The Allure of Vintage Audio Gear

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.