The Allure of Vintage Audio Gear

I had or heard the vintage before it was vintage. Some sounded good. Some was ehh, well. Some wasnt that good. I never heard  Pioneer setup I could stand for more than 5-10 minutes. Denon was clean but all midrange.  I had/still have a Harmon Kardon 730 receiver and the only thing I ever heard that IMO sounded as good was  Nakamichi separates that a friend had.

I went to stereo stores but many of the salesmen seemed to turn everything up too loud. Went to audition Carvers Amazing Loudspeakers which was hooked to a Carver preamp  (& maybe amp). the salesman bragged about the haulographic (setting ?) on the preamp. It was horrible. I couldn't believe he was so proud of what my son and I thought horrid. One point I'd make is that even back in the 70's & 80's you had to spend more to get more.

BTW I'm planning to get my HK730 restored to see how it stacks up against my existing amp

@artemus_5 +1

The only vintage I would think about purchasing today would be a pair of Rectilinear 3A or Rectilinear 7 speakers.  I owned both in the early through late 70’s but stupidly sold them for something I thought would be better, it was not. 

I got into high end audio to the extent I could in the early 70’s as well. With the exception of a few tube amps (generally from the 60’s) which brought unusual warmth with some real lack of details and a very high noise floor, but a unique warm sound… that old gear was just not good sounding in comparison to the gear available today. I keep an old early seventies integrated amp that I bought in 1972 around to look at. But honestly, it’s only good to look at. 

If I collected anything to listen to it would be some really old tube gear.

I have rebuilt 1960s monobloc amplification with modern tubes. They sound excellent with fine detail, good bass and superb midband. 

@stereo5 : I have both the tall and the short Rectilinear III speakers in my collection. Along with a pair of the mini-III's. Excellent but now forgotten speakers. I believe Richard Shahinian designed the III's.

Vintage gear can provide an affordable platform for mods and updates that can give stellar performance for a fraction of the cost of comparable new gear. My system is largely modded vintage tube gear, but the remote on my DAC brings me into this century!

God forbid I should ever have a fire or a theft, because I’d be hard pressed to duplicate the sound I get with whatever an insurance company would offer in compensation.

Top quality vintage tube gear has a sweet, musical tone which newer stuff doesn’t quite deliver. But for unhindered bass slam in the lowest octaves, that’s best served by solid state.

My Marantz 7 preamp got the Pooge upgrades plus solid state power supply regulation. The sound sparkles. It is engaging and even seductive and it lost its slightly wooly sonic signature. My power amps are biamped; A Citation II with modern caps and Hexfreds in the power supply works above 400Hz and delivers the musical harmonics and the most fragile upper frequency details flawlessly. For the bass, a Carver 2.0 pro amp delivers effortless energy to a pair of custom speakers made from Boxer components formerly at the Hit Factory.

And for all these parts to sound their best, I use interconnects that don’t get in the way: Pure solid core silver unshielded Silver Solids.

https://silversolids.com/

Only vintage gear I am really interested in, is tube gear. And mainly for the iron. I have a pair of Heathkit UA-1’s I’m about to do a ground up rebuild of. Also have iron from a Sony TC500A I will be using to build a type 45 amp with. 
 

There are pieces out there that are amazingly good - but…

It is so simple to change the sound of an preamp or amplifier so if you have a vintage component, you can change the sound to your liking so easily.

I have a "vintage" Sonic Frontiers SFP1 PHONO PREAMP that I bought  here on the 'gon in 2007.  I bought it as a relatively "newbie" that I paired  with a Benz Micro Glider MC cartridge, 1.1mv. it sounded great for years. I upgraded several components around it since then. 2 years ago I had it modified at Parts Connexion by Glenn and Chris. The unit sounded even better. Very smooth, clear, focused and dynamic, with plenty of slam. My point? Good luck adjusting it for resistance or capacitance (mm) if you want to swap carts. It involves soldering resisters on the circuit board, that's after you remove the screws and the top cover. Big PITA(SS). Modern gear lets you adjust everything on dials on the faceplate. Vintage great sound? Yes! Huge inconvenience? Yes! 

