Rip off British Hi-Fi Industry

[The Barbarian]

But without new sales there are no secondhand products!

Sorry but the old Barbarian would not be seen dead with a modern Hi-Fi product so makes no difference really.

[Marco]

Yup, if you’re solely into using vintage gear (pre 1980s), it matters not a jot what’s happening today in the hi-fi industry.

Marco.

[awkwardbydesign]

Yup, if you’re solely into using vintage gear (pre 1980s), it matters not a jot what’s happening today in the hi-fi industry.

Marco.

Well, yes it does. If there are less new sales, then secondhand prices will rise. And do you only buy 30 year old cables, plugs and everything else?

[Marco]

Nope, but Andre does

For me, in terms of secondhand prices, they are what they are. If I see something I like, and consider it worth the money, then I buy it. Simples. I don’t worry about prices rising (or not), due to less sales of new gear.

Marco.

[awkwardbydesign]

I don’t worry about prices rising (or not), due to less sales of new gear.

Marco.

Must be nice to be rich!

[Macca]

Well, yes it does. If there are less new sales, then secondhand prices will rise. ?

I'd suggest that would only be true for certain brands or specifically sort after items of a brand. All the other good stuff will remain under the radar, as it does today. Bit like the classic car market. And even there prices for the really sought -after cars at the top end can vary by tens of thousands just depending on trends and the economy.

Even if/when there were no big hi-fi manufacturers left you will still have DIY and the cottage industry. But they have no R&D, nothing will advance! Well nothing has advanced in audio except for the introduction of domestic digital playback and even with that most people still seem to prefer analogue.

[Marco]

Must be nice to be rich!

Not the case. I just don’t worry about things that, in reality, I have very little control over

Marco.

[Marco]

Well nothing has advanced in audio except for the introduction of domestic digital playback and even with that most people still seem to prefer analogue.

Well, the fact is not very much has genuinely advanced, which is why others and I with high-quality, largely vintage-only systems, do what we do

Marco.

[Macca]

Well, in reality not very much has genuinely advanced, which is why others and I with high-quality, largely vintage-only systems, do what we do

Marco.

The only thing in your system that is properly vintage are your speakers. Same with me, actually. I suppose CD players count as 'legacy' now, if not quite vintage yet. Your valve amps are modern designs and builds are they not?

[Marco]

The only thing in your system that is properly vintage are your speakers.

Lol - not true. Most of the valves I use, throughout my system, are NOS, from the 1950s, including the circuit for my preamp and power amp. Just because the boxes have been built in recent times, doesn’t make the equipment itself modern. The only thing modern about them is *some* of the internal components used.

I also have several genuine vintage cartridges - and even those I own that aren’t are based on 1950s/1960s technology, such as the SPU and Denon DL-103 respectively.

Even my Ortofon tonearm is based on a 1960s design. And of course the Techy itself was first introduced in 1972, and has changed little since then, albeit mine is now highly modified with the use of modern components, which is where the genuine advances in audio have occurred (ditto the crossovers on my Tannoys).

I also own a vintage tuner and cassette deck, from the 1970s and 1980s respectively.

In terms of my Sony CDP and DAC, both from the late 80s, whilst perhaps not being ‘vintage’ in the truest sense (although that is largely down to subjective interpretation), is hardly new, and certainly representative of very old digital technology.

Quite simply, I use this stuff because, to my ears, nothing modern that I’ve heard has sonically outperformed it, so I’m not on a ‘nostalgia trip’, nor am I some intransigent old fool. If someone introduced me to new gear which comprehensively trounced the old stuff I use, then I’d buy it and sell the old stuff instantly. It’s as simple as that.

I’m still waiting for that to happen, though!

Marco.