Vote

I wouldn't trade my Accuphase C-200 and P-300 units for anything new.

Based on performance alone, of course there are several. But pound for pound, dollar for dollar, apple versus apple the newer stuff wins hands down every time! It is my choice

I like stuff that is designed to sound good and last, without requiring you to sell a kidney, kid or deprive your kids of going to college. You know, the kind of stuff that does not have a fortune invested in chassis milling and yuppie wiring and connectors and such.

I love reminiscing about "classic components" and like looking at pictures of nicely restored gear, but when it comes to my system, I have all newer stuff.

Actually, the first pair of speakers I ever bought myself are the Advent Larges that you have in the photo for this thread! I remember how sweet they sounded on my Pioneer SX-1050 and they could suck up the entire 120Wpc like water. Really, for a two-way speaker, I think I liked them as much as my second pair of speakers which was the JBL L-36s. I still prefer my old NAD 2200 amps to more than 3/4 of what's released today! In some areas of hi-fi very few advances have been made from what has been offered over the last 30 to 40 years, just new packaging.

Quad ESL-57 or ESL-63.

My Revox B77, Tandberg 440A, Adcom GF 555 and 565 preamp, and NHT Super Zeros in oak.

No, there have been too many improvements, especially in the materials technology behind some of the cone/dome drivers in modern speaker systems. They are faster, cleaner, and more open than anything I can remember. Except the old KLH-9s, when doubled-up. Even in this case, my memories may be altered by nostalgia, since I heard that setup in 1969. Even tubed electronics have improved, from what I hear now and can remember. Much quieter and, again, faster and more dynamic.

accuphase DP-75

A/D/S Speakers of a certain age. Eico tube power amps. Yamaha analog tuners: T1, T2, and variants. The HK715 digital tuner.

My trusty early '70s Kenwood tuner. Gleams and croons with its meters and weighted tuning knob. Sounds good too, I guess

Prefer is a tough standard since there really is tangible progress in most fields which involve technical matters, but here goes: Connoisseur budget table; Apogee Diva, Ohm A, and Beveridge electrostatic on the speaker front; Melos electronics; and that Sequerra tuner. I never heard any of the classic, usual suspects tube stuff.

I like the Sherwood S-5000 integrated amp (the original model with EL-84 output tubes). I've heard very few amps at any price that can top an S-5000 in a good state of repair.

The original Ohm F loudspeaker (1973) produced a coherent wavefront from a single 12" driver so there was no crossover. The drawbacks were that they were power hungry in part due to the 360 degrees of radiation (I would love to hear them on a modern amp). But the real failure was reliability. The voice coils kept rubbing. Ohm gracefully repaired them each time but eventually made them more reliable at a hugh sacrifice in the top end. Note that the current generation of Ohm loudspeakers has a conventional dynamic tweeter (covering the lost highs) and elaborate crossover, which defeats the magic of the originals.

The good ol' sealed-box loudspeakers and my old Luxman DZ92.

I think FM tuner technology peaked decades ago, and the best tuners were made in the '70s and '80s, like the McIntosh MR78, Marantz 10B, and Kenwood L-02T.

Yamaha NS 1000m tremendous speaker.

LS3/5a, Ariston RD11s turntable, Grace 707 tonearm, Shure V-15 type III cartridge, and Dynaco tube gear. Music lives!

After 60 years of production, the Klipshorn still stands tall.

I would list my Dynaco ST70, Linn LP12, and even my Oracle II as vintage gear that is still competative today!

Unfortunately, with many classic designs there are problems (at least here in Australia) with spare parts and servicing. I have had a few components that I have loved dearly but have been forced into replacing with newer stuff because spare parts are no longer kept after about 10 years. I have a few pieces of equipment still in use as much as 25-years-old (a Technics M-10 cassette deck from 1981 in the office still has the best Dolby B playback of any other unit I have), but when something wears out, that's it. There are also problems with changes of distributor, and companies that fold.

Not components, but I do prefer the Bose 901 VI design and sound over anything new that I've heard.

Rogers LS 3/5a

Yeah, old solid-state receivers and amps. The ones with discreet transisitors sound way better than the new mainstream crud they make now. Though there are some new ones made that that way, the old ones are easier to come by and much cheaper. They take some work and care to keep going but they sound great! I have a Marantz 2235 receiver and it has a certain smoothness not heard on newer mainstream audio components. I have a Pioneer SX-450 in my office that sounds decent too. Yeah, it's low end stuff but after being cleaned up a bit, those old things sound pretty decent. I feed 'em digitally processed audio through my Theta Pro Prime in one system and an Audio Alchemy DAC In The Box and DTI in the other. Use cheap cables and you get cheap sound though... .

The KLH-6 speakers still remain viable and musical.

The Sansui TU-9900 and TU-X1 will best any new tuner in selectivity, weak signal reception and over-all sound quality, and are available for a fraction of the cost.

I have three Marantz receivers from the late '60s/early '70s

Old tubes seem to be better then new solid-state on the right speakers, but new tubes,ahhhh!

Classic components, that decribes most of my components. It has taken me 25 years to build everything up to the same high level, hence some primary or secondary pieces are already "antiques." Namely: Marantz 2245, Michaelson & Austin TVA10, Nakamichi 700, Oracle Delphi (original), Audiostatic ES240, Dayton Wright SPA (mostly dead), etc.

Altec Malibu speakers, Bozak 302, Eico mono amps (all).