any one interested in vintage hifi

[Vladimir]

 

[chebby]

Why is he wearing his rainproof jacket with it's hood up? Can't he afford to mend the roof?

 

[Vladimir]

Why is he wearing his rainproof jacket with it's hood up? Can't he afford to mend the roof?

The hifi was playing The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Why is he wearing his rainproof jacket with it's hood up? Can't he afford to mend the roof?

The hifi was playing The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men.

*lol* the weather girls

rain drops are falling on my head

 

[Infiniteloop]

What's the WAF on this set-up then?

 

[Vladimir]

What's the WAF on this set-up then?

Excellent, if you get to be the wife.

 

[plastic penguin]

i am interested in vintage hifi

i am after the 1970s version of my yamaha as a second setup the CA-2100 which is just as good as my current S-A2100 not bad for a amp that was made in the 1970s just look at this video of the hardwere inside this old 1970s amp and then look at the modern version .such as this.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

i am interested in vintage hifi

i am after the 1970s version of my yamaha as a second setup the CA-2100 which is just as good as my current S-A2100 not bad for a amp that was made in the 1970s just look at this video of the hardwere inside this old 1970s amp and then look at the modern version .such as this.

I think if you stick to a budget

you could buy something quite nice for about £200 or £300 but your right in a risky buy as you could pay that and then spend another £300 again putting the amplifier right .

to be honest I am tempted but I do not really no enough to just buy the first one I like the look off as I am interested in the Yamaha or a marantz amplifiers as a second setup and then it would only be lightly used anyway so I've got ask myself is it worth it .

 

[plastic penguin]

Think if you contact vintage hi-fi dealers there shouldn't be any problems above the usual. However, you need to make the figures work in the first place.

But in terms of aesthetics, the vintage stuff is hard to beat IMHO.

 

[Vladimir]

Think if you contact vintage hi-fi dealers there shouldn't be any problems above the usual. However, you need to make the figures work in the first place.

But in terms of aesthetics, the vintage stuff is hard to beat IMHO.

Sweet collection for sale. I have one of these except with a black bonnet.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Think if you contact vintage hi-fi dealers there shouldn't be any problems above the usual. However, you need to make the figures work in the first place.

But in terms of aesthetics, the vintage stuff is hard to beat IMHO.

Sweet collection for sale. I have one of these except with a black bonnet.

that's a nice amplifier

i have noticed on some amplifiers I've come across on eBay where they have updated the speaker posts on the back of the amplifier to fit modern banana plugs

 

[Blacksabbath25]

So what are the best standout amplifiers in the vintage line then ? And what should you look out for spec wise do you follow the same rules like a modern amplifier .

 

[tino]

Vintage bargains do crop up from time to time. I managed to get a mint Yamaha CR420 for £30. Most amps / receivers of that era also have quite good service manuals and fault finding procedures so if something does go wrong it's relatively easy to troubleshoot or repair.

 

[Vladimir]

Think if you contact vintage hi-fi dealers there shouldn't be any problems above the usual. However, you need to make the figures work in the first place.

But in terms of aesthetics, the vintage stuff is hard to beat IMHO.

Sweet collection for sale. I have one of these except with a black bonnet.

that's a nice amplifier

i have noticed on some amplifiers I've come across on eBay where they have updated the speaker posts on the back of the amplifier to fit modern banana plugs

I prefer bare wire over banana or lugs. What surprises me still is how good these terminals on the Technics SU-7700 are. They grab and hold wire like claws.

 

[lindsayt]

So what are the best standout amplifiers in the vintage line then ? And what should you look out for spec wise do you follow the same rules like a modern amplifier .

Price when new and weight. The higher for each the better as a very sweeping general rule that doesn't always apply.

You should also be looking at the price to buy any particular item now - combined with the condition and who the seller is.

You can also do a bit of Google research to see what anyone has had to say about particular amps - although beware star-struck buyers.

Time for a gratuitous image:

 

[plastic penguin]

@Blacksabbeth:

The rules are pretty much same for vintage as modern: Budget, inputs, tonal qualities, enough power to control the matched speakers; buying from an auction site there's always going to be an element of doubt when it comes to reliability, but that's why I would need to see evidence that the said component has been well maintained.

Obv buying from recognised vintage outlet doesn't guarantee it'll last any longer than from a auction site but it does give you a small safet net.

 

[andyjm]

I was wondering how my klyne 7 3.5b would stand upto new pre-amplifier for sound quality.i have had this amp for over 12 years now I don't know if this is old enough to be classed as vintage .cheers david

< 10 = second hand

10-25 = classic

25-50 = vintage

> 50 = antique

Back in the day, electrolytic capacitors had a witches brew of nasty stuff in them that seemed to last forever. I had an old wartime PA amp that must have been 60 years old when it packed up - not due to the capacitors.

Formulations changed either because of cost or toxicity, and in 1999 the capacitor plague struck. Between 99 and 08, formulations used by some manufacturers attacked the aluminium cans enclosing the caps and the capacitors failed within a few years. Wikipedia has pages devoted to this. Since then things have improved, formulations have changed, but caps don't have anything like the life they used to have. As I have recently found to my cost, capacitors on modern electronics should be considered service items that will need to be replaced at some time.

I would not touch an amp made during the plague period. You may be lucky, but if the amp has plague caps it will fail. The best hope if you do buy one of these amps is that most of the amps that were originally effected have failed already.

