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Alternate, affordable vintage tube gear

M

msjanket

Active Member
Whew! Some of these vintage units are fetching huge prices now on the 'Bay. Are there some (shhhh!) tube units that are nicely worthy of purchase that are still, gasp!, affordable. Some of the audio websites are really help boost sale prices into the stratosphere these days.

I am most interested in integrated amps at the moment.

Thanks, I'll keep this a secret from everybody.

Mike
 
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The trick is to get them from thrift stores, junk shops, flea markets, trash pick-up days, etc. You can get tube type stereo receivers and amps for free to 10 dollars. However, these are often units that have not been used in a while, so they often need repair. Also look at estate sales...sometimes there are high quality components such as Fisher receivers and amps mounted in consoles that can be bought for around $40.00. You can also find other good types of consoles such as Magnavox...you can remove the tuner and amp and install in your own case if you don't like consoles.

The trade-offs of buying from second-hand shops and sales is that you need to take time to visit a lot of them to come up with some good equipment...also it is good if you can repair and maintain them yourself.
 
In addition to Chad's suggestions, I would point out that many Japanese-made integrateds are wonderful and undervalued. I bought a couple even on ebay for under $40, sometimes under $25. A Sansui 1000A won't go cheap, but the lesser-known names like Olson, Monarch, Calrad, etc. can be great values.

Of course this is also true with US-made vintage gear. There were lots of manufacturers of quality stuff who never got the cachet.

Best bet if you can spend more time than money is to find one in the rough, as Chad said. Forget ebay and hit the junk places. This is especially good advice if you like the hunt, and get a thrill out of finding a Sherwood or Fisher unit for the price you would pay for SHIPPING ALONE if you buy it on ebay.

Happy hunting! And if you're in the Toledo area, swing by and see me. I REALLY have to downsize! Catch me while I'm vulnerable.
 
It is, as you surmise, SO dangerous to ask a quesiton like this... since it's exactly HOW some of those prices get so stratospheric in the first place! Consider, for example, the EICO HF-81 (a very good amp) or, better yet, the EICO single ended, stereo AF-4 (a really cheap amp). The former is quite expensive because of some good buzz at the Klipsch Forum and other places some years ago. The prices that the latter fetches on eBAY astound me! It's a perfectly OK little amp, but...

As to your question: as Chad said, luck (and patience) is probably the best way to find something decent that isn't outrageous. I very much like the console amps from Magnavox, but they're not really bargains from a place like eBAY. Thrifts, fleamarkets, garage sales, and your town dump/swap pile (if so equipped) are great places to look, indeed. Consider buying two monoblocks rather than a stereo amp, even if you have to do it piecemeal. Example, with luck and patience, you could buy two EICO HF-12's on eBAY for considerably less (possibly even half) what a single HF-81 would cost... and an HF-81 is essentially two HF-12's in one cabinet.

Finally, I'd opine that tube amps from the "S" companies (Scott and Sherwood) are likely better values than 'equivalent' pieces from the "M" companies (McIntosh and Marantz)! :-) Also worthy of consideration are h/k, Pilot, EICO (mentioned above), Channel Master (!), VM (Voice of Music), Radio Craftsmen, Allied/Knight/Radio Shack, Lafayette... must be more, but I think these are some good brands to look for that might not have the sticker shock of some better-known brands.
 
I remember getting an Eico HF-12 for 25 cents at the flea market back in 1986 or so. I was not even sure what it did...I was about 9 yrs old at the time, but then, as now, I was really interested in electronics, so I just went ahead and bought it, thinking I would figure out exactly how to use it later. I eventually figured out it was an amplifier!
 
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Good story, Chad! I bought a Heathkit EA-3 (also mono PP 6BQ5) at a hamfest for $3, and got a mate for it in a pile of stuff I got for free (by being persistent).

I couldn't believe how good the pair sounded. That was one of several key moments in my intro to tube gear.
 
Sherwoods are a very good value, with quality of sound that is comparable to modern amps costing much more.

Also, I have had a Magnavox 6v6 amp (out of a console), which I regretably sold, that I routinely used to trick friends who thought I had a new high end stereo playing. I paid $20 for it.

Jon:)
 
"S"

Someone mentioned brands starting with "S" Sherwood, Scott etc. Don't forget about Stromberg Carlson. They made some nice stuff that often sells for less than a few others.
 
I like the "H's"...

... as in Heathkit and Harman-Kardon. The little HK Award integrated amps are a still-reasonably-priced way to get into tube gear... and they sound very good.

And if you're looking for seperate amps and preamps, the Heathkit SP2-series preamps surprised me as to how good they sound. I've got a mono version, that I used with a Marantz Model 5 briefly, for a demo at work... and it HELD ITS OWN in the system with that Marantz! Several people were marvelling at how well-balanced it was...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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