@jasonbourne71, wow! I had the original 3 highboys I believe they were called and traded them for the 3A, then bought the 7 which was a more modern 3A. I worked in an audio store, and got 50% off retail. I think the 7 went for $800 retail price. I don’t remember why I sold them but I was going through a lot of gear back then, Kenwood integrated amps, then went on to Accuphase which was made by Kensonic back then. I kick myself for not keeping some of the equipment. I eventually stuck with GAS Ampzilla, Thedra preamp and a sleeping beauty moving coil cartridge on a uber expensive JVC direct drive turntable.

Most of my gear is "vintage" -- the newest additions include a set of KLH 5's (which I love) and a 2018 Dennis Had Inspire "Fire Bottle" 45 amp and matching LP3.1 preamp.  My main setup is a MC-225 built in 1963 with an ARC SP17 preamp pushing Klipsch Forte II's.  I have my original Nakamichi Stasis system from 1987 hooked up to Polk Audio Monitor 10 speakers, and a Kenwood KA-9100 from 1977 with Electrovoice speakers.

Various other systems utilizing Dynaco, Reisong, Scott, etc., so I see no need to spend thousands on "new" gear now that I'm in my 60's.  The exception is upgrading turntables, cartridges, or adding an extra streamer.  More power to those dropping $90,000 on a new ARC amp -- but I'll spend that on my fishing trips, boat, and 150 year old cabin overlooking the river at my 100 acre farm.  Join me!

Had the bug / taste for high end now vintage Infinity and Yamaha back in a day. Moving forward still like the look / build so after several years Hunting for excellent examples I’m finally there. The heart of my system is IRS Beta driven by 2 Yamaha Pc5002m’s. Still sounds…. Expensive. 
Cheers 

I think you have two kinds of allure for vintage gear, gear that's a kind audio Stradivarius and gear that just looks cool, even if it doesn't perform that well. Not that there couldn't be gear that's both.

Vintage gear that still sounds good. 

Quad ESL57

Early Linn Sondek LP12

Naim NAP 250

Leak Stereo 20

BBC LS35a

I could go on.

How does the Sansui au-517 au- 717 and so forth integrates sound once restored properly? And I mean full service with perhaps some better parts if available?  Is this a worthwhile rabbit hole to fall into and to use this gear in a second or third system? 

I had a Heybrook TT2 with an Alphason HRS100 MCS tonearm and external power supply . Compared it side by side with new TT s above 5k$ and it beat them hands down. Was still going fine since 1985 until I sold it recently. Talk about value for the money.

I have both and I really love vintage gear, the restoration process, the sound, the look, collecting etc. I can be very rewarding and expensive, like vintage automobiles. I have 3 vintage systems, and the one piece I could swap out and use in my main modern system is my McIntosh Mx110z. Although it doesn’t have the inputs and features of my C2300 preamp, the sound is amazing, and an FM tuner as a bonus. I realize this is not for everyone but it is a very enjoyable aspect of this hobby for me.

I've been in this hobby for more than fifty years and have owned quite a bit of Hi-Fi gear;  both solid state and tube.  Solid state gear has come along way from the late 1960's when its sound was one dimensional and flat.  Gone was the bloom of tube gear.  Today both technologies are well implemented.  As for vintage gear I have owned quite a bit over the years but have only kept a few pieces that I really enjoy.  My 1962 Macintosh MR65B was the first tube stereo tuner manufactured by the company and my Dad's old Dynakit Stereo 70 that he built with the help of my Mom back in 1961. Dad was color blind, so Mom organized all the color coded parts for him so he knew where they went during the assembly.  lol

There's nothing like a well sorted piece of tube vintage gear to bring out the enjoyment of your favorite music. 😊

Vintage is nostalgia. It sounded good when it came out. Today's advance in technology has greatly surpassed anything vintage. I got rid of my last 70s vintage Marantz in the 80s. Looking forward ever since.

Given most of our ages on this forum, most of us started out with today's 'vintage' equipment.

