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Save 29%

Heath Heathkit AJ-1510 FM HiFi Tuner vintage 1972 Digital punch card Rare & Nice!

List price: $600.00
$425.00
You save: $175.00 (29%)
heathaj15101
Out-of-stock
Add to wish list

Hailing from the dawn of digital, and the early programmable computer era.. you very seldom see these. Circa 1972, the AJ-1510 was one of Heathkit's most expensive sets. Costly to purchase, tough to design, assemble -- challenging to use, for the advanced audiophile & FM gurus ....  few were sold. 

By the early 1970's Heath or Heathkit, had begun their brisk transition from HiFi to the cusp of the early computer movement. They still had a good reputation for audio and test equipment -- it made sense to capitalize on the two technologies, and catch the HiFi business flatfooted with a new top dog tuner, this was a leap, and must have been apparent!

This rare tuner, now about 40 years old,  has  the heft, size and parts quality to compete with the best of America's tuners. And it's so much different ,  quite a bit more exotic ... being a part mechanical computer, part digital HiFi tuner hybrid. The three best FM tuners the USA ever produced are; Sequerra FM1, the Marantz 10B, and the REL Precedent (mono). Of these three only the Sequerra FM1 was solid state. The Sequerra had amazing sound quality too, and was packed with IC's , but the tuning circuitry was entirely analog.

In a scape dominated by top end analog-only design tuners... To engineers,  the wow factor must have been huge, and thanks to the real precision ratings and high tech display... Heath punch card tuners made their way into many radio stations and studios. Where stay-put tuning and  the flexibility to program, with scanning capability would have been really useful.

The build manual for this marvel is huge, again perhaps one of Heath's thickest, non computer books! 

Below the thick, meaty 1970s keyboard and selector switch panel, via a James Bond style flip-down panel, is an entire area with punch card readers , stereo / mono switches and and numerous adjustments. 

Inside, it's hard to tell this pricey piece from an early Main-frame computer of the day! Sensibly laid out on a back plain.... entirely modular cards, all of them labeled ... cool! 
 The face and trim are high quality, thick anodized aluminum. The exterior inner cabinet is thick gauge aluminum for extra shielding. And, this must have been one of Heath's nicest, heaviest wood cabinets of the day. 

This AJ-1510 is a very complex piece. With  limited time, getting it to full function for a test was far beyond me! The instruction manual is complete and concise, so learning how to run this very cool and high tech FM beast will be an adventure left to the next owner. 

It turns on OK and has audio output, on the Right channel only.  I didn't have all of the settings correct, I am sure....could be a punch card is set wrong, or a switch flipped. Next owner must investigate.   I only made a brief test:  I depressed the Auto-Scan button, and the tuner began scanning every station within reach (perhaps "learning" ?) ala count-down fashion. It began at 108 and ran all the way down to 88mhz. It was at this time I got it to stop along the way ... despite my rural location, the audio was strong and clear for several stations. The aggressive "squelch" feature prevented several, so the tuner seemed quite sensitive with it off, grabbing  many distant stations. I was not able to direct stations enter via keypad, as I did not know how (it's probably buried in the manual) The lights and display, with signal meter seemed to work.

The buttons are high quality clicker type, ala 1970s heft -- very nice feel. All I tried worked well, though the "7" button sticks sometimes, and needs a slight cleaning. 


I was unable to make full test, so other than what you see in photo's and above description,  please consider it untested. This is an antique and very complex computerized tuner,, so future maintenance and TLC may be needed. The included complete user guide, and schematic have all the info you should need. 

The top punch card reader has an official Heath card inserted, and it looks to have been setup for something specific. The two lower slots are home-made cards, and I am not sure of their function.

Cosmetics are nice, the deep & dark digital display lens is nice. The wood cabinet is nice, and does have some of the usual nicks and dings -- normal for it's age. The anodized aluminum face and trim have a few very slight nicks, around the very outer edge, almost impossible to see. Overall it presents beautifully.

You don't see these much, if ever -- even here on eBay. This is an amazing collector piece. Not sure when you will ever see another, and worth  spot in your HiFi collection ... 

Big, dedicated, HiFi tuners with these kinds of specs demand big bucks, on the worldwide market. And I think this early Heath  is quite scarce, even more so than Sequerra and the Marantz 10B. Early collector computers are also sought after, and this AJ-1510 offers both some appeal .  Added to this it's technological feat, produced  as the US lost it's crown in the HiFI arena -- a mega  tuner with real character you can use, sure to get lots of looks , front and center in your HiFi setup. 

See my 100% feedback on audio items. Fast shipping with tracking number after payment.  

Overseas buyers welcome, shipping costs will be quite high due to weight. Will be professionally double-boxed. All tracking #'s and proof of shipment via email. See our 100% feedback on all vintage items. 

Buy now to avoid a bidders war. 

See our 100% feedback, to be assured SAFE PACKING & DELIVERY. 

Please study photos below. SAFE PURCHASE, 100% - *** Domestic or OVERSEAS OK. FAST SHIPPING, WILL DISPATCH IMMEDIATELY after PAYMENT -- OVERSEAS OK, FULL TRACKING number via email after shipment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All vintage USA audio 1930s ~ 1980s

Save 29%

Heath Heathkit AJ-1510 FM HiFi Tuner vintage 1972 Digital punch card Rare & Nice!

