How much Vintage gear have you got in your system?

[Wakefield Turntables]

I had a look at my valve setup last night and concluded it's ~90% british vintage stuff

Turntable - Garrard 301
Tonearm - SME 3012
Cart - Decca Blue
Preamp - Croft (maybe not vintage)
Amp - Sondex (maybe not vintage)
Speakers - Quad ESL 57 or Tannoy Monitor Gold
Phonostage - Paradise (NOT VINTAGE )
Cartridge - Ortofon SPU (DANISH)


This is a complete fluke! Maybe is says something about the quality of Vintage UK gear.

[walpurgis]

Probably 50/50 here.


Vintage Decca and ADC carts, but modern ZYX MCs too.

Various turntables & arms, all vintage unsurprisingly, as are my SUTs.

Amplification all modern or modernish apart from a very fine JVC AX-A441 integrated, which is vintage.

My DACs are not too old and my youngest CD player/transport is fourteen years old, the others are older. I don't regard any of these as vintage.

Two pairs of vintage Tannoys and a pair of very vintage and marvellous Philips full range speakers.

[Audio Al]

Err Lots

[Arkless Electronics]

I suppose it all depends on how you define vintage! If we keep it to 25 years as in some legal definitions for classic cars then I've got loads of vintage gear!
In fact most of it is vintage by that definition....
If I keep it to British and over 40 years old then

Leak: Troughline 1,2 and 3, Stereo 20, Stereo 30, Stereo 30+, Stereo 70, Delta 30, Delta 70, Delta75, Varislope, Stereofetic and Delta FM (some of the solid state gear I have more than one sample of and I could probably build the norths only Troughline henge!)

Rogers: HG88, Cadet Tuner (2 off), Ravensbrook tuner and amp

Armstrong 500 series tuner

Sugden A21

Ferrograph Series 7 R2R, F307 amp and NEAL 103 cassette

Spendor BC2, Celestion County and Mordaunt Short Festival speakers

The only item above that is in my system is the Stereo 20 but it is not used that often as my main power amp is one of my own...

[CageyH]

I think you are getting mixed up with classic cars. Vintage is a bit older than 25 years.

[Arkless Electronics]

I think you are getting mixed up with classic cars. Vintage is a bit older than 25 years.

"If we keep it to 25 years as in some legal definitions for classic cars then I've got loads of vintage gear!"

I think pre 1930 is vintage in cars (?)

[Barry]

What constitutes "vintage", as distinct from "classic"?

If it's anything older than say 20 years, then at least 95% of my system(s) are:


EMT 930st and Thorens TD124/II decks

Various SME 3000 series arms (3009/S2 (x2), 3009/S2 improved, 3012)
EMT 929 arm
Decca ffss arm
Breuer Dynamic 5A arm
Infinity 'Black Widow' arm
Audio and Design (aka Keith Monks) M9BA arm

A few EMT cartridges (XSD15, XSD vdh, TSD15, TSD15sfl (x2))
Several ADC cartridges (25 (x2), 10E Mk. IV (x2))
Several B&O cartridges (SP6, MC20s, MC20E, MC20EN, MC20CL)
A couple of Denon 103s
Several Ortofon cartridges (SPU, SL15Es, MC200 'Concorde', MC25FL etc.)
Several Deccas (Mk.III, Mk.IV, Mk.V (x2), Mk.VI)
A couple of Shure M55Es
AKG P8ES cartridge

Quad tuners (FM2, FM3, FM4, AM1 and AM3)
B&O 1700 tuner
Cambridge T55 tuner
Leak 'Troughline' Stereo tuner

Ferrograph 632T reel-to-reel tape machine
Nagra IV-S portable reel-to-reel

Quad 33 and 44 preamps
Hafler DH-101 preamp
Sugden C51 preamp
Linn LINNK phonostage
Mark Levinson ML-10A preamp

Nakamichi MC100 SUT
Ortofon 2-15K (Jorgen Scheu) SUT
Haufe T-7883 SUTs
Partridge SUTs

