naimnut
Deep in the Mines of Soul
It is well known that certain pieces of vintage equipment fetch very high prices in certain parts of the world. The recent comments on LS 3/5a madness offers a case in point.
The purpose of this thread is to request the comments of those who have experienced the quality/lack of it with some of the so-sought-after vintage pieces. How do these pieces compare to current equipment or equipment of later vintage? Is the hype valid? Or simply the result of mass/shared beliefs?
Part of the reason I ask is that, near where I live, a JBL Paragon speaker system recently went up for auction, fetching over $9,000. Comparable pieces can be seen on Audiogon for 15k. Yet one poster on a different forum said that these pieces were often sonically inferior to less expensive, newer pieces. Old driver surrounds may have stiffened, or be damaged, or the fundamental design may have intrinsic limitations which would render the sound "dated" by comparison to new designs and technology.
Also, from personal experience, I can speak to the idea that some pieces of equipment can be a breakthrough. I remember spending a day with a high quality passive preamp - it made the 72/hicap I was comparing it to sound like a muffled, soggy muddle by comparison (note that I own and use a 72/hicap). But perhaps the sonic compromises with the 72/'cap were due to impedance mismatches between the preamp and the vtl 225 tube amplifiers? I don't know...
Sometimes equipment must be carefully matched to demonstrate its full potential and those who denigrate it have heard it incorrectly set up.
So, for those of you who have experience and can share your experiences hearing properly set up vintage gear, I'd very much appreciate reading your comments here. Of particular interest are these Altec 17s, 19s and other horn-based systems, tannoys, Klipschs, tubes, quads, electrostatics, etc.
Hope others will be as interested in this topic as I am.
Joel, I hope you'll share your experiences in Japan, in particular.
Markus
The purpose of this thread is to request the comments of those who have experienced the quality/lack of it with some of the so-sought-after vintage pieces. How do these pieces compare to current equipment or equipment of later vintage? Is the hype valid? Or simply the result of mass/shared beliefs?
Part of the reason I ask is that, near where I live, a JBL Paragon speaker system recently went up for auction, fetching over $9,000. Comparable pieces can be seen on Audiogon for 15k. Yet one poster on a different forum said that these pieces were often sonically inferior to less expensive, newer pieces. Old driver surrounds may have stiffened, or be damaged, or the fundamental design may have intrinsic limitations which would render the sound "dated" by comparison to new designs and technology.
Also, from personal experience, I can speak to the idea that some pieces of equipment can be a breakthrough. I remember spending a day with a high quality passive preamp - it made the 72/hicap I was comparing it to sound like a muffled, soggy muddle by comparison (note that I own and use a 72/hicap). But perhaps the sonic compromises with the 72/'cap were due to impedance mismatches between the preamp and the vtl 225 tube amplifiers? I don't know...
Sometimes equipment must be carefully matched to demonstrate its full potential and those who denigrate it have heard it incorrectly set up.
So, for those of you who have experience and can share your experiences hearing properly set up vintage gear, I'd very much appreciate reading your comments here. Of particular interest are these Altec 17s, 19s and other horn-based systems, tannoys, Klipschs, tubes, quads, electrostatics, etc.
Hope others will be as interested in this topic as I am.
Joel, I hope you'll share your experiences in Japan, in particular.
Markus
