As you realize, there are quite a few examples of 1950's and 1960's tube equipment that are both rare and desirable, including the Marantz 10B tuner and McIntosh power amps you mentioned.
I would single out for special mention, though, in terms of their overall combination of rarity and desirability, the Brook power amps (which were designed in the very early 1950's by Lincoln Walsh, and used 300B or 2A3 power tubes!), the Marantz 1 preamp, the Marantz 2 power amp, and the REL (Radio Engineering Laboratories) Precedent tuner. The word "rare" would especially apply if those preamps and power amps were found as a pair, since each piece is mono.
I have read that the REL Precedent, which apparently helped inspire the Marantz 10B, had a total production run of just a few hundred pieces. I don't know how many of the others were built.
During the early 1990's I was able to acquire examples of most of the classic Marantz tube models (I eventually sold them, which was most definitely a mistake in the case of the 1's and 2's), a few McIntosh pieces which I sold, and a REL Precedent (which I will never sell). I found them mainly via want ads I placed in local classified ad publications, and in some cases also via auctions, tag sales, etc. My impression is that in more recent years finding such pieces at semi-reasonable prices is increasingly impossible, with most of them having found their way into the hands of collectors (many of them in the Far Eastern countries).
I would also comment that the rarity of these kinds of things probably varies considerably depending on the demographics of the particular geographical location. The possibility of finding them being greatest in locations that were both well populated and affluent during the times when the items were originally sold.
Regards,
-- Al
I would single out for special mention, though, in terms of their overall combination of rarity and desirability, the Brook power amps (which were designed in the very early 1950's by Lincoln Walsh, and used 300B or 2A3 power tubes!), the Marantz 1 preamp, the Marantz 2 power amp, and the REL (Radio Engineering Laboratories) Precedent tuner. The word "rare" would especially apply if those preamps and power amps were found as a pair, since each piece is mono.
I have read that the REL Precedent, which apparently helped inspire the Marantz 10B, had a total production run of just a few hundred pieces. I don't know how many of the others were built.
During the early 1990's I was able to acquire examples of most of the classic Marantz tube models (I eventually sold them, which was most definitely a mistake in the case of the 1's and 2's), a few McIntosh pieces which I sold, and a REL Precedent (which I will never sell). I found them mainly via want ads I placed in local classified ad publications, and in some cases also via auctions, tag sales, etc. My impression is that in more recent years finding such pieces at semi-reasonable prices is increasingly impossible, with most of them having found their way into the hands of collectors (many of them in the Far Eastern countries).
I would also comment that the rarity of these kinds of things probably varies considerably depending on the demographics of the particular geographical location. The possibility of finding them being greatest in locations that were both well populated and affluent during the times when the items were originally sold.
Regards,
-- Al