Top Ten Cool Things about Vintage Hi-Fi

[MCM_Fan]

Love the topic of this thread. For me, I just really enjoy the look and the substantial build quality and feel of most vintage products, be it a clock, a lamp, a receiver, a pair of speakers or a fine piece of midcentury modern furniture.

Plus, I'm constantly amazed at what I find at Goodwill. I often get skunked, but the occasional finds keep me going back in the hope of discovering something I don't need, that brings me pleasure. Call it the thrill of the hunt, you never know what you're going to find. The MasterCrafters Starlight clock I got myself for my birthday is hardly my most valuable Goodwill find, but it's one of my all time favorites. To me, it's a piece of art, both beautiful to look at and functional.

Most of all, it brings back memories of my childhood, back when things were simpler and I was just an analog kid living in an analog world. I've worked in the computer industry since 1984. So, I'm not a technophobe, but when it comes to visual, audible and tactile pleasure, be it photography, or music, I still prefer things the old fashioned way. It's what I know. It's what I love.

 

[GChief]

I had a grumpy old man intervention with my dad (78yr). “If you want to do this and that with your entertainment then evolve or get left behind”.

At 53 I don’t like dealing with it either but to do what I want I have to learn it!

Be careful there may be change ahead.

 

[Alobar]

I'm just (barely!) old enough to remember when folks said that about transistor gear.

Vintage computers have a large and growing fandom, and as with everything, the top-of-the-line items are desirable, collectible and valuable. The mere presence of a microprocessor doesn't change that. Indeed, in some cases it makes gear easier rather than harder to fix.

And landfills in parts of the world are turning into ski slopes do in no small part to the failed digital components contributing to todays throw away society and built in obsolescence. I just don't think there will be the resurgence of today's modern audio components 40 years from now. Of course that is what they said about the transistor! Right.. What do I know? I will now bow out of this silly exercise I created with my OP..

 

[OMGCat!]

I had a grumpy old man intervention with my dad (78yr). “If you want to do this and that with your entertainment then evolve or get left behind”.

At 53 I don’t like dealing with it either but to do what I want I have to learn it!

Be careful there may be change ahead.

I haven't messed with anything AV related in about 15 years. The first time I saw an HDMI cable was when I bought one to plug my laptop into the flat screen a friend had given me. I think I would be steamrolled if I was to get into AV these days.
If I were to buy a new piece of gear it would have to be very similar to what I'm using now. Push a button and whatever is printed on the button happens, push it again and it stops happening. I deal with software and hardware issues all day long at my job, I don't need that mess when I come home.

I'm only 40 BTW and not a technophobe at all, stuff just happens so fast these days I feel like you have to pick and chose your techno battles.

 

[GChief]

I haven't messed with anything AV related in about 15 years. The first time I saw an HDMI cable was when I bought one to plug my laptop into the flat screen a friend had given me. I think I would be steamrolled if I was to get into AV these days.
If I were to buy a new piece of gear it would have to be very similar to what I'm using now. Push a button and whatever is printed on the button happens, push it again and it stops happening. I deal with software and hardware issues all day long at my job, I don't need that mess when I come home.

I'm only 40 BTW and not a technophobe at all, stuff just happens so fast these days.

I feel you but it’s a cake and eat it too thing, well for my pops anyway. He wanted it all and only one remote with all his old stuff, set it up as best we could but he was always “challenged”. The simple way is still available with little learning involved. He ended up getting new Sony AVR, BRP and TV. Did the same for 2 other family members, my 94yr old great aunt streams like a teenager from her BRP now with one remote and just a few buttons to push.

Edit: and yes that is an expense that most don’t want.

 

[musichal]

Deleted offensive posts.

 

[Descartridge]

Back on topic... The best thing about vintage hifi is
the realization that an upgraded, 70 year old Magnavox tube amp out of a console can absolutely trounce $2,000 "high end" amps.

 

[tubed]

No Fomo

 

[DaveVoorhis]

And landfills in parts of the world are turning into ski slopes do in no small part to the failed digital components contributing to todays throw away society and built in obsolescence.

It's not the "digital" that does that, because digital components are very reliable. It's the "built in obsolescence" that does that and has always done that. It's mainly over-stressed, under-specced power supply components and electrolytic capacitors that fail, same as it was before digital components became popular.

 

[Shrugg]

Build quality, BUILD QUALITY, BUILD QUALITY!! Nowadays I find that almost every piece of equipment, especially home theater gear, is built down to a price. Amplifiers are becoming smaller and built worse, and even in the modern audiophile area, I can get a 150 WPC amplifier the size of a dinner plate.
Old HiFi, on the other hand, is built much better, with real aluminum and glass, rather than plastic. They also weigh a heck of a lot more, and use quality components. Finally, the majority still works, and the ones that don't are easily repairable. Could you say that for modern gear 40 years later?

