Who made the best vintage audio?

Not really. there was a lot of junk made back then. It all ended up in the junk yards long ago and that was the end of that. The better stuff survived. The market tells you well it's valued. Sears and Montgomery Wards had their own brands as did a few other stores like them. Then there were the really cheap japanese stuff that looked like tin and sounded even tinnier.
So would it more accurate to say we should be looking at the usual more popular Brand's we all seem to like from that era like
Marantz Receivers
McIntosh everything
Pioneer Receivers , Amps ?
Technics Amps & Receivers
Fisher for Tube Amps etc ?
Sansui Amps , Receivers
Kenwood Amps, Receivers
Yamaha Amps & Receivers

And a few others I'm forgetting

Then there's Speaker manufacturers
ADS
KEF
Infinity
Theil
Acoustic Research
JBL
Klipsch
Altec Lansing
Cerwin Vega
OHM Acoustics
Rectilinear
Dynaco
Magnepan
Dahlquist


And look to some old Tech HiFi catalogs for some other brands I'm forgetting....

Or

For me it's easier just to rule out the absolute cheapest junk from that era and keep an open mind and look to other Audiophile's that praise their Pet Brands and models and ignore the rest.
 
This is an excellent list. Even Apple had its misses: Newton, Pippin, G4 Cube to name a few. I suspect that the tech folks who worked on the equiqment would have a few suggestions.
 
LOL. Nope, you're not capable of producing that in me. Everyday I fight it out with lawyers and judges in high conflict cases. Comments like yours roll off like water on a duck's back. You were wrong about Marantz gear. Get over it and move on.

What is the incorrect statement I made about Marantz products?
 
Perhaps he is confusing my post with someone else's. Oh well.

Hope this thread gets back on track.
 
in the speaker line, not out of personal bias, but JBL would be at the top just because of the money the vintage,TOL products fetch. My dad's brother actually had a JBL Paragon powered by tube gear. Most people seeing it had no idea what it was. Biggest mistake I ever made was not talking him out of it--he knew his son cared nothing for it. Without a doubt, JBL made great, legendary stuff and the prices for it show that.
 
Spark--

Whoever it was, included Marantz in the list of mass made japanese gear. I posted with a correction that countered that mistake. You then posted that you would reply to that but you didn't want to feed the troll. SO, then I posted a pic of the rear of one of my 250's and stated that I was not a troll. Someone else posted that it was majorly cool and asked where they were made. I responded. And then you started down your road of pedantic silliness.
IMG_6232.jpg

Look, reality in the late 60's and 70's was that marantz was, without a doubt, not only a class of its own, but the most expensive stereo gear on the planet. McIntosh was a close second, wannabee. And nothing else came close. Now, I do like Pioneer gear and always have. But it was not Marantz. I won't say anything about the japanese gear. I knew a few people who really liked their Sansui gear. It was loud. Their speakers were lackluster to say the least and, god forbid to those who like Imperial speakers, the only Marantz speaker I ever wanted were the 9's that I own. As pretty as Marantz turntables were/are, they are not good tables by any means when compared to a Thorens. Pioneer made good TT's that were pretty as well. But--nobody made a better tonearm than SME. I'm 59. I was there. I have cousins and friends in their 70's who buying the shit in the late 60's, early 70's. My uncle's boutique tube gear was to die for. But--I'd still rather have Marantz (which he would have bought had they still made tube gear when he bought that gear circa 65) above all else. And I do have other gear in my collection--fisher tube gear, Phase Linear, etc. I have a lot of shit I've colected over the years. maybe 5 or 6 need servicing. Hopefully I'll get around to it. What I still have left does not reflect what I have given to my older kids--3300 preamp and DC 170 amp, 1060 int amp, 105 tuner and yet another 140 amp to another, DC 1172 (?) and 105B tuner is floating around somewhere as well--its presently powering the ARs I have.

I just don't care for nonsense over the Marantz gear. I had fun with another poster, but please, marantz was not mass produced japanese midfi. That is just a grotesque statement that holds no merit and makes the person making the statement sound ignorant. Smacks of jealousy.
 
I can open a can of worms to this thread...i knew the man who was the production manager for Fisher at the time Marantz started building SS amps...he told me all the early Marantz SS gear had to be sent to Fisher for a correction that Marantz couldn't get right...Fisher fixed the early amps & sent them back...this was when they both were located in Long Island City,Queens,NY.this was told to me about 25 years ...HE also told me Fisher amps were voiced for Chamber Music...by Avery Fisher.
 
I can open a can of worms to this thread...i knew the man who was the production manager for Fisher at the time Marantz started building SS amps...he told me all the early Marantz SS gear had to be sent to Fisher for a correction that Marantz couldn't get right...Fisher fixed the early amps & sent them back...this was when they both were located in Long Island City,Queens,NY.this was told to me about 25 years ...HE also told me Fisher amps were voiced for Chamber Music...by Avery Fisher.

Yeah...well... I knew a guy that knew Avery...

He told me that Avery had an 8b hidden in one of his President Consoles that was in his dining room:)
This was June 17th 1960.

(We all know that when you add a date to an anecdotal claim, it makes it true) :D
 
Yeah...well... I knew a guy that knew Avery...

He told me that Avery had an 8b hidden in one of his President Consoles that was in his dining room:)
This was June 17th 1960.

(We all know that when you add a date to an anecdotal claim, it makes it true) :D
I'm talking about SS amps... not tubes like the Marantz 8B...I like Marantz gear...just relaying a old conversation...all good & not trying to put any brand down...as for a date...???
 
From what I've owned, and it's been quite a lot, I would have to say:

High end - Accuphase (hands down)
Mid end - Sansui

My opinion only FWIW
 
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