Vintage receivers were expensive when new

Inflation calculators, for a lot of reasons, just don't work for consumer electronics. For example in '76 I bought a Yamaha CR-600, B&O Beovox M-70 Speakers, B&O Beogram 1900 turntable and a pair of Yamaha HP-1 headphones. At $2500 this was an expensive system, not available through the usual deeply discounted mass-market outlets of the day. There's no way that system would be worth anywhere near $11,000 in 2017 dollars. The headphones are probably the closest. $200 for TOTL orthodynamic headphones converts to $900 which today gets you very good, if not TOTL, ortho's today

The inflation calculators certainly don't work for computer memory. 4K of DRAM cost $275 in 1975. Putting in 4G of DRAM (a million times the quantity) would have cost $275 million of 1975 dollars, (over a cool $billion today) although I assume you could get a volume discount...:)

They don't work for college tuition, either. It's about 2.5 times as expensive as it was then in constant dollars. Cars are twice as much now. Coffee is about the same. For the stereo you described, I'd say a $3K turntable + $3K speakers + a $2K amp + a $1K disc player (to replace the tuner) + a $1K pair of headphones is somewhat near $11K...
 
Technological/manufacturing advances tend to "skew" the prices of electronics severely. In the 70's (and even 80's), the price of a 100+ wpc amp or receiver was EXPENSIVE--even in "actual" dollars of the day. Now--a 500 wpc amp costs less than 20% of that 70's price tag in today's "actual" dollars.

Just my opinion, but I think a better compare/contrast is % of household income per category, rather than actual price (adjusted or not)--but that is just me.
 
One of the nicest looking pieces in my rack is a 1977 Harman Kardon Citation 18 tuner. The build quality is over the top inside and out. This tuner listed for a whooping $595.00 back in 1977 and from what I understand, HK gear like Mac gear was not really discounted much.
I know back than I was in the work force for only a few years and couldn't even dream of owning something like this. Heck, I couldn't spend that on an entire system.

BillWojo
 
I remember my friend bought some JBL's and they didn't discount a penny.

Very expensive speakers at the time.
 
I hate to go off on a tangent, but in my opinion, the so-called "inflation" calculators don't do a very good job. That's partly because the government wants it that way. . . .

I can't resist. What the heck does that mean? The government wants what? what way? And why does it?

We don't do economics real well here on AK.
 
That is a fine chart, however, the vintage Marantz receiver was built in the US, while its modern day counterpart is built in China. Labor is the factor that caused many US companies to either fold (Soundcraftsmen, SAE, others) or move off shore (or partially move off shore).

A "bean counter" chart doesn't cover all of the bases, and (IMO) is itself, inflated.

So are you saying that if someone built a Marantz 2230 in 2017, it would cost less in real dollars than it did in 1974?

What "bases" doesn't a "bean counter chart" cover?
 
So are you saying that if someone built a Marantz 2230 in 2017, it would cost less in real dollars than it did in 1974?
Not knowing exactly what you're getting at, constructing an actual 2230 cannot be predicted. Some parts are no longer available.

But, as for constructing a unit with similar performance, today's stuff is markedly a better deal. Consider, a 30 watt 2230 listed for $300 back in the early 70's.but a Yamaha with 100 watts can be had for about $100 or so.

https://www.newaudiounited.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1580

Now, I don't want to get involved with the "vintage/modern is better" squabble. I'll just say that one can get comparable or better performance for the same or lower dollar amount today.

FWIW, I've got one of each and while the 2230 has panache, the 201 is no slouch performance wise. ..and it has remote control. But, given my druthers, I'll keep the yammie.

What "bases" doesn't a "bean counter chart" cover?
Bean counters count everything, including figuring the time it takes for an assembly line worker takes to stop and scratch their nose when figuring labor costs.,
 
I recently looked up the price of my fathers Magnavox console. He bought it in 1963 when it listed for $600. That's around $4800 today! I image they were discounted some but that still a lot of money.
 
a bare bones rega brio..minus all lovely vintage details we covet like machined knobs, wood casing , steel chassis, shielded transformers, a zillion hand soldered parts on individual circuit boards, and enough weight to inspire confidence that no plastic was used in the interest of cost cutting or cheap mass production.. will set you back £600 in today's money...
I'm sure the parts count outside and inside compared to a budget 70s Sansui makes the inflation adjusted figure actually seem cheap...
https://www.whathifi.com/rega/brio/review

Not sure why folks seem to think older gear is worth more...

