Can anything beat Vintage Amps for the $$$?

I have had modern equipment such as Musical Design amps and pre, Adcom, Lazarus H1-A hybrid amp, platinum audio, Mission, Odyssey Loreleis Quad ESL-63's, Pinnacle Classic Gold Aerogels, Tannoy DMT12's and others..
Currently my main rig is a pair of early 1980's David Berning's EA-230's and his TF-10 preamp.

Vintage wise I have a McIntosh MC250, Scott 299, Fisher 400, Allen organ amp (6L6), Allied tube amp and tuner, and a Scott LT-10 tuner as well.

I find myself lately listening to the vintage stuff hooked up to Tannoy Monitor Gold 12's or EV12trxb's...Especially with the Scott, I dont find the difference to be that tremendous...Only my Berning amps seem to be a bit in a different league. I have found the same relationship either with vintage or modern speakers.

I think that if the vintage equipment is up to spec, the differences will not be that great, especially in tube gear. SS may be different. I do have a Pioneer SX-850 and I just dont find its sound that engaging.

To me there is something special about having vintage gear with beautiful walnut cases..a treat to the eyes and the ears.

Also, I have modern sources...VPI Scout and Parasound CDP-2000...I think that its actuallyt a good idea to have modern sources...More music to be gone thru the vintage magic. I also found the vintage gear to be quite good with modern sources as long as they can drive the loads well.

Old Dynaco amps like the ST 70 and the Mk.III monoblocs are a great deal at $300.00 to $700.00 If they have the upgraded binding posts, input jacks and newer electronic parts in them, they are fabulous! You would have to spend thousands to get anything better.
A lot of the newer amps are just rip-offs of Dynaco designs anyway!!

I've recently bought an integrated hh scott 222d (1964) original, unmodified and unrepaired (telefunken tubes included) and it sounds really great, even compared to my main rig: modern, all tube and pricey (Cary preamp,VTL monoblocks, ProAc responce 2.5). The sound is like frogman described very well. You can argue the only shortback is, with some kinds of music, the limited output power, but the sound is full,alive, detailed and warm simultaneously. Great musicality and no listening fatigue, I.E.: you can hear the singer inspiring before the attack without being annoyed by sibilants. If we are speaking about musical and listening pleasure, I think it is difficult to find something modern that come near to Scott 222 in the 3000,00 usd range.
My two cents.
RZ

I had an Allen organ amp (6L6) output tubes, and he brought it up to spec and said that its very close to the design and SQ of the amps he builds and sells himself for $2600.00.
Flawless simple design with great quality iron, plus using the 12AY7 tube helps.