Vintage vs Modern Audio Gear: Which is better?

[prerich]

I'm a vintage guy...I own heavily modded Klipsch Cornwalls with ALK crossovers and Crites Tweeters, these speakers would certainly be considered vintage. However, what about the new vintage? High End speakers from the 90's before speaker prices went through the roof? That's what I'm using now - I'm using Infinity Composition Prelude P-FR's and I must say they are some of the best sounding speakers I've ever heard!!! I like them more than almost anything I heard at Axpona in 2012 (I put them right there in the class with Legacy Focus, JA Pulsars, and the Tidal speakers - only the Scanea's and a few others sound a bit better - but not for the money spent)! I believe that's the competitive point of "vintage" the 90's when many a great speaker was made and now is actually affordable!!!!

 

[Diesel57]

This is a great and enlightening article, I'll be "60" tomorrow and while looking at this number as I tap in letters to form words I snicker and shake my head with a smile because "GOD" have blessed me as well as others opportunities to embrace and experience the old which I prefer the word vintage to see and embrace along with experiencing the modern design & performance of cars and audio technology and be mindful that the journey along with the experience hasn't always been pleasant, however it's provided and given a appreciation and greatfulnes that can't be forgotten or removed...THANKS TO ALL...CHEERS

 

[Fomoco69]

It's all a big trade off.....it's nice to have a couple of each....cars & stereos....

 

[highfigh]

Rick, why do you hate the troops and America?

Actually, A7s worked will for covering a big club with nice, crisp vocals. That "crispness" gets ugly in a near field, though, and they have no bass below 70 Hz and no treble above 10 kHz or so.

The Pioneer speakers- not CS-99a, were they?

 

[Fomoco69]

The Pioneer speakers- not CS-99a, were they?

Paul, I don't know what your talking about...I'm a proud Navy veteran & love the USA, just not our traitor liberal corrupt politicians.... Trump had it right!

 

[highfigh]

Paul, I don't know what your talking about...I'm a proud Navy veteran & love the USA, just not our traitor liberal corrupt politicians.... Trump had it right!

Why are you replying to me?

 

[harley52]

I can’t understand how Apogees could be considered vintage. The Stages are still the standard when it comes to vocals.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Paul, I don't know what your talking about...I'm a proud Navy veteran & love the USA, just not our traitor liberal corrupt politicians.... Trump had it right!

When you don't know how to Internet... This is what we end up with. Incredible job with the necrobump and the complete lack of sarcasm followed by the useless interjection of actual politics into a thread when it wasn't asked for.

 

[TLS Guy]

Now we know that Trump is an audio enthusiast we can continue this discussion. Although quoting from the Song of Reproduction from Flanders and Swan he probably has "flutter on his bottom!"

That song goes back to the mid fifties so we are keeping this to a vintage theme.

As the owner of more vintage gear than most of you, and think I'm entitled to a view.

I think the biggest difference and improvement is that good consistent quality is now much easier to obtain. That does not mean low-Fi is not still with us, but as you all know it abounds.

However, back when a lot of my vintage gear was new, that gear would have been in relatively few homes. In addition it took a lot of technical know how and constructional skill to put a good system together. For the general population things were not good. Most had to put up with a table record player single ended with an output of between one and three watts. Under the lid was generally an appalling auto changer, designed by someone who wandered in from the bicycle industry. Or else there was a piece of ornate furniture known as a radiogram stuffed with electronics that was not very reliable and the quality abysmal.

About the only part of a vintage system that can be of everyday use in a modern system are power amps in good running order. If you are a vinyl enthusiast it is legitimate to include turntables, although the cartridge will often have been updated. Reel to reel tape machines are capable of superb fidelity. However they require continuing care and maintenance. But above all tapes in good condition are hard to find and deteriorating year by year. New tape is expensive and the fact is it is far more trouble to make a recording with one of those fine old machines than recording digitally and running costs are minimal digitally. Digital editing is easily learned, but razor blade editing is a skill that takes years to really perfect.

People who think that vintage gear is better than what can be achieved with modern gear are frankly deluded.

I should know as I have have the best of a significant part of it. However I'm honest about it. I call it what it; is my museum. The pleasure comes from preserving it for future generations by maintaining it, to optimal original performance. Compared to new equipment that is work, especially the tape equipment. Cassette tape at its best is a borderline HI-Fi medium and much more an historic medium of convenience. I should know as I have the best of the best on original operating condition.

