The Allure of Vintage Audio Gear

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/

I used to sell many of the popular vintage lines (as a young sales pup at lafayette Radio, TEch Hifi, Radio Shack) and have heard pretty much everything since. I remember how the various products sounded back then when new quite well!

Anything "vintage" is old (like me). Old things typically no longer function like new or anything close unless maintained or other wise properly repaired.

My experience with modern repairs of vintage gear has not been good. It often has a short life then you are back where you started or worse.

So..... if you are getting a good deal on a piece that is in good working condition (which is hard to determine), just don’t overpay and it may work out. But at that point, you may end up paying a premium just for vintage bling. Most modern quality gear will outperform most vintage equivalents.

But if you think you must have that "vintage" sound and/or bling, FBOFW, then by all means have at it. It’s what you like that matters and nothing else. You might even luck out and get a good deal!