buy one for more than they were sold for back when they were new. The best RTR machine that I ever had!
The true pioneer of the Megabass sound . True innovation . I wish I could still get an audio/video boombox . It was a boombox that had stereo audio inputs for hooking up your VCR or Laserdisc .
WOW! This is the 1st time I've seen that rack since I was a kid when I saw one in an audio store at my local mall. It was complete just like the one in the pic you showed and standing right at the store entrance playing some Disco song on the turntable. Don't know what speakers they had connected to it but they were about 4 feet tall, very deep cabinets and huge. The bass from the Disco was like nothing I had ever heard before being just a kid 7 yrs old. I was literally hypnotized and frozen in front of it until my older brother came and got me. I thought that I would never see one again! Thank you -- I LOVE your videos!
@LennyFlorentine Yes you did. That system left an imprint in my mind as a kid. And today my entire house and basement is like a vintage audio hoarders museum 🙂 Thanks again!
In 1978 our ship was in Japan. My good friend bought all top of the line Pioneer components at the Navy Exchange, Spec-1 preamp, Spec-2 power amp and the best tuner, cassette deck and turntable. And Bose 901 speakers. We had it all set up the night we were leaving Japan and we were jamming in the radar room when we heard a terrible noise and our ship nearly capsized. We had crashed into a rock formation that had been reinforced with concrete for a gun emplacement in WW2.We went over the top, wrecked the sides and destroyed the screws. We ripped the front third of the bottom of the ship off and nearly sunk. All I could do was scream at people to grab a component and set it gently on the deck before we took of for GQ. Priorities you know. LOL
Beautiful system Lenny! I have a RT909, RT707, SX737, and a PL55X in my music room. I used to have a CTF 750 and an SA7700, but sold those years ago (should never have sold the CTF750). Thanks for sharing this! Love your channel! Chris from Florida
While I hate what Pioneer has become, I would have done whatever it takes to get that Rack home. Based on what I saw here, the components are sweet, though I would swap the reels & TT for some Technics. This video has given me new ideas about what a listening station can be, desk & all. What a find! And congratulations! A long time friend of mine has that reverb unit, or something very similar. I haven't seen it in 30yrs, so I am not sure of the exact model. However, I distinctly remember the bluish floro that flowed with the effect. Great stuff!! Thanks for sharing Polk's playlist, I will run those through my system, and see just how horrible mine is. Great video!! Thanks!!
i can assure you that many ,many people world wide still have in use this rack. I myself own one that was from my father, bought in 76 ,one can see in that year catalog all components in this system , you also show the 79 system which was great i had no need for it but bought a less expensive system as my second best equipment, today all sound good and never ceased to work ,only by making it´s regular maintenace it worked and works perfect ,now that some electronic parts were changed as their life wasn´t to work more than or around 50 years, only the RT-707 needed repair in mid 80´s, but nothing that wouldn´t happen to any other brand, as i have a big hi-fi components colection ,first just filling up a room when i felt i needed a diferent system, the rack itself i sold it as i was tired of using it as a rack but built some pine wood furniture with metal under to ensure it´s rigidity to not get curved due to excessive weight, today is really dificult to match this quality , as some do not know that evolution wasn´t about improving sound quality or building quality but reduce costs of production and increase prices , this is the real evolution, off course some technology was adapted but always at cheaper levels
Hi Lenny! great vid as always. This is a huge rack sure and it's more comfortable or convenient if you wish because you don't need to bend your back down the floor like in classical Pioneer vertical rack, However, that one looks way cooler with all the components one on top of the other in the same column and you tell me if I'm wrong but these are not the best available of those year for sure., I mean the components. Anyway this is great to avoid the floor and to put your turntable at a reasonable position to use. This is, by the way a great guitar shop as far as I can see. Great job man. Much lovevas always from West Spain!! ❤ Oh yeah, you see the text is edited because after finishing watching, you did the right thing man. Now you have the rack, so perfect because now you have all the time to get it filled with the proper components, exactly like it was on the advertisement and more so, even add some surprises for yours and ours own happiness. I really can't wait to see it done. Nevertheless, don't do like you did with that Nakamichi which you let go unfinished in the end back in the day 😂😂, remember I asked you? Well, this one is way more serious so I'm sure we are onto something 😄
I saw on a vintage stereo and records in Haverhill Ma. He had racks and racks and separate rooms filled with vintage gear, I used to find a lot of gear and sell it to him. I'm kicking myself now. This was back 15 years ago. He wanted $900 for the rack and I remember thinking that was a lot. Now he doesn't have anything left. I have seen so many rare pieces there. He would sell a pioneer 6x 650 for $100 back then. But now people want a fortune
Congrats on the rack. I think you could put just about every rack mountable Pioneer ever made in there if you don't count the black face versions. This will be a thing of beauty. I will be watching so don't screw it up.🤣
As a kid, in the early to mid 80's, my dad has this at home and later I had it for years and years in my room, later replaced some elements with the Technics SU9000 series I think (rackmount) pre, power , tuner and a Revox a77 r2r....As an adult I turned to mostly Luxman amps.
Very cool! I remember these from our local appliance store that sold Hi-FI - also in Michigan. I always thought it was a dealer display also. I have some of those brochures, and I didn't remember the rack being available for purchase, even though it was in the catalog. As I recall, even the regular 4 and 5 component single side racks were too pricy for me. Awesome idea to fill it with the original equipment. I would be torn between the late 70's 9500 series with analog meters, or the 1980 9800 series with the blue flouroscan meters. Can't wait to see where this goes!
