The Allure of Vintage Audio Gear

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.