What is the most surprisingly good vintage/near vintage audio gear you have?

geowak · « **on:** 23 Jun 2013, 10:02 pm »

Does anyone have an older, but surprisingly good piece of audio gear. Even better, was it a bargain?
Just picked up an older Sony CDP, the XA20ES for less than $300. It is the best CD player I have owned yet.

What is your piece of audio?

SteveFord · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Jun 2013, 10:35 pm »

Congratulations!

That's a tough one as so many people have been so kind to me over the years.

I would have to say Sherwood tube tuners.
Before I joined this site I never would have thought that they were any good.
SURPRISE!!!
You can get them for under $50 if you're lucky and there's a great tech in my neighborhood who gives them a full service for $90.
Cheap and cheerful and great sound.

apollophono · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 Jun 2013, 11:44 pm »

I like the Hafler DH101 as a phono preamp. Can be bought for ~$100 used.
I've not gone through a lot of equipment, but it seems the better the
surrounding equipment then then better it shows. I used to use an old
Rega Planar 2 and Hafler DH220 with some form of old Cerwin Vega speakers
(before getting married and children 25+ years ago) and I loved the setup.
Lots of PRat and could crank it up without distortion. It was using one of
the old Linn modified AT cartridges. I think it would have qualified for the
Cheap and Cheerful category.

bside123 · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 12:09 am »

How are you defining the word "vintage"? So many differing catagories these days. It seems the older I get, the more vintage there is to go around... or is that antique?

PMAT · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 01:24 am »

Sonograph Preamp and Power Amp from Conrad Johnson. $500 a few years ago, best sounding SS I have heard. They can Rock hard and still do bells and triangles with such delicacy and no smear. Marvelous. The pre does .5 db increments for each channel.

Freo-1 · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 01:52 am »

Threshold 400A. After all these years, it still outperforms most amps, regardless of vintage.

Donald · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 01:59 am »

Still have my first real receiver from College days: Marantz 2270 with walnut case. Later upgraded to a Pioneer SX-1250 which I also still have. Bought my Dynaco A-25 as a package with the Marantz which I also still have and pull out every so often to take me down memory lane. Still have my Dual 1249 with the Shure V-15 type 3 cart. stacked away in the closet that was part of this college system.

S Clark · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 02:04 am »

I have a pair of these ca. 1960 Knight KB-85 amps from the earliest days of stereo. The first cost $10 at a junk store, the other not so cheap. They do most things very well, lacking a bit of tightness in the bass, but otherwise competing well with an upgraded Moscode 401 HR. They have a bit of mid warmth that is quite alluring. Gary Dodd is modding one for me as we speak. He thinks highly of the original sound and the quality of the iron... and has heard a lot of amps in his day.

Hank · « **Reply #8 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 12:03 pm »

My H.H. Scott LK-48B integrated tube amp that I built as a teen. I've since bought a 222C and a couple more off eBay. Scott was way ahead of its time and those overengineered amps are still musical.

kbuzz3 · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 07:37 pm »

Quote from: SteveFord on 23 Jun 2013, 10:35 pm

Congratulations!

I would have to say Sherwood tube tuners.
Before I joined this site I never would have thought that they were any good.
SURPRISE!!!
You can get them for under $50 if you're lucky and there's a great tech in my neighborhood who gives them a full service for $90.
Cheap and cheerful and great sound.

Plus one on the sherwood tuners. I love mine, not the last word in anything audiophile genre but possesses an innate musicality that puts a lot of gear to shame

Ill throw another out on the psuedo vintage or recent vintage vein-that will in all doubt get me flamed but i stick to what i hear:

Sony Playstation 1: with upgraded power cord......

bummrush · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 10:04 pm »

Had some Sonographe to. The basic pre amp and the amp at 100 watts. It had a silver face plate and was supposed to be a up grade of some sort. Both were clean sounding with never a problem.

trackball02 · « **Reply #11 on:** 25 Jun 2013, 01:26 am »

My Dual 1019 Turntable. I found it for $60 on Craigslist complete with a nice wood base and cover.
I installed a Audio-Technica AT-OC9ML/II cartridge, and it is awesome. This is my every day turntable. Plus it looks very cool.

geowak · « **Reply #12 on:** 30 Jun 2013, 01:47 am »

All this stuff is pretty cool. I think I really like classic (vintage) audio? What's wrong with me?

PMAT · « **Reply #13 on:** 8 Jul 2013, 05:25 am »

Quote from: geowak on 30 Jun 2013, 01:47 am

All this stuff is pretty cool. I think I really like classic (vintage) audio? What's wrong with me?

Confucious said "expect nothing and everything is a true gift" that is why vintage is so pleasing for me. I bought a Thorens TD 115mk2 for a dollar at a garage sale. I expected smoke when I plugged it in. What I got was a fantastic turntable. Just yesterday I was playing Firebird Suite from Stravinsky by the Boston Syphony that I also bought for a buck. OMG! The bite of the strings and the complete soundstage is breathtaking. I looked at my Marantz 2252 and thought Jesus, how can this possibly sound this good??? a lot of it is psychological bend. My B&W speakers through my front-room system are very good. Paid a lot. No grins, no giggles. System number 2,3 and 4 make my heart sing. All used vintage bargains. Don't fight it.

DaveC113 · « **Reply #14 on:** 8 Jul 2013, 05:46 am »

A friend just picked up some ESS AMT 3 speakers with the Heil air motion tweeter. They're not bad as-is but are getting new tweeter diaphragms, new midranges and I am building a set of outboard xovers for them, after that I think they will be really nice speakers. Not cheap though, about $800 + restoration and mods... he has a few Marantz and Pioneer vintage recievers, I am trying to get him to buy a vintage PP tube amp next...

WireNut · « **Reply #15 on:** 8 Jul 2013, 07:55 am »

Just got it. JVC QL-7.

hakka26 · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Aug 2013, 06:42 am »

JBL L-112 speakers that came with a Yamaha CR-1020. Ad stated, "Yamaha receiver for sale," with a couple poor pictures of the receiver sitting on some speaker boxes. Also got an Onkyo CDC and some 30' of 8g speaker cable. JBLs were my first refoam.

8snaces · « **Reply #17 on:** 2 Aug 2013, 10:21 pm »

A McIntosh MR67 Tuner along with some JBL- L-100's and some 70's Klipsch LaScala's.

jarcher · « **Reply #18 on:** 3 Aug 2013, 06:05 am »

Early Conrad Johnson stuff - PV10A preamp & MV75A1 amp (their first). I think at some point long ago some may have dismissed them as too ol timey tubey, but I haven't heard one yet that I felt that way about. Maybe it was a tube rolling issue. To me they're just so musical - "it just sounds right" indeed - and have surprising power & resolution as well. Or maybe some felt they've "moved on" from them, which is fine for me as I like getting deals on people's "discards". Scoring a great deal on something old that delivers beyond your expectations is one of the great joys of this hobby. Unfortunately I think more people are catching on - and some collecting just for the novelty - driving prices up. That and the occasional ebay outlier that makes some think that rusted or rotting doodad in their attic is some hidden treasure.

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 Aug 2013, 03:46 am »

Most surprisingly good? .... I would have to say this :

An AKAI GX-230D R2R that a very good friend gave to me. Does that qualify as a bargain too?

It's too bad that we can't buy new music on reel tape anymore. I am surprised just how good some of the used (and well played) pre-recorded tapes sound on this non-audiophile, industrial looking machine. I missed the era and heyday of awesomeness. Damn!

What have we done?