Vintage Stereo Equipment is Highly Collectible
Vintage Stereo Equipment is Highly Collectible
By Rex Turner
Whether your interest is in vintage stereo receivers, vintage power amps, Vintage Speakers or vintage tape machines, you are not alone. Not by a LONG shot. Every day I see more people collecting and using vintage stereo equipment.
I personally just never got rid of some of it and is in daily use to this day. Yes, of course, I am a gadget nut and have CDs, DVDs, and a 3D LED TV too, but that is not the point. The vintage equipment has a personality and quality that is just not built into much equipment these days.
First of all it is just cheaper to build things the way they do today with Solid State surface mount parts. But secondly people don’t want to PAY for the extra quality in such things as cabinets on receivers and huge metal chassis anymore. You only have to look at the influx of Chinese imports to prove that.
Honestly, I have Pioneer and Kenwood receivers that have beautiful wood cabinets around them. And speakers…WOW the speakers of yesteryear were often big behemoths that today’s housewife will no longer allow in the house. I am fortunate as my wife allows 4 giants Klipsch speakers in the front room and then a subwoofer to boot.
Now days the trend it to plastic little speakers for the surround sound and a medium little sub to fill in the lows.
Granted Vintage Audio equipment comes with a price. Sometimes the purchase prices is EXTREMELY reasonable. No the price I am referring to is the condition and maintenance. So you need to research going in and be prepared for what may occur.
Sometimes old switches and pots need cleaning or replacing. Sometimes speakers need new surrounds. That can often be repaired by your local speaker reconing shop like the one we have here in town. You will occasionally find mechanisms that just need cleaning such as on tape machines or rubber wheels that need replacing.
On the other side of the coin you will often find reconditioned products available or NOS (New old stock).
Having said all this I still think that this is a tremendously fun and rewarding hobby / investment. Some of the more desirable pieces of equipment sell for 10 times what they did when new. What I wanted to do is provide an experience and location where people could find vintage stereo equipment that they desired.
To this end I created BakMyTunes where you can find that desirable Marantz receiver. Or have choices when buying a McIntosh Amplifier. I wanted you to have a selection of vintage Klipsch speakers to choose from. Please look around the site and see if you find what you are looking for. You can come back often too because the inventory changes all the time. Some of these products will be new and some will be old. Some will be reconditioned and some will be in disrepair. Your choice is all that matters. I hope you find the Vintage Stereo Equipment you desire!
