How many use Vintage Hi-Fi systems?

missioncoonery,

Well that certainly hasn't been my experience.  In fact in many cases just the opposite.  You'll find many music enthusiast who prefer vintage.  Bear in mind, the gear has to be in top working condition. 

Loving the Sansui at the moment.  

N

I have four systems operating in my home, one of which is vintage, more or less: H/K 430 receiver with ADS L1290 MkII speakers and a Nak BX300 deck. It sounds really, really good. But it's still the lowest rung.

  I only run a P+E turntable in my main system as 2nd table next to my Rega but it sounds remarkably well for over 40 years old with my Signet AM50 I bought over 20 years ago.This post makes me want to replace and get a set of KLH 17's I had bought in the 60's.I just recently bought a couple old recievers,a Rotel and a Harmon Kardon for less than 20 bucks each and hooked the Rotel up in my main system to Paradigm studio 60V5's after unhooking my Bryston B100 just to hear if I could tolerate it if my Bryston had to go back to factory for repair.I was surprised,I could listen to it,it wasn't a beamy no sound field piece of trash.

playpen,

Depending on the model, your P+E might actually be a Dual in wolfs clothing.  Dual bought P+E in the early 70's.  Flip it over and look at the bottom of the motor.  If it has Dual stamped in it, then it was built by Dual after P+E closed.  In any regard, they are really good turntables.

I am curious how your Harmon Kardon sounds?  Those were pretty nice receivers, even the little ones sounded smooth.  I have no experience with Rotel, other than a few of their CD players both of which went up in flames.  (no really)  But they sounded nice.

If the Rotel was that harsh, it probably needed servicing. 

I love old KLH speakers.  Had a pair of sixes once.  

How do you define "vintage"?  The hi-fi era is now arguably 65 years old, if you date the onset to around 1950.  So, vintage could be something from the 50s, but also arguably something from the 80s. Something conceived and marketed in 1985 is now 30 years old.  Anyway, a few years ago I acquired a pair of Beveridge 2SW speakers just out of a longstanding curiosity.  These are unconventional ESLs (they are in a closed 7-foot vertical cabinet to absorb the back wave and the sound output is focused by a vertical lens in front; the panels are not biased with high DC voltage, so the direct-drive amp applies signal to the screen as well as to the stators).  My pair was built in 1979. The "SW" stands for sub-woofer, so you need an external woofer to supply bass below 100Hz.  Once I got the Bevs so they would produce sound, I decided to go vintage with the rest of the system.  The subwoofers are very large transmission line cabinets using the old KEF B139 woofer; I built these myself in 1970.  They don't go super low in frequency, but they are fast enough to mate seamlessly with the Beveridges. The woofer amplifier is a 50W Threshold built in the late 80s (maybe not vintage??). The crossover for the woofers is a Dahlquist DLPQ (or something like that).  The preamp is either a Klyne 6LX (w/phono) or an early full function Quicksilver built in 1986.  I can add or subtract a Silvaweld SWH550 phono stage. The turntable is a much modified Lenco L75 with a Dynavector DV505 tonearm, currently bearing either a Grace Ruby or Acutex LPM320 cartridge.  This secondary system resides in our basement where it is not a bother to my dear wife, even at 2 AM playing LOUD.