 

[insider9]

I was wondering how my klyne 7  3.5b would stand upto new pre-amplifier for sound quality.i have had this amp for over 12 years now  I don't know if this is old enough to be classed as vintage .cheers david

< 10 = second hand

10-25 = classic

25-50 = vintage

> 50 = antique

Back in the day, electrolytic capacitors had a witches brew of nasty stuff in them that seemed to last forever.  I had an old wartime PA amp that must have been 60 years old when it packed up - not due to the capacitors.

Formulations changed either because of cost or toxicity, and in 1999 the capacitor plague struck. Between 99 and 08, formulations used by some manufacturers attacked the aluminium cans enclosing the caps and the capacitors failed within a few years.  Wikipedia has pages devoted to this.  Since then things have improved, formulations have changed, but caps don't have anything like the life they used to have.  As I have recently found to my cost, capacitors on modern electronics should be considered service items that will need to be replaced at some time.

I would not touch an amp made during the plague period. You may be lucky, but if the amp has plague caps it will fail. The best hope if you do buy one of these amps is that most of the amps that were originally effected have failed already.   

Interesting, my A30.1 falls into that category. Are there any caps in particular I should be looking for?

 

[chebby]

I was wondering how my klyne 7 3.5b would stand upto new pre-amplifier for sound quality.i have had this amp for over 12 years now I don't know if this is old enough to be classed as vintage .cheers david

< 10 = second hand

10-25 = classic

25-50 = vintage

> 50 = antique

Back in the day, electrolytic capacitors had a witches brew of nasty stuff in them that seemed to last forever. I had an old wartime PA amp that must have been 60 years old when it packed up - not due to the capacitors.

Formulations changed either because of cost or toxicity, and in 1999 the capacitor plague struck. Between 99 and 08, formulations used by some manufacturers attacked the aluminium cans enclosing the caps and the capacitors failed within a few years. Wikipedia has pages devoted to this. Since then things have improved, formulations have changed, but caps don't have anything like the life they used to have. As I have recently found to my cost, capacitors on modern electronics should be considered service items that will need to be replaced at some time.

I would not touch an amp made during the plague period. You may be lucky, but if the amp has plague caps it will fail. The best hope if you do buy one of these amps is that most of the amps that were originally effected have failed already.

Interesting, my A30.1 falls into that category. Are there any caps in particular I should be looking for?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

The so-called 'plague' caps should have all expired by 2007 so your second-hand purchases should be ok now, 10 years on. An interesting read nonetheless.

 

[Vladimir]

All electrolytic capacitors at all times are ****. Only the very large 10,000uF+ electrolytics last long. Wax and paper caps were also poo. Disk and poly caps do last forever, but have low capacitance at reasonable sizes. The ones in oil seem to last quite a bit, but with mixed results.

 

[insider9]

I was wondering how my klyne 7  3.5b would stand upto new pre-amplifier for sound quality.i have had this amp for over 12 years now  I don't know if this is old enough to be classed as vintage .cheers david

< 10 = second hand

10-25 = classic

25-50 = vintage

> 50 = antique

Back in the day, electrolytic capacitors had a witches brew of nasty stuff in them that seemed to last forever.  I had an old wartime PA amp that must have been 60 years old when it packed up - not due to the capacitors.

Formulations changed either because of cost or toxicity, and in 1999 the capacitor plague struck. Between 99 and 08, formulations used by some manufacturers attacked the aluminium cans enclosing the caps and the capacitors failed within a few years.  Wikipedia has pages devoted to this.  Since then things have improved, formulations have changed, but caps don't have anything like the life they used to have.  As I have recently found to my cost, capacitors on modern electronics should be considered service items that will need to be replaced at some time.

I would not touch an amp made during the plague period. You may be lucky, but if the amp has plague caps it will fail. The best hope if you do buy one of these amps is that most of the amps that were originally effected have failed already.   

Interesting, my A30.1 falls into that category. Are there any caps in particular I should be looking for?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

The so-called 'plague' caps should have all expired by 2007 so your second-hand purchases should be ok now, 10 years on. An interesting read nonetheless.

Thanks Chebby! Interesting, especially as I tend to buy second hand. Might even use this to haggle

 

[Al ears]

I have always perceived the collection of vintage hifi to be solely within the realms of those with lots of spare cash as usable everyday objects they are often not.

Wines improve with age, in my opinion hifi does not. Almost certainly all items, be they tuners, amps, or speakers will need some form of expensive and, normally not owner fixable, replacements. Indeed some may use parts that do not have a suitable modern equivalent to get them back to their former glory.

The term Classic, however, is a different matter entirely. ;-)

 

[Blacksabbath25]

What do you reckon to Arcam alpha 10 amplifier which was the flagship amplifier from Arcam from the 1990s which back then I did own a Arcam alpha 7se cdplayer and a Arcam AV9 and the power amp P7 I think it was but remember I liked the sound .

the second amplifier from the same years music fildelity A3 which not sure on there sound but own the A2 cdplayer which was very good but **** remote control .

so a bit more modern then something from the 1970s but are the 2 amplifiers above still regarded as vintage now ?

 

[Vladimir]

What do you reckon to Arcam alpha 10 amplifier

I'd toss it in the trash on looks alone.

 

[Al ears]

What do you reckon to Arcam alpha 10 amplifier

I'd toss it in the trash on looks alone.

It would certainly split opinions in the looks department wouldn't it? But is it a Classic, I don't know, never heard one.

The so called Classics are the ones to go for and resurrect I feel, both for sound quality and long term economic considerations.