What's vintage in your system?

[RGA]

I have no vintage gear anymore. My oldest piece is a Cambridge Audio CD 6 CD player - listening to it now. Bought it in 1996 and it was a demo CD player. They had the top off and a glass case to show off the internals. It was a very well built (still is ) $800ish CD player.

It owes me zero. It was under heavy all day use in that store for over a year. I have used it pretty much everyday since (couple years it sat in a box while overseas) but sitting a unit can be problematic too apparently).

It still works perfectly! The remote has no troubles, I usually push the buttons on the machine while I am up. It has been moved so many times.

15 years old now - the average life of a CD player is 7 years according to consumer reports. My Sony - 3 years old and giving me problems. I had three Pioneer CD players - all never made it past 4 years. Though the 100 disc changer was pretty good sounding and it's problem was the LCD screen was beginning to go - but it worked.

I have not generally been impressed with the transport mechanisms I have used lately, Audio Note's CD 2.1 which I reviewed is the part that keeps me from buying it(same transport that is in the new Bryston, a Mark Levinson I used which was over $10k was just lousy and buggy, and Sim Audio and Classe don't inspire much confidence.

I am tempted to buy a DAC - even on a ~15 year old CD Player. I can only find a few players that used this Sanyo transport (I was told it was a TEAC - oh well it's strong like bull either way).

CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CD6;
NAKAMICHI DRAGON CD/DAC 4
PINK TRIANGLE CARDINAL, PINK TRIANGLE CORDINAL 2

I guess we can start putting vintage on CD players now that they are being slowly replaced.

[vintage_or_bust]

Marantz 2275 Receiver

JBL 4312b Monitors

[JoeE SP9]

I'm the most vintage and IMO the best part of my system.

[CD45]

The oldest I have in my system now is my Rotel RCD-855 cd player bought in 1990.

[Styx]

Receivers:
Sansui G-7500
Kenwood KR-5030
Pioneer SX-550

Intergrated Amp:
Technics SU-8088

Tuners:
Technics ST-8077

CD Player:
JVC XL-Z444

Turntables:
Technics SL-1700
Kenwood KD-2070

Tape Decks: May not be considered vintage
Teac V-970X
Kenwood KX-780

Speakers: They get rotated in and out
EPI Magnus CD55 x2
EPI A1100
EPI T/E 120
EPI T/E 100

Processors:
Pioneer SR-303
Pioneer RG-9

EQ's:
BSR EQ-3000
Coustic EI HEQ-7005

[ArKay QAtech]

A Paragon, somebody still speaks my language. If I'm not mistaken, is it (Singular) from the late 70's, also a beautiful piece of furniture with a curved front to reflect the sound coming from the two outside front edges. Heard one in a highend showroom along with Altec Lansings, etc. around 1977.(boy,did that crank-up nice and clear) If you bought the Paragon new, wasn't it -- like -- $6000.00. I ended up purchasing a pair of Tannoy Berkleys, then six months later adding a pair of Ardens, which I've never heard anyone ever mention or have heard of before. Maybe you have. You're Paragon was alittle out of the question, as it's price was what my whole system cost me. Yep, It's a keeper.

[Poultrygeist]

I'm most proud of a Rotel/Martel FAX150 single ended tube receiver from 1965 ( pic in gallery ). These interesting little receivers were sold in department stores back in the day. My other personal vintage gear includes a Technics SL-1300 TT and a Marantz 1150 integrated amp.

In the last year I've had fun restoring the following speakers for a friend who deals in vintage gear: Big Advents, little Advents, EPI-100s, JBL Century's, JBL Lancer 77's, several KLH's, AR3a's and I'm currently working on some AR2's. I missed out on restoring some very rare AR1's which he sold as is.

[Poultrygeist]

Hey CD45,

I too have a Rotel 855 but it still seems new to me. How can any CD player be vintage? Didn't they just hit the market yesterday?

[poppachubby]

Well, I will update. Not sure what qualifies as vintage...does the 80's?

Main System:

EICO HF-85
Ariston RD-11s
Bozak 919

Odds and Ends:

Marantz 1515

[Feanor]

Well, I will update. Not sure what qualifies as vintage...does the 80's?

Main System:

EICO HF-85
Ariston RD-11s
Bozak 919

Odds and Ends:

Marantz 1515

Well, Poppa, I'm personally inclined to say the '70s or earlier. Looks like you have a few pieces that qualify in any case.

[unleasHell]

My vintage system is in the garage, a 70'e era Yamaha Receiver CR-620 (that I picked up about 15 years ago at a Goodwill store for $30 and my Speakers I bought brand new back in the 70's, they are BES (BERTAGNI ELECTROACOUSTIC SYSTEMS) SPEAKERS, these are the 3-way models with the Aluminum Bands (not the later wooden models), BES speakers (in case you don't know them) were about 5" wide, had a styrofoam core and the sound came out of both sides!. I have mine bolted to the rafters and the fill the garage with sound... Now if I could only find me a PL-12D, like I had back then...

[recoveryone]

The oldest/vintage type gear that I still have is my Pioneer cassette player:


CT-M6R

[t-bones]

From the 80's on back...

ADC Sound shaper-SS3 Para-graphic (x2) (very early 80's)
Sansui AU-77X (early 80's)
Realistic10 band EQ (early 80's)
Kenwood ? integrated amp (mid 80's)
Technics auto reverse cassette (early 80's)

[da1776]

I am a newby...Everything I have is vintage including me. My favorate amp is my Pioneer Series 20 power amp. It weighs 45 lbs. It is pure class A and produces 15 RMS watts/ch. It gets hot enough to cook on. I use it in the winter to warm my study. It sounds most accurate on my Mission and ADS speakers. My Yamaha M-4 sounds more accurate using B&W's and NHT's. .

[Poultrygeist]

Hi da1776 in Charlotte and welcome aboard. I'm just down the road from you in Columbia. I once had a pair of ADS L710 and good speakers they were. Their metal cat proof grills were always a conversation piece.

Not familiar with the big Pioneer but it sounds like a beast. I do vintage speaker repair for a friend who sells used gear here in Cola. so I get to work on all the old stuff I used to lust after in my youth.

[Feanor]

Hi da1776 in Charlotte and welcome aboard. I'm just down the road from you in Columbia. I once had a pair of ADS L710 and good speakers they were. Their metal cat proof grills were always a conversation piece.
...

I had a pair of those too; in my case branded Braun L710's but the same thing. I agree that they were very good speakers.

[pscottlowe]

dynaco st-70 tube amp,dynaco pas 3 tube pre amp klipsch lascalla all at or more than 50 years old and sound excellent

[Claudio 1949]

My Pair of DCM Time Windows 3.....love them! Paired to a Canton 12 inch subwoofer!

[Brett A]

The "vinatgest" piece i had until recently was my early 90's Well Tempered Record Player.

But for the past month or-so, I've been building/restoring a Rek-O-Kut Rondine Jr L-37.


I built the plinth, replaced all the grommets around the motor and drive system (I'm sending the idler wheels out for a rebuild today) I bought the arm separately and purchased a Denon DL-103 which makes it period-correct.

I'm still trying to lower the noise floor to an acceptable level. It's a lot of fun.

Until this, the only vintage idler 'tables I've had have been old mid-range Duals and a Garrard AT6 changer. The heft of this Rek O Kut is a world away from those types of 'tables.

[Panagiotis Melas]

....on what to name and report as vintage gear.

Sure, "vintage" means old (in age), but in this hobby it also means something that, when it works and is removed, it cannot be replaced by a similar more modern unit.

Therefore, if someone has, for example, a nice "oldy" pair of speakers, that work equally well (or better, perhaps) with their modern equivalent (in price, design, specs or whatever else you may think), can you name them "vintage"? Or a good power amplifier (and a preamplifier), with the same criteria, as above?

I would certainly consider vintage a good old stereo tape recorder, like the old Akai's, Tandberg's, Revoxes, etc., or a first generation CD Player or an old cassette recorder, but what about a Linn LP12 turntable, especially if it has been upgraded to a Sondec or Valhalla or whatever else was there? Equally, I would consider vintage one of the first surround amplifiers or receivers, with a dolby surround decoding engine in it only, or even a first generation Pro-Logic unit (decoder of amplifier/receiver), but what about a similar unit, 10 or 12 years old, which was perhaps company's flagship those days (in my mind comes the Denon AVR-5800 AV receiver, which was later upgraded by Denon with the KAVA1SE card. Its European equivalent was the AVC-A1SE AV amplifier, which I owned and I gave it to my son)?

With these thoughts in mind, I humbly present my own "vintage" gear:

- Vidikron Crystal One LCD video projector (VGA analysis only, now at my country house)
- Hafler XL-600 power amplifier (modified with Musical Concepts PA-3B Elite kit, still in full use, hardly to be considered a vintage gear)
- Hafler IRIS stereo preamplifier (this has its remote control circuit out of order and I feel free to put it into the "vitage" category)
- Luxman T-117L AM/FM tuner (still in use and one of the most musical FM tuners worlwide)
- ADA SSD-66THX Dolby Prologic Surround Processor/Preamplifier, certainly outpassed by today's modern units
- Sansui SE-77 stereo graphic equalizer - surely vintage
- Sansui RA-500 Reverberation Amplifier- as above
- JVC QL-FX5B direct drive turntable - still working fine
- Audio Alchemy DTI Pro32 jitter reduction unit with PS3 power supply unit, in full operating condition and I don't feel well to consider it vintage, for what it does.
- Various VHS/S-CHS VCRs, except two units from JVC, surely old, but still serving their scope: The D-VHS/D-Theater HM-DH30000U one and its European brother the D-VHS (not D-Theater) HM-DR10000EK one.
- My first reference DVD player, the Sony DVP-S7000, modified to a full region unit, still in use, although surpassed in terms of facilities and performance by other newer units. But the picture from its component output (not progressive), still remains a reference, compaired with equally processed signals (component, non-progressive) from other modern units, even from HD players.

I wish to everyone a Happy, Prosperous, Healthy and Peaceful New Year.
-

[wrc65]

AR 216ps
and getting ever closer Boston HD5

[blackraven]

Besides myself, the only vintage gear that I have left are my 1977 Technics SU7600 integrated amp that my son is currently using along with a vintage Hitachi Tuner. I am getting ready to recap the Technics. I hope I don't ruin the nice vintage 1970's sound.

[kevinc666]

Infinity Quantum Line source, Polk Audio SDA SRS 2

[markw]

I don't know if I posted before but I ain't about to search through 13 pages to find out. Some things probably changed since I did even if I did.

My basement.man-cave/gym system, from where I do most of my posting, now consists of a Marantz 2230, a pair of JBL L-26 speakers, a fairly recently acquired Miracord 50H TT (with new Grado black cartridge), and a Panasonic 220 Blu-ray player. That last one may not be vintage but my Pandora station plays vintage country music through it.