The interest comes from showing visitors just how well it did, and does function. So when I play a 60 year old turntable with an arm and cartridge playing via a nearly 60 year old tube preamp, it rightfully creates astonishment. The fidelity is of the highest order. When the units were new their were very few who could afford to purchase them and even more to the point, set them up. As I have pointed out before, you bought the turntable no plinth, and the arm and cartridge and it was up to the owner to built it into a functioning system.

Lastly, the speakers of the day, where nowhere near the quality of what is available now. So when I play my Garrard/Decca ffss turntable vis a Quad tube amp, it could never have sounded like that new, and the speakers lagged by miles.

So finally, while vintage items can be useful, and give a good account of them selves, a total vintage system would lag a modern one by miles going beyond the horizon.

 

[highfigh]

I can’t understand how Apogees could be considered vintage. The Stages are still the standard when it comes to vocals.

I can't believe this has to be done-

2- of old, recognized, and enduring interest, importance, or quality : CLASSIC

3a
: dating from the past : OLD
b
: OUTMODED, OLD-FASHIONED

Are they from recent production? No. Are they newer than 20 years old? Doubtful.

Vintage. Don't take it personally.

 

[harley52]

Well, come to think about it I guess they are vintage. And I’m very vintage. Just seems like a few years ago. But, it’s been over 30 years since they came to market.

 

[Kingnoob]

Are the glowing memories of vintage audio gear and vintage automobiles justified, or were they just mediocre machines whose performance has somehow "improved" over the decades?

Read this old-timer's assessment of both vintage muscle cars and vintage audio, based upon hands-on experience with both.

Read: Is Vintage Better than Modern for Audio Equipment?

Let us know in the discussion thread below if your still running vintage gear or if you ditched it to embrace the new. Don't forget to vote in our poll.

Modern gear imo , although some older jbl and altec , Klipsch are spectacular. I’ve heard jbl control monitors from the 80/90s they were amazing and 12” woofers not todays baby bottle woofers.

 

[Audio Collector]

It all depends.

Obviously there continues to be evolution across the whole technology spectrum.
There was a time where everything was analog. The came CDs, DVD SACD, BD and now downloading and streaming.

So obviously vintage gear is not compatible with a vast amount of current technology.

However in terms of basic construction the vintage gear generally wins hands down.

A reel to reel tape recorder not designed, engineered and built to the most exacting standards will sound awful. No error correction back then!

I personally think that the best vintage turntables which play the technology of yesteryear are in the vast majority of cases better then the modern efforts.

Power amps in particular from yesteryear can perform very well indeed. The best designs have proved reliable.

Vintage FM tuners are another case in point where the best of them are vintage.

Speakers are a very mixed bag. There are very few vintage speakers that are any good. In many ways you could say the same about current ones.

However if you have a nice set of TDL speakers say from 30 to 40 years ago, they will compete against pretty much anything now and far best the majority, even expensive ones.

Then as now, there was a lot of junk about.

What is irritating is how people now laud a lot of old junk. It was junk then and is now.

The problem with providing a home and a good use for older gear, is that you have to be highly discriminating.

If you look at eBay you can see that collectors are discriminating, by the high prices paid for the best and still useful gear from out past.

I have always selected my gear with the utmost care, and have made very few bad choices over the years. The result is, I still have most of it. I have restored a few units from eBay to compliment existing units to make for a fully functional archiving studio or to an extent museum if you will.

What astounds visitors who spend any extended time here is how the sound actually compares so favorably with the best of modern gear.

Careful design makes for longevity. My rear back speakers compare favorably with my mains, yet the design was perfected between 1984 and 1994.

It really is the same with all collecting be it cars, tractors or audio.

When I bought this lake home, I thought like most lake home owners an ATV is part of the basics.

However I determined that the available ATVs were junk.

So I looked for, and bought, a 1948 Willys CJ 2A jeep. The purchase and restoration was essentially identical to the cost of a top of the line ATV in 2000.

The fact is that the CJ 2A is more useful and reliable than the the ATVs. None of the ATVs of the neighbors here bought at the same time as mine are around.

The two vintage tractors are also performing well after I bought them 17 years ago.

I'm just about to get on the old 1948 JD model A and move the large recent snowfall.

As in all things you have to be discriminating, and most are not. That is the issue.

You no……. I say a little of both I have newer equ, mixed with older sounds awesome

 

[Audio Collector]

I say. Old mixed with new. Sounds great

 

[Audio Collector]

defiantly newer speakers 90s on up huge difference you can push power to them 1200 watts plus that’s what I push at times when you want

 

[Audio Collector]

Klf 30 times 4. Lol

 

[Fomoco69]

Are the glowing memories of vintage audio gear and vintage automobiles justified, or were they just mediocre machines whose performance has somehow "improved" over the decades?

Read this old-timer's assessment of both vintage muscle cars and vintage audio, based upon hands-on experience with both.

Read: Is Vintage Better than Modern for Audio Equipment?

Let us know in the discussion thread below if your still running vintage gear or if you ditched it to embrace the new. Don't forget to vote in our poll.

Agreed....it's a trade off, so its nice to have both....generally speaking vintage cars & audio equip used higher quality materials made to last....not cheap ass plastic

 

[MrBoat]

There was a much larger quality of performance gap between budget gear and hi-fi, 40-50 years ago. A lot of budget gear now is contending with hi-fi because it is most difficult for AI to design a flawed product. Marketers now have to essentially control (dial in the amount of quality/longevity) the quality or hold it back in which to structure different price points to reach as many economic classes as possible, without giving away the farm in the process.

Harman/JBL's budget offerings are often minor ticks away from being competitive with high-end, with the differences typically being something as ridiculous as leaving a brace out of the cabinets and using a thinner, lower quality particle board and vinyl wrapping, some cheaper wiring accommodations etc.

Modern audio is a hungry beast that needs to rely on constant sales and upgrades to feed all of the parasitic costs and minions of modern manufacturing that contribute very little value to the actual product. It's part of why we can't buy mass produced items that last 30 years anymore. Meanwhile, my Maytag washer from 1965 is still quieter than many that came after it, never goes out of balance on spin, and has no peeling paint or rust because it is clad inside and out with porcelain. I replaced a tub seal in it over 30 years ago for the cost of the seal and a special spanner to remove the reverse threaded gland nut that held it in, and I reconditioned the automatic tensioning motor mount while I was at it. I paid $75 for it used around 1988.

 

[Mikado463]

Are the glowing memories of vintage audio gear and vintage automobiles justified, or were they just mediocre machines whose performance has somehow "improved" over the decades?

Read this old-timer's assessment of both vintage muscle cars and vintage audio, based upon hands-on experience with both.

Read: Is Vintage Better than Modern for Audio Equipment?

Let us know in the discussion thread below if your still running vintage gear or if you ditched it to embrace the new. Don't forget to vote in our poll.

I know this thread started many years back but the article Gene provided did give me a good chuckle, especially the automotive comparisons. It's really not apples-to-apples, modern HP while eclipsing that of 50-55 years ago only does so for the most part because of 'power adders' (turbo or supercharging). Domestically there is but one king of the hill when it comes to NA motors and that's the C8 ZO6. As for why the author couldn't run better than '14' in the quarter that can be attributed to several things but tires are without question the number one reason.

As for Hi-Fi, I agree with TLS and others, speakers have come a loooong way since my parents Stromberg Carlson console stereo of the early sixties !

 

[Fomoco69]

There was a much larger quality of performance gap between budget gear and hi-fi, 40-50 years ago. A lot of budget gear now is contending with hi-fi because it is most difficult for AI to design a flawed product. Marketers now have to essentially control (dial in the amount of quality/longevity) the quality or hold it back in which to structure different price points to reach as many economic classes as possible, without giving away the farm in the process.

Harman/JBL's budget offerings are often minor ticks away from being competitive with high-end, with the differences typically being something as ridiculous as leaving a brace out of the cabinets and using a thinner, lower quality particle board and vinyl wrapping, some cheaper wiring accommodations etc.

Modern audio is a hungry beast that needs to rely on constant sales and upgrades to feed all of the parasitic costs and minions of modern manufacturing that contribute very little value to the actual product. It's part of why we can't buy mass produced items that last 30 years anymore. Meanwhile, my Maytag washer from 1965 is still quieter than many that came after it, never goes out of balance on spin, and has no peeling paint or rust because it is clad inside and out with porcelain. I replaced a tub seal in it over 30 years ago for the cost of the seal and a special spanner to remove the reverse threaded gland nut that held it in, and I reconditioned the automatic tensioning motor mount while I was at it. I paid $75 for it used around 1988.

Sounds like the truth to me...I agree & thanks a lot !