The answer is yes, the old stuff is good enough. The stuff from 30 years ago is too. But I didn't think so until only recently. Allow me to explain. Lately my system has been going backwards in time, aka retrograde. Please bear with me as I collect these thoughts.
The furthest up the SOTA chain I ever got was early/mid 90's Threshold and Theta separates with ProAc speakers. They're all gone now, traded to facillitate moving. It's doubtful I'll ever again assert myself to ascend those lofty peaks. In the last couple of months through lucky accidents I've stumbled upon some wonderful late 70's Sansui gear -- with head scratching results -- why do they sound so good, and how did I miss what happened way back when? I've got two theories:
1. there's a synergy to pairing the same maker's amp and speakers from the same time period; after all, the speakers are the missing links which complete the amp's circuits.
Or more likely,
2. something very special was happening in audio by the late 70's. This is recent news to me, so pardon me if I bore the already informed. Plenty of great, decently recorded music was produced during that decade. Its enjoyment was worth savoring. Makers like Kenwood, Pioneer and Sansui vigorously competed to overcome vinyl's inherent limitations in signal to noise, separation and dynamic range. Competent designers had to focus on stretching the limits of quietness and listenability. At the time there was no where else to take vinyl to make it sound better.
Fast forward to 2010 -- along comes the listener with a by comparison high rez, mid-fi CD player and what do you know, that late 70's stereo stuff, designed purposely to make vinyl more palatable, still sounds great with analog. In lucky addition, when set free of vinyl's limitations it performs miracles of overachievement on CD!
So good enough? I'm about as happy as I've ever been, I dare say moreso. I do feel foolish about all the things I once thought mattered. I'm happy to say I never lost money on any of the quality stuff I bought used. In that way I used it all for free. The new stuff is another matter, and to what degree I'm sad to recall. But in the end it's all good. I got to here and it's a good place. If a person can lay claim to admiring the system when its off and enjoying it when it's on, that's where I've come to. Good is certainly good enough to my aging ears, but on the good days it is spectacular.
The furthest up the SOTA chain I ever got was early/mid 90's Threshold and Theta separates with ProAc speakers. They're all gone now, traded to facillitate moving. It's doubtful I'll ever again assert myself to ascend those lofty peaks. In the last couple of months through lucky accidents I've stumbled upon some wonderful late 70's Sansui gear -- with head scratching results -- why do they sound so good, and how did I miss what happened way back when? I've got two theories:
1. there's a synergy to pairing the same maker's amp and speakers from the same time period; after all, the speakers are the missing links which complete the amp's circuits.
Or more likely,
2. something very special was happening in audio by the late 70's. This is recent news to me, so pardon me if I bore the already informed. Plenty of great, decently recorded music was produced during that decade. Its enjoyment was worth savoring. Makers like Kenwood, Pioneer and Sansui vigorously competed to overcome vinyl's inherent limitations in signal to noise, separation and dynamic range. Competent designers had to focus on stretching the limits of quietness and listenability. At the time there was no where else to take vinyl to make it sound better.
Fast forward to 2010 -- along comes the listener with a by comparison high rez, mid-fi CD player and what do you know, that late 70's stereo stuff, designed purposely to make vinyl more palatable, still sounds great with analog. In lucky addition, when set free of vinyl's limitations it performs miracles of overachievement on CD!
So good enough? I'm about as happy as I've ever been, I dare say moreso. I do feel foolish about all the things I once thought mattered. I'm happy to say I never lost money on any of the quality stuff I bought used. In that way I used it all for free. The new stuff is another matter, and to what degree I'm sad to recall. But in the end it's all good. I got to here and it's a good place. If a person can lay claim to admiring the system when its off and enjoying it when it's on, that's where I've come to. Good is certainly good enough to my aging ears, but on the good days it is spectacular.