Expensive Tube Amplifiers

There were a pair of Marantz 2 mono tube amps listed for $11,775 + $150 shipping on an eBay auction recently. No bids!

@invalid : No, but I did buy an Audio Research D75 with KT120’s for $650 on eBay 7 years ago, shipping included!

Only a handful of people can buy a vintage amp and recondition/repair it.  It is true that tube amp technology has been stable for such a long time that one can get topnotch performance out of something 70 years old or longer that can compete in sound quality with something brand new.  That means it does make more sense to reconditioning old tube amplifiers than would be the case of reconditioning a 79 year old car or television and expecting modern day performance and convenience.

Much of the quite high prices for certain really old tube gear is a collector phenomenon and not necessary because of the sound quality--certain Marantz, McIntosh, and Western Electric gear comes to mind (although  much Western Gear can be spectacularly good, the price probably reflects collector interest).

I like a lot of old tube gear as well as new amps made with the right vintage parts.  Most of the best output transformers are vintage, and the same goes for coupling capacitors, carbon composition resistors, etc.  In the not crazy priced camp are a lot of Eico, Scott, and Fisher amplifiers, for example, that can be had already reconditioned for far less money than modern amps that can smoke most modern amps (okay "smoke" might be a bad word choice) costing far more.  But, it still does take some knowledge, experience, and tolerance for disappointment to buy vintage so that will never make it a common choice.

@facten I guess you are right, but knowing the people who tend to be on this subforum, I am always interested in hearing their opinions on other aspects of audiophilia.

So Jim, as per usual, what is your question? And why are you so angry about prices on eBay? (Marantz model 2 for $11K is purely and only about collectors by the way. Vintage Marantz is worth big bucks in Asia.)

I totally disagree that vintage capacitors and resistors are superior to modern equivalents unless you want parts to act as tone controls. Modern parts of best quality are far superior for transparency and reliability. And don’t even think about vintage electrolytic caps. What vintage tube amps do have are often superb output transformers, worth scavenging for use in a modern device. I don’t think you can buy at any price a modern OPT that competes with those from a Marantz model 9.