Like most things, if you owned top of the line equipment from the better known companies, your equipment sounded good and would sound at least decent by today's standards.  For those of us that didn't own TOTL equipment, what we did own sounded fine, until you heard something that sounded appreciably better.

The big difference back then was attitudinal.  The tendency was to use what you had until it fell apart or became too expensive to repair.  Lots of reasons for this, including strict enforcement of MSRP in the 60's & 70's by dealers and manufacturers.

With the 80's came stores that offered discounts like Tech Hi Fi and Crazy Eddie's and so, buying new components became more common.

For myself, I started out with a used Philco/ Voice of Music suitcase style system (tubes) that lasted 5 years until I purchased a SONY HP 161 compact phono system (solid state) that got me through college to when I purchased a Pioneer 636 / EPI 100/ Dual 1228 set-up (solid state).

Sound quality wise, it sounded fine.  On rare occasions, I thought it sounded excellent.  But there were limitations that I would just look past.  I could only get so excited when listening to the music.  

Things changed when I started to spend more and went with separates (ADCOM) and better speakers (KEF Q55).

About 20 years back, I went through a vintage phase and refurbished two Marantz receivers (2216 and 2240).   Expensive proposition.  I had genuinely lusted for the Marantz receivers as a teenager.  Bit of a let down ultimately.  Very warm sounding, hit all the nostalgic notes, enjoyable, but they did not match up to the more modern components I had.  Used one of the receivers as a tuner in my main system, where it really shone nicely.  Now, if only there were decent FM stations to listen to.  The other receiver I gifted to Les Paul, who was a Marantz collector himself.  

I do love the look of vintage equipment and every so often, I get tempted to chase something, but I stop myself because better sounding components are out there for the same money as tracking a vintage piece down and restoring it.  There's also less vintage equipment (60's & 70's) out there.  

I've been in the audio sphere for over 50 years. I have equipment that is vintage, used and modern. The only vintage equipment that engages me are turntables.  What I like about many, slightly elevated quality, vintage TT's is that they are frequently semi or fully automatic and still have decent tonearms 

The only vintage thing around my gear is me. I dragged a pair of A7s around for 15 years in the olden days, and they sounded astonishingly good as stereo speakers when used for that, but generally too big for any living room I had then. Also used a KLH compact system for home audio back in the day. That thing sounded better than most anything around in the 70s...that was when all my audio bucks went for pro gear so the stereo was somewhat underfunded. No more. I love newer stuff as it's quiet (even my tube amps), very well built and sounds beautiful. Keep yer Sansuis and old Macs...have fun...I certainly am.

I listen to my main system, Pass Labs, VPI, Monitor Audio Platinum Two speakers and yet I have just this past week received my completely restored Fisher 450T receiver and previously restored AR 2AX speakers. Receiver is so recent I haven’t listened to this system yet.  These gems were purchased in 1969 and my memories of their sound remain dear to me. I may end up passing this system to my grandchildren, but at this point their mother, my daughter doesn’t want these mint items placed in their home.  They are young but are greatly interested in music, Listening mainly to 60’s 70’s music in a CD format.  

I still happily have an ARC SP9mk2 with a pair of Acoustat Model X’s. I have updated some parts on the amps and they sound better than new.

I went through that phase about 10 years ago. Since then I have given most of it to my kids. What I haven’t given away is stacked in a closet. On top of the stack is a barely used Oppo 105, so go figure. The one category that I do cherish is NOS tubes. I do enjoy walking into my sons house and seeing the blue glow of his Marantz receiver and his JBL’s. But I must say it’s no match for modern gear. Cheers , Mike 

Late 70's I had a nice Phase Linear stack. Looked impressive and sounded better when drinking.  Bought a Sansui 9090 and that changed everything.  Sold the stack and bought all Pioneer separates cassette,  r to r, tt, 4 massive Sansui 7500 speakers.  Still have it all. 

This is a false dichotomy. "Vintage" gear just means whatever gear the beholder could not afford as a teenager. As a result, anything made from the 60s to the 90s can be considered vintage by someone alive today.

