Balance Knob (updated)

Our family has a lot of old stereo equipment. Most people today just listen to music streaming to their smartphones using headphones. In the old days, however, people had entire stereo systems that cost from hundreds to many thousands of dollars. Since my parents moved out, they left behind lots of stuff, including audio system components and speakers. They brought two systems with them: a Sony AV amp with a pair of vintage Bose 10.2 speakers, and a Pioneer Elite amp with Energy speakers for the bedroom.

Since I am reorganizing all the furniture in the house, I managed to piece together three stereo systems from the leftover components. We moved a TV stand from the family room to the master bedroom today, and I put in my dad’s prized McIntosh MA-6100 amplifier from the 1970’s. It looks like this and weighs a ton:

Even though it was originally sold in the 70’s, people are still selling it on eBay for thousands of dollars. I read that the last production model sold for $799 which is about $3,750 in today’s dollars. We also used to own two pairs of old Infinity speakers, made before they were purchased by Harman International. They used to be made nearby in Chatsworth, CA. Unfortunately, the speaker cones deteriorate over time. The Infinity drivers were made with polypropylene but attached with some type of foam that disintegrated, leaving us with only one working speaker, a black RS3000. I believe I swapped out both main drivers before, and my dad has repaired them as well. Not too durable.

Anyway, you cannot have a stereo system with only one speaker. Fortunately, we have a spare. For some reason, my dad purchased one single JBL J2080 speaker. I think he was going to use it as a home theater center speaker, but it was way too large. Similar to Infinity, JBL is not in the home audio business anymore, but they do continue to make pro-audio speakers. Old JBL speakers were make in Northridge, CA, which is also fairly local. Today, likely all products are made in China, except maybe for McIntosh. Their equipment still has that vintage look and is quite expensive.

This is the current setup in the master bedroom: a 50-year-old amplifier driving two mismatched speakers from the 80’s, receiving signal from a Chromecast Audio (also discontinued) and Spotify on an iPhone 12. Crazy mix of technology.

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Oh, balance knob… To be honest, I have never used one before. Every system had it set in the middle since the speakers were always matching. This time, I think the Infinity speaker has a lower impedance, so it is slightly louder than the JBL. To “balance” out the sound, I have to bias the output so the two channels are of equal volume. Admittedly, the sound is not great. I will probably need to look for new speakers if I start listening to music in the bedroom more often.

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There are still two amplifiers and more speakers in the house. I will set up a home theater system again in the family room even though there is no TV now.

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Updated: soon after initial posting

I found some RS3000 documentation online. The speaker has an impedance of six ohms. Ugh, that is likely why the Infinity speaker sounds louder than the JBL. I tried listening using headphones and the balance sounds fine when the knob is in the middle. Another reason to get some new/better speakers. I am looking at good bookshelf speakers and some tall speaker stands as an option.

Maybe a dual=cassette tape deck next…