Well Lenny, from the gear you showed us which was in the rack. 3 pieces I have since a few years in my vintage collection. Next to Marantz, Pioneer has as well my highly interest.Wish you may get all components you have on your liste
in 1989 Pioneer also came out with "reference" series it has that polished wooden side. It was during the transition from vhs to laser disc era. minus the open reel because the digital era is coming out.
I guess my comment was taken down by the moderator since I had a link to our face book ad for that very Rack system but the entire system and the original first owner. There is no other complete pristine system in the country owned by the first owner in my opinion. Lenny used some of our advertisement pieces in this video. Cant wait for him to see this. Thanks Lenny for doing a video piece on this.
I can say I think I have seen this in person or a its brother a double sized display. It was a Kiosk type display at JC Penney's in the 70's in Detroit. Teac and Scotch also had impressive Rack display's at certain stores in the 70's. They were impressive.
Having an EQ is a huge benefit. I am surprised by audiophiles that live with a basic bass and treble nob. I worked in sound reinforcement and would use these for my stereo.
Hey Lenny, my favorite video yet! Funny my Pioneer obsession began with the last page of the Best Products 1980 catalog featuring all the flouroscan components. In the 1990’s I lived in Tampa and purchased most of the components for super cheap back then including RT909, RT707, SA7800, RG9800, CTF900, but was dumb and sold them in 2015. Currently, I am on a vintage audio journey, which means I am purchasing items that I cannot afford when I was younger and living with them for a period now. I just acquired a perfect pair of HPM 100 and funny enough, I also have a pair of these Polks in my garage. Since I got the HPM’s now, I am considering trying to finally build and find all the components for the JARS2 rack. Stuff is obviously very pricey now however I fully expect that it will continue to go up and value.🎉
And i thought the peak of opulence in that area was the JA-R2S, didnt realize until today there was something "bigger/better" .... was pretty stoked when i spotted the Ja-R2S system in our Chior Directors office.....
It will be an adventure to put this together! To see peoples setups around the world go to pin interest and see the setups of Pioneer Spec setups! Happy hunting it will be worth it! 😊
Ive got a friend in Miami that has most of this stuff he bought in the 70's from Luskins Hi Fi in North Miami Beach...He will never sell them..He also saved the boxes.
This should be a fun quest. Actually played with an SD-1100 way, way back: if you snag one of those, the visual entertainment value alone should fill an entire video on its own.
Lucky you and great video! You have a really cool project in hand, can't wait to see the results! Pioneer fan here 😃. I already have an sx-1250, a CT-F1250 Cassette Deck, looking for 2 good speakers. Now the sx-1250 is hooked to a pair of Realistic Mach One Speakers (40-4024A) and a sg-50 EQ. Sounds ok at most, needs a lot of correction from the EQ. A good set of speakers would lightup the sx-1250 more than the Mach One does.
Saw one on an auction in a mexican website about 10 yrs ago wirh all the period components of the 70's down to the Rt1020 reel to reel, it must have come from a Narco's house from back in the day because of the town from where the guy from the auction was, I mean there's no way they sold that equipment here in Mexico and in a small town like that back in the day, and of course I didn't have the kind of money to place a bid but I kept an eye on the auction and tho' I can't remember for how much did it go I can tell you the one who got it had a bargain for sure even if all the components needed repairs
Pioneer followed/copied SANSUI with that Concept. Added the Turntable Desk look in favour of the Sansui System that had the Turntable on top. Check it out. The AU#17 Series Amps such as AU217, AU317, AU517 and AU717 were the first Systems with the 19" Rack Mounting Handles that were needed to mount the Equipment in the Rack. Tuners, Cassette Decks, Accessories Draw and even Speaker Monitor was available in the 19" Rack Mounts. I did not buy the Sansui Rack but instead made my own Furniture with 19" Rack fittings.
Great video. As of a few years ago I knew of one that is in storage. I personally have 2 of the black shelf units for the tuner or eq. Also even more rare I suspect, I have the rack ears for the RT 2022 semi pro open reel 😊
the CT-F1000 is a hard machine works today with minimal maintenance and as Pioneer Advertised at the time with a litle photo on the corner of a magazine page, it´s deck with the extra needle for dynamic level, the model bellow the CT-F1000 in a page showing in big the nakamichi 1000, and kind of making fun of what Nakamichi had at the time, also want to refer that the only aceptable auto-reverse decks ever built was the 79 , CT-F750 that you showed and the RX´s from nakamichi which was fun to look at it changing the cassette side, i even bought a complete Nkamichi system for me in the second half of the 80´s and went full Dragon ,what a waste of money and not many headaches as at the time i was consuming a lot of non prescribed drugs, only to relax at the end of a day of work, this after the 70´s a decade of enlightment
Back in the day, around the summer of 83'? I was in the Army and a buddy of mine was shipping off to Korea and he sold me the Spec I & II, the tuner, the reel to reel, cassette & a Technics turntable along with Bose 901's (the weak part of the system) but I couldn't pass it up, I think he was only asking $800 from me. I kept it until 97' when I sold most of it for I think $1,500. Still regret it, should have only sold the 901's and got a better pair of speakers.
Yup, an expander (I used to own a couple of Dbx units in the day make the softer parts softer and louder parts louder) which means it could serve as noise suppression as well. Install it in the cassette deck loop and you could have it doing so before recording. Cool sequential LED's as well on higher end units.
I have the CTF 1050, Reverb AMP and the SG-9 EQ. PL-400 is a Tank and I'd never trade my Phase Linear Noise Reduction Range Expander and like the price of the Akai 636D. Nope, love my Pioneer SX-9 and is almost finished restoring it. Also, the most underrated speaker Pioneer ever sold, the 270 Watt (Per speaker) CS-922A and yes I heard them right next to the HPM 100, AR-9 and JBLs, I don't remember the Number. I also had a Numark Mixer and a second Technics SQ-300 TT.
