Now they call 80s gear vintage.


I have noted that what is called vintage shifts in quantum leaps on that big auction site. They now call 80s equipment limped together with any tube amp new or old vintage.
I would like to prpose a language that describes the gear rather the year. When people think of Saul Marantz' early efforts, avery Fisher, Hosner Scott and Altec and JBL from the 50' and 60's we often call that the golden age. It was the Hi Fi years when mono became stereo.
The next phase could cover the good bad and ugly from 1970 to 1990. Sure ARC was there and mac accuphase but everyone still owned a stereo. this was the digital era as CDs replaced vinyl as the medium of choice. Hi end serious gear was emerging then hi end was in its infancy.
1990 to 95 is a lost generation with hometheater begining and head phone walk about music. Stereo shops dropped like flys and the former big fairly good companys forgot 2 channel and put out flimsy low current amps. This era is difficult to name. Hi end became an entity, with many older companies quitting retail home audio and concentrating on pro. High end consumer companies were low production one off p[ices with no way to improve their production efficiency with hand made gear. They sprung up and sprung right back down.
Finally we have the i pod, Home Theater, and the high end era.
My point is we need better categories for those of us who buy older gear on occasion. All suggestion and more concise names and corrections etc are welcome.
mechans

Showing 1 response by mechans

For the sake of not paying the obscene duty and taxes for British export and Scandinavia which I have used. An item is considered antique if it 100 years old. !00 is clearly not a period of audio gear but by 1920 radio ruled. A lot of people seem to like field coils 300b telephone sized amps used in theaters etc. I have not bought or used equipment from that period. In fact I left that out. It could be called the discovery era? Many people take pre Hi Fi period equipment as very important . Many of my best tubes are from that period.