A better question would be, what does a certain dollar amount buys you in today’s market? Case in point: rn TMR offers a pair of Krell 600 monoblocks for something like $6500. I think anyone would be hard pressed to buy equivalent new amps for twice that amount, because there simply aren’t any out there unless a person is willing to spend a small fortune.

Given a fixed budget, pre-owned gear will almost always deliver a significantly higher level of build and sound quality than new gear. Just my opinion.

+1 Harmon Kardan 730, my receiver for 40 years.

Never had the bug to upgrade until it died. Now I split the duty between a Cayin tube receiver and Accuphase SS preamp and Class A amp.

I’m having way more fun collecting and restoring vintage gear than my main modern system. I think many people hear vintage and think they are all overly warm sounding, but from my experiance thats a good indication there is old caps and componets in them that needed replacment probably long ago.

In my experiance vintage can compete with moddern systems at similar costs when restored. No a $2000 restored vintage peice wont compete with a $10000 piece nore should it. But doller for doller i’d take a vintage system over a modern system in the $1500-$2000 range, as what i have into them. I really dont know may speaker in that price range that can come close. 

Example my Vintage ADS L910 speakers (restored) from the late 70’s sound very good and very musical. not overly warm or lacking detail. In many ways i prefer them to modern speakers. no they dont have quite the details level or sound stage level but close enough that what they do right makes them very enjoyable.

I was exclusively into vintage gear until 3 years ago. My only tech retired and I decided to go modern. Except for my speakers. I love my JBL 4311s and built my new system around them. I'm still in the process but it's going well. The 4311s, like most JBL have volume control for mid and tweets that allows me to tweak the sound as I change components. 

Over the past 3 years I've listened to 6 other speakers and nothing comes close. I'm still looking at new ones, but replacing these with something I like more will probably cost upwards of $15k. I paid $600 for my JBLs. 

High quality gear is high quality gear, no matter when it was built. 

For me Vintage gear is where it's at. I like the build quality, the looks, and most importantly how it sounds. I like analog music, vintage will give you that, without all the add ons of today's gear. 

For me, when I see new gear, I have to turn the knobs, or switches. Unless it is very high end gear, all the knobs, and switches feel cheap. Most are not even real, all digital on the back end. The stuff that does feel good, is so far out of my price range. 

Right now, my main 2ch is all vintage, sans a streamer (need something from this century) & my TT. The TT is only new, as it's been tough to get the vintage piece I've been looking for. The sound is warm, analog, clean, open, with 200 old school watts, plenty of power to drive my vintage Forte II's. 

As far as reliability goes, almost nothing is reliable anymore. My HT system is all new, my expensive Marantz receiver bit the dust 2 mo ago, out of warranty, no one wants to work on it. Forced me to buy a brand new Marantz receiver. With my vintage gear, once I year, I take it all apart, blow out anything inside, clean all the pots & switches. Look for any swelling caps, button it all back up. I do believe my vintage gear will outlast all my new gear. Best of all the vintage stuff can all be fixed. 

Right now I’m listening to rebuilt stacked Quad 57’s with added Enigma Sopranino super tweeters, the latter not being vintage, powered by just serviced Futterman H3-AA amps. The panels are wired in series, the tweeters straight off the amps in parallel. WOW! Being a professional musician, I can attest that this is superior to my Focal Stella Utopias, except for bass slam? It’s a lush sound that wraps around me in gorgeous tonality. Not bad for mid 50’s speakers! Whenever I switch out to my modern systems, I feel withdrawal from losing the magic. 

If something has performed for 40+ years, and still is, it must be pretty good in an number of ways. I hate to see garages and backrooms of stores floor to ceiling full of this stuff knowing it's unused and will probably stay that way. 

In the guitar world, a 30-year-old guitar is now considered vintage.  If 30 years is considered vintage for audio gear, then most of my analog system is vintage, and I suspect it is comparable in sound quality to most modern gear, and probably more durable--SOTA Star Sapphire TT with ET-2 arm, Classé Audio electronics, Nakamichi cassette decks, Luxman tuner (that I rarely use anymore), and upgraded Apogee Duetta II speakers. 

