The Allure of Vintage Audio Gear

I enjoy good vintage gear because it sounds good, looks great and although requires effort can be properly maintained, unlike our vintage deteriorating ears/hearing we all have. The gear is not the weakest link in many cases. Plus, chasing and buying different gear has an enormous cost...time. 

Several ways to answer this question.  To me it comes down to value- what will sound better for a given cost.  My answer is generally vintage.    Digital and Class D aside, I don't think much has changed in audio design- only degrees of refinement. Circuits and designs are mostly updates of previous equipment.  However parts quality in new equipment or in replacement parts is generally much better than what was available 30-60yrs ago.  What is means is that a vintage component, carefully rebuilt using new high quality parts can sound much better than when new.  That opens up the other variable- cost.  Purchasing used, then carefully restoring is almost always more cost effective than purchasing NIB.   Consider the following system:

2pr of KLH 9 Electrostatic speakers

2 HK Citation II amplifiers

Marantz 7 or ARC SP3a

Garrard 301/401 with SME arm, and Ortofon SPU cartridge

This system will get you to the 90th percentile of performance at a considerably lower cost than anything new (or recent).  Caveat is that all components are fully and carefully rebuilt.

At the other extreme, a wonderful sounding system can be assembled around a rebuilt ST-70 and PAS3 (Val Alstine Super PAS 3a), a pair of ls3/5a speakers, and a Rega P3 TT with a Shure V15iii or V cartridge with a Jico Stylus.

One area that I do think has shown improvement is speaker design and implementation.  Computer modeled design, using better quality drivers and crossover components results in much better sounding (and more accurate sounding) speakers.   While there is much nostalgia for a pair of vintage JBL L100 or Large Advents- they still sound muddy and imprecise after new crossover parts are installed- and absolutely horrible if "all original".   Original driver material design inhibits transient response and adds distortion when driven to high SPL. 

FYI- my system is a combination of vintage and new.  And would have a cost in the mid 5 figures if I had to purchase everything new.

Linn LP12- ITTOK LVII -Cirkus/ Hercules II PS /  Stack Serene chassis, top/bottom plates / rebuilt Denon 103D (Soundsmith Ruby Line Contact)

Technics SP15 / AT 1503mkIII / mono modified Denon 103

ARC SP-10MKII

Mac MC240 Restored

(or) Luxman MA88 monoblocks

KEF LS50 

I get it about how "vintage" gear is questionable.  One of the most enjoyable systems I've ever heard had a Mac C22 preamp, Marantz 7 power amp driving a pair of late 70's KEF Calinda loudspeakers.  Voices and stringed instruments sounded magical.   The low end left something to be desired, but I really didn't care.  I suppose this was that "warm" sound we hear so much about.  It was always a pleasure to listen to and that's all the criteria I need.

My own system is all 21st Century gear and I'm always thrilled to hear it.  But that Marantz 7 and KEF Calinda combo was wonderful.

Didn’t get into high-end audio until 10 years ago, so no experience prior.

At an audio show, I saw a vintage Sansui 9090db running a MoFi SourcePoint which sounded musical.  I kept staring at the Sansui which I thought was gorgeous.

Now I’m thinking of purchasing BUT don’t need of course! Other audio purchases seem higher priority.  Drat, they lowered the price….

I retired as an dealer 8 years ago. My service tech of 25+ years still works with me on weekends with the goal of "keeping decent audio gear from ending up in the dumpster." We regularly "fix" old audio gear that has a high emotional attachment to their owner(s). We also provide performance upgrades by encorporating "newer thinking" into older (vintage) equipment.

I’ll just say that’s it’s suprising (sometimes STUNNING!!) how much additional music can come out of those old boxes.

I try to stay away from general statements, but will concur with others that at a given price point newer gear will sound better than vintage gear. But, if there’s something emotionally, or esthetically, appealing about vintage gear, there’s a 98% chance that there’s a path to an improvement in sonic performance. And many allow for a return to "factory stock" with minimal effort.