Why buy Vintage?

[RobHolt]

I wonder what you'd have said if it turned out I'd bought it from YOU!!!!

Hmm I swapped mine with a guy named Daren for a Naim NAT101.
Could it be.....

[The Grand Wazoo]

Nope, I've never been accused of being a Daren before....Oh well, that must make you feel a bit better......


............and Daren must be feeling like a smug bugger!!!!

What were you thinking?

[RobHolt]

What were you thinking?

I had a big pile of Naim at the time so the NAT101 fitted in nicely.

[juju_hound]

I agree with most of the comments made in support of vintage gear. For me it also has a nostalgia factor as well which really has nothing to do with the sound or specs. Many people collect vintage automobiles for this reason also. Is a '36 Ford Coupe the technical equal of a new Ferrari? No. Is it just as fun to drive? Maybe. Is it easier and more fun to work on? Probably. For some reason that's difficult to explain, I get a big smile on my face when I glance over and see my 1959 Stromberg Carlson singing away with it's original GZ34 rectifier still glowing proudly after all these years.

[Beechwoods]

I agree with most of the comments made in support of vintage gear. For me it also has a nostalgia factor as well which really has nothing to do with the sound or specs. Many people collect vintage automobiles for this reason also. Is a '36 Ford Coupe the technical equal of a new Ferrari? No. Is it just as fun to drive? Maybe. Is it easier and more fun to work on? Probably. For some reason that's difficult to explain, I get a big smile on my face when I glance over and see my 1959 Stromberg Carlson singing away with it's original GZ34 rectifier still glowing proudly after all these years

I feel the same about reel to reel, and <gasp> 8 track...

[Neil McCauley]

Why buy vintage?

I think this relates just like any other second hand purchase, value for money IF you know what you are buying.

Agreed. And it's not always easy to find out either.

Personally I started out with second hand shops before there was eBay,

Me too.

This was late 80's early 90's, I found out quite quickly that at that time HiFi year books and almanacs were very usefull, and ended up with some very nice stuff over the years, and I also ended up regreting selling a lot once I saw eBay prices.

Me too - again.

Would half of that stuff be as good now, I don't think so, electronics and speakers suffer with age like anything else, and now too much stuff is sold on the basis of internet hype, and bought either by old ones with sentimental ideas, and no memory of how it souned new, or by youngsters who buy the internet hype.

True, very true.

A classic example is my speakers, Kef R107, which sadly WILL not sound at their best with anything less than a high quality solid state power amp, serviced drivers, and a serviced Kube, yet we constantly hear of these old speakers on eBay doing things such a speaker would become incapable of without a full service history. Spendor BC1's again, I find old ones easily beaten by later Rogers Studio 1's, not to mention the amount of basterdised LS3/5a speakers out there with the wrong spec drivers refitted to damaged LS3/5a by people keen to take advatage of eBay prices and the online reviews this small speaker designed for voice reproduction in a van got.

Alan Shaw (Harbeth) told me he has at least 25 pairs of LS3/5a speakers, sourced from various places including other makers and apparently not only do they all sound different to each other, but none of them sound like the BBC reference pairs he owns.

Old electronics and speakers suffer with age, pratically anything without a service history wil not be up to spec or sound as intended.

Yes, I have discovered this too.

Personally I think all second hand is better than new stuff, manufacturers are just taking the piss with no real advances in musical performance, its all getting poorer in build and value for money has went down the pan.

I sympathise. I feel your comment, albeit with a solid base of reality is perhaps a little too all embracing - based on my own experience. On the other hand, right now I can't think of an example that contradicts your view. More worrying I think though are makers who through the production run of a model, downgrade the components in order to make more profit. Or put differently, what is reviewed is not necessarily what the customer buys.

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[Neil McCauley]

The thing is manufacturers now build down to a price where they used to build up to a standard.

Damn right in my experience. It is precisely this behaviour that helps me decide what brands I am going to stock.

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[Neil McCauley]

Regarding vintage stuff,I used to have a pair of ESL 57's,and if you are following the 100 pound rule,I'd look for a wooden-sleeve Sugden A21a.This IMHO is the best vintage amp you will find to drive these at the price without resorting to a good vintage valve design which go for silly money these days.It's really a synergistic combo IMHO.

Agreed.

Dunno what the requirements are for driving your B&W leccystatics,but if they are a reasonably efficient load,I'd procure a Sugden.

B&W at the shows (before you were born, for some of you at least) used Armstrong 600 series equipment. Certainly impressed me.

.......... still uses the same circuit as devised all those years ago.Some things just cannot be made better.

Dr Bews (LFD) said the same thing to me recently. The circuit used in all 3 of his Linestage preamps are very similar. The verifiable improvement in the sound, to justify the escalating price (which it does quite comfortably for my buyers) is down to the improved performance of the components, including the solder he tells me.

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[The Grand Wazoo]

From The Grave

(never mind the thread drift, folks - get back to the OP)

[Smoker]

the only way i can afford a mcintosh 275 is to buy a vintage one lol the new one is way too expensive for me