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Your feelings on vintage audio.

Harkening back to the days of my youth.....my neighbor owned a console with a Scott fm tuner, Fisher amp and a TT. I loved playing with and listening to music through it.

And with the resurgence of interest in older equipment in the market, its' impression of quality sound reproduction and build, perhaps nostalgic feelings and wanting to dabble in tubes on my part, I've gone ahead and purchased a Scott 350B tuner.

I'm also looking at another 350 and Scott intergrated.
I know they'll need some work. But for the price it seems like a fun way to step into tubes, satisfy this urge and you gotta admit some of that gear is absolutely stunning looking!

So...What do you guys and gals think? Worth the admission price plus repairs? Waste of time and cash? Could do better DIY or newer used equipment?

Sound Quality? From reading sounds like I might be getting mids but poor highs and poor bass!
Build Quality?

How does CD sound through the gear? Are there difficulties using CD with this older gear?

Maybe some speaker recommendations. Sat/Sub (problems with subs?), monitor, full range or single driver? The integrateds I'm looking at run anywhere from 15 to 30 watts RMS.

Thought this might be a fun pastime; I look forward to your input.

Best
corazon
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Can be very cool and worth it but it will depend on a lot of things IMO. Cost to get the vintage item, parts and repair costs to name a few. If you are a DIYer vintage gear is great. For me not being a DIYer repair and parts costs have been a pain. In some cases I overpaid to acquire the vintage gear but that fault was mine.

That being said I do enjoy the older pieces gear that I have. I just found a majority of the repair receipts and was thinking to myself DAMN!
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Having been in this hobby since the early 1960s, I have owned much classic equipment. After years with tube equipment and harsh solid state gear, I no longer own any tube components. I sold my stash of about a thousand tubes also.

There are outstanding tube components today, such as the Ypsilons, but they are very expensive and are hardly classic gear.
corazon OP
210 posts
 
Tbg,

If you describe the SS gear as harsh, why no longer owning any tubed components?

Curious.

Best,

Dave
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Corazon, Sorry, I did not complete what I sought to say. I have found several manufacturers of excellent ss equipment. The Ypsilon and Bridge Audio equipment is certainly exemplary, but solid state no longer sounds as my Crown gear used to sound. When I hear my old tube gear, I hear the faults of tubes as well as its virtues, lush midrange. But they lack the soundstaging that so thrills me now. And I no longer have to face the harshness.
corazon OP
210 posts
 
OK Boys and Girls....

Got a call today from the shop I took my 299 to for restoration and it is done. Hope to get up to Austin soon to pick it up. Can't wait to hear it!

The gentlemen told me it sounds great and a few of the tubes while still quite viable could be considered as candidates for replacement in the future.

So I have a few questions...

1. ECF80/6BL8: Driver tubes correct? European/American designations correct? Have been to the HH Scott site and verified these tubes are specific to the amp. Are there some other tubes that can be substituted for these that run as the originals would in the unit, voltages, temperatures, biasing etc?

2. 6BQ5/7189: Output tubes? European/American designations? Are there some other tubes that can be substituted for these? Have been to the HH Scott site and verified these tubes. I have read at Franks Electron site that the EL84 many claim to be a substitue for these is not correct and in fact could cause problems. It is the EL84M that would be the correct substitution. Apparently the 6BQ5/7189 runs at higher voltages than the EL84 does preventing it from being compatible.

I have been to Tubes and More and Upscale Audio looking around tonight. They seem to list the EL84 as a compatible substitute. What do you all know/think about this?

So.. substitute recommendations, sites/sources to find these tubes, the 7189 and 6BL8 seem to be a little scarce.
NOS vs. new? Brand recommendations and why. European vs. American.

I realize I am asking a lot but after perusing the forums here and with all the wealth of information posted and knowledge many of you have, I thought it prudent to post and ask.

Thanks in advance, I'll continue to update as my journey in vintage progresses!

Best,

Dave
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