vintage gear

[satanfriendly]

This side of the pond 'Minty' also means, garbage, unkempt and smelling of bad odour. Anything but good.

[Vinyl and Tube Dude]

Vintage gear

Just old stuff

[jc_the_trucker]

The first one looks like something out of Tron. I want it.

[crofk]

This side of the pond 'Minty' also means, garbage, unkempt and smelling of bad odour. Anything but good.

I really think it means the same thing on this side too when used on the 'bay. or at least it should.

kc

[KentT]

In most audio, vintage is pre Black Plastic Crap. So, 1980 or earlier. General rule but does have exceptions accepted by the hobby.

[sidney3]

Hey Folks,

I may have stumbled upon the wrong forum considering that my music machines are all 100+ years old (i.e. pianos and gramaphones). But, today I found a "baby" that actually uses electricity. I noticed the talk of "vintage" stereo equipment and other questions from people trying to date equipment here in this "Off Topic" section. And some of you are even from England where they made the machine I'm trying to date. Maybe someone out there can help me? There's a "blue book" for cars, trucks, and even pianos. But there doesn't seem to be such a thing as a blue book for old record players. Why on earth did they bother to give the machine a serial number if I can't look it up in a book!

Anyway, I saw a similar stereo to mine listed as VINTAGE, the fellow from the internet guessing it to be from the early 60's. I'm wondering if mine couldn't be an even earlier prototype. The label lists it from "Run Number 1". It's a very early portable stereo that really is light enough for a woman to carry. Speaker #1 is in the body of the record player. Speaker number 2 is the lid which detaches from its hinges. Brilliant, dontcha think? [There. I have combined British and American English in one sentence. This way I can speak to both groups of people at the same time.]

I have a Micromatic Magnavox "suitcase" Stereo - turntable made in England, but probably assembled in the case at The Magnavox Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana. - Serial #1172334/Model #1 SC2300R

I'd surely appreciate if someone could help me pinpoint the age of this uncommon vintage stereo. I'm only guessing about the age based on what I remember from record player stuff from childhood. ' Course, when you've been walking on the planet for over half-a-century, the mind isn't what it used to be...

Oh, as for the definition of vintage? Basically, if I threw it away years ago and and now buying it back from Goodwill Industries, it's probably vintage and in vogue.

[Bran Kulez]

mickb69 wrote: i wonder if there is some degree of comfort in old stuff, as if the world is slipping out of our grasp faster and this is a way of holding on, digging the heels in against a modern world that is losing it's depth and integrity and humanity is declining.

you're on to something there...

[Jim Leach]

Another thought to ponder is the fact that the vintage gear was perfected through trial and error (blood, sweat, tears and the occasional electric shock) which was then assembled and (gasp) listened to for the performance, as opposed to the modern computer simulation of circuits (That SHOULD sound good) and analysis gear (great specs!) .

Add that to the ability to produce things faster and cheaper than ever before and...

[Alec124c41]

I don't believe that everything should be disposable. The old stuff was built to last, with a bit of attention now and again, like us.

Cheers,
Alec

[PeterW.]

hi guys, just a general question/musing...

at roughly what point does an item become regarded as "vintage"?
and is it me or are things becoming vintage faster these days?

I tend to draw the line at each significant change in technology. PLEASE NOTE: the following is only my opinion, albeit strongly rendered. NOT gospel.

Tube gear becomes vintage if it is made prior to 1963, often considered the transitional year between mostly-tube and mostly solid-state. Made after 1963 - it is just 'old'.

Solid state gear is a moving target. I use 1972 as a transitional year as prior to that date, most SS circuits used primarily discrete components. After that date, output amp packages, op-amps and various other chips started moving into ascendency over other choices.

1978/9 as the year that good, inexpensive kits became a vanishing species with the demise of Dynaco and with Heath more-or-less eliminating their audio lines. By then Eico was long gone. Hafler tried to continue the tradition - but that generation and its followers no longer had the interest in DIY enough to sustain the concept of kits.

1980+/- when very nearly every US maker of consumer-grade equipment except McIntosh moved offshore. So, any US-made equipment in a consumer-brand is therefore "vintage".

1982+/- when phono-pre-amps started to disappear from new receivers and pre-amps. So, anything with an OEM-installed phono-pre-amp becomes "vintage". And I would use that date (30 years old) as an arbitrary cut-off in any case.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA