Vintage Tube Gear Priced Insane Now

A limited supply with increased demand raises prices. I  paid $1800 for a rare pair of Paoli Dynaco MkIII tube amps some years ago. I consider it a good investment.

Can you believe it, those darned Toulouse-Lautrec paintings sell for over ten million dollars now? When he lived at the cat house, you could buy one for the cost of a good meal.

And my buddies spend a couple of hundred on a bottle of old wine. None of that old grape juice for me. I want my wine fresh in an undented box. What is in these guys minds?

As the owner of some very coveted vintage gear, I should be happy that most of my gear has substantially increased in value since I purchased it.  Still, it is abit sad that others might be squeezed out from owning stuff that remains terrific sounding after all these years.

Vintage gear needs quality coupling caps and best tubes to sound great.

With tube gear, there is nothing we know today that was not known 70 years ago.  It comes down to quality of the parts and the skill of the builder in voicing the component.  Foremost in importance is the output transformer, followed by the coupling cap and then all the rest of the components.  Depending on the kind of sound one seeks, it may not be the case that modern components are better.  Whether it is the case of cost cutting or a lost art, many of the best sounding transformers are vintage.  Likewise, many prefer the sound of older caps even though they don’t measure as well (not as tight tolerances, higher ESR, slower slew rates, etc.).  Even resistors matter and I know builders who prefer old carbon composition resistors over the latest offerings with ultra tight tolerances.