The Allure of Vintage Audio Gear

I get it about how "vintage" gear is questionable.  One of the most enjoyable systems I've ever heard had a Mac C22 preamp, Marantz 7 power amp driving a pair of late 70's KEF Calinda loudspeakers.  Voices and stringed instruments sounded magical.   The low end left something to be desired, but I really didn't care.  I suppose this was that "warm" sound we hear so much about.  It was always a pleasure to listen to and that's all the criteria I need.

My own system is all 21st Century gear and I'm always thrilled to hear it.  But that Marantz 7 and KEF Calinda combo was wonderful.

Didn’t get into high-end audio until 10 years ago, so no experience prior.

At an audio show, I saw a vintage Sansui 9090db running a MoFi SourcePoint which sounded musical.  I kept staring at the Sansui which I thought was gorgeous.

Now I’m thinking of purchasing BUT don’t need of course! Other audio purchases seem higher priority.  Drat, they lowered the price….

I retired as an dealer 8 years ago. My service tech of 25+ years still works with me on weekends with the goal of "keeping decent audio gear from ending up in the dumpster." We regularly "fix" old audio gear that has a high emotional attachment to their owner(s). We also provide performance upgrades by encorporating "newer thinking" into older (vintage) equipment.

I’ll just say that’s it’s suprising (sometimes STUNNING!!) how much additional music can come out of those old boxes.

I try to stay away from general statements, but will concur with others that at a given price point newer gear will sound better than vintage gear. But, if there’s something emotionally, or esthetically, appealing about vintage gear, there’s a 98% chance that there’s a path to an improvement in sonic performance. And many allow for a return to "factory stock" with minimal effort.

Aloha

I have an engineering background in military electronics. Specifically, airborne geo-location and surveillance systems.I trained as a radioman in the USAF and was recruited by ESL in Sunnyvale a month before discharge.I recently un-retired and opened a vintage radio shop.

I love working on tube equipment and have a mix of new and older test gear. These days, I don’t have a lot of radios coming to the shop for repair; except for a recent KLH Model Eight that just needed retuning due to aged components. The bulk of my day to day work is guitar amps and I really enjoy working with musicians on the restorations and voicing modifications they seek.

Apparently, I’ve developed a tube guru reputation in less than a year. Unfortunately, I have difficulty engaging with the high-end tube audio community in Honolulu. Out of a dozen phone calls, where I was ‘interviewed” and found wanting, the only thing that came in for repair was a beat up McIntosh MR78. That customer was put off by my inability to give him a firm estimate and ended up selling it to me for $100.  So, I’m here to learn the lingo used to describe subjective performance. I’m very open minded and can’t stand to listen to bad audio. I’m hoping I’m in the right place.

Mahalo
James

Almost world best microphones (>$20k) are from 1940~60’s. I can hear they sound clear and better with little noise than modern $20k mics. Mic and speaker are same topology. They made a better mics and they made better speakers then.

Since last 40 years audio makers don’t mention about the natural sound and music any more. They only say about the technology. And modern hi-fi sound became more distorted and noisy. No wonder all recordings sound noisy (bad) by bad sound mics. So as audio equipment.

You can hear/compare most expensive vintage mics’ ($30k) sounds and compare to a current best mic here. Alex/WTA

https://wavetouchaudiopro.com/