 

[DaveVoorhis]

Build quality, BUILD QUALITY, BUILD QUALITY!! Nowadays I find that almost every piece of equipment, especially home theater gear, is built down to a price. Amplifiers are becoming smaller and built worse, and even in the modern audiophile area, I can get a 150 WPC amplifier the size of a dinner plate.
Old HiFi, on the other hand, is built much better, with real aluminum and glass, rather than plastic. They also weigh a heck of a lot more, and use quality components. Finally, the majority still works, and the ones that don't are easily repairable. Could you say that for modern gear 40 years later?

You'll say it about the good gear that's left once all the crappy gear has been thrown away.

The really good vintage gear that's around now is not because all the vintage gear was so much better built. It wasn't. It's because all the godawful crappy gear made 40 years ago -- and there sure was a lot of it, made or badged by Yorx and Soundesign and Sears and various other forgettable crap-vendors -- has finally wound up in landfill and left the relatively rare good stuff still standing.

It'll be the same 40 years from now. The good new stuff from today will be collectible and desirable in 40 years. The rubbish new stuff will be in landfill.

 

[Shrugg]

You'll say it about the good gear that's left once all the crappy gear has been thrown away.

The really good vintage gear that's around now is not because all the vintage gear was so much better built. It wasn't. It's because all the godawful crappy gear made 40 years ago -- and there sure was a lot of it, made or badged by Yorx and Soundesign and Sears and various other forgettable crap-vendors -- has finally wound up in landfill and left the relatively rare good stuff still standing.

It'll be the same 40 years from now. The good new stuff from today will be collectible and desirable in 40 years. The rubbish new stuff will be in landfill.

You've got a good point Dave. A crosley cruiser is every bit as crappy as a yorx or soundesign from 40 years ago, and would probably have the same or even less lifespan than its predecessors.
I guess I should have specified that hifi equipment, especially mid level and lower high level, have been built worse over the years. For receivers, for example, the goal of an average reciever has changed from basic clean sound and as good of quality as possible to cramming in as much channels, dsp, inputs, and integration into the smallest form factor, resulting in compromised build quality and sound quality. This results in integrated, hard to service parts and less reliability and fix ability in the first place.

This lower build quality and crammed functionality also means that modern amps can have a lot more go wrong. I had an Onkyo HT Reciever kick the bucket at just 2 years old, thanks to a shorted temperature sensor (thankfully purchased extended warranty). While this was a fluke, I still think that these amplifiers, relying on so many parts to work right, may stop working after 10-20 years.

IMHO with the exception of speakers, audiophile amps and a few record players, none if this stuff will work or be remembered in 40 years

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Respectfully - You missed the #1 reason why vintage hi-fi is better: VINTAGE EQUIPMENT HAS NO SOFTWARE.

I’ve been helping friends with their new hi-fi gear, and we’re all about at the end of our rope.

Here’s the background: Their nephew gave them a collection of “Game of Thrones” discs. Problem: The discs are Blu-ray, and my friends didn’t have a Blu-ray player.

Next problem, my friends old Onkyo receiver has only red and white RCA analog inputs. No HDMI. No coax digital audio input. No Toslink.

Next problem, there are very few Blu-ray players available today that have analog audio outputs, and AFAIK they start at $500. (I own multiple Oppo units, and I use tube amps – but that’s not an option for my older friends. They won’t buy used gear, or spend a lot of money.)

I figured out it's about the same price to get a new Sony UBP-X700 disc player and an Onkyo TX-8270 2.1 channel AVR, vs. getting a new disc player with analog audio outputs. (IIRC I helped him find on Amazon the Sony disc player for $150, and an “open box” Onkyo TX-8270 for $300. Free shipping on both.)

I get it all hooked up via HDMI (the cables weren’t included), and update the firmware in the Onkyo, and on Day One I have their cable TV and discs (CD, DVD, Blu-ray) working. I couldn’t get Tunein internet radio working, but we agreed that I’d get that working on another day.

On Day One I get a call at 10:00 PM. They’re trying to watch a movie and they’re stuck. The screen is saying something about an upgrade. I talk them through it. (I had already updated the F-ing software – but whatever ….)