Dont get me wrong, im a collector of vintage gear. With that said, just because something is old, does not mean its worth anything.

For example, My Pioneer SX-650 in mint cond would probably sell quick in the $1-200 dollar range. My 1250 (Same era) will sell for quite a bit more.

Is this due to using more components? No, many factors come in to play when pricing vintage gear. I've read many threads were people try to use inflation to find the price of an amp... TOTOAL BS.

Its the Power ratings, rarity, and sound quality... Restoration process... ect.

Modern gear sells for more money now, because people are willing to pay, and people make more money. That does not increase the value of a low buck receiver from the 70's. IT may cost more to build the same low buck amp now a days, but this is why most companies dont hand build amps anymore...

and when they do, they will demand a higher price tag, that does not mean old gear will increase in value, it just means its well built, and will probably retain its value at best.

Now, do i think vintage gear sounds better? some.. :)

Kind Regards,
John
 
Inflation calculators are not intended to project the price of electronics, they show you the cost of money. If you select a particular year and a value of $100, the inflation calculator will calculator the value of that $100 in today's dollars. So if one paid $300 in 19XX, the inflation calculator will show you how many dollars that is in 2017. If that number is now $1500, then yes, in 19XX you paid the equivalent of $1500 in 2017 dollars for that receiver. It makes no difference that electronics got cheaper, because you still paid that much for it in 2017 dollars.

So to the OP, yes, absolutely, old vintage gear was expensive in "vintage" dollars and in today's dollars. Some of it was very expensive back when people had a hard time scraping up that much dough.

People will post that they purchased a new pair of bookshelf speakers for $1500 and someone will say that they only paid $250 back in 1970. Well, you know what? That is essentially the same price in real dollars.
 
Inflation/deflation does not matter to me. All I know is that I have owned some equipment that I could only dream about in the 60's and 70's. Some of it was free, some cost less than a dinner at a nice restaurant. Some pieces command a premium price and some people think their stuff is made of gold. I pass on those. The vintage sound is good, but the nostalgia is great.
 
I can't resist. What the heck does that mean? The government wants what? what way? And why does it?

We don't do economics real well here on AK.

They don't calculate the CPI the way they used to. Basically, they have a basket of goods and services and track the cost of those, year to year. Anyway, the government pays out lots of money every year for Social Security and pensions, all indexed to the CPI. Back in the 90s, I believe, Bill Clinton asked that the formula be changed. So, they fooled around with it a bit to show lower inflation numbers. That saves the government big bucks. There's a website called Shadow Stats or something like that that calculates inflation the old way. It's a lot higher using the original method.
 
So are you saying that if someone built a Marantz 2230 in 2017, it would cost less in real dollars than it did in 1974?

What "bases" doesn't a "bean counter chart" cover?

No one could build a "Marantz 2230" today. Its filled with discrete components and by today's standards, over-built. Whether we like it or not, today's receivers have Op-Amps, lots of semi-conductors and chips, and the construction is "value engineered" (to reduce chassis cost).

Bean counter charts simply convert yesterdays dollars to todays dollars, but do not consider technology advancements, labor positions, or other global manufacturing tactics. A perfect example is the modern day LED TV, in which just not too many years ago, it cost a small fortune, even by today's dollars, but the advancement of technology and improved manufacturing "tooling" have dropped the prices, while improving the quality to a price point that all but someone living under a bridge could afford.
 
Many modern pieces are improvements. I owned Dynaco A25 speakers for many years. Right now in my bedroom system, I own a pair of modern Focal Aria 906 monitors. The real dollars prices of these two are relatively close. I find the Focals to be a significant improvement over the A25. Granted, one can find used A25s for much less than Aria 906s, but their original target market and pricing were quite similar. They are an interesting comparison of vintage vs modern.
 
Back
Top Bottom