List price: $600.00
$425.00
You save: $175.00 (29%)
heathaj15101
Out-of-stock
Add to wish list

Hailing from the dawn of digital, and the early programmable computer era.. you very seldom see these. Circa 1972, the AJ-1510 was one of Heathkit's most expensive sets. Costly to purchase, tough to design, assemble -- challenging to use, for the advanced audiophile & FM gurus ....  few were sold. 

By the early 1970's Heath or Heathkit, had begun their brisk transition from HiFi to the cusp of the early computer movement. They still had a good reputation for audio and test equipment -- it made sense to capitalize on the two technologies, and catch the HiFi business flatfooted with a new top dog tuner, this was a leap, and must have been apparent!

This rare tuner, now about 40 years old,  has  the heft, size and parts quality to compete with the best of America's tuners. And it's so much different ,  quite a bit more exotic ... being a part mechanical computer, part digital HiFi tuner hybrid. The three best FM tuners the USA ever produced are; Sequerra FM1, the Marantz 10B, and the REL Precedent (mono). Of these three only the Sequerra FM1 was solid state. The Sequerra had amazing sound quality too, and was packed with IC's , but the tuning circuitry was entirely analog.

In a scape dominated by top end analog-only design tuners... To engineers,  the wow factor must have been huge, and thanks to the real precision ratings and high tech display... Heath punch card tuners made their way into many radio stations and studios. Where stay-put tuning and  the flexibility to program, with scanning capability would have been really useful.

The build manual for this marvel is huge, again perhaps one of Heath's thickest, non computer books! 

Below the thick, meaty 1970s keyboard and selector switch panel, via a James Bond style flip-down panel, is an entire area with punch card readers , stereo / mono switches and and numerous adjustments. 

Inside, it's hard to tell this pricey piece from an early Main-frame computer of the day! Sensibly laid out on a back plain.... entirely modular cards, all of them labeled ... cool! 
 The face and trim are high quality, thick anodized aluminum. The exterior inner cabinet is thick gauge aluminum for extra shielding. And, this must have been one of Heath's nicest, heaviest wood cabinets of the day. 

This AJ-1510 is a very complex piece. With  limited time, getting it to full function for a test was far beyond me! The instruction manual is complete and concise, so learning how to run this very cool and high tech FM beast will be an adventure left to the next owner. 

It turns on OK and has audio output, on the Right channel only.  I didn't have all of the settings correct, I am sure....could be a punch card is set wrong, or a switch flipped. Next owner must investigate.   I only made a brief test:  I depressed the Auto-Scan button, and the tuner began scanning every station within reach (perhaps "learning" ?) ala count-down fashion. It began at 108 and ran all the way down to 88mhz. It was at this time I got it to stop along the way ... despite my rural location, the audio was strong and clear for several stations. The aggressive "squelch" feature prevented several, so the tuner seemed quite sensitive with it off, grabbing  many distant stations. I was not able to direct stations enter via keypad, as I did not know how (it's probably buried in the manual) The lights and display, with signal meter seemed to work.

The buttons are high quality clicker type, ala 1970s heft -- very nice feel. All I tried worked well, though the "7" button sticks sometimes, and needs a slight cleaning. 


I was unable to make full test, so other than what you see in photo's and above description,  please consider it untested. This is an antique and very complex computerized tuner,, so future maintenance and TLC may be needed. The included complete user guide, and schematic have all the info you should need. 

The top punch card reader has an official Heath card inserted, and it looks to have been setup for something specific. The two lower slots are home-made cards, and I am not sure of their function.

Cosmetics are nice, the deep & dark digital display lens is nice. The wood cabinet is nice, and does have some of the usual nicks and dings -- normal for it's age. The anodized aluminum face and trim have a few very slight nicks, around the very outer edge, almost impossible to see. Overall it presents beautifully.

You don't see these much, if ever -- even here on eBay. This is an amazing collector piece. Not sure when you will ever see another, and worth  spot in your HiFi collection ... 

Big, dedicated, HiFi tuners with these kinds of specs demand big bucks, on the worldwide market. And I think this early Heath  is quite scarce, even more so than Sequerra and the Marantz 10B. Early collector computers are also sought after, and this AJ-1510 offers both some appeal .  Added to this it's technological feat, produced  as the US lost it's crown in the HiFI arena -- a mega  tuner with real character you can use, sure to get lots of looks , front and center in your HiFi setup. 

See my 100% feedback on audio items. Fast shipping with tracking number after payment.  

Overseas buyers welcome, shipping costs will be quite high due to weight. Will be professionally double-boxed. All tracking #'s and proof of shipment via email. See our 100% feedback on all vintage items. 

Buy now to avoid a bidders war. 

See our 100% feedback, to be assured SAFE PACKING & DELIVERY. 

Please study photos below. SAFE PURCHASE, 100% - *** Domestic or OVERSEAS OK. FAST SHIPPING, WILL DISPATCH IMMEDIATELY after PAYMENT -- OVERSEAS OK, FULL TRACKING number via email after shipment.