By Robert Greene
ALTHOUGH he's now in the restaurant business, Florida resident Sheldon Delsack had training in design and mechanical drawing that was an asset in making his hi-fi installation not only attractive but practical. Weighing a staggering 800 pounds (including the equipment and stored records), the 9 -foot -long cabinet is made of 3/4-inch plywood (veneered with wood -grain Formica) on a framework of welded 1-inch -square steel tubing.
The lower section is accessible for servicing from underneath, but the upper section presented something of a problem. This was solved by building a special dolly (again, out of 1-inch-square steel tubing) and mounting it on 500-pound-capacity swivel rollers. Asked how he manages to get his unit onto the dolly, Mr. Delsack replied, "Carefully--with four strong men." Fortunately, the necessity for this arises only infrequently.
Starting at top left in the picture above and moving across, the cabinet contains a Technics RS-676US cassette deck, a B&K Model 1474 dual -trace oscilloscope (which can be connected to any of the units for test purposes), a B.I.C. Beam Box antenna, and accessory remote -control units for both tape decks. The second tier is made up of a Teac AN 180 Dolby noise -reduction unit, an SAE 5000 impulse -noise -reduction unit, a Marantz Model 125 tuner, and a storage drawer. The small item to the right of the tuner is a record brush. The two units at the bottom of the upper section are a dbx Model 2bx dynamic-range expander and an Audio Pulse Model Two time-delay system.
At the left end of the horizontal section is a Teac 2300S open-reel tape deck, behind which are speaker -selector switches and controls for the four small fans used to keep everything cool. In the center, back-to front, are located an SAE 2200 power amplifier, a Soundcraftsmen RP22I 2 equalizer, and an SAE 1M preamplifier. The Harman Kardon ST-7 Rabco-arm turntable at the right is equipped with a Promethian (custom-reworked Grado) cartridge. At the far right is record-storage space.
Each of the open-backed speaker enclosures is made of the same veneered plywood as the equipment cabinets and houses a stacked pair of ESS AMT-1A speaker systems. The time -delay system employs a pair of Realistic Minimus speakers. To complete the picture, small lamps are built into the equipment cabinets, and the planter at the top right is really "growing space" for new equipment.
The entire system took a month to design and about eight months, on and off, to build. Quite obviously, Mr. Delsack's hobbies include cabinetmaking and metal and foundry work. He also dabbles in photography and spends a good deal of time designing and building motorcycles.
HAVE you installed your system in some special or interesting manner that might contain ideas other readers could use for their setups? For us to judge whether your system qualities as an "Installation of the Month," send a clear snapshot and a brief description of the components to:
STEREO REVIEW, Dept. IOTM, One Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016.
Please include return postage.
Also see:
PIONEER--WE BRING IT BACK ALIVE
Editorially Speaking [May 1978]
Source: Stereo Review (USA magazine)