Quad 303 and 303K power amps
Quad 50E monoblocks
Quad 520f
Quad 510 monoblocks
Quad 405-1 (heavily modified)
Quad 405-2 (lightly modified)
Quad 405-2 (Dada modified, with dual power supply)
A pair of Quad 405-2 ('monoblocked' and upgraded to Keith Snook 'Level 3', with improved power rectification in the power supplies)
Cambridge P50 integrated amplifier
Radford STA-15 Mk.III valve amplifier
A pair of Mark Levinson ML-2 monoblocks

Quad 57 ESLs (Original and unmolested)
B&W DM2A speakers

Claude-Lyons 1.2kVA mains conditioner



Occupying the 'grey area':

Mark Levinson ML-25 headamp
Mark Levinson ML-26 preamp
Mark Levinson ML-28 preamp

Sony CDP-930 CD player
Revox C221 CD player

Nakamichi BX2 and BX125 cassette machines

[Arkless Electronics]

What constitutes "vintage", as distinct from "classic"?

If it's anything older than say 20 years, then at least 95% of my system(s) are:


EMT 930st and Thorens TD124/II decks

Various SME 3000 series arms
EMT 929 arm
Decca ffss arm
Breuer Dynamic 5A arm
Infinity 'Black Widow' arm
Audio and Design (aka Keith Monks) M9BA arm

A few EMT cartridges
Several B&O cartridges
A couple of Denon 103s
Several Ortofon cartridges (SPU, SL15Es, MC25FL etc.)
Several Deccas
A couple of Shure M55Es
AKG P8ES cartridge

Quad tuners (FM2, FM3, FM4, AM1 and AM3)
B&O 1700 tuner
Cambridge T55 tuner
Leak 'Troughline' Stereo tuner

Ferrograph 632T reel-to-reel tape machine
Nagra IV-S portable reel-to-reel

Quad 33 and 44 preamps
Hafler DH-101 preamp
Sugden C51 preamp
Linn LINNK phonostage
Mark Levinson ML-10A preamp

Nakamichi MC100 SUT
Ortofon 2-15K (Jorgen Scheu) SUT
Haufe T-7883 SUTs
Partridge SUTs

Quad 303 and 303K power amps
Quad 50E monoblocks
Quad 520f
Quad 510 monoblocks
Quad 405-1 (heavily modified)
Quad 405-2 (lightly modified)
Quad 405-2 (Dada modified, with dual power supply)
A pair of Quad 405-2 ('monoblocked' and upgraded to Snooke Level 3 with improved power rectification in the power supplies)
Cambridge P50 integrated amplifier
Radford STA-15 Mk.III valve amplifier
A pair of Mark Levinson ML-2 monoblocks

Quad 57 ESLs (Original and unmolested)
B&W DM2A speakers

Claude-Lyons 1.2kVA mains conditioner



Occupying the 'grey area':

Mark Levinson ML-25 headamp
Mark Levinson ML-26 preamp
Mark Levinson ML-28 preamp

Sony CDP-930 CD player
Revox C221 CD player

Nakamichi BX2 and BX125 cassette machines

Indeed. Something only 5 year old could be said to be classic if it has redefined the genre or changed the game in some way and 5 years has been enough for it to have become recognised and established as such...

Then there is the odd item like the Quad 405 which although its been out for 40 years can still be defined as "bleeding edge" in terms of both its current dumping technology and timeless aesthetics YMMV

[CageyH]

"If we keep it to 25 years as in some legal definitions for classic cars then I've got loads of vintage gear!"

I think pre 1930 is vintage in cars (?)

For cars, pre WW2 is Vintage, pre WW1 Veteran, and then there is the "classic" which is the most ambiguous category.

[Macca]

40 years old and British? I've got a Leak Delta 30 Tuner (faulty). I did have a Leak stereo 30 plus but I sold it to Dan the man. And some IMF TLS 50 speakers. Not sure about the KEF Calindas, might just scrape in with them.

I prefer Jap vintage to British.