Note that I’m not referring to old truly vintage gear.. I’m not negating that older stuff, usually with tubes in it, are worth rebuilding because tubes have a sound quality (mostly in the midrange) that makes them extremely appealing. Take a Fisher... clean it up, put new tubes.. or take say a Nakamichi PA7 MkI with a knock off of Nelson Pass’ Statis... but that’s stuff that WE audiophiles into the hobby know about. So, we know what’s worth money.
I’m referring primarily to stuff built in the 70s that looks very good but sounds... pffft... the issue is that as the prices of those things goes skyhigh, it puts a damper in the market as honesty and integrity goes out the window. eBay is the best example of this at play... then you got places like Reddit filled with people that really have NO clue about audio quality and are getting really terrible advice... ( Wow, dude, that 8 track you paid $200 at Goodwill sure looks rad... )...
Here’s a flipper.. he turned down my offer... ;-)
Here’s another one...
The Marantz products of the 50s and early 60s have little to do with a 74 (73?) Marantz 2220 who someone is listing for $1349..99.
I know how much it costs rebuild cost, trust me. But $1349.99 for a 2220 receiver?
Right now I got the Sansui G-7500 playing in the background... I paid a ton to get it redone, took a lot of work to find the actual replacement transistors. The Marantz 2325 is on the dining room table right now... it just doesn’t sound as musical.
Yet, these are some of the best products out there. Why then would someone list a Superscope 7 watt receiver for $350 bucks?
It just makes no sense except for ignorance and greed.