I guess I'm the rare audiophile that is satisfied with his system long-term.  I have made many digital upgrades, however, as I realize that digital technology is improving more rapidly, with better sound quality available at decreasing prices, compared to 30 years ago.

@pooch2 

+1 Harmon Kardan 730, my receiver for 40 years.

Never had the bug to upgrade until it died.

Same here except mine didn't last as long, probably because I played it every day for hours. Mine still works but a channel cuts out and there is static. but the sound is still huge & full. I really want to get it restored but other needs are required now. maybe later.

FWIW it blew a power supply in the late 80's so I bought a Luxman R-115. great reviews. I hated it and sold it within  a year and got the HK fixed.

I've been in this hobby a long time. I have mostly what I called mid-range gear. Most of my systems were under $15000, the majority were around $6000. Over the years quality gear has become more affordable. Still trying to improve my system/s, never finished. I'm fulling in the modern era and not looking back.

My Virtual System is called Vintage (Mostly)

You can see the stuff here.

I think that being very busy raising a family with different priorities, I haven't had the opportunity to use my stereo gear as much in the past, and this has provided my gear with some longevity or as you noted vintage. These days, like it was in the early days of University, I am using my gear multiple hours each day.

I think my listening these days has gotten more critical, but the memory of those days enjoying some new vinyl on the Harman Kardon 730, still linger.

Enjoy the music!

Tastes change and I think that some older gear have qualities that can be appreciated today.  Think of the popularity of single ended directly heated triode amps, horn speakers, and idler drive turntables.   Some older units sound remarkably good by contemporary standards, with proper maintenance, of course. Furthermore, an enthusiast may enjoy a pride of ownership with restoring, displaying, and listening to classic gear.  

I find it appealing to listen to media and equipment that was used when the recordings were made to get a taste of the experience of how they sounded in their day.  During the pandemic I started collecting 78s after receiving and fixing up an HK Citation I pre-amp with the EQs required to play back shellac and early LPs.  I was given a Dual 1019 that I outfitted with a Grado 78 cartridge.  Now I can listen to original 30’s and 40’s discs like from Django Reinhardt, Charlie Parker, Hank Williams, and Big Joe Turner and try to imagine what it was like to hear these ground breaking artists for the first time.  It’s not high fidelity, but these old discs have a presence and provide an impactful audio experience.

If your goal is “The Absolute Sound” then vintage may not be the way to go, but there are many other reasons to own and enjoy older equipment.

I worked at a couple of stereo stores in the late 70's and grew fond of several of lines of gear. I have a Yamaha receiver from 1977/8 era in my office system. I don't listen to it very much but just enjoy the esthetics. A reminder of a time that I really enjoyed being involved in my new attachment to audio.

I certainly do like the idea of vintage equipment, and enjoy it in my friends systems. I just don't want to own it, for reliability sake. I do however own a bunch of tube gear that is manufactured like gear of the past; just made in the 2020s

I have a Tubes4HiFI VTA ST-120 amp, which is a modern take of the Dyanaco ST-70. An Aric Audio Motherlode XL preamp, and an Aric Audio Transcend "Push Pull" EL34 amp. Those are all hand wired point to point, but with updated modern components.....and in the case of Aric's gear, extremely high end components.

@mswale I'll agree with that me being firmly in the vinatge lane. I have some newer gear too but I love meshing the older classic components with more contemporary pieces; presently enjoying custom Altec Valencia with Shindo, Airtight & a classic Luxman TT w/Micro Acoustics, Shure & Van den Hul Carts. I also own Aesthetix, LFD, Sonus Faber, Audio Note, Line Magnetic, Canor & Lumin. All a mixed bag of eras and brands but I enjoy every piece. The fun (or frustration) is uncovering what works togther. Just my experience

Vintage IMHO isn't worth paying a premium for, especially for tube gear. You are dealing with very old components which have a limited availability of replacement parts and limited availability of experienced service technicians. That said, there are sellers of vintage Marantz amplifiers that demand a high price and appear to get buyers. The same money (and in some cases, significantly less money) could get you a similar quality sonic experience with less agita with parts and service issues. Just sayin'.

