On May 5, 11:02=A0am, "Dave" <dspear9...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Trevor Wilson" <trevor@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:687dftF2ri8k5U1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > **Neither. A a lot of people are paying ridiculous prices for these
old
> > clunkers. Sell them both and buy a modern amp.
>
> > **Nothing of consequence. Both will require replacement of most (all)
> > electrolytica caps. Any OP amps used will be extremely primitive and
> > topology will not be anything great.
>
> I would respectfully disagree with this opinion. =A0People buy choose to
k=
eep
> electronic equipment for various reasons. =A0Personally I choose vintage
f=
or:
>
> 1. =A0Price - the system in my livingroom new would have cost perhaps
$3,5=
00.
> I paid about 15% of that.
> 2. =A0Repairability - "vintage" stuff mainly uses discrete components,
so
> often my repairs (self repaired, zero labor) run in the $30 range.
=A0I'd
> rather be able to replace a $0.20 resistor than a multilayer SMT $240
> "preamp board".
> 3. =A0Sound - with the exception of home theatre and mutli-channel,
> multi-speaker sound effects, the reproduction of sound in the 20-20KHz
ran=
ge
> with flat response and low distortion has not changed since the mid to
lat=
e
> 70's. =A0There are plenty of solid state transistor-based amplifiers
built=
in
> the late 70's and early 80's which great sound, by ANYONE's measure.
=A0Am=
p
> designs, feedback levels, etc. etc. have been understood and properly
> implemented since that time, although I'll grant you there were some
> unstable, crappy-sounding equipment put out at the dawn of the solid
state=
> age but... that was the learning curve period for the industry.
> 4. =A0Build quality - many amplifiers by such names as Kenwood, Sansui,
Ha=
rmon
> Kardon, Marantz, Luxman, Pioneer and others were very very well built
usin=
g
> quality overspec'ed components. =A0Whereas nowadays manufacturers will
sla=
p a
> 10,000uF cap in the power supply for an instantaneous power delivery of
20=
0W
> and put "200W amp" on the box, the older stuff is/was consistently
> UNDERrated for power delivery. =A0I worked on an HK receiver a few weeks
a=
go
> rated at 40wpc with 70w continuous rated output devices. =A0Power
transfor=
mers
> were bigger and better. =A0Tuners were more sensitive and more
selective.
> It's a testament to the build quality that so many of these units are
stil=
l
> being enjoyed today.
> 5. =A0Where is the money spent - personally I am not into home theatre.
=
=A0I
> don't care if I have a remote control. =A0I don't care if my tuner
doesn't=
> have 200 preset stations. =A0I don't care if my amp has 60 different
"effe=
cts"
> as I'll likely never want to listen to my music bastardized to sound
like
> it's being played in a cathedral. =A0So... why would I want to pay for
the=
se
> useless (to me) features? =A0I'd rather that money spent to build the
amp =
went
> into a good design, proper layout of components, quality components and
> proper assembly techniques.
> 6. =A0The Nostalgia Factor - okay, I'm old. =A0Old enough to remember
buil=
ding
> an HH Scott tube amp and tuner from kits with my Dad. =A0Old enough to
fon=
dly
> remember my old Kenwood receiver and Dual turntable from college. =A0I'd
s=
ay
> there was a value to that which may contribute to the prices you see for
> vintage stuff on eBay. =A0But... it's a peripheral cost, not a major
facto=
r.
> You won't see an SX-730 in the stratosphere of pricing because it wasn't
t=
he
> best of it's time. =A0But an SX-1250 or a DB-9090, the TRUE 200W RMS
beast=
s of
> the day, will often sell for a few hundred more than they cost new
becuase=
> they are quality units.
>
> Perhaps I'm missing something, I'd certainly be open to any discussion
as =
to
> how "modern" designs/topologies/components have improved sound quality
vs.=
> "vintage", but for now you can have your modern stuff...
>
> Just my 2 cents.
>
> Dave
>
> Dave
Or you can mix and match like I do. I use a modern technics surround
processor as a pre-amp with a squeezebox to get at my library and
connect it to a stack of "vintage" amps downstream.
I still have an sx-1250 I've been hanging on to. The electrolitics
seemsto be ok but I had to go in and solder all the wirewraps on the
output transistors.
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