Boom in vintage audio kit

[matt49]

BBC article: Why is vintage audio equipment booming?

Good piece, especially on the environmental reasons for buying vintage kit, but a shame it doesn’t say more about how good it can sound.

 

[Noddy]

Excessive bass always was a problem back in the day.

I don’t see the attraction of most of it, though my old Teac Reference 300 amp looked gorgeous and I would like a Reference 5000 amp for a bedroom. In truth a set of nice used Kef LSX IIs, or similar, would be better than buying lots of bits.

 

[DCarmi]

I don’t see the attraction of most of it,

Nostalgia and ritual. As someone with a load of CDs, LPs, I get it.

I do stream music and it is very convenient and there is a huge catalogue to choose from, but I find it something of a sterile experience. At least compared to the ritual of choosing a disk a sitting down to listen to it.

I don't think it is so different to the experience of books and e-books. The words are the same but the tactile experience of a paper book is very different. (Though, personally I am an e-book reader.)

Most people aren't that bothered with audiophile quality and in truth never were. (...and no, I would not give the kind of cased record player from the 1960s shown in the article, the time of day!)

 

[Revolutions]

I’m sure the numbers are increasing. But as a child of the 90s, we were into our parents vintage records & equipment, then in the 00s there was the vintage fashion craze which also spilled into 90s nostalgia & saved vinyl from near-death. Ironically, a lot of albums by the bands who saved vinyl weren’t actually released on vinyl until much later.

So now we’re in a 2020s vintage craze. All I know is I’ve not been able to pick up a quality 2-head tape deck at a decent price for a lot of years.

 

[Jasonovich]

I love those retro looking or vintage amps those that have real VDU's but I was never swayed, my Eversolo DAC have those digital ones that appear as pseudo analogue dials. Good enough for me!

 

[DCarmi]

... and big switches as on old Yamaha and Pioneer amps. The kind of switch that lets you know it has really been switched.

 

[matt49]

Excessive bass always was a problem back in the day.

I don’t see the attraction of most of it, though my old Teac Reference 300 amp looked gorgeous and I would like a Reference 5000 amp for a bedroom. In truth a set of nice used Kef LSX IIs, or similar, would be better than buying lots of bits.

I see things a bit differently. The technology of turntables and transistor amps was perfected by the 1970s. A decent 1970s Japanese amp from Pioneer, Sony, Yamaha etc will have a ruler-straight frequency response and vanishingly low distortion. My 1970s Yamaha amp sounds absolutely clean as a whistle and has easily enough power to drive my speakers.

Speakers are a slightly different matter. Back then, people generally used bigger speakers that produced more LF energy than the speakers we tend to use today. Of course physics dictates that a big speaker with good LF extension is going to excite room modes more and need more bass management. So yes, there'll be problems with the bass. But in my opinion (and it is just my opinion), any speaker that doesn't get close to full range just isn't a hi-fi speaker.

A cool 1970s system with top Japanese electronics and a pair of big JBLs is hard to beat.

 

[nopiano]

As is so common today, the BBC title is verging on click bait. A couple of specialists are staying afloat isn’t quite so attention grabbing!

I was mad about Hifi in the 1970s and ‘80s, but though I’m still interested in some of the vintage kit, the majority is well behind today’s standards to my eyes and ears. A handful of exceptions - like my Nakamichi cassette deck - doesn’t mean dozens more machines were pretty awful.

I am intrigued how certain styles have lasted well, like the silver Yamaha amplifiers , and the recently resurrected Quad 33/303. But who would want the ridiculous Nytech that looked like an early calculator (and sounded not much better, imho)!?

 

[matt49]

I wouldn’t propose indiscriminately buying anything from the 1970s. Some of the stuff made back then was rubbish. But I do think the best electronics from the 1970s can compete with the best stuff made today.