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  1. #1
    stuck on vintage dingus's Avatar
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    what constitutes vintage?

    how old must a piece be to qualify as vintage, where's the cut-off date?
    AR MGC-1, AR C225 PS, M&K V-1B, Pioneer VSX 47TX, Oppo BDP-83, Squeezebox v3, Vortexbox Appliance.

  2. #2
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    You have raised an issue that comes up from time to time. There is no set standard in audio as there is in say automobiles. Some argue that it is only a question of the age of the gear. Some say it is the quality and the age of the gear (i.e. a 30-year old Sound Design all in one system is not vintage). The real hardcore argue that anything solid state can not be vintage. It really does not matter IMO what you want to label your gear others will use their own standards anyway.
    Last edited by thekid; 05-08-2011 at 07:37 AM.
    NAD D3020
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  3. #3
    Retro Modernist 02audionoob's Avatar
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    I agree with thekid. Vintage is old and good, not just old...and how good matters more than how old.

  4. #4
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dingus
    how old must a piece be to qualify as vintage, where's the cut-off date?
    This is an old debate, one to which there is no definitive answer. The issue is not only age but quality. (I mean, strictly speaking "vintage" applies only to grapes, and this year's vintage is just as much a vintage as 1917's).

    Personally I like to think of vintage typically as things built in the 1970s or earlier. '70s gear tended to have certain characteristics (which I consider appealing):
    • No, (or very few), integrated circuits, i.e. all discrete components, (though possibly one PCBs, not necessarily point-to-pointed wired)
    • Analog vs. electronic controls and ...
    • ... certain types of analog controls
      • Rotary volume controls vs. sliders
      • Rotary selectors vs. push-buttons or electric touch switches
      • Flip switches vs. push-buttons
    • Analog meters, (if any) vs. electronic
    • Silver or champagne colored faces vs. black.
    A classic example: this Kenwood KA-5700 integrated amp:

    Last edited by Feanor; 05-08-2011 at 09:06 AM.

  5. #5
    stuck on vintage dingus's Avatar
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    sounds like pretty much of consensus so far, and i would agree with the criteria given to this point.

    what about anything meeting the above, but expanding the time range to include everything in the pre-digital age?
    AR MGC-1, AR C225 PS, M&K V-1B, Pioneer VSX 47TX, Oppo BDP-83, Squeezebox v3, Vortexbox Appliance.

  6. #6
    Charm Thai™
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    I always think of 50 years as the cutoff for something being vintage. The 1970's definitely seem too recent for me to think of it as vintage.

  7. #7
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheHills44060
    I always think of 50 years as the cutoff for something being vintage. The 1970's definitely seem too recent for me to think of it as vintage.
    If you a tube and point-to-point wiring guy, then you'll certainly feel that way. Good ol' Melvin Walker felt that "vintage" should be restricted to the acknowledged classics such as the Marantz 7 preamp, (which he happened own).

    See internal pic ...
    http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/image...6254&is_user=0

    Such things are collectors items, of course, and fetch such high prices that nobody would buy them for the usage value. The guy above wants $3900 and HERE's one on Audiogon: $4375.

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