Pioneer sold the RG-1 but it was designed by Robert Grodinski who was the founder of RGR. A designer on par with with the other American icons of hifi lore
Great rack, but by the way your description of what a dynamic expander does, is incorrect. What a dynamic expander does is expand the dynamic range going of the signal before it goes to the amplifier (the opposite of compression)
Looking forward to this build! It looks like it has the rt-2022 reel in it but if you can find and squeeze the rt-2044 in there, that will set it off. I love mine!
@@LennyFlorentine The RT-2022’s and 2044’s pop up every now and then. You just have to wait in the underbrush and pounce like Tigger! I had to change those weird 12-pin Hirose connectors (mine was missing the cables) to a more conventional DB9 (only 9 pins are used). I couldn’t find the interconnect transport to amp cables anywhere.
That RG Dynamic range processor is more akin to DBX 1bx, it does not widen the stereo image at all, but it does slightly restore peaks on dynamically compressed recordings and provide some background noise reduction (pops, hiss, etc). Frankly I would rather own a 3bx, which treats midrange, bass and treble as 3 different zones (to prevent pumping)
As someone who sold this equipment in the 1970s in New York City, it was cool looking but not the best sounding compared to other companies like audio research, Mark Levenson, GAS, SAE, etc. but still cool.
I started collecting Pioneer last year after finding a RT-707, CT-F4242 and SA-7500ii at Goodwill. I recently found a RG-1 and DT-400 at estate sale for $40 😁.
Oh yes, I have seen one. Just a few miles from me. It was the last rack Best Products had when they went out of business. My friend got it and still has it. There are more than one.
Oh man we had a Best here when I was a kid. It had a slanted front wall on the building. Was the Akron one uniquely built on the outside, they seemed to do stuff like that.
@@LennyFlorentine from memory yes it was interesting on the front fascia. The room was lined with shelf upon shelf of silver faced receivers and amps of all makes and models. That “The Rack” was across from the entrance arch of the stereo room which was actually pretty narrow and cramped. It was not a listening environment. You could play all the stuff through a speaker switch panel. They had a pair of HPM-200s which seem like unobtainium today. And HPM-150 towers. I was in that room all the time from 1975-80 age 14-19 drooling over the turntables and amps. Parents bought me a SA-7500II for $350 in 1977 for Christmas. I was in heaven. Could not afford the speakers I wanted. Now I have racks of the stuff I don’t even want. I should stop down for a visit sometime 😊
Thanks for this video. IMHO, not enough technical content about the ‘78-‘80 pioneer lineup out there. My analog system is the pioneer stuff, not the spec but the 9800’s. I recently sold my HPM100’s (silver ports if that 200w tale is legit?) Pioneer is still my favorite nostalgic gear.
Thanks for the video the only Pioneer rock ever saw was at American TV back in the day and it was full and it wasn't for sale the rack was a demonstration model only It had a big Pioneer light up sign on top of it man I'm old that was a long time ago Have a great day
I saw one played with it it was massive got sansui 9090db pioneer reverb technics. Turntable pioneer 9500 EQ miss that thing cassette deck but tha Rack made mine look small huh ! But had no table or cabinet below just 2 free standing racks made of like the Spec series you showed but 2 racks almost as tall as me The Rack was a dream because of the cost cant remember more 3 thousand mabe 6 grand damn can't recall But had a great system so I wasn't complaining it was in Cinncinati 1977
i SAW A RACK FOR SALE, NOT a full rack, but mostly full. I think they wanted like 100,000 for it, or some absurd amount. I much more prefer the brushed aluminum face plates on this, than I do the all black face plates from the 1980's to todays stuff.
I have seen and touched the SAE Full Rack - at least 6’ tall and full , amps, cassette, cd, preamp, tuner, eq, and more that I can’t remember… And the Nakamichi - but I can’t remember its components or how tall - but huge
i have some really old speakers that might be collectable but i have clue if they worth anything, TRUSONIC cabinet speakers with low serial numbers in the 400 range .. they each have one 15 inch one 8 inch and a tweeter in each cab.. i have owned the over 20 years and NEVER play them.. are they collectable at all or just every day type avg type speakers? they are VERY heavy because of the magnets on the 15 inch speakers. anyone in the comments that knows anything i would appreciate it .. thanks . peace
the Rg´s i have tem but only conect them to hear very old jazz recordings it does make miracles, i make that arm movement to compare records sound to cd sound and this last 20 years of new turntables aren´t what people were using in late 1900´s this are so low qualitty of building and sound that i never thought they could steal even more from people , new cartridges even expensive ones are a steal, some younger people think that records had that horrible sound that they experience in the modern said to be good record readers, but no it´s other dimension in the sunlight zone(like part of it, said before somewhere in the 80´s by MR.Roth)
I used to own the rack minus the reel deck. Believe it or not the sx680 sounds better. The spec 2 was a beast power wise so I used it to power my bands pa.
I just saw one for sale, they are asking 25K for it. The whole setup is killer, but way to rich for me... Also just found the Spec one preamp. That was more reasonable at 800. Guess I can start a 25 yr long adventure trying to piece and part the whole system together....
Hey Lenny. No suspense here. When I saw you touching things the way you were before you said you had purchased it. I knew you bought it. This really hurts seeing that It’s from Coldwater Michigan. I don’t live too far from there. Dang… Who knew?
