The Allure of Vintage Audio Gear

@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.