There's vintage audio, then there's vintage audio.  While seventies receivers seem all the rage, there are also many great antiques out there.  Take a pair of Quad 57's and  Quad II amps or Futterman OTL's from the fifties, with some simple mods or changes to them, and add a modern preamp and source,  and you'll have a system that smokes a lot of modern-day equipment.  

   Man, I have to get my Crosby modified 57's out of the basement and get them working again.

My first quality system, bought in the late 60s still resonates in my mind.  Sansui AU-555, TU-555 with a Dual 1019 Turntable and Shure B15 Type III cartridge.  Speakers were Sansui SP-100 with beautiful wood lattice front.  I also had an AKAI R2R with Crossfield heads.

It was what I could afford, but the vinyl of the day was high quality and all my feiends loved coming over and listening to tunes.  The late 60s / early 70s were a magical time for music, both live and recorded.

I know my current system of 3.6 Maggies, McIntosh MC501 mono blocs and Mc Preamp with streaming probably sounds better, but those memories are priceless and that most likely colors my memories.  That said, not all gear sounded great to me, Carver amp and preamp a friend had played loud, but very harsh.

There is no bad audio choice if it makes you smile.

@vitussl101 -Amen. Not all old equipment qualifies. And the brand name Marantz became a different story once Saul Marantz sold to Sony/Superscope.

I still have my Quad 57s from 1974 that were sympathetically restored by Electrostatic Solutions and a pair of Quad IIs with period glass that Bill Thalmann went over - he said he hadn’t seen real GEC KT66s in a long while. That stuff is enduring, though it still has limitations.

I had a set of Crosby Quad 63s which I basically gave away when I moved-- I preferred the original Quad loudspeaker to the 63, even though the latter is a better "all-arounder."

Some of this gear enters collector’s territory, eg. the Marantz 7 tube preamp. The "C" is for cabinet, does not necessarily mean it is a tube unit. Lots of those were around back in the day, some were modded. At the time, I preferred the ARC SP3-a-1, which is now itself an antique collectible. But your point- that "older" Marantz doesn’t equate with quality sound is a fair one.

@1971gto455ho I hear ya.

I love my IRS Beta powered by SA12e Thresholds and (not as old) Manley Snappers.

Sound is awesome

I don't consider my 43 year old tube amps vintage,  but they are old.  They are quieter (dead silent on 97 dB speakers), clearer, more neutral,  and faster any other tube gear I've owned except a new version from the same company that retails for 9X more.  Sent them in to the manufacturer for a checkup.  Nothing wrong with them / out of spec.  They just happen to be a great sounding very robust design in my opinion.  That doesn't mean that I think all early 80's tube amps are terrific and I will use them exclusively.  I like to have a variety of amp flavors, not related to their born on date.

I don't have these particular amps for nostalgia and warmth.  Like their sound, their looks don't color my system. I listen to them every day because they sound great.  There is more nuance than all vintage gear sounds warm, more forgiving of the bad recordings of it's era, is of inferior design, highly unreliable, and all new gear is quieter, clearer, less distorted, more reliable, superior quality and design. 

I look for certain attributes in my gear and work towards the best value,  which is never brand new.  I used to think I wanted the best gear.  Now I look for gear that compromises the least in order of my attribute priorities. 

Whether newer or older, I prefer point to point wiring whenever possible for long term serviceability and sound quality in analog devices.  PCB's are designed to be throwaway,  which is fine until you can't get the board anymore. Newer or older I'm always thinking who will service,  do I have to ship, what their hourly rate is, what is their reputation.  I will not buy certain popular brands based on high repair costs or poor service reputation alone. I had the only US authorized dealer refuse to service an amp because it was out of warranty and vintage, which for them was anything over 10 years old!  Because it was point to point wired though I was able to take to local shop and repair with no issues.