I had a pioneer rack but not this one but I've had all of the spec gear at one time or another but as they say never meet your Heroes lol Although the reel to reels and the Cassette players were great the Preamp and Amplifiers were good but I had in the same room Sansui Amp, Adcom Amplifiers and two Harman Kardon Citation Sixteen Amplifiers to do a direct comparison and every Amplifier outperformed the spec Amps back in 1999 so off to eBay it went. I still think the best Pioneer gear I ever owned was the European black version of the SX-1250 Receiver and the SX-1010 and I had the SX-1980 which I sold for $500 in 1999 and I'm still kicking myself lol
While serving in the US Marine Corps and stationed on the Island of Okinawa, I purchased one of the most iconic and epic esoteric stereo systems known to exist. I opted for all Pioneer professional electronics. Beginning with the JA-R2S rack system. The list is extensive. (All Pioneer) RT-707 open reel deck, RT-909 open reel deck, Spec-1 preamplifier, Spec-2 amplifier, SG-9800 graphic EQ, CT-F900 cassette deck, MA-62A disco mixer, SR-303 reverb unit, RG-1 dynamic range expander, DT-400 digital timer, turntable(forget the model). For speakers, I opted for the Sansui SP-X11000 and I bought 4 of them. This was all purchased during the year from Oct. 1978-Nov. 1979. I donated this entire system to my Apostolic church back here in West Virginia, where it was used as a main PA system for over 10 years. Sadly, most of this system went its separate ways over the years. I do still have the rack. My older brother still has one pair of the speakers and the RT-707 open reel deck, but the rest is gone. The Spec-2 amp began to malfunction, so I put in a repair shop, which went out of business and stole the amp. I sold the Spec-1 preamp on eBay to a collector. Most of the rest, ended up in e-waste. But, it was quite a system in its day. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing your story!!
It sounds like a sad ending but they had a good life. Sorry about the Spec II though. I have serviced many of those and they are among the most solid down to earth designs I have worked on. They were THE Pioneer amp to have.
@@InsideOfMyOwnMind the two M6´s mono blocks are also very good, have them with a C1 control amplifier ,still kicking as i also have in perfect condition the spec.-1 and spec-2
I was stationed at Cherrt Point in 1981 and a pawn shop in town had the rack with spec 2 and spec 4 amps.Incredible !!!
Sometimes people inherit homes or do cleanouts of old garages, and the stuff ends up at the Salvation Army or other thrift stores and the people working there don’t know what they are
I used to work for U.S. Pioneer Electronics, Elk Grove Village, IL from early 1976 to early 1979. The rack shown in your video sure looks like an original “Bud” rack. They were sourced from Bud Industries, a manufacturer of electronics racking, such as those for computers. There was no Pioneer identification on the racks themselves, just the decal on the walnut header panel.
At that time, Elton John was a spokesperson for Pioneer, and when he was in Chicago on a concert tour, I remember we had to put together a “Rack”, thoroughly test it, and set it up in his hotel suite. My department (QC) assembled and tested it, but the Marketing Department guys set it up in his hotel room.
@@itube1893 What an experience
@@itube1893 Always the marketing guys who get the frosting...LOL
Walked into a stereo shop on Bascom Ave. in San Jose (not Pacific Stereo), 1975 or 1976 and saw The Rack. I was awestruck. On it was playing Les Dudek's "Old Judge Jones" on the reel to reel (a fantastically engineered recording BTW). Don't know what speakers were in use but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. That memory is still strong almost 50 years later.
That’s amazing! I was hoping to hear some stories of people seeing this in person
Old Judge Jones, what a great song. Sonically wonderful on vinyl
Heck yes, this is amazing. Can't wait to see how this adventure turns out. If you're ever near Nashville let a guy know lol.
I saw one in real life at JB Branch & Company's 3rd floor sound room in Coldwater, MI. 1979. What a sight to behold! I'm pleased you are going to embark on a full restoration of it. Can't wait to see some videos of the process!
That’s the same one I talked about in the video! The Sound Room at JB Branch! That’s the one the person I got this from used to see when he was younger which is why he bought this one.
Man, you're taking me back! I was born in 1970 and had a very young step dad...9 years younger than my mother who was a total classic rocker in the 70's and into the 80's. I remember going to the "electronics store" around 1978 and falling in love with the Pioneer stuff for whatever reason. (I was totally into audio and used to take apart radios and build my own speakers out of wood and used cardboard boxes to build a prototype first,) We went home that day with a Sansui receiver/amp and a nice set of Becker speakers, IIRC a Technics turntable and later on added a Nakamichi cassette player. I luckily inherited most of it in the early 80's and rocked out into my teens. That set me up to be a lover of music and audio equipment for the rest of my life including a decent stint as a private party and night club DJ and doing sound reinforcement/engineering work. I feel so lucky to have grown up from the 70's into the 90's becoming a young man. Seems like the wheels came off after 9/11. Sigh...
In Louisville Ky, in the early 80s, Bacon's /dept store started selling components by Pioneer. Didn't last long, but as I remember the Bashford Manor Mall store had the two rack system in the store. So impressed with the concept, that I bought two black racks and had a cabinetmaker friend construct the turntable shelf and imbed my two Dual turntables so they were flush with the top. Teak formica covered it. I did have a Pioneer RT 1050 H reel, which I made rack ears for, but my components were Dynaco. I built a stereo 400. I had just started weekends at a local radio station, which further peaked my interest in racks. these days, I got nearly ten racks of equipment. Needless to say, they make sense, and I was an early fan. Thanks for posting this! PS....I have pics of mine, all be they poleroids, I DO have them.
