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Modern High end vs. old receiver

So I recently sent in my Aesthetix Janus in for a capacitor upgrade, which leaves me without a pre-amp. In desperation for a little music, I brought in my the Kenwood Kr-3090 that I inherited from my grandmother and have been enjoying in the garage. 25W, made 1978-1981 or so. Damn thing sounds almost as good my Aesthetix Janus and Audio Research VT-100 MkII. Now don't get me wrong, there's a difference, but I can happily sit and listen and fully lose myself in the music.

I am using Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers, which work well with low-powered electronics, as evidenced by Robert Lee's matching them with Triode corporation tubes at the shows. I'm also using my standard front end - Oppo BDP-83 with Brystond BDA-1 and Acoustic Zen Absolute cables. Still.... jeez, it's unreal how much better it sounds than some of the other high-end gear I've had in here.

My learning from this is that the source matters, and you should not look askance at equipment just because it is old or inexpensive.
128x128darkj
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Frogman, I would hazard a guess that among nine out of ten non-audiophiles there would be consensus that the differences are slight. The basic circuit hasn't changed since it's inception. Serious differences only exist among speakers, the weakest link. You conceded to the law of diminishing returns,(which imo sets in by component, not individual person, btw) used the word 'little', and stated 5%. And then concluded the difference is more than slight.

Really?
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,256 posts
 
Frogman, you're taking this thread way too seriously.
frogman
7,478 posts
 
I think you're right. Thanks for the reality check :-)
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Al, you're obviously blessed with better ears than me. Although I can hear quality differences with great recordings, it's the poor ones that seem to be a better yard stick for me.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
That's interesting, Peter (Csontos), and somewhat surprising to me. I don't make any special claims for my hearing, but it has always been my experience that if a garbage recording is reproduced as Garbage A by one component, and as Garbage B by another component, the two garbage reproductions tend to be harder to distinguish, and certainly harder to judge as to which is more lifelike, than if a great recording is reproduced by the two components as Relatively Lifelike Sound A and Relatively Lifelike Sound B.

Basically, with a garbage recording the nuances that would otherwise distinguish their reproduction by the components being compared tend to be swamped by the inaccuracies of the recording. Which in turn makes any judgment about which reproduction is closest to the sound of live music pretty much meaningless, as the best answer is usually "neither."

Regards,
-- Al
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