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Classifying Vintage Audio Equipment

drbranch said:
[6]: Magnepan Magneplanar Timpani loudspeaker
First Stereophile review: Spring 1973 (Vol.3 No.4; also Vol.8 No.6). Back in the late 1980s, more Stereophile readers owned Magneplanar panels than any other loudspeaker. Jim Winey's twin ideas of using an array of ceramic refrigerator magnets and bonding a flat wire coil to a Mylar diaphragm allowed him to create a magnetic equivalent to an electrostatic speaker but without some of the latter's problems, and with additional benefits such as ease of drive and much higher power handling. The current Magnepan designs may use a ribbon tweeter and be refined in all areas of performance, but are no different in concept from what Paul Bolin calls "a landmark in the dictionary sense of the word."
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Actually, the original series of Magnepans were called "Tympani". I have vivid memories of first hearing the T-III in 1974. The current 30.1 is the ultimate evolution of the T-III series :)
 
drbranch said:
It amazes me that #1 is a turntable, but, of course, it is a turntable I have never heard.
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and with all the upgrades over the decades there are probably no two alike out there. Easy to spend the price of the table on upgrades on a regular basis. Continuous development on this one.
 
There are a number of lists. This one is fine as are the lists in the different magazines for either decade or annual best ofs. Gonna be some work to collect all that data but as you look over Audio, High Fidelity and Stereo Reveiw magazines, knowing advertizing can buy better rankings, you will learn a lot. www.americanradiohistory.com should have what you need to keep filling this thread with lists.

any list that induces the 70s and does not have an Audio Research SP-3 or some variant is not a very good list unless it is for tt or speakers only.
 
I am continuing to review the different magazines and years. Some have the best of and others do not, but it is a labor of love.

The thing I am beginning to understand is this: over the years there have been lots of "good" products, but the ones favorited are the ones that have stayed intact over time or have taken just a modicum of love and desire to restore. Of course, there are those products that evoke love out of great memories. What I am trying to get out of these lists is those products that have stood the test of time; i.e., they well well built and designed and show it.
 
drbranch said:
What I am trying to get out of these lists is those products that have stood the test of time; i.e., they well well built and designed and show it.
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That opens up your list of the best stuff to all sorts of mediocre performing gear. There is lots of gear that is well designed and built that show it that aren't that great in sound quality. For gear to make any recommended lists as mentioned in your first post it must first sound excellent for the time. Not just good but excellent. Lots of stuff sounds good.
 
And this further opens up what I am perceiving as the Philosophy of Vintage Components: it is well built and designed AND has reproduces quality sound well. One of the reasons I started with Stereophile is that they demand excellent sound reproduction or at least expect it. That can be a problem if all you review are expensive pieces that no one can truly afford unless they are a millionaire. I find this evolution in my thinking to be exciting. I went from desire for the beauty of vintage stereo to the desire of excellent sound reproduction and then both.
 
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