Lenny, I see that you have a picture of a Technics RS 1500 US. I gave your store one when the store was located in Parkville. It needed a take up reel motor. Today, you can buy one for more than they were sold for back when they were new. The best RTR machine that I ever had!
The true pioneer of the Megabass sound . True innovation . I wish I could still get an audio/video boombox . It was a boombox that had stereo audio inputs for hooking up your VCR or Laserdisc .
WOW! This is the 1st time I've seen that rack since I was a kid when I saw one in an audio store at my local mall. It was complete just like the one in the pic you showed and standing right at the store entrance playing some Disco song on the turntable. Don't know what speakers they had connected to it but they were about 4 feet tall, very deep cabinets and huge. The bass from the Disco was like nothing I had ever heard before being just a kid 7 yrs old. I was literally hypnotized and frozen in front of it until my older brother came and got me. I thought that I would never see one again! Thank you -- I LOVE your videos!
That’s awesome! Glad I could help bring back the memories!! Thank you!
@LennyFlorentine Yes you did. That system left an imprint in my mind as a kid. And today my entire house and basement is like a vintage audio hoarders museum 🙂 Thanks again!
Awesome Lenny, can't wait for the upcoming vids on this!
In 1978 our ship was in Japan. My good friend bought all top of the line Pioneer components at the Navy Exchange, Spec-1 preamp, Spec-2 power amp and the best tuner, cassette deck and turntable. And Bose 901 speakers. We had it all set up the night we were leaving Japan and we were jamming in the radar room when we heard a terrible noise and our ship nearly capsized. We had crashed into a rock formation that had been reinforced with concrete for a gun emplacement in WW2.We went over the top, wrecked the sides and destroyed the screws. We ripped the front third of the bottom of the ship off and nearly sunk. All I could do was scream at people to grab a component and set it gently on the deck before we took of for GQ. Priorities you know. LOL
Beautiful system Lenny! I have a RT909, RT707, SX737, and a PL55X in my music room. I used to have a CTF 750 and an SA7700, but sold those years ago (should never have sold the CTF750). Thanks for sharing this! Love your channel!
Chris from Florida
Saw one at CES in Chicago when it was held at McCormick Place
You could mount amps in the lower section to free up rack space for items that need to be touched.
Also Lenny, I had the cassette machine just under the CTF 1000. Best cassette machine I ever had.
While I hate what Pioneer has become, I would have done whatever it takes to get that Rack home. Based on what I saw here, the components are sweet, though I would swap the reels & TT for some Technics. This video has given me new ideas about what a listening station can be, desk & all. What a find! And congratulations! A long time friend of mine has that reverb unit, or something very similar. I haven't seen it in 30yrs, so I am not sure of the exact model. However, I distinctly remember the bluish floro that flowed with the effect. Great stuff!! Thanks for sharing Polk's playlist, I will run those through my system, and see just how horrible mine is. Great video!! Thanks!!
i can assure you that many ,many people world wide still have in use this rack. I myself own one that was from my father, bought in 76 ,one can see in that year catalog all components in this system , you also show the 79 system which was great i had no need for it but bought a less expensive system as my second best equipment, today all sound good and never ceased to work ,only by making it´s regular maintenace it worked and works perfect ,now that some electronic parts were changed as their life wasn´t to work more than or around 50 years, only the RT-707 needed repair in mid 80´s, but nothing that wouldn´t happen to any other brand, as i have a big hi-fi components colection ,first just filling up a room when i felt i needed a diferent system, the rack itself i sold it as i was tired of using it as a rack but built some pine wood furniture with metal under to ensure it´s rigidity to not get curved due to excessive weight, today is really dificult to match this quality , as some do not know that evolution wasn´t about improving sound quality or building quality but reduce costs of production and increase prices , this is the real evolution, off course some technology was adapted but always at cheaper levels
OMG! That SD-1100 o-scope would be killer in your new rack! Bragging rights for...decades! Staying tuned no matter what!
That will be a tough one for sure!
My church had one hooked up through the whole church it was awesome
Hi Lenny! great vid as always. This is a huge rack sure and it's more comfortable or convenient if you wish because you don't need to bend your back down the floor like in classical Pioneer vertical rack, However, that one looks way cooler with all the components one on top of the other in the same column and you tell me if I'm wrong but these are not the best available of those year for sure., I mean the components. Anyway this is great to avoid the floor and to put your turntable at a reasonable position to use. This is, by the way a great guitar shop as far as I can see. Great job man. Much lovevas always from West Spain!! ❤ Oh yeah, you see the text is edited because after finishing watching, you did the right thing man. Now you have the rack, so perfect because now you have all the time to get it filled with the proper components, exactly like it was on the advertisement and more so, even add some surprises for yours and ours own happiness. I really can't wait to see it done. Nevertheless, don't do like you did with that Nakamichi which you let go unfinished in the end back in the day 😂😂, remember I asked you? Well, this one is way more serious so I'm sure we are onto something 😄
I saw on a vintage stereo and records in Haverhill Ma. He had racks and racks and separate rooms filled with vintage gear, I used to find a lot of gear and sell it to him. I'm kicking myself now. This was back 15 years ago. He wanted $900 for the rack and I remember thinking that was a lot. Now he doesn't have anything left. I have seen so many rare pieces there. He would sell a pioneer 6x 650 for $100 back then. But now people want a fortune
I live in Avril last time I checked he still has all the stuff he just moved out of the record shop you have to ask for a special viewing
Congrats on the rack. I think you could put just about every rack mountable Pioneer ever made in there if you don't count the black face versions.
This will be a thing of beauty. I will be watching so don't screw it up.🤣
Had a RG-1 and a RG-2, I would describe it as makeing loud passages louder and quiet passages quieter. Super cool for use with a turntable.
