Why buy Vintage?

[combwork]

To answer my own question, to start with it was price. £100 carefully spent on vintage Hi-Fi would net something that sounded miles better than £100 worth of new equipment. Then I got drawn in, seeking out the better quality gear from the 1970s/80s.

To me the finances made sense. There is very little in the way of vintage top of the line equipment that after refurbishment costs as much as even a halfway decent modern system. Plus of course, the sound. Vintage sounds better! At least that was what I thought until I went to the Hi-Fi show outside Edinburgh late last year. Ok, when you see a vinyl deck that looks like it was designed as an optional accessory for the Tardis you're already halfway to being hooked but even so, listening to Pink Floyd and hearing it sound like I've always imagined it, was simply mind blowing. To the best of my knowledge nothing vintage will come close, but there are a couple of points here. First is "to the best of my knowledge". With a lot of help from Rob http://www.eraudio.com.au/ESL_Repair...dm_70_kit.html I've just started rebuilding the electrostatic units on a pair of DM70s. Given the right vintage amp and source (Goldring-Lenco G-78) these could come close. Second, when you add up the cost of the deck, amp, speakers and cables, the kind of new equipment I was listening to in Edinburgh would cost about the same as a new mid range family car.

Ok; you pays your money and makes your choices. With my 59 year old ears, the combination of build quality and almost top quality sound means it's vintage for me. Final icing on the cake is that if shit happens and you have to sell, it's likely that well looked after vintage equipment will return its purchase price. Hell, you might even make a profit

[RobHolt]

Much depends on your outlook wrt to progress in audio over say the past 50 years.

I've been of the view for some time now that with speakers and analogue electronics we have at best been standing still and at worst moving backwards.
This was reinforced recently when hearing Quad ESL57s at home for the first time - in many ways they are at least the equal of today's best speaker systems which is astonishing for a 50 year old speaker.
Ditto a pair of Tannoy DCs I picked up recently for the princely sum of £150. These sound so much more real than many expensive stand mounts sold today that it came as something of a shock.

But the biggest surprise was a pair of AR8s (and now 18s) that cost £30 and £20 respectively. With a set of new driver foams these prove within the first few seconds of listening that most speakers in the current budget/low-mid speaker market are entirely broken and have been for years.

I could go on and list some amplifier gems or vintage analogue front end components..... perhaps later, but I think the point is made.

[Beechwoods]

Price per performance is a major factor (the biggest for me)... but design is another one. There's a lot of late 70's / early 80's stuff - Pioneer, Kenwood, Sansui, Marantz to name a few that looks simply amazing, form and function in harmony. A lot of the flashy designed modern stuff might look at home in the TARDIS but less so in my listening den! It's horses for courses I guess.

[Filterlab]

I guess it depends on the type of music one listens to. I prefer electronic music so I choose components that excel in that area. As the synthesiser is a relatively modern invention a lot of classic gear will have been designed and built before its advent so couldn't possibly be tested and tweaked with it in mind. Obviously it doesn't mean that classic components won't be able to cut it, but I find the more modern and 'cold' equipment to have a much stronger grip on that ilk on music.

However, on the plus side; one is likely to get some great sounding units for pocket change as a lot fall into the trap of thinking that 'new is better' (rather than just more appropriate) and consequently pass very high quality components on for little money. Having said that people are a lot wiser these days in terms of valuation - the internet, particularly ebay has shown people that certain items are very popular and resultantly have high value, Audiolab being a prime example - the 8000As still go for absurd money.

I guess there's a lot to be said for classics, Comby's B&W electrostats are a prime example of a desirable classic that will show a modern equivalent a clean pair of heels.

[purite audio]

'in many ways they are at least the equal of today's best speaker systems which is astonishing for a 50 year old speaker.'
Rob you really must travel a little further afield than your local branch of Richers!

[Neil McCauley]

'in many ways they are at least the equal of today's best speaker systems which is astonishing for a 50 year old speaker.'
Rob you really must travel a little further afield than your local branch of Richers!

What's that supposed to mean?

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[Filterlab]

Rob you really must travel a little further afield than your local branch of Richers!

Strange statement bearing in mind I haven't bought a two channel hi-fi component since 1991 from Richers. I've tried many dozens of components over the years, from old Pioneers, Leaks and Sonys to classic Tannoys, Quads and Thorens, and nothing in the classic area has come close to what I have now. Even my £3,500 MartinLogan electrostats didn't reveal half the signal my Revels happily exhibit - which is why I've settled on what I have.

Admittedly I heard Quad ESLs and I was amazed, I heard (and owned) the modern equivalent and was dazzled, but then I heard some new dynamics and the ESLs sounded positively flat by comparison. Classics are great, but not for everyone.

[Filterlab]

What's that supposed to mean?

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Maybe he thinks I only buy from Richer Sounds.

[purite audio]

Addresed to the other Rob ,Rob Holt.

[Neil McCauley]

Rob you really must travel a little further afield than your local branch of Richers!

I really really hope this isn't the beginning of the sort of contribution that has devalued so many other initially well-intentioned forums!

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