On Day 2 (today), they’re stuck again. They’re telling me that they’re being presented with the screen - for the second time – about allowing Onkyo to monitor their network usage … and then something about a software update. This ain’t getting fixed over the phone. I go to their house, and I am being forced to update the software in the Onkyo again – but the process keeps failing. The amp refuses to function at all – it’s stuck on the update screen. I unplug the Onkyo and plug it back in, and I’m still stuck at the update screen, and the update keeps failing. After more than an hour, I get it working. They were only getting 50% wi-fi signal strength – which was one of the problems. I fiddled with the Onkyo antennas, and got it up to 60%, and got it working. Now, after more than an hour, we’re back to the point where they can watch cable TV, and discs. (They’re writing notes on a blue line pad about how to operate everything.) And - I now have Tunein radio working (which they love).

However … now the Sony disc player wants its software updated, but the update process fails. (Though the player works OK.) My friends were exhausted, and we decided that’s a battle for another day.

Also - I made a tactical error when I was at their house today. I plugged into their Onkyo TX-8270 a USB drive that contains some FLAC music files, just to show them this cool capability. It worked – and they liked this capability - but the problem is that years ago they “drank the Apple Koolaid” and have an iPod with a bunch of low-quality-crap recordings, and they are asking a perfectly reasonable question: Why can’t they play these old recordings on their new system? They have a USB drive that they use to back up their PC …and they think their music is on the PC - but of course when you plug their USB drive into the Onkyo, their music doesn’t appear. I’ll probably tell them that while anything is possible, it’s probably not worth the effort to retrieve these recordings.

Re their hundreds of CDs – while in theory they could copy them all to a hard drive, there’s no way they’ll waste their time doing this.

I’ve suggested they can subscribe to Spotify Premium for $10 per month, and have access to all of their old music, plus millions of more recordings. However, because this is not 100% reliable, it will undoubtedly lead to more headaches. (And they don’t want to spend $10 / month.)

For now, I’ve suggested they keep dropping discs (CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray) into the tray and hitting the Play button. (Which is what I usually do.)

Next step – they want a bigger TV. Problem: I don’t know if you can buy a TV that isn’t a “smart TV”. So - here we go again – not only getting it installed – and the software updated – and me figuring out how to get it working – but also them trying to write detailed notes on a Big Chief notebook pad about each button push required to make everything work.

Bottom line, I will undoubtedly have to make several more trips to continue to help them get their new AV system working.

When I got home, I needed a cocktail … in case you can’t tell …

So – to answer your question – the #1 reason that vintage hi-fi is better is that it has NO SOFTWARE.

And no stinking firmware. And no layers of fancy menus, and no need for a 1" thick English instruction manual.

 

[GChief]

And just to be clear I am not anti-vintage, the opposite actually:

 

[Drugolf]

It separates the "cool folk" from the "not so cool" folk. you all realize being into this vintage gear stuff pretty much classifies all of us as current hipsters to some degree right?

1. Unlike golf, I get to pick the 'scores' of my choosing. (Pun intended)
2. My vintage equipment helps to warm my listening room in the winter. My golf clubs just reminds me that I live where it's not realistic to golf all 12 months of the year.
3, It's the only hobby I have that pays for itself.

Mark

So are you like many now, bringing a little music out on the course with you? A bluetooth speaker on your cart or the like?

 

[macgolf]

So are you like many now, bringing a little music out on the course with you? A bluetooth speaker on your cart or the like?

Is this a thing now? As long as another in our group is walking, I do the same. No music. Maybe, I'm just behind the times. Audible music on the course, would be grounds for asking the offender if they got lost looking for the skateboard park? Vintage Walkman users get a pass. Cellphone ringing is an issue though.

 

[birchoak]

The gear performs well. It is well built (the stuff that we have, personally, anyways). It can be worked on, for the most part. I find it beautiful visually and sound-wise. Perhaps most importantly, I grew up with it, wanted it but couldn't afford it, and now I can (with some elbow grease and help here). When I go to car shows, the people with tricked out 50's Chevy Belairs are often old people -- they wanted those cars when they were kids and finally made their dreams come true.

 

[birchoak]

I am an old sailor and call them Porn Stars not artist. And which ones put out albums? Might be worth a look!

Yeah, I see them XXX's all it means is porn to me, too. Andrea True was a porn star/recording artist ("More, More, More--How Do You Like It?").

 

[jimbo2k]

Had a couple of AVR pieces before going back to vintage. Two early HK's and a Denon, all pre HDMI. The Denon had it all over the HK's with a phono and tape in and out. Used it mostly as a two channel stereo tho 5 channel stereo was interesting. You had to hookup the video out in order to set up the receiver, and the instruction manual was written by Japanese who had no sense of the english language, Now my system is Audio only

 

[Sharpstik]

Yeah, I see them XXX's all it means is porn to me, too. Andrea True was a porn star/recording artist ("More, More, More--How Do You Like It?").

That record was recorded in Jamaica, I believe.