Aw geez,some of you guys, come on. These pieces are classics. Are they the best pieces in the world sonically, no. I will say that in the cases of almost all of them though, the FM section will sound better than most digital products available today under $500, so some of them could be worth a couple of $100 just from that aspect.
Then from the amp stand point, no, they are not as good as some of the better amps availabe from the last 15 years or so lets say. But at the same time, how much is being spent? If its less than $500, then in relation to a lot of whats out there under $500, it will still probably hold its own.
Then lets just talk about beauty and feel. Very few products have the feel, the quality sensation, of some of the big receivers of the 70's and early 80's. Remember touching a knob and it at least being jacketed in metal? Of it having some smoothness in its action? Of a solid clicking locking switch, something when you turned it you knew it was turned? Then just the beauty of it, opening it up and seeing honest to God transformers, caps as large as Coke cans, metal and wood cases. All of that is still available today, in separates, if you have $5K.
And then there is the just liking it. Ain't a damn thing wrong with owning it just because you like it. And a lot of people will still ooh and ah more when they walk into your house and see a classic Sansui 9090db before they will on a Cambridge Audio int amp and tuner, and 98% will think the Sansui will sound better just because of the psychoacoustics associated with it. There are a lot of people that some of these pieces wre their 1st real exposure to good sound, something other than the Zenith console in Mom & Pop's living room. And as long as there is an Ebay, an Audiogon, AudioWeb and other sites(I don't see any of these old receivers, amps, or tuners being given away anywhere) on which to sell it on, the 9090 will be worth more than the Cambridge Audio(or almost any other) piece of gear you would spend $300 on.
Go get one if you want one, and let me know what you get when you do.
Then from the amp stand point, no, they are not as good as some of the better amps availabe from the last 15 years or so lets say. But at the same time, how much is being spent? If its less than $500, then in relation to a lot of whats out there under $500, it will still probably hold its own.
Then lets just talk about beauty and feel. Very few products have the feel, the quality sensation, of some of the big receivers of the 70's and early 80's. Remember touching a knob and it at least being jacketed in metal? Of it having some smoothness in its action? Of a solid clicking locking switch, something when you turned it you knew it was turned? Then just the beauty of it, opening it up and seeing honest to God transformers, caps as large as Coke cans, metal and wood cases. All of that is still available today, in separates, if you have $5K.
And then there is the just liking it. Ain't a damn thing wrong with owning it just because you like it. And a lot of people will still ooh and ah more when they walk into your house and see a classic Sansui 9090db before they will on a Cambridge Audio int amp and tuner, and 98% will think the Sansui will sound better just because of the psychoacoustics associated with it. There are a lot of people that some of these pieces wre their 1st real exposure to good sound, something other than the Zenith console in Mom & Pop's living room. And as long as there is an Ebay, an Audiogon, AudioWeb and other sites(I don't see any of these old receivers, amps, or tuners being given away anywhere) on which to sell it on, the 9090 will be worth more than the Cambridge Audio(or almost any other) piece of gear you would spend $300 on.
Go get one if you want one, and let me know what you get when you do.