Great info!
Exactly, that unit is about dynamics, not stereo image size.
I loved my CT-F1000. Very interesting tape head and solenoid operation.
Very Cool, happy to watch more Adventures of Lenny and Tom.
AWESOME BRO! That is the Grail of Racks.
Good Luck!
I live in Los Angeles and I remember the rack being featured at Pacific Stereo back in the day. That was pretty impressive looking for its time
As a kid, in the early to mid 80's, my dad has this at home and later I had it for years and years in my room, later replaced some elements with the Technics SU9000 series I think (rackmount) pre, power , tuner and a Revox a77 r2r....As an adult I turned to mostly Luxman amps.
Very cool! I remember these from our local appliance store that sold Hi-FI - also in Michigan. I always thought it was a dealer display also. I have some of those brochures, and I didn't remember the rack being available for purchase, even though it was in the catalog. As I recall, even the regular 4 and 5 component single side racks were too pricy for me. Awesome idea to fill it with the original equipment. I would be torn between the late 70's 9500 series with analog meters, or the 1980 9800 series with the blue flouroscan meters. Can't wait to see where this goes!
Oh that’s some cool info! Maybe it was just a dealer rack?
I'm mostly vintage Technics BUT, I do have a PL-570 Turntable!!! Subbing just to watch this project.
Well Lenny, from the gear you showed us which was in the rack. 3 pieces I have since a few years in my vintage collection. Next to Marantz, Pioneer has as well my highly interest.Wish you may get all components you have on your liste
in 1989 Pioneer also came out with "reference" series it has that polished wooden side. It was during the transition from vhs to laser disc era. minus the open reel because the digital era is coming out.
I guess my comment was taken down by the moderator since I had a link to our face book ad for that very Rack system but the entire system and the original first owner. There is no other complete pristine system in the country owned by the first owner in my opinion. Lenny used some of our advertisement pieces in this video. Cant wait for him to see this. Thanks Lenny for doing a video piece on this.
I can’t wait either!
wish we had these shops in the UK!!
I can say I think I have seen this in person or a its brother a double sized display. It was a Kiosk type display at JC Penney's in the 70's in Detroit. Teac and Scotch also had impressive Rack display's at certain stores in the 70's. They were impressive.
Very cool!
Having an EQ is a huge benefit. I am surprised by audiophiles that live with a basic bass and treble nob. I worked in sound reinforcement and would use these for my stereo.
Hey Lenny, my favorite video yet! Funny my Pioneer obsession began with the last page of the Best Products 1980 catalog featuring all the flouroscan components. In the 1990’s I lived in Tampa and purchased most of the components for super cheap back then including RT909, RT707, SA7800, RG9800, CTF900, but was dumb and sold them in 2015. Currently, I am on a vintage audio journey, which means I am purchasing items that I cannot afford when I was younger and living with them for a period now. I just acquired a perfect pair of HPM 100 and funny enough, I also have a pair of these Polks in my garage. Since I got the HPM’s now, I am considering trying to finally build and find all the components for the JARS2 rack. Stuff is obviously very pricey now however I fully expect that it will continue to go up and value.🎉
You’ll have to send me a list! I’m always out touring and hunting. Thanks and glad it was a fun one!
And i thought the peak of opulence in that area was the JA-R2S, didnt realize until today there was something "bigger/better" .... was pretty stoked when i spotted the Ja-R2S system in our Chior Directors office.....
Pioneer is my favorite old equipment and I’ve never seen that rack but now may need to build one.
It will be an adventure to put this together! To see peoples setups around the world go to pin interest and see the setups of Pioneer Spec setups! Happy hunting it will be worth it! 😊
I was there two days ago digging for records. That thing is so cool.
That’s awesome!
Lenny! ❤
Greatings from Poland! ❤ 🎉
Hey! Wow thanks for watching from all the way over there!
Ive got a friend in Miami that has most of this stuff he bought in the 70's from Luskins Hi Fi in North Miami Beach...He will never sell them..He also saved the boxes.
This should be a fun quest. Actually played with an SD-1100 way, way back: if you snag one of those, the visual entertainment value alone should fill an entire video on its own.
Lucky you and great video! You have a really cool project in hand, can't wait to see the results! Pioneer fan here 😃. I already have an sx-1250, a CT-F1250 Cassette Deck, looking for 2 good speakers. Now the sx-1250 is hooked to a pair of Realistic Mach One Speakers (40-4024A) and a sg-50 EQ. Sounds ok at most, needs a lot of correction from the EQ. A good set of speakers would lightup the sx-1250 more than the Mach One does.
Saw one on an auction in a mexican website about 10 yrs ago wirh all the period components of the 70's down to the Rt1020 reel to reel, it must have come from a Narco's house from back in the day because of the town from where the guy from the auction was, I mean there's no way they sold that equipment here in Mexico and in a small town like that back in the day, and of course I didn't have the kind of money to place a bid but I kept an eye on the auction and tho' I can't remember for how much did it go I can tell you the one who got it had a bargain for sure even if all the components needed repairs
Good luck on that R2R!
The 70's when all 3 versions of a rack were awesome Audio, Pool Table, and well endowed women (thank you Raquel). Opposed to a medieval rack.
Pioneer followed/copied SANSUI with that Concept. Added the Turntable Desk look in favour of the Sansui System that had the Turntable on top. Check it out. The AU#17 Series Amps such as AU217, AU317, AU517 and AU717 were the first Systems with the 19" Rack Mounting Handles that were needed to mount the Equipment in the Rack. Tuners, Cassette Decks, Accessories Draw and even Speaker Monitor was available in the 19" Rack Mounts. I did not buy the Sansui Rack but instead made my own Furniture with 19" Rack fittings.
Tantalizing bit of hardware lust. Subbed for the continuing story.
Thanks!
Great video. As of a few years ago I knew of one that is in storage. I personally have 2 of the black shelf units for the tuner or eq. Also even more rare I suspect, I have the rack ears for the RT 2022 semi pro open reel 😊
Yeah those are going to be hard for me to find
@@LennyFlorentine they could be for sale
the CT-F1000 is a hard machine works today with minimal maintenance and as Pioneer Advertised at the time with a litle photo on the corner of a magazine page, it´s deck with the extra needle for dynamic level, the model bellow the CT-F1000 in a page showing in big the nakamichi 1000, and kind of making fun of what Nakamichi had at the time, also want to refer that the only aceptable auto-reverse decks ever built was the 79 , CT-F750 that you showed and the RX´s from nakamichi which was fun to look at it changing the cassette side, i even bought a complete Nkamichi system for me in the second half of the 80´s and went full Dragon ,what a waste of money and not many headaches as at the time i was consuming a lot of non prescribed drugs, only to relax at the end of a day of work, this after the 70´s a decade of enlightment
Back in the day, around the summer of 83'? I was in the Army and a buddy of mine was shipping off to Korea and he sold me the Spec I & II, the tuner, the reel to reel, cassette & a Technics turntable along with Bose 901's (the weak part of the system) but I couldn't pass it up, I think he was only asking $800 from me. I kept it until 97' when I sold most of it for I think $1,500. Still regret it, should have only sold the 901's and got a better pair of speakers.
I think the expander deals with dynamic range, not width of the sound.
Yup, an expander (I used to own a couple of Dbx units in the day make the softer parts softer and louder parts louder) which means it could serve as noise suppression as well. Install it in the cassette deck loop and you could have it doing so before recording. Cool sequential LED's as well on higher end units.
@ I actually have the 5bx.
I have gone dizzy with envy! How much did the rack cost you please?
Have you seen a Crown rack system?
I saw this system in an audio store in Atlanta back in the '70s. For a broke high school kid it was a fantasy.
Starting to think it was a dealer exclusive
I have the CTF 1050, Reverb AMP and the SG-9 EQ. PL-400 is a Tank and I'd never trade my Phase Linear Noise Reduction Range Expander and like the price of the Akai 636D. Nope, love my Pioneer SX-9 and is almost finished restoring it. Also, the most underrated speaker Pioneer ever sold, the 270 Watt (Per speaker) CS-922A and yes I heard them right next to the HPM 100, AR-9 and JBLs, I don't remember the Number. I also had a Numark Mixer and a second Technics SQ-300 TT.
God do I wish I had that type of money to spend. At least your store exists and one day I will fly out to see it.
Pioneer sold the RG-1 but it was designed by Robert Grodinski who was the founder of RGR. A designer on par with with the other American icons of hifi lore
I've got a PL-560 hooked up to my recapped SX-1250, that's close enough for me.
Fabs were stunned that the Weekend actually shits like everyone else.
sir is there any audio electronics books where i can learn how to make a amplifer for my self
I struggle to get my 2 Pioneer QX 949s serviced here in Western IL anymore. The Place in Peoria closed after the 2 owners died.
Great rack, but by the way your description of what a dynamic expander does, is incorrect. What a dynamic expander does is expand the dynamic range going of the signal before it goes to the amplifier (the opposite of compression)
Looking forward to this build! It looks like it has the rt-2022 reel in it but if you can find and squeeze the rt-2044 in there, that will set it off. I love mine!
I just need to see one in person! Never seen it, I’d like the 44! Didn’t even know they existed until doing this one.
@@LennyFlorentine The RT-2022’s and 2044’s pop up every now and then. You just have to wait in the underbrush and pounce like Tigger! I had to change those weird 12-pin Hirose connectors (mine was missing the cables) to a more conventional DB9 (only 9 pins are used). I couldn’t find the interconnect transport to amp cables anywhere.
That RG Dynamic range processor is more akin to DBX 1bx, it does not widen the stereo image at all, but it does slightly restore peaks on dynamically compressed recordings and provide some background noise reduction (pops, hiss, etc). Frankly I would rather own a 3bx, which treats midrange, bass and treble as 3 different zones (to prevent pumping)
As someone who sold this equipment in the 1970s in New York City, it was cool looking but not the best sounding compared to other companies like audio research, Mark Levenson, GAS, SAE, etc. but still cool.
I started collecting Pioneer last year after finding a RT-707, CT-F4242 and SA-7500ii at Goodwill. I recently found a RG-1 and DT-400 at estate sale for $40 😁.
That’s a crazy goodwill find
@@LennyFlorentine Right place at the right time.
Oh yes, I have seen one. Just a few miles from me. It was the last rack Best Products had when they went out of business. My friend got it and still has it. There are more than one.
I loved Best!
The case style looks similar to the Modular Components stereo systems that JC Pennies sold in the late 1970s?
We had one in the Stereo room at a pre-era big box variety store called Best Distributors in Akron Ohio.
Oh man we had a Best here when I was a kid. It had a slanted front wall on the building. Was the Akron one uniquely built on the outside, they seemed to do stuff like that.
@@LennyFlorentine from memory yes it was interesting on the front fascia. The room was lined with shelf upon shelf of silver faced receivers and amps of all makes and models. That “The Rack” was across from the entrance arch of the stereo room which was actually pretty narrow and cramped. It was not a listening environment. You could play all the stuff through a speaker switch panel.
They had a pair of HPM-200s which seem like unobtainium today. And HPM-150 towers. I was in that room all the time from 1975-80 age 14-19 drooling over the turntables and amps. Parents bought me a SA-7500II for $350 in 1977 for Christmas. I was in heaven. Could not afford the speakers I wanted. Now I have racks of the stuff I don’t even want. I should stop down for a visit sometime 😊
Very nice, Lenny. Are there any plans for your new company to sell vintage? I suppose you’d need techs to do it.
Thanks for this video. IMHO, not enough technical content about the ‘78-‘80 pioneer lineup out there. My analog system is the pioneer stuff, not the spec but the 9800’s. I recently sold my HPM100’s (silver ports if that 200w tale is legit?) Pioneer is still my favorite nostalgic gear.
That tale is legit. Thanks so much!
Thanks for the video the only Pioneer rock ever saw was at American TV back in the day and it was full and it wasn't for sale the rack was a demonstration model only It had a big Pioneer light up sign on top of it man I'm old that was a long time ago Have a great day
Love hearing those stories!
looking for a sansui e-1
I prefer the 909 purely for the 10.5" reel.
How did the grills get attached?
There are pegs
@@LennyFlorentine It was magic! When you first walked up to the rack the grills were off. Then magically they were on!
Needs 2 turntables and a mixer up front.😂🤣😜
Wow that is so cool
I saw one played with it it was massive got sansui 9090db pioneer reverb technics. Turntable pioneer 9500 EQ miss that thing cassette deck but tha Rack made mine look small huh ! But had no table or cabinet below just 2 free standing racks made of like the Spec series you showed but 2 racks almost as tall as me The Rack was a dream because of the cost cant remember more 3 thousand mabe 6 grand damn can't recall
But had a great system so I wasn't complaining it was in Cinncinati 1977
I love it
i SAW A RACK FOR SALE, NOT a full rack, but mostly full. I think they wanted like 100,000 for it, or some absurd amount. I much more prefer the brushed aluminum face plates on this, than I do the all black face plates from the 1980's to todays stuff.
I have seen and touched the SAE Full Rack - at least 6’ tall and full , amps, cassette, cd, preamp, tuner, eq, and more that I can’t remember…
And the Nakamichi - but I can’t remember its components or how tall - but huge
The Nakamichi is cool, I gave one to a friend in Florida one time, he also just so happens to own the SAE one 🤣👍
i have some really old speakers that might be collectable but i have clue if they worth anything, TRUSONIC cabinet speakers with low serial numbers in the 400 range .. they each have one 15 inch one 8 inch and a tweeter in each cab.. i have owned the over 20 years and NEVER play them.. are they collectable at all or just every day type avg type speakers? they are VERY heavy because of the magnets on the 15 inch speakers. anyone in the comments that knows anything i would appreciate it .. thanks . peace
Saw one of those displays in 1977-9 in Columbus OH .
Ooh do you remember where?
@@LennyFlorentine Swallen's and Sun TV both long gone .
Swallens across from schottensteins ,is where I bought my Carver C4000 and M400,Philips 877 Direct turn table, Philips 673 Tuner!
the Rg´s i have tem but only conect them to hear very old jazz recordings it does make miracles, i make that arm movement to compare records sound to cd sound and this last 20 years of new turntables aren´t what people were using in late 1900´s this are so low qualitty of building and sound that i never thought they could steal even more from people , new cartridges even expensive ones are a steal, some younger people think that records had that horrible sound that they experience in the modern said to be good record readers, but no it´s other dimension in the sunlight zone(like part of it, said before somewhere in the 80´s by MR.Roth)
The eq setting looks like the Polk tweeters are bad. 😂
I used to own the rack minus the reel deck. Believe it or not the sx680 sounds better. The spec 2 was a beast power wise so I used it to power my bands pa.
Livin the dream
Tom's Beard needs a make over...
🤣 he gets a pass it was raining and last minute
I would pass on this showcase Drew. What's the next showcase on the Pric is Right! Sterile lock Marcus Welby MD
I just saw one for sale, they are asking 25K for it. The whole setup is killer, but way to rich for me...
Also just found the Spec one preamp. That was more reasonable at 800.
Guess I can start a 25 yr long adventure trying to piece and part the whole system together....
It’s the same rack filled for $26k I believe - sorry forgot to indicate what the link was.
Found one in caif
Hey Lenny. No suspense here. When I saw you touching things the way you were before you said you had purchased it. I knew you bought it. This really hurts seeing that It’s from Coldwater Michigan. I don’t live too far from there. Dang… Who knew?
So the interesting thing is I didn’t buy it till a week after I filmed. 🤣 I just have to touch everything
@ OK, Sorry you got me. I’m sure they trusted you. And they had to know you were a serious buyer.
I saw one on Facebook marketplace a lil while back, 75k and told in a day lol
Dang
They dont make them anymore....😭😭
Nothing like pioneer from the 70'S!
I own:RT-1020L,CT-F9191,CT-5151,SX-440,PL-A45D,PL-15.
I had a pioneer rack but not this one but I've had all of the spec gear at one time or another but as they say never meet your Heroes lol
Although the reel to reels and the Cassette players were great the Preamp and Amplifiers were good but I had in the same room Sansui Amp, Adcom Amplifiers and two Harman Kardon Citation Sixteen Amplifiers to do a direct comparison and every Amplifier outperformed the spec Amps back in 1999 so off to eBay it went.
I still think the best Pioneer gear I ever owned was the European black version of the SX-1250 Receiver and the SX-1010 and I had the SX-1980 which I sold for $500 in 1999 and I'm still kicking myself lol
That was quite the collection!