I see all kinds of junky mid-line 70's and 80's hifi gear being snapped up by hipsters in used vinyl
shops. The stuff was junk when it was made, but whatever floats people's boats. As for playing the
Record Store Day red vinyl Dave Brubeck reissue on a ruinous console changer, as pictured in the
article, a fool and his money are soon parted.
You know, I knew the 70's was mainly about cheap ugly junk (in all aspects of life and society) when
I lived it. Now it's "retro" among a certain subset of ignorant youth who did not live it the first
time.
There are a few pieces of consumer hifi gear from the late 70's, mainly reel to reel decks that have
no belts in their capstan and reel drive systems (Pinoeer RT-707/909, Technics 1500 series, for
instance), that are worth acquiring and preserving. Pretty much everything else in the mid-line
consumer world of that era is junk. There are also a few higher-mid-line turntables that were good
when they were made, but these record stores charge as much for them as a lower-end Rega goes for
new. Amplification has made good advances since the 70's. Remember that mid- and late-70's gear is
full of terrible early opamp chips and early "amp bricks" that were also terrible. The only
decent-sounding mid-line stuff that came out of Japan came out from the mid-80's until the Japanese
companies stopped manufacturing in Japan, in the 90's.
I won't even get into old speakers, but anyone who's heard decent full-sized modern speakers tends
to avoid old speakers like the plague. Designs and components have come very far since the 60's and
70's.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Kulp" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2012 9:47 AM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Stereo Hospital sees growing demand for old analog units
http://azstarnet.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/stereo-hospital-sees-growing-demand-for-old-analog-units/article_52886466-95b9-5927-b365-c8c62b9b2cef.html
There is a similar guy here in Albuquerque.He's been in business since the 70s,but I've only been
going there since late 2010.The first thing I took in,was my Fisher X-101.He was able to work on it
in only a couple of months.So a few months go by,I decided to bring in my TD-135,which needs work on
the arm,another better early 60s TT,and two consoles.one being a top of the line 1962 Zenith with
this arm
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1962-Zenith-turntable-Micro-Touch-2G-tone-arm-print-ad-/400319056293?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d34e009a5
I'm still waiting.This guy now has so much of a backlog of stuff people bring in,that the wait is
indeterminable.I have one more console,my 1961 Magnavox,I plan to bring in.He said he would do
it,because I was a good customer,and had brought stuff,and interesting stuff,into be worked on
before.The oldest thing I have seen brought in so far has been one of those 1930s Montgomery Ward
Airline floor model console radios,but like the article says,it's mostly 70s and 80s stuff people
bring in.
Roger
|