I am a big fan of vintage gear. Lot's of it (but not all) does sound warm, lush and less detailed than new gear. I believe that this is mainly due to three factors, listed in order of least to most importance:
1- Newer phono cartridges are designed to sound more detailed and neutral then cartridges from the thrilling days of yesteryear.
2- Speakers are made of faster responding materials. Frankly, there is not a lot of new information on speaker design since the early 1960s, but materials technology has changed substantially.
3- Most of the improvement in new systems with regard to detail and neutrality comes from electrolytics - better capacitors. IMHO the cheapest caps available today are much better then the best stuff that was available even 20 years ago, not to mention the cans they used in the early '60s. Also diode and resistor technology has improved a great deal.
1- Newer phono cartridges are designed to sound more detailed and neutral then cartridges from the thrilling days of yesteryear.
2- Speakers are made of faster responding materials. Frankly, there is not a lot of new information on speaker design since the early 1960s, but materials technology has changed substantially.
3- Most of the improvement in new systems with regard to detail and neutrality comes from electrolytics - better capacitors. IMHO the cheapest caps available today are much better then the best stuff that was available even 20 years ago, not to mention the cans they used in the early '60s. Also diode and resistor technology has improved a great deal.