Anyone into vintage home audio??

I had a McIntosh deck in my car years ago, still kick myself in the ass for selling it. You would think with that little thing called "The Internet" people would look things up to see what they have before tossing it out.

 

There is still quite a few people out my way that are very knowledgeable and skilled repairmen. You should get it fixed up so it doesn't end up in a dumpster.

 

Very nice, the ascetics of the vintage stuff, not to mention the better sound quality, make it so much nicer then the modern stuff.

 

I wish I'd got my SAE cassette deck fixed instead of dumpstering it.

I bought it sometime around 1980. A few years later, my wife told me my son had broke my tape player. Asked her WTF was he even doing messing with it.

Little dumb ass spilled Pepsi on one of his cassette's and was afraid to try it in his Walkman, so the idiot tried it out in my deck. It needless to say didn't work, but he's still alive.

Looked exactly like this one.

 

Vintage audio? I been leaving that stuff on the curb for passer-by's to have. There really is a market?

 

It depends on the piece. Vintage audio is definitely a thing. Unlike most electronics, which lose value even faster than a German luxury sedan, audio equipment tends to remain relevant for decades. At least, that’s the case with good stuff. The more digital capabilities the piece features, the less it will hold its value. Analog components remain desirable, and likely will forever.

Newer electronics, especially those that rely on HDMI connections and digital-to-analog converters, will likely never be collectible. Digital standards change quickly enough to destroy the resale value of most modern equipment. Even parts that don’t use HDMI, but are required to process digital signals, will lose value quickly. I don’t bother to save a lot of audio-video receivers in the recycling bin at work because their HDMI boards are too old to support at least semi-current HDMI standards. I also pass on Onkyo and Denon AVRs because they probably have bad digital main boards, but that’s a different topic altogether.

 

There's a huge market for quality built equipment from the late 60's through the mid to late 70's. In my opinion the new digital equipment is ment to last a couple of years (or how ever long that technology is relevant) and then be replaced. Where as the vintage stuff was built to last as long as possible, and be repaired not replaced.

 

So far the closest I've gotten is replacing all the capacitors in my Dads (now my sisters), Pioneer PL-71 turntable. It sat for years, and then after she ran it for a while, most of them just leaked out and it wouldn't run at a constant speed.


I think I'd enjoy working on them, analog electronics are fun. But as far as listening, meh, modern stuff sounds fine to me.

 

I feel the same. No more cleaning albums, and changing head shells/cartridges. I had one for playing old albums, one for playing newer albums, and one that cost an arm and a leg for just recording albums onto cassettes.

Cassettes actually sounded pretty good. I think I still have a box of old/new Maxwell metal cassettes in my attic.

 

Thank you for calling it a cartridge, and not a needle.

 

Every Mercedes I ever owned had the old Becker Radios in it later some Blaupunkt. Of Course we still have a turntable and tons of vinyl from our Punk Days on the shelves. My 1966 Mercedes had a Becker Radio with shortwave that was an option in 66. It work like a charme I could listen to stations like Rias Berlin while chruzing the streets of Phoenix at night.

 

I regret not kleptoing my dad's gear when they moved. He had an old Kenwood receiver, a GORGEOUS Pioneer amplifier, an Akai reel to reel and Acoustic Research speakers, all from the 60's and '70's. I know there was a record player in ther, too, but I don't remember what brand it was.

That setup is what started my interest in audio equipment and while I started out with tape and CD players, I quickly became more interested in movies so VCRs and DVD players took over. Now I'm using an Onkyo receiver with an XBox One for 7.3 surround in my theater room.

Which is quite a long ways from vintage!

 

I have a McIntosh 4100 that I have had for years. Sounds amazing, least it used to.

Over the last few years it sat unused in the garage, and it took some.damage. the external am ferrite antenna broke, and button was lost.



However, few months back I found the needed parts on Ebay needed to fix.the damage. I also.picked up a recap kit for it.

Photo from.hudson valley hifi of similar unit that has been restored


Been looking at picking up a technics SL1200 turntable to go with it..

 

Anything McIntosh has amazing sound quality, I would love to have one but the price tag scares me.

 

I have a Phase Linear 4000 pre-amp and 2, 400 amps sitting in my closet.

 

I just threw a Yamaha 7.1 tuner off the 2nd floor balcony because it kept turning off and you expect me to have equipment from 20 years ago?

 

"20 years ago?"
The stuff from the late 90's and 2000's is junk IMO. Try 50+ years old.

 

Was at my buddies house this morning, he works for the city and found this Kenwood KR-5600 next to a dumpster yesterday. Plugged it in and it works great.

 

My dad bought my mom this console stereo as a wedding present back in the 60's. They still have it, but it's been stored in the garage for decades. Apparently everything still works. I've laid claim to it and will get it once the 'rona has passed (may be a while).

The video isn't theirs but it's the same model, with the pop up reel to reel. In the pictures you can see some damage to the veneer, but I don't think it's all the way through so I'm hopeful I can repair it.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y8M3Ky-URgs

 

Loved the JBL L100’s. My first exposure to true hifi when I was a kid. My Yamaha 3020 receiver recently packed it in so I’m lookin’ for a Monster receiver with a MC phono preamp. Kinda hard to find these days.