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Get down to your local Scout hut and see what they have left from the last Jumble Sale ............. its truly amazing what old Hi-Fi you can get that way - decent Celestian speakers too!!
The odd B&O system comes up too! An old 1970's type - the old codgers have popped their cloggs and the old thing is donated to the Scouts and is left in the corner or the school hall!
IMHO, vintage stuff is very much an acquired taste. It depends what you mean by "vintage" though. CD players only go back as far as 1985 of course. I still have one of Sony's second-ever UK CD players, and to be honest, it's not that bad. But it's nothing that you can't replicate with a £100 player from any high street shop today.
Speakers show their age even more - today's speakers are seriously good compared to what was on offer 20 years ago. There are some exceptions - Quad ESL 57s for example, but then we're not talking budget components any more.
In terms of amps, well they're possibly the componenets where old doesn't necessarily mean worse, as solid state technology hasn't moved on in leaps and bounds. With amps, it's more about whether you like the type of sound it makes, not the quality of the sound. You could pick up a 15 year old Audiolab 8000A for under £100 for example, and be very happy with it.
Overall though, i'd still be more tempted to buy new. You don't have to spend much, and the process of changing it if it's not exactly what you want will of course be a lot easier.
Location: Lots of different places! (Thank you Mr. Lambert)
Posts: 3,046
Tel,
I think you're absolutely right as far as budget hi-fi goes, but if you are prepared to up your price a little there is some great stuff to be had second-hand from the more esoteric manufacturers.
If we consider vintage to be 10 -20 years old then amps like the Linn Intek or the Naim Nait are wonderful pieces of kit at any vintage and speakers from Epos or Royd still sound wonderful today. CD players are bit more tricky as the technology has greatly improved in the last few years so unless you're looking to spend £750 upwards there is no real point going back to the vintage stuff.
I once owned a really old Nakamichi cassette deck. It was built like a tank, literally! But the amount of stuff you could adjust was just bonkers - it took at least half an hour to set it up if you wanted to do it properly!
But even today, a Maxell MA-XG tape, recorded on a Nakamichi Dragon, will give *any* CD player a run for its money. Just a shame about the lack of instant access, otherwise i'd still be using it a lot more...
I wouldn't be too sure about speakers showing their age. I am still running some Mission 764i's from the late 80's and everyone who hears them is blown away. I recently considered upgrading but to get anything like the quality I'd have to spend in excess of £2k. I did a direct A-B comparison with some £2800 B&W's and they were so close in so many areas I decided that I'd be better knocking £2800 off the mortgage. The B&W's also seemed to have a hole in the frequency range at around 40-60hz, not good for that price band.
When it comes to amps, the Audiolabs are still fine amps. I have a mate who may have one for sale as he's moved up to valve amps. Also consider the Cyrus II with PSX power supply. I've been more into AV than music systems for the last few years, but I recently (when I did the speaker dem) fired up my old Cyrus and WOW! The only teenager I know that is a joy to listen to. I've listened to many of the new amps around and they seem to be very sharp and clinical sounding. I always prefered a mellow, more musical sound. If the amp is too sharp it becomes difficult to differentiate things like steel/nylon guitar strings, or steel/wooden drum sticks.
I wouldn't consider using a DVD for serious CD playback, the DACs aren't very good IMHO. In the vintage CD player market, look for the likes of Arcam, Cyrus or Meridian.
Whatever you get, don't forget the cabling. A decent interconnect can be got for £20-30. Spend a bit more on speaker cables, as this will give the bigger benefit. Aim for £3-7/m, and see if stores will loan you some to try out first.
Happy shopping.
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Diesel, goes like stink. Eat my soot !
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But even today, a Maxell MA-XG tape, recorded on a Nakamichi Dragon, will give *any* CD player a run for its money. Just a shame about the lack of instant access, otherwise i'd still be using it a lot more...
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You mean TDK MA-XG? Ceramic cassette housing @ £7.99 C60?
I was 14 when I wanted to hear how good those metal tapes were on my £200 Aiwa twin-deck, my friends still dont get why I paid 8 quid on a blank tape.
I read about the Dragon deck having so little background hiss that you rarely ever need Dolby B or C, is that true?
Dragon versus the original Walkman proffesional...
Now that was a test... I would take the walkman everyday.Why?? More reliable cheaper and i found better sounding. The Dragon is fantstic but wouldnt want the problems.
Location: Lots of different places! (Thank you Mr. Lambert)
Posts: 3,046
What's all this crap about cassettes? You need to go reel to reel for the true vintage classic tape medium. Get yourself a Revox B77 and not only does it sound good, but it is just totally cool looking as well. I've got one next to my ancient 70's turntable
Maxell - what was i thinking? After all, TDK ran the ad campaign with the girl in silly-high heels. I think i need 50 lashes as punishment for forgetting!!
And i never use Dolby on the Dragon - absolutely no point. It just compresses the sound. People still don't believe how good it can be until i do a back to back demonstration.
