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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 13:30:51 GMT
I'd be one of the first to recognise the build quality of some vintage kit. I also love the aesthetics of much of it. Some of it also sounds wonderful.
That said, just a few minutes looking down eBay listings reminds me time and again that any out tat made before 1980 is being hawked for stupid money.
Its become trendy to own vintage kit. That's fine if you have always had a love of the stuff and a knowledge to differentiate between gems and garbage. If you're just buying it because it has big silver knobs and VU meters, you're likely to be paying way over the odds for much of it these days.
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Post by MartinT on Jan 14, 2018 14:11:06 GMT
Just to take one example: Quad 22/II valve amps. However revered they are, they do not perform like a high quality modern amp. To me, they are a part of history and not something I want in my system.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 14:32:15 GMT
Worse still are all those mediocre 15-30 watt Jap amps with £300-500 price tags on them. Same with some utterly crap Jap DD turntables. Just because a few great amps were produced by the major jap manufacturers in the 60s and 70s doesn't mean they are all going to be worth megabucks. Ten years ago, they were all going for car boot prices, now they are all going for daft money. Where's the middle ground?
There are British vintage items that are overpriced too, just as you say. LS3/5as must be the prime example.
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Post by ChrisB on Jan 14, 2018 15:20:44 GMT
The pendulum has swung way too far the other way. In the mid to late eighties you only get £150 for a Garrard 401 or a Radford power amp, due to the Linn/Naim driven nonsense that was being bandied about.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 15:47:23 GMT
Just remember a lot of people buy to collect & not use. I used to have a massive collection of Vintage amplifiers a lot i had no intentions using.
A lot of our 1960's kit has also bee sent to the far east where they are more than happy to pay big bucks.
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Post by julesd68 on Jan 14, 2018 17:21:41 GMT
Just remember a lot of people buy to collect & not use. I used to have a massive collection of Vintage amplifiers a lot i had no intentions using. A lot of our 1960's kit has also bee sent to the far east where they are more than happy to pay big bucks. The Far East pick up on a lot of trends and also create their own trends. Not just 1960s too - I couldn't believe what I got for a pair of Royd speakers that went to Japan via ebay ... |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 17:23:37 GMT
I can totally get the collecting part, but surely quality and rarity would need to be factors. Lots of this stuff is mass-market junk that was completely un-remarkable in its day.
It also shows how fickle the hifi market is too. I remember when Garrard 401s were worth nothing, yet now you see people getting shot of expensive decks to buy one for big money. Same with Lowthers. The shop I worked in couldn't sell a pair for a fiver and had to actually pay somebody to take them away! We used to throw away Rega R200 arms because they were seen as junk (and sound like it to me), and I still remember the boss getting bollocked off the owner for giving £50 part ex on a Michell Hydraulic Reference. I must say it sounded shite too, so I can see where the owner was coming from.
I predict the flat earth stuff and the less common kit from 80s and 90s will be the next big thing. All the "wise guys" who now diss the LP12 and Naim amps, claiming they never bought into it will be scouring EBay in another 10 years, unable to get enough of it!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 21:06:57 GMT
Mass market Junk or not its the Aesthetics.. Not all people are into Hi-Fi. If it looks the part in their living room & sounds good enough to enjoy, its good enough for them. As for the Hydraulic, well no matter what it sounds like all Clockwork Orange fan are going to want one, that is why they always sell no matter how much.
I use a Trio 'KA2004' Intergrated amp from the early 70's, Never got a bad review in the day however many Hi-Fi enthusiasts would never call it good Hi-Fi, But i love the Style, superb built quality & think its good enough to my ears.. No one wanted them years ago, a year or so ago you could pick one up for £20. Now they fetch something like £80-100 & they will continue to go up in price.. Ferrograph 'F307' i had, Broke down more times than i could remember. Also always had good reviews in the 70's, they fetched a couple years ago but now warrant around £100, they are now actually very thin on the ground. Again far from Hi-Fi sound any enthusiast would expect these days but they look loverly, Extremely well built & ofc British made.
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