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Can a vintage piece over 40 years old be Highend

I have a passion for listening to modern sound reproduction both tube and SS with matching gear, but also sentmental vintage equipment. I have speakers that were considered very much Hi-Fi in there day and an old working amp to go with it which was also Hi-Fi can they be called High-End?? The yougest of these is about 42 years old the oldest 46. ( I am discounting altogether the pieces from the 70s which I own and listen to from time to time also)
mechans

Showing 1 response by mdhoover

mdhoover
695 posts
 
"Can a vintage piece over 40 years old be Highend?"

I would certainly think so, provided that:

1) It was high end in the first place

2) It has been well maintained and is in pristine condition

3) The end user believes that it is "high end"

I STRONGLY agree with the notion expressed above that "high end" is a designation that should be used for PERFORMANCE, not price. The two tend to be related, but we all know that there are MANY exceptions to this "rule."

Also, I think that it's wise to remember that "newer" isn't always "better". The prototypical example for me at least is the legendary AR 9 speaker. (I never even got to hear it but remember that the AR 90 sounded great at the time, and the AR 9 was said to be even better). Other examples include one of the Parasound preamplifiers (I THINK it may be the PDL 2000, but am NOT certain of the model number) that is no longer made but is entirely class A and is still regarded by at least one of the more senior people at Parasound as the best preamp they ever made. Another example, with which I'll soon be getting my feet wet, is